Reaction to STEELY DAN - "The Royal Scam" (Side 2)

This is VERDY CHANNEL. Today I react to steely dan - the royal scam - for the first time.
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[@OzarkTroutBum]

Steely Dan is what you get when you put 2 perfectionists in a studio. They went until they got what they wanted and called in whatever hired gun they needed to get a sound.

[@alphaomega6062]

From the Aja documentary ""perfection is not what they are after [...} they wanted something you can listen to over and over" The speaker suggesting that they went to perfection and then past it to get where they wanted to be.

[@marmyafia6307]

@@alphaomega6062 Yeah, they got to the point of perfection and then dialled it back a bit!

[@robertjewell9727]

On the song Haitian Divorce the sound of the guitar was fed through what's called a "talk box" which makes the guitar have a vocal quality.

[@ianhampton1208]

Made famous by Peter Frampton on his hit single Show Me The Way, but used to better effect by Joe Walsh on Rocky Mountain Way.

[@robertjewell9727]

@@ianhampton1208 right! 👍

[@chandlerbryan1793]

The box takes the output from the guitar amplifier and sends the sound through a plastic tube into rhe guitarist"s mouth, where he/she shapes it into a microphone.

[@mike-jm9rs]

@@ianhampton1208 Hi Ian, one more I can think of is Sweet emotion by Aerosmith.

[@starbursttalent3924]

@@ianhampton1208 MADE FAMOUS EARLY BY JOE WALSH !!!

[@scifimonkey3]

That relentless riff in the royal scam is such an ear worm and everyone weaves their individual brilliance around it.

[@grahamokeefe9406]

I love in the song The Royal Scam, the way the chorus feels like it's about to go into double time but it never quite gets there before falling back into the half time verses.

[@richardbarton6146]

The Royal Scam is a masterpiece!!! That sound on Larry Carltons guitar was amazing and the drums were perfect and the Little muffled Trumpet gave it that "New York" sound .

[@ianhampton1208]

The line in Everything You Did, "Turn up the Eagles, the neighbours are listening" prompted a reply from Don Henley on the Eagles' Hotel California, with the line " They stab him with their Steely knifes, but they still can't kill the beast".

[@excrono]

Reminds me of how Lynyrd Skynard responded to Neil Young’s “Southern Man” in “Sweet Home Alabama”, but much more bluntly than with than with this Eagles example.

[@mynameispaul0530]

Always loved the way Steely Dan integrated horns with backup singers and other instruments.

[@larryclark5422]

Steely Dan is known as your favorite band's favorite band

[@livenhfree]

My favorite band. Since 1972. Amazing composers. Amazing talent. Thank you.

[@et2petty]

Haitian Divorce the guitar is playing through a "talk - box",,,, the sound bypasses a speaker and goes through a plastic tube and comes to the player's mouth. The sound then goes to a singing microphone. Made famous by Jeff Beck and Peter Frampton

[@lucasroth7922]

Steely Dan, your favorite bands favorite band 🔥✌🤘🎶

[@Thirdwind2]

No... No ....

[@bsemmel62]

I like your commentary and I do understand what you mean. You don’t really have to say much of anything, I just enjoy watching your facial expressions. They say it all! I can see your appreciation for this very sophisticated music. It definitely reaches you. I love seeing someone of your generation enjoy Steely Dan.

[@paullacroix527]

Good reaction Verdy. Steely Dan is a very special band to people that grew up in the 70's. They released an albumn every year. 1972, 1973,1974,1975,1976,1977 and 1980. Also, Donald Fagen who wrote, sang, played keyboards and was really the man (his co-writer was Walter Becker) is a musical genius. I always say congratulations to any young person who listens to The Dan (that's what we called them) because they are special. I hope your next Dan request is Gaucho. It's even smoother than Aja. I know you've for sure heard the song 'Heh Nineteen' before. Enjoy your reactions..

[@smffeb58]

Back in the days of Papa Doc Duvaliers reign in Haiti, one of the tourist business setup was a quickie divorce, thus the name Haitian Divorce. The tale is one of Babs and Willie marrying, fighting, and Babs off for the above mentioned. She gets pregnant by a local, prior to returning to the US, and reconciliation with Willie. As always, wry, fun, off beat SD lyrics, with a reggae beat, and a voice box guitar wah wah away!!! 😉😂

[@alphaomega6062]

The song was inspired I believe by someone (one of the engineers?) telling the war story of his quickie divorce during a break in the studio.

[@mjwaldrep]

I have to say I have a new appreciation for this album. Thank you for reacting to it!

[@nedeast6845]

all good music grows on you

[@Frankincensedjb123]

Green Earings has some of the best guitar work you'll hear on any Dan album. And btw, that sound on the guitar for Haitian Divorce uses a talk box, a tube that is connected to the microphone that the guitarist puts his mouth around to shape the sound. The solo here is another fine example of more Dan guitar excellence. Fagan and Becker (RIP) were some of the most eclectic, disciplined, musical perfectionists you'll ever find. They often employed studio musicians. If they discovered a band wasn't working out with a certain song, they'd shelve those songs and look for another band that could play them. So they were basically playing musical bands, or groups of musicians, with every album and song. I think that while recording Aja, they ended up using some forty musicians. The Dan is one of those very rare bands in which you'll find almost every song has some merit, some better than others, but you'd rarely find a clunker. Amazing talents.

[@briangray00]

Stellar rhythm section on Green Earrings. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGTVdYSLeK2hg6s - Extended version, with vocals and lead.

[@dansavoie5087]

I had a few friends who's older brothers were part of bands. One was even a lead vocalist and those older brothers would introduce music to their younger brothers. In turn my friends would introduce me to that same music. In 1973 one of my friends walked over to the family turntable in the parlor of his home, took a record out of an album cover with what looked like aliens on it ( " Countdown to Ecstasy" was the album, their 2nd my first )and said"listen to this guitar playing". That was my first introduction to "Steely Dan". The song was "My old School". I fell in love with their music and the name because my name was Dan. Then I fell out of love of their name when I found out where they got the name "Steely Dan from.... But stayed in love with their music for 50 years and counting. ✌️

[@leojmorts402]

Please, continue with this outstanding band. You are on the way to discovering an astounding journey with this band!

[@KWC33]

The best song on the Royal scam is the royal scam!

[@williammckay9229]

I have 4 best songs on this album. Kid Charlemagne, Don't take Me Alive, Haitian Divorce and Royal Scam. All the others are second best.

[@keithjones7390]

​@@williammckay9229 It's a matter of opinion, nobody can say what's best and worst, personally l love Caves of Altamira

[@makethebestofwhatsaround3113]

The best album of 1976… or any other year.

[@gregalbright5220]

I just love watching you react to music! I know you feel the music as well as hear it. You have to love Steely Dan! They brought a unique style to rock music. I knew you would love them!

[@user-zr2eb4rn8j]

Yes, it is a B side, but a damned good one. Love to see you stick your toe into the jazz rock fusion pond. You might like it.

[@philiphill6697]

Your relentless smile sums up how good this album really is.

[@Chromeostasis]

Can’t wait for Gaucho, Katy Lied, etc., GREAT reaction as always!!! 👏👏👏🤝🤙

[@ottokriete1153]

the guitar solo on Haitian divorce is by Dean Parks.......... helluva guitar player

[@buddystewart2020]

On the Royal Scam, when you said, there's no way that's a guitar, that's a trumpet.

[@roundtownKen]

Not a trumpet. A guitar with the "wah's" made by the shape of the players mouth near a plastic tube... fed into an amplifier.

[@philt4346]

the whole horn section gets a blow each using a mute, quite the forgotten sound. I was only lamenting with friends the other day the absence of trombone in pop music nowadays, crazy but it was all over the 1980s.

[@scottmoquin]

Hey Ari....it's a muted trumpet on "The Royal Scam".

[@johnnorman7180]

Trombone also

[@user-xj7hq1pp3x]

This is the day OF THE EXPANDING MAAAAAN!

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

Thanks for all your quality reactions

[@mega00760]

what a classic i bought the album cassette and cd, great reaction

[@nedeast6845]

me too, I think Donald Fagen owes us a sneaky free download, considering all the times we fans have bought the CD,s vinyls, tapes, going back to Sun Mountain

[@et2petty]

Good morning Very. Glad you like steely dan

[@hipgnotist777]

Yay Steely Dan! Yay Verdy!

[@buddystewart2020]

They are doing that sound with a talk box, Golden Throat was a popular one in the 70s, they have newer versions of it now. You stick a tube in your mouth, and you make vowel sounds with your mouth and it mixes it with what you play on the guitar, and produces that sound you are hearing. It's sort of a combination of human voice and guitar, sort of.

[@sanzoftatooine]

It basically turns the guitarist's skull into a speaker cabinet. Changing the shape of your mouth, or chewing on the tube, changes the tonal quality. Some folks who've seen talk boxes used live mistakenly assume that the guitarist is singing through it, but that's not the case. There's no air moving over the vocal cords.

[@michaelbastraw1493]

That was indeed a muted trumpet during the royal scam. I believe that he was using a combination of straight mute and toilet plunger. Best. Mike.

[@chromabotia]

Excellent!

[@stuartdryer1352]

From the same era (70s, when I was ~ your age), check out the Dixie Dregs. You will like them!

[@mike-jm9rs]

Steve Morse 👍

[@stuartdryer1352]

@@mike-jm9rs Good starting point: Punk Sandwich on the album Night of the Living Dregs.

[@waynekerr3598]

Enjoy the solar eclipse later today, AV!

[@DixieBlue]

Steely Dan Albums (No Filler at All)

[@williamosborne6866]

The voice-box guitar was done by Dean Parks, and modified by Walter Becker. This technique was made famous by Peter Frampton, and also used to great effect by others (most notably Joe Walsh (James Gang, Eagles, and solo), David Gilmour (Pink Floyd).

[@dragonfan9696]

At 19:40 its a trumpet with a mute

[@Stephen_M.]

Great album!!

[@rpapplebee]

The strange guitar noise you are hearing is called a talk-box.

[@RedVynil]

We used to do Haitian Divorce. That sound is called, a voice bag. I'm not sure how it works but, the guitarist has a clear plastic tube in his mouth that, I think, has the guitar sound pumped into his mouth and he can change the sound of the guitar by changing the shape of his mouth. Joe Walsh made it famous a few years earlier with his hit, "Rocky Mountain Way". Then Peter Frampton used it on his biggest hit, 'Do You Feel Like We Do" on his live album,. "Frampton Alive!"

[@raylrodr]

White boy funk!

[@Brewnoe]

classic .. vs

[@SeaMark782]

Becker & Fagan are composers not songwriters. Lots of writers out there, not many composers. They get what they want using musicians like a sonic tool (they may be tools too).

[@user-yd9vr4gl2d]

Great reaction I think it was a trumpet with a mute

[@slydogger]

Just watched a video titled The #1 Rock Song from Each Year: 1970-2022 perhaps some content for a video. L8

[@charliebrown3020]

Listen to Haitian Divorce about 100 more times and realize what the story is really about…makes it even better

[@baronofgreymatter14]

VERDY!!

[@squidkid2]

This album has a lot of upbeat music but the lyrics are really dark especially the title track.

[@geroldreiser1921]

I like your full reviews very much! full honest important. I m a 60+ guy from Germany and have faith enough to make two proposals to you: Sweet Smoke - just a poke (progJazzSomething) Nektar Remember the Future (70ies Rock with PF melodies) 4 tracks = 2 Albums

[@gregorydeckelman4262]

Yes that is a trumpet. But not just any trumpet. Its a muted trumpet. There are 4 kinds of technics used for muted sounds that can be made. 1) is using what is called a straight mute 2) is using a cup mute. Both of these mutes are inserted into the bell of the trumpet. 3) is a cup mute but it is hand-held and opened and closed against the bell of the trumpet.We have all heard this before. It is used for the famous effect in game shows when a player loses to get the wha-wha-wha-whaaaa effect 4) this last muting technic is done with only the hand being inserted into the bell. It is usually done by moving the hand back and forth in a cuping motion in and out of the bell, but can be done by cuping the fingers and the thumb together and inserting them into the bell. The other sound was indeed a trombone. It was a low sound because it was a bass trombone to be exact.

[@submandave1125]

You forgot my personal favorite to use, the Harmon mute, which is basically a metal chamber inserted in the bell. It has a removable stem that can be left in place to provide a small bell that can be used with the off-hand as a plunger or take it completely out and get that classic Miles Davis sound.

[@gregorydeckelman4262]

@@submandave1125 number 3 in my comment is the plunger cup.

[@submandave1125]

@@gregorydeckelman4262 I took that to mean the plunger (like the one used on the sink). I've always heard the stem of the Harmon referred to as the plunger because it's easy to use your hand to cover the small bell on the end of it. I've edited my original comment to be more clear.

[@joeturnip4216]

guitar talk box: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oaiceJ6NbLClY80

[@willlockler9433]

Pretty dam wonderful isn't it.

[@chitownlee]

It's a trumpet with a mute.

[@chitownlee]

The sound you don't recognize is a Talk Box.

[@caroleann_2142]

Thats Walters talk box. ..At the Grotto, in the greasy chair, sits de Charlie with the lotion & the kinky hair😅, In the 70s people went to get quicky Haitian divorces, which meant, you could just be with someone else.. immediately, Brutal & sad.

[@johnnorman7180]

There are trumpet and trombone on royal scam

[@baronofgreymatter14]

muted trumpet

[@allenjones7722]

The vocals aren't great but the music is exceptional.

[@richardyoung3594]

Do you know who Burton Cummings is? I'm fairly certain you must, he's Canadian. Check out the Guess Who's recordings, 70's.

[@michaelheis663]

Like Steely Dan but you have never returned to Stevie Ray Vaughan. The Sky is Crying is right up your alley.

[@swampfizz]

I beg to differ....Aja is a squeak better

[@RedVynil]

I never liked Steely Dan but, "Royal Scam" was probably their best song. My fave SD songs wouldn't even fill a full "best of" album. I doubt there's more than 6 songs.

[@mjsmcd]

Youv'e been snifffing red vinyl So what i'd expect

[@keithjones7390]

Their wonderful songs are wasted on you then! 😅

[@danmayberry1185]

Hmm .. speed up Everything You Did, and you're in Cousin Dupree territory.

[@hurricane1951]

Steely Dan's biggest flaw is fading out while a terrific guitar solo is playing. Frustrating on so many songs.

[@excrono]

This is so common in music that it’s a full on trope. Leaves the audience itching for more and to hit repeat. A band that subverts this is to some degree, is Supertramp; letting long solos play out especially for album closers.

[@mondegreen9709]

Definitely one of the greatest albums with one of the worst album covers.

[@keithjones7390]

I've seen a lot worse album covers!

[@mondegreen9709]

@@keithjones7390 So have I, but was the music as good as this?

[@keithjones7390]

@@mondegreen9709 No!

[@Robert-xl4mm]

Have loved the album cover since it came out - like the hole in his right shoe especially

[@excrono]

I can personally appreciate the meaning in this cover art.

[@michaelbastraw1493]

On Haitian Divorce, they use a talkbox (se link below). What's unusual is that Dean Park didn't use it when he recorded his tracks. Walter Becker used the talk box after the fact in post-production. And all my years of playing and recording, I'd never heard of such a thing. Best. Mike. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_box