Steely Dan - The Bear (Ultimate Restoration) mix 1

[@michaelcaplin8969]

Superior sounding WAV file available for download here: www.dropbox.com/s/yfiazkml7ot9y6c/The%20Bear%20Demo2%20b2_3.wav?dl=0 And a Buy me coffee link if you want to help me out in some small way: www.buymeacoffee.com/michaelcaplin

[@robbadobba]

Amazing work, thanks! Any chance of a WAV download for your "Kulee Baba" over on that page?

[@michaelcaplin8969]

@@robbadobba I'll try to remember to get it up in a week when I get home. However, great things are going to happen to Kulee Baba, you have no idea! But first, I need to perfect a Second Arrangement remaster.

[@got2bharmony]

​@@michaelcaplin8969I am deeply indebted to you for your wonderful work. How can I contribute towards your efforts?

[@michaelcaplin8969]

@@got2bharmony Thank you for pleasant words! Encouraging words are a great contribution and is honestly enough for me, but I've also set up a buy me coffee-account for those who would like to give a tangible contribution. It helps me out both personally (rent and food) but also if people donate enough, I will be able to buy a software that would dramatically improve important aspects of the mixes :)

[@danrease7505]

Who you kidding? I’ve had this for 12 years it’s been on here for that long. These are well known outtakes. Been available on the trackers for decades.

[@stratinolampino]

Every day fellers, every single day we get closer to god. One day we’ll have a fully remastered remixed and released Gaucho

[@windlebee9440]

Though, be real, the audio quality in that album is evergreen.

[@timparsons548]

I live for that day

[@autisticwizard505]

this day has come!

[@dannymoore2413]

Lol

[@yeips01]

​@@windlebee9440Out of topic but, an Azumanga and Steely Dan enjoyer? You are freakin cool

[@warlordbison]

Mother of all that is holy this is a straight banger. Can't believe it didn't make the cut.

[@broadwayjoe7189]

Definitely 🔥 x 47.

[@LoJahn]

I know right? Dafuq

[@xxczerxx]

I think by Gaucho they became too militant in what did/didn't make it to the record. We're actually so lucky it ever got released from snippets I've read over the years they were both ready to scrap the entire album due to perfectionism. DF and WB were notorious for their pedantry when bringing studio guys in for their music, to the point where they crafted the world's first drum machine for Gaucho because no drummer was precise enough for their taste. Now...SD also produced the finest pop music ever made, so who the hell am I to judge? It's those two minds that resulted in the gift that is their music

[@nickgodalin6487]

Some of it had to do w/the fact that their long relationship w/ABC/Dunhill Records had ended that Jan-Mar 1979, at the beginning of the sessions for this record. The new label, MCA, wasn't very accommodating. It never would have approved a double-album, regardless of the quality of material. In fact, because of SD's popularity, the label in late 1980 put Gaucho in it's new "superstar" sales category, thereby pricing it at $1 more than other lps (or the avg LP) (9.98 rather than 8.98 for single LP). Needless to say, Fagen & Becker were very unhappy.

[@BolsaChicaRadio]

Coming from the man who worked extensively on restoring WERE YOU BLIND THAT DAY's incorrect phase axis, equalization & speed (BPM) back in 2019, hearing your work on THE BEAR, is just over the top, PHENOMENAL! Thank you for your great attention to detail...as Fagen & Becker, always strived for. BolsaChicaRadio

[@emmaster4877]

You’re literally doing the LORD’s work. THANK YOU!!

[@michaelcaplin8969]

Lol! Thank you! He's a bit too lazy to do it himself, so someone has to do it.

[@noaharkadedelgado]

@@michaelcaplin8969god bless you for all these remakes I heard you planned a remake for I can’t write home about and I can’t wait to check it out! Cheers

[@phillipclark5798]

Man this is wonderful!

[@bobsfunkymusic]

To think that this tune and The Second Arrangement were both pushed to the side for various reasons only to focus on Third World Man. THANK YOU for this. It's so much appreciated

[@thosasmith2374]

This is truly a noble effort to bring out complete such noble music!

[@Symfan]

If only Gaucho was released in the cd era; we might have got them back then. But this revamped version works for me. Thanks!

[@The-Metal-Cooler]

Brother I am waiting for the day you post your updated mix, this one is unbelievable and I have been repeatedly listening to it, I've shown it to my lady and I'm going to show it to my fellow Steely Dan denizens. That being said I still can't wait for your next studio mix of The Bear. Your commitment to using old fashion mixing techniques is stellar and respectable beyond any margin, absolute class.

[@Marcoanfieldforever72]

Very cool song. Steely Dan forever

[@rumdukes]

This is outstanding! You deserve a Grammy!

[@brentjones8099]

You are doing God's work, my man.

[@morbidmanmusic]

don't be silly. he is doing his work. god isn't real, and deserves no credit for others work. Stop doing that. It isn't right.

[@brentjones8099]

@@morbidmanmusic it was a joke

[@sowososmooth]

@@morbidmanmusic God is real, brother.

[@sowososmooth]

@@DaleRC75 no offense, but.. you like the cowboys...

[@kadenstimpson3167]

​@@sowososmoothim not a believer but you do have a point

[@PhilUKNet]

Just recently, it's been like hearing a newly released SD album. This may change in the future, but at the moment my rating is: 1. Second Arrangement 2. The Bear 3. Kulee Baba

[@mikefranks6854]

I got the bear in the one spot only because it sounds like a jam not a typical dan song. Second arrangement sounds like many dan songs and let's face it kula doesn't really fit the bill with the other tracks lol

[@magnito5982]

​​@@mikefranks6854 agree that Kulee baba doesn't really fit in with the other songs, I still really like it though

[@darinladd5312]

@@mikefranks6854be sure: it's hard to get the bear until the bear gets you.

[@danrease7505]

😊

[@zegermanscientist2667]

I have binge listened to this song for two months now, and I think those are my favourite SD vocals ever.

[@TheJMFG]

Bro this is fucking gold. Thank you so much for this! For taking the time to make this masterpiece shine like it should had in the first place.

[@campbelldixon6134]

What a fantastic, well mixed track. It sounds absolutely beautiful, one of my go to dan songs since you posted it. These days, I go to KZbin for SD listening. Thank you very much from the bottom of my dan loving heart.

[@debts4458]

Interesting, in Walter Becker's song, "Down in the Bottom," one of the lyrics is "If I got the bear or if the bear got me," thinking about it, it must be a nice nod to this unreleased track, as they sing almost the exact same lyrics.

[@michaelcaplin8969]

Yeah, that's correct. It makes it obvious that Walter wrote the lyrics to The Bear, because "have you got the bear, or has the bear got you?" is old hipster slang for "have you got your drug use under control and are having a good time with it, or do you need help?", and is likely something he heard being said when he was dealing with heroin addiction.

[@aubreyscarbrough]

True! Lyrics so Walter-

[@uubuuh]

here in the suburbs, where it's hard to tell...

[@jasonfitzpatrick2197]

This might be my favourite Dan intro.

[@EnzoFerenczyo]

What's going on? Is it Christmas? All these new versions being released. Is it AI? ChatGPT? Who cares, I feel gifted.

[@trafyknits9222]

Very cool, haunting tune from the masters. They wrote so much great material. They probably threw away songs that most writers would be totally fired up to have written.

[@alexey888]

This is such a great song, and such a beautiful mix. Can't thank you enough for bringing this jewel to our lives Michael!

[@SidLaw500]

So good!

[@The_0.5.0]

New favorite song. Beat it, "Glamour Profession." This is my concession.

[@therastanautz966]

Great work, Sir! I love Anthony Robustelli’s cover of this. Well worth checking out and buying if you can still bag a copy.

[@robertwinship8367]

This is just awesome work, well done!

[@shawnengle6801]

Fantastic work. Donald and Walter's decisions made sense to only them. They wouldn't release this song, but were ok with releasing songs that were inferior to this on subsequent albums.

[@jimplummer4879]

Yes, their standards were so high.

[@milesdavissays4653]

Idk, this song has a very different vibe compared to their other work. It almost sounds like a Pink Floyd thing.

[@jeremyhopkins577]

When you're as focused and obsessive as those guys, you generally don't look back. I fucking love this song, but I think I can kind of understand how they felt that the composition didn't reach quite the same heights as the other stuff on Aja. Its central ideas are absolute gold but I feel like they struggled to know where to go with it a tiny bit. I'm not even criticizing the song, just trying to get into that headspace of insane perfectionism lol. Like it meanders just a tiny bit and I think they couldn't figure out how to eradicate all uncertainty in the composition and couldn't live with it.

[@billminnick7938]

@@milesdavissays4653 Vibe-wise, this reminds me of "Don't Take Me Alive."

[@uubuuh]

​@jeremyhopkins577 yes to all that, jeremy. to my listening, a bit dreary without the redeeming poignancy of say Junkie Girl.

[@josephsuarez5064]

Excellent work

[@ChrisEckes]

Ooh, this is good. Looking forward to the inevitable Second Arrangement remaster :D

[@michaelcaplin8969]

Soon, soon!

[@grosswesir]

Awesome. What a great song! Wow!

[@massiveox5143]

This is amazing

[@debbie804]

Just wow!

[@mleightle9289]

nice job , thanks

[@luisbuitrago5879]

🙏A remastered and expanded Gaucho. 🙏

[@mark_lhr3]

Amazing work!!

[@rencewelltube]

The majestic demon that is addiction camouflaged as a bear in a mansuit.

[@michaelcaplin8969]

When you say it like that, it does sound a little bit... interesting

[@Universityofvinyl]

Very very nice

[@willbill6449]

Still looking for that Second Arrangement audio file :/

[@michaelcaplin8969]

www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fxstzjrx3j43f8tram85l/The-Second-Arrangement-Master.wav?rlkey=ls3pfoqqkjvdasl49na5ghrej&dl=0 Here it is :)

[@LarryTheTubaBoy]

The Gods must still be chuckling... Sonically, this exists somewhere between Pink Floyd - Have A Cigar and Billy Joel - Zanzibar. Rarified air by any measure... in my humble estimation as a fish who swims in some capacity in a sea of music, songs of understatedly titanic import. Dazzlingly high pinnacles of musical excellence... And this peak has existed, concurrently, at least as tall, buried beneath the snows of ages, barely revealing itself. A fitting tip (among many) to the iceberg that is Steely Dan...

[@milesdavissays4653]

Proof we're in a shitty timeline

[@tylerwhiteeee]

Oohh shit. Mad respect. Is there any way to download flac/wav files for all of your restorations?

[@michaelcaplin8969]

This one is available here in superior quality compared to this video: www.dropbox.com/s/yfiazkml7ot9y6c/The%20Bear%20Demo2%20b2_3.wav?dl=0

[@BassManDan1018]

Special special writers.

[@cumulo25]

Donald: "We'll keep Babylon Sisters but get rid of this one." Walter: "Sounds g..." *_*nods off on heroin*_*

[@nickgodalin6487]

Hey, that's funny but not.

[@MacXpert74]

Wait, you don't like Babylon Sisters? With the awesome Purdie shuffle and Chuck Rainey bass. Uhm, okay, it's an opinion I guess... 😅

[@cumulo25]

@@MacXpert74 Don't put words in my mouth. That's not what I said.

[@MacXpert74]

@@cumulo25 Well, I did put a question mark at the end. But what are you trying to say then, if it wasn't that? 🤔

[@cumulo25]

@@MacXpert74 I was just making a really morbid joke.

[@InvocationOfSebastian]

It seems the DropBox link here isn't working, is this temporary or a sign of things to come? UMG seems to be going after Dan outtakes so whatever way we can get our hands on your wonderful mixes would be brilliant.

[@Angelripper65]

this video was banned? and other mix versions en YT too

[@alphaomega6062]

Nice work. Thankyou. Has the download link been removed?

[@nickgodalin6487]

Probably the only song in existence where you will hear the word "juggernaut"

[@steelyd2]

Interestingly there’s a pre 1972 steely Dan song when they weren’t even really Steely Dan yet and they were just trying to sell their songs they did a demo for a song called “Let George do it” which uses the word juggernaut in the opening line. It’s a very weird and not a very good song. Those pre 72 demos are worth checking out though if you’ve never heard them some of them are really cool and some they would rework and end up on one of the official albums

[@electriccampfire]

Juggernauts are carvin' up the countryside

[@samuel_mpontes]

Hey man! Did you delete/private you second arrangement restoration? It was honestly perfect, I was listening to it all day. Could you give us a download link please?

[@canaconn2388]

It was taken down by Universal

[@stony2494]

How about Kulee Baba? 😎👍♥️

[@michaelcaplin8969]

It's coming! But first, The Second Arrangement!

[@stony2494]

@@michaelcaplin8969 I’ve heard a revised version perhaps it wasn’t yours tho

[@michaelcaplin8969]

@@stony2494 The best version out there right now would be mine, but I'm going to improve it a whole lot, it's just going to take a long time, as I'm estimating it's about 150-200 hours of work.

[@stony2494]

@@michaelcaplin8969 I must commend you! Your attention to excellence is right up there with Becker and Fagen 😎🙏♥️👍

[@NathanMacAdams]

I believe you'll do (did) quite well, but only time will tell.

[@michaelcaplin8969]

Thanks! Second Arrangement Nichols cassette restoration that sounds even better and cleaner than this will soon be posted! Probably within a few days :)

[@francescofrosolini4637]

@@michaelcaplin8969 lol, look at this comment 180 editing hours later ;-)

[@gingernationalist6823]

I can't find the download link

[@jd87a]

250ms predelay on the reverb?

[@michaelcaplin8969]

150ms actually, which is according to Elliot Scheiner what they used for the record. Love your attention to detail!

[@Penguin-iw8ndo]

this sounds amazing, but correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't this song actually recorded during the Aja sessions?

[@michaelcaplin8969]

We don't know yet. All we know is that the song was DEFINITELY 100% actively worked on and overdubbed on during the Gaucho sessions of 1978 and 1979 and recorded by Al Schmitt (confirmed by engineer who mixed it). Whether or not Al tracked it during the Gaucho sessions or if it was an earlier take they recorded during the production of Aja that they dug up for Gaucho is unfortunately not known yet.

[@RubenvanRoonDrumChannel]

Rick Marotta?

[@michaelcaplin8969]

Purdie actually. Not his typical style, I know.

[@RubenvanRoonDrumChannel]

@@michaelcaplin8969 no way!!!really?

[@RubenvanRoonDrumChannel]

and this one?Sounds also Purdie? kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5K0imyAmth5b6s&ab_channel=MichaelCaplin

[@michaelcaplin8969]

@@RubenvanRoonDrumChannel Yeah. Or at least that's what makes sense. There are two outtakes that were recorded on the same session and same kit, The Bear, and the alternative version of Seawall, and Seawall features Bernard's count in, so for that reason, it's safe to say this is also Bernard :)

[@johnydee5843]

a great version for sure but no way would this cut it musically on gaucho definately a demo only musically the vocals certainly are good if it where to be a song on gaucho as with third world man the title and lyrics would have been changed for sure theres just Isn't the musical flair here as with all the gaucho tracks but I like the melody it kinda reminds me more of a royal Scam song as its mixed here

[@colarazor]

is that a discord notification at about 3:21 or am i going crazy

[@aliensporebomb]

I thought I was going out of my mind there - great ear! Also the G in "gate" is cut off in the line "Sir I parked my Juggernaut at your Gate".

[@davidkieltyka9]

@@aliensporebombThis is true in every instance of the song I’ve heard. Probably a vocal comping error. Easier to hear in this version due to the fine cleanup work. Given the recording is a work in process, it would’ve been tidied up at some point.

[@ALVIEDZANE]

This would be perfect for the Cocaine Bear soundtrack. Anyone else?

[@adamdainowski485]

where's the WAV?

[@whisper3978]

Here for that, too!

[@sCulturefan]

This song could have easily replaced “My Rival” on Gaucho as released; maybe Third World Man could have been moved up to after Time Out of Mind, with this as the final track

[@RaylanGivens123]

Why not keep them all? Gaucho is a pretty short album. If they put the Bear and Second Arrangement on it, Gaucho would be better than Aja or Scam

[@sCulturefan]

@@RaylanGivens123 It probably had to do with the length of LPs vis-a-vis sound quality at the time; Donald and Walter most likely thought more songs would result in inferior sound quality and difficulties in the LP mastering process. In contrast, Todd Rundgren routinely turned out 60+ minute single LPs during this era, even alluding to the sound quality compromises in the Initiation liner notes back in ‘75! Most of Rundgren’s LPs were mastered by Bob Ludwig - the mastering engineer SD used for much of their work (including Gaucho).

[@grosswesir]

Dear Michael, any chance to get a WAV for this, too? I love it...

[@HahaDamn]

Needs horns

[@davshaw5]

“The Second Arrangement”could have easily been on any SD album, this one, not so much. Just my opinion….

[@MacXpert74]

I agree. Although I think this is a cool track, its sound and style doesn't really fit that well with the other Gaucho material. It sounds 'older' to me, and maybe they felt it sounded too dated. It sounds more like something that could have been on The Royal Scam or Aja perhaps. But it doesn't quite reach the level of the material that was on those albums either.

[@ragingriccor9999]

Totally agree. To me it sounds more or less like a lost Royal Scam (1976) track. Listen to this song alongside the title track Royal Scam and you’ll see what I mean. Feel the fury. Feel the fury of…. Of the Royal Bear.

[@morbidmanmusic]

lot of mumbo jumbo in that description. Nnovel audio engineering wizardry.., EXACTLY like the EMT plate ... down to the waveform... which is meaningless. . Did you do a null test? Everything seems to have the same treble boost. Where are you getting these tracks>?

[@michaelcaplin8969]

Try listening to the original outtake and get back here and tell me this isn't those tracks in studio quality. How did I achieve it? Through novel audio engineering methods and/or wizardry :)

[@manelburgosdelarosa3352]

The Song begin to be amazing in the final section with the Tango harmonies, the AB form is too predictable , its understable that was a discard, its only an attempt , far from the perfection of the album songs

[@jaysgood10]

I can hear why it’s not on Gaucho.

[@candelise]

​@@jaysgood10Why, exactly?

[@jaysgood10]

@@candelise the song is lame to SD standards. Chord progression is ho hum the lyrics seem like they’re place holders it just doesn’t have that swing do you know what I’m mean?

[@candelise]

@@jaysgood10Er....What I'm mean?? I strongly suspect and especially from reading the various reactions that had this track been on the Gaucho album, few would have complained, and, more than likely, the song would have been celebrated no less than the other tracks on the record and what may seem so ho hum now would not have felt that way back in 1980.

[@jaysgood10]

@@candelise ho hum does not get any better reverse aging.