33 1/3: Aja
by Don Breithaupt

Steely Dan’s masterpiece dissected and celebrated

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and The Eagles’ Hotel California may have dominated mainstream American music in 1977, but Aja made its mark with more subtlety and sophistication. Spending over 12 months in the Billboard charts, its blend of elaborate jazz figures, anti-rock chord structures and esoteric lyrical ideas was more daring and inventive than almost anything in the record racks. Musician and songwriter Breithaupt’s book pores over every last note of Josie, Deacon Blues, Peg and the like with both the enthusiasm of a teenybopper and the insight of an academic. His approach may be too scholarly and muso for some, but he helpfully includes a glossary so we can all understand what he means by “modal interpolation” and “chord nomenclature”. The excitable fan is never far away, though, Breithaupt even taking the time to list the alcoholic drinks mentioned in the lyrics to all Dan tunes. He also manages to capture the wit of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, helping to explode the myth of the group as highbrow smart-arses. A valuable companion to a priceless album.

ISBN 100826427839

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
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