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Quantum criminals : ramblers, wild gamblers, and other sole survivors from the songs of Steely Dan / liner notes by Alex Pappademas ; paintings by Joan LeMay.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextSeries: American music series (Austin, Tex.)Publisher: Austin, TX : University of Texas Press, 2023Copyright date: ©2023Edition: First editionDescription: 268 pages : color illustrations ; 27 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781477324998
  • 1477324992
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Jack -- Walter -- Donald -- King Richard/King John -- Lady Bayside -- Chino & Daddy Gee -- Michael/Jesus -- The Charmer -- The Fella in the White Tuxedo -- Dan -- David -- Mr. Whatever -- Louise -- Cathy -- The El Supremo -- The King of the World -- Rikki -- The Major Dude -- Mr. Parker -- Buzz -- Napoleon -- The Archbishop -- Dr. Wu -- Mr. LaPage -- Owsley -- A Bookeeper's Son -- The Eagles -- Babs & Clean Willie -- The Old Man -- Pepe -- A Wooly Man Without a Face -- Peg -- Sayoko -- Peter/Tariq/Daniel -- The Expanding Man -- Broadway Duchess -- Josie -- The Babylon Sisters -- Hoops McCann/The Dread Moray Eel -- The Dandy of Gamma Chi/Aretha Franklin -- The Gaucho -- A Jolly Roger -- Third World Man -- Abbie/Dupree -- Franny from NYU -- Lizzie -- Jill -- Gina -- Dave from Acquisitions -- Daddy.
Summary: "Steely Dan was a somewhat unusual band that still inspires unusually strong devotion in its fans. Formed in the late '60s in New York, they released seven albums between 1971 and 1981, two of which were nominated for a Grammy. Part of what's unusual about them is that each of those albums was made by a different group of musicians--founding members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen had no issues swapping players from record to record in order to get the sound they wanted. The band stopped touring in 1974, so the recording studio was the only place they needed their collaborators. Those recordings are legendary, especially among vinyl enthusiasts, for their exquisite production. The precision was necessary, in part, because Steely Dan played with form more than most bands, mixing elements of other genres--especially jazz--with pop and rock. And the lyrics are also distinctive. As the authors put it in their proposal, Steely Dan's songs are "exercises in fictional world-building. Each song features its own cast of rogues and heroes and creeps and schmucks, lovers and dreamers and cold-blooded operators, all tempest-tossed by the ill winds of the '70s." This book consists of sixty-some essays, each devoted to one character, and each essay is accompanied by a painting of the particular character that serves as a jumping-off point for the piece, with additional spot illustrations scattered throughout"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 782.4216 P218 Available 33111011303944
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"ONE OF THE SHARPEST, FUNNIEST, AND BEST BOOKS EVER ABOUT ANY ROCK ARTIST"-- Rolling Stone

"WEIRD AND WONDROUS"-- New York Times

"I ADORED IT"--Michael Chabon

A literary and visual exploration of the songs of Steely Dan.

Steely Dan's songs are exercises in fictional world-building. No one else in the classic-rock canon has conjured a more vivid cast of rogues and heroes, creeps and schmucks, lovers and dreamers and cold-blooded operators--or imbued their characters with so much humanity.

Pulling from history, lived experience, pulp fiction, the lore of the counterculture, and their own darkly comic imaginations, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker summoned protagonists who seemed like fully formed people with complicated pasts, scars they don't talk about, delusions and desires and memories they can't shake. From Rikki to Dr. Wu, Hoops McCann to Kid Charlemagne, Franny from NYU to the Woolly Man without a Face, every name is a locked-room mystery, beguiling listeners and earning the band an exceptionally passionate and ever-growing cult fandom.

Quantum Criminals presents the world of Steely Dan as it has never been seen, much less heard. Artist Joan LeMay has crafted lively, color-saturated images of her favorite characters from the Daniverse to accompany writer Alex Pappademas's explorations of the famous and obscure songs that inspired each painting, in short essays full of cultural context, wild speculation, inspired dot-connecting, and the occasional conspiracy theory. All of it is refracted through the perspectives of the characters themselves, making for a musical companion unlike any other. Funny, discerning, and visually stunning, Quantum Criminals is a singular celebration of Steely Dan's musical cosmos.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-268).

Jack -- Walter -- Donald -- King Richard/King John -- Lady Bayside -- Chino & Daddy Gee -- Michael/Jesus -- The Charmer -- The Fella in the White Tuxedo -- Dan -- David -- Mr. Whatever -- Louise -- Cathy -- The El Supremo -- The King of the World -- Rikki -- The Major Dude -- Mr. Parker -- Buzz -- Napoleon -- The Archbishop -- Dr. Wu -- Mr. LaPage -- Owsley -- A Bookeeper's Son -- The Eagles -- Babs & Clean Willie -- The Old Man -- Pepe -- A Wooly Man Without a Face -- Peg -- Sayoko -- Peter/Tariq/Daniel -- The Expanding Man -- Broadway Duchess -- Josie -- The Babylon Sisters -- Hoops McCann/The Dread Moray Eel -- The Dandy of Gamma Chi/Aretha Franklin -- The Gaucho -- A Jolly Roger -- Third World Man -- Abbie/Dupree -- Franny from NYU -- Lizzie -- Jill -- Gina -- Dave from Acquisitions -- Daddy.

"Steely Dan was a somewhat unusual band that still inspires unusually strong devotion in its fans. Formed in the late '60s in New York, they released seven albums between 1971 and 1981, two of which were nominated for a Grammy. Part of what's unusual about them is that each of those albums was made by a different group of musicians--founding members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen had no issues swapping players from record to record in order to get the sound they wanted. The band stopped touring in 1974, so the recording studio was the only place they needed their collaborators. Those recordings are legendary, especially among vinyl enthusiasts, for their exquisite production. The precision was necessary, in part, because Steely Dan played with form more than most bands, mixing elements of other genres--especially jazz--with pop and rock. And the lyrics are also distinctive. As the authors put it in their proposal, Steely Dan's songs are "exercises in fictional world-building. Each song features its own cast of rogues and heroes and creeps and schmucks, lovers and dreamers and cold-blooded operators, all tempest-tossed by the ill winds of the '70s." This book consists of sixty-some essays, each devoted to one character, and each essay is accompanied by a painting of the particular character that serves as a jumping-off point for the piece, with additional spot illustrations scattered throughout"-- Provided by publisher.

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