| |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Steely
Dan Presents
A NEW COMMENTARY ON NOSTRADAMUS
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
Posted 12/06 |
|
|
| |
Just as
the answer to a child’s
question appears in the window of the Magic
Eightball, the prophecies of the seer Nostradamus
emerge into consciousness, bringing clarity
to the otherwise vague and uncertain future
of Steely Dan.
Verses 90 and 91 from Century
Three take us through the summer of 2007: |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
90
The great Satyr
and Tiger of Hyrcania,
Gift presented
to those of the Ocean:
A fleet's chief
will set out from Carmania,
One who will
take land at the Tyrren Phocaean.
91
The tree which
had long been dead and withered,
In one night
it will come to grow green again:
The Cronian King
sick, Prince with club foot,
Feared by his
enemies he will make his sail bound. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
First
of all, some invaluable background, supplied
to me by Steely Dan management:
After the 2006 summer
tour, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker
(entourage in tow) spent several months
recuperating in a large rented house
in Miami Beach, Florida. For security
reasons, they registered under false
names, as is their custom. In this
instance, Donald became Inca
Ron.
Walter chose the clever I.
Anarchy.
Because abiding
manic tendencies in the principals
demanded a working vacation, time was
booked at Criteria Studios to experiment
with a new digital recording system,
Pro Enhance “A”.
On Monday, October 9th, they arranged
to meet Rolphe Weppner, the designer
of Pro Enhance and the CEO of Enhance
TonTechnik.
|
|
|
| |
Here our
explication may begin.
The
Tiger of Hyrcania– Hyrcania
being an anagram for I.
Anarchy – is
unquestionably Walter Becker.
By association, The
great Satyr is his brother in
Picaresquerie, Donald Fagen.
The fleet’s
chief is none other than CEO Rolphe
Weppner,
who will
set out from Carmania - CarMania
being the infamous alternative rental-car
outfit
at Miami International Airport.
Weppner’s Gift
presented to those of the Ocean
(Walter
and Donald’s vacation rental was
on Ocean Boulevard) is the prototype
of the
Pro Enhance “A” Digital
Recording System
(Pro Enhance “A” easily
unscrambles as Tyrren
Phocaean).
Becker, Fagen and Weppner
really “hit it off”, as they
say.
Their sordid four-day Pimm’s
Cup-driven Wenchathon up and down the Beach,
in and around Coconut Grove, Biscayne Bay,
Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale
is already
the stuff of jazz-rock legend.
Indeed, Becker and Fagen
now credit Weppner for the inspiration
for their decision
to book a summer tour
in an exotic locale. The German even connected
them with an agent in Casablanca.
For the
boys, the tour will represent an artistic
rebirth:
|
|
| |
|
The tree which had long been
dead and withered,
In one night
it will come to grow green again |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Cronian King (Cronian unscrambled
= Inca Ron) will once
again be sick (that
is, “ill”, cool, groovy) as
will be the Prince
with club foot (Walter
used to call his original red Epiphone
guitar “Club Foot” as in, “Larry,
could you hand me down trusty old Club
Foot for this next tune?”).
The 2007 jazz-rock jaunt
will re-infuse Steely Dan with creative
power and allow the collective entity to
enter the next phase of artistic life:
|
|
|
| |
|
Feared
by his enemies he will make his sail bound
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
WB & DF: Let’s
not have any problem with payment this
time around. All the pertinent information
(bank transfer info, account number, etc.)
is in the green envelope that accompanied
the final draft.
Thank you.
C.C. DeM. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|