Katy Lied
	Produced by Gary Katz
	Released on April 1975
	US CHART POSITION #13 . . . GOLD RECORD (5/12/75), PLATINUM (9/7/93) . . . UK CHART POSITION #13
	Find it at GEMM
MCA-1594 cover [high resolution photo]

N o Steely Dan album had flowed this effortlessly since Countdown To Ecstasy, and like that album there isn’t a weak patch to be found on Katy Lied. In fact, a completely reworked version of “Your Gold Teeth” slides along so gracefully that I feel comfortable giving this the nod as the better record. Unlike Pretzel Logic, which sometimes showed the strains of a band stretching its pop credibility, Katy Lied plays to the band’s strengths: cold logic and warm melodies, clever wordplay and incisive guitar solos. The opening pair of “Black Friday” and “Bad Sneakers” gives the record a strong jump out of the gate, a lead it never loses, mixing the tempo and the scenery like a power pitcher with a nasty curveball (okay, I’m blending sports analogies here). Rolling Stone suggested that with this album, Steely Dan became entangled in its own jazz/rock aspirations, but I just don’t hear it. I will concede that the lyrics are obscure, but it’s a glossing over of dark subjects on “Rose Darling,” “Doctor Wu” and “Everyone’s Gone To The Movies” that allows them to retain a certain optimism in spite of themselves. By contrast, The Royal Scam didn’t beat around the bush, so the sting of defeat went unsalved. Or maybe it’s just that Katy Lied regains a sense of humor in a catalog fraught with seriousness. Whatever the reason, this is as light and lithesome a collection of songs as you’ll find in the Steely Dan gallery. It may not contain their biggest hits, but a better album they didn’t make.

MCA-1594 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. BLACK FRIDAY    3:33
2. BAD SNEAKERS    3:16
3. ROSE DARLING    2:59
4. DADDY DON'T LIVE IN THAT NEW YORK CITY NO MORE    3:12
5. DOCTOR WU    3:59
6. EVERYONE'S GONE TO THE MOVIES    3:41
7. YOUR GOLD TEETH II    4:12
8. CHAIN LIGHTNING    2:57
9. ANY WORLD (THAT I'M WELCOME TO)    3:56
10. THROW BACK THE LITTLE ONES    3:11
    
    Music composed and arranged by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen
    

CREDITS

WALTER BECKER -- bass, guitars, back photos
LARRY CARLTON -- guitars
RICK DERRINGER -- guitars
DENNY DIAS -- guitars
DONALD FAGEN -- vocals, piano and various keyboards
WILTON FELDER -- bass
VICTOR FELDMAN -- percussion and vibes
MYRNA MATTHEWS -- backup vocals
SHERLIE MATTHEWS -- backup vocals
HUGH McCRACKEN -- guitars
MICHAEL OMARTIAN -- piano and various keyboards
DAVID PAICH -- piano and various keyboards
DEAN PARKS -- guitars
JEFF PORCARO -- drums and dorophone
CHUCK RAINEY -- bass
ELLIOT RANDALL -- guitars
CAROLYN WILLIS -- backup vocals
Hal Blaine -- drums (9)
Jimmie Haskel -- horn arrangement (10)
Mike McDonald -- backup vocals (6)
Phil Woods -- alto saxophone solo (5)
Roger "The Immortal" Nichols -- engineer, back photos
Dorothy White -- cover photo

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