Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the co-founder, lead singer, and the principal songwriter (along with partner Walter Becker) of the jazz-influenced rock band Steely Dan. Fagen is known for his use of complex jazz harmonies, elaborate arrangements, and exacting attention to detail––all anomalies in the pop-rock genre. Fagen launched a successful, if sporadic solo career in 1982, spawning three albums to date.
Career
Early life
Fagen was born in Passaic, New Jersey on January 10, 1948 to Joseph "Jerry" Fagen and his wife Elinor.[1] The family was of the Jewish faith. Joseph worked as an accountant. From the ages of 12 to 17, Elinor sang in a hotel band in upstate New York's Catskill Mountains until bouts of stage fright (a condition her son would later be afflicted with) forced her to discontinue performing live.[1] Donald would later recall: "I can't ever remember when there was silence around the house. She was either playing records or singing."[1]
Around 1958, the Fagen family moved from Passaic to the suburb of Fair Lawn, New Jersey. The transition greatly upset Donald, and he detested living in the suburbs. He would later tell an interviewer that it "was like a prison. I think I lost faith in [my parents'] judgement… It was probably the first time I realised I had my own view of life." Living in Fair Lawn would later inspire tracks on his album The Nightfly.[1]
In the late 1950s, Fagen became interested in rock and R&B music, with his first record purchase being Chuck Berry's "Reelin' and Rockin'".[1] Around age 11, after receiving musical recommendations from a cousin and attending the Newport Jazz Festival, he quickly became a self-declared "jazz snob. I lost interest in rock n' roll and started developing an anti-social personality."[2] Fagen would regularly take the bus to Manhattan to see Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, and Miles Davis perform.[2] Soon afterwards, he learned to play the piano, and also played baritone horn in the in high school marching band.[2] Fagen also began a life-long fondness for table tennis during his teenage years.[3]
In 1965, Fagen enrolled at Bard College to study English literature, having been inspired by Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso, Allen Ginsberg, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.[4] While at Bard, Fagen met musician Walter Becker. The duo, along with a revolving assortment of musicians which included future-actor Chevy Chase, formed various groups called The Leather Canary, The Don Fagen Jazz Trio, and the Bad Rock Band.[5] Fagen would later describe his college bands as sounding like "The Kingsmen performing Frank Zappa material."[6] None of the groups lasted long, but the partnership between Fagen and Becker would continue for decades. The duo's early career included a stint with Jay and the Americans under pseudonyms, and in the early 1970s, as pop songwriters, prior to forming Steely Dan.
Steely Dan
Fagen and Becker founded Steely Dan in August 1972. They initially formed the core of the band, and co-wrote all the group's music; on tour and record, Becker played bass (and later lead guitar) and Fagen played keyboards, as well as performing almost all of the lead vocals on their recordings.
After releasing their third LP in 1974, the other members gradually left (or were fired from) the band, and it evolved into a studio project headed by Becker and Fagen. From the mid-70s onward, Steely Dan only recorded their albums with the cream of America's jazz and rock session musicians. They scored their biggest success in 1977 with the platinum-selling album Aja.
Solo
After the group's 1981 breakup, Fagen released his solo debut album, The Nightfly (1982), which went platinum and yielded the top-twenty hit, "I.G.Y. (International Geophysical Year)." The Nightfly has been favorably compared to his Steely Dan work. He also contributed an original composition, "True Companion," to the 1981 animated cult film Heavy Metal. In 1983 he worked for Diana Ross on her album Ross. In 1986, Fagen was a co-producer of the off-Broadway soundtrack album The Gospel at Colonus. Another soundtrack contribution, "Century's End," appears along with an elaborately arranged version of the Jimmy Reed tune for which both the Jay McInerney novel and the James Brooks movie are named; the 1988 Michael J. Fox film, Bright Lights, Big City, for which Fagen also contributed the film's score. He wrote briefly for Premiere magazine, including witty pieces on Henry Mancini and Ennio Morricone. During the eighties, Fagen composed music for films and various other artists and toured with the New York Rock and Soul Revue. The 1986 debut album by Rosie Vela, Zazu, inspired the first collaboration between Fagen and Becker following the disbanding of Steely Dan.[7] Fagen's second solo album, 1993's Kamakiriad, was produced by Becker. This led to their reunion as a writing team and the creation of a new touring version of Steely Dan. The following year Fagen co-produced Becker's solo debut, 11 Tracks of Whack.
The duo have kept Steely Dan going strong in its new formation and have since delighted their legion of fans with two more Steely Dan albums, the Grammy Award winning Two Against Nature (2000) and Everything Must Go (2003), as well as the live CD Alive in America (1995) and a live concert DVD.
Recording sessions for Fagen's third solo album, Morph the Cat, began in August 2004 and the album was released March 14th, 2006. Performing on the album are Wayne Krantz (guitar), Jon Herington (guitar), Keith Carlock (drums), Freddy Washington (bass), Ted Baker (piano), and Walt Weiskopf (sax). Upon its release, Morph the Cat received universal acclaim and was later named Album of the Year by Mix Magazine. Fagen was also given the Producer of the Year award. The 5.1 mix of "Morph the Cat" won the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album. [8]
In March 2006, Fagen embarked on his first-ever solo tour to support the album. This theater tour of the northeast (including one Canadian date in Toronto), the midwest, and the west coast played to sold-out houses and excellent reviews. Fagen's management also sold VIP packages for the tour, which included a pre-show party, premium seats, and access to the band's sound checks. This was mocked on his song writing partner Walter Becker's website.[1] Fagen joined Becker for a Steely Dan/Michael McDonald tour the following summer.
All three of Fagen's albums previously released on the DVDA format have now been released in Warner's latest format MVI (Music Video Interactive) as a boxed set. Each album features a DTS 5.1, Dolby 5.1 and PCM Stereo mix but no MLP encoded track, along with bonus audio and video content. Customers will also be able to select any track or any portion of a track and use it as their mobile phone ringtone.
Discography
Awards
In 1984, Fagen was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree by his alma mater, Bard College.
In 2001, both Fagen and Becker received Honorary Doctor of Music degrees from Berklee College of Music. They both accepted their degrees in person. [9]
In 2001, Steely Dan (Fagen and Becker) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [10]
References
External links
