Posted on 01/14/2022 10:57:04 PM PST by nickcarraway
Interesting gossip out of the classic rock world today: apparently Steely Dan producer Greg Katz once had to fire the Eagles’ Don Henley from tracking vocals on Steely Dan’s 1977 hit “Peg.” And it’s still awkward. Musicians Review 2021: Billionaires' Race To Space Speaking to Ultimate Classic Rock, Katz talked about how both Steely Dan and the Eagles were tight, as they were both managed by Irving Azoff. “In the chorus, the backgrounds are sort of the lead,” Katz said. “It wasn’t like a [usual] background part.” And while the song was originally coming together, Katz and Donald Fagen talked about how they “both liked Henley’s singing. ‘Why don’t we call Henley and Linda Ronstadt? Maybe that would be cool and something different.’ So, I called Irving … Linda wasn’t feeling well, so Nicolette Larson came.”
But when Henley went to learn the part and sing, it sounds like the chemistry just wasn’t there. “There wasn’t patience as much as instant reaction of the realities of the moment,” Katz said. “We didn’t jerk people off by letting them think it was going to work and have them sit for two hours. When we knew it wasn’t going to be OK, Fagen would tell me to end it. So they sang it again, and it was no good.”
Soon after, Fagen apparently went to go get a sandwich with bandmate Walter Becker, before which Fagen told Katz: “Oh, fire them.” Recalling the experience, Katz said, “Which I did — and have heard about for 35 years since, in various ways.”
Katz added: “The last time I saw Henley, he sidled up to me … and he said, ‘Are you going to fire me again today, Katz?’ But he didn’t smile when he said that.”
It was “a difficult day at the office,” Katz added, “because, like [Fagen and Becker], I was part of that inner-circle crowd. We were all in the same little area. We lived in the same place and had the same manager. It was always Eagles and Steely Dan for a long time in L.A.”
Anyway, Michael McDonald was brought in to do the backing vocals, and “Peg” became what it is today. Henley would later join Steely Dan for “FM (No Static at All)” (along with Glenn Frey and Tim Schmit), so I guess it’s safe to assume that Fagen and Becker remained on good terms with Henley in the end.
Oh, that was also in my collection. Great music, as were a lot of their follow-on “H” titled albums.
I saw the early Eagles and America in concert when I was a teenager (not at the same time.) I even had a little crush on Gerry Beckley back then. :)
If told I could only take five albums to exile with me for the rest of my life on St Helena Aja would be one I’d grab.
You really only missed out on the 90s tours. They didn’t exist in the 80s. And in the 70s the touring version of Steely Dan was just randos picked by the studio Becker and Fagen were ordered to go out with. Until the renewed contract which included a “no tours” clause. When they reformed in the 90s with their own band, that’s when they got good live.
I saw America just a couple of years ago They were OK, but had a young hotshot lead guitar player that was over amped and ruined a lot of the songs. Beckley stood out front the whole time and honestly seemed to like the new rock sound. Like the Eagles, I didn’t like America as much after one of their founders left, in his case Dan Peek to pursue Gospel. At least we still have our old albums of the good stuff. Like you I still listen, regularly.
Ian Bairnson is one of my all-time favorite guitar players.
Felder’s a Gainesville boy.
One of Felder’s guitar students in Gainesville was Tom Petty.
Good stuff. 👍
Felder also played with Stephen Stills when Stills was in Gainesville. Must have been something in the water then, or in the “Gainesville Green”.
Dittos!
I am by no means a Michael McDonald fan but his performance on “Peg” is astonishing. They layered vocal tracks he laid down, harmonizing with himself but with half a note’s separation, and with NO autotune, all pure talent.
I didn’t used to, but he grew on me. They didn’t have autotune back then.
Well, that and Adler couldn’t be roused out of his junkie stupor enough to go to the studio and work.
Denny Dias played a VERY nice solo on title track of “Aja” .
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