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Early Show Time Is On My Side Stop Everybody Needs Somebody to Love Stay With Me Cry To Me I'll Take Good Care of You Piece Of My Heart Look at Granny Run Run Cry Baby It's Your Move That's When It Hurts Twist and Shout

Late Show Time Is On My Side Stop Everybody Needs Somebody to Love Stay With Me Cry To Me I'll Take Good Care of You Piece Of My Heart Look at Granny Run Run Cry Baby It's Your Move (end faded out)

Show Review from October 1989 issue of Steely Dan fanzine "Metal Leg" The evening they called New York Soul took place on September 20th at the Lone Star Roadhouse, the new name and location for what used to be the Lone Star Cafe. Situated on 52nd St. the ground floor exterior of this restaurant/saloon boasts very original decor, resembling a bus replete with tires and windows. This particular evening it rained hard and long, but it didn't dampen the spirits of all the people queueing up to see Donald Fagen's first live performance for over 15 years (excluding Elaine's earlier this year which was only a fleeting appearance, anyway). Of the numerous people who I spoke to every single one of them admitted they were there primarily to see Donald Fagen. There was an air of expectancy as the band filed through the crowd onto the low stage for the first show soon after the appointed time of 9:30. Pat St. John, the WNEW disk jockey, promised a "magic night" and ran through some of the Berns/Ragavoy repertoire and began introducing the band one by one. The only absentee from the advertised line-up was Frank Floyd, the reason for which was not explained. Unsurprisingly, the rumors had been circulating that Walter Becker would make a surprise appearance. Only time would tell. Nevertheless, there were still 14 musicians/singers on the small stage. The crowd clapped, yelled and whistled as the names were read out; but by far the biggest cheer of the evening greeted the announcement: "And another man you know very well -- Mr. Donald Fagen." Donald was playing a portable synthesizer and had taken up a position almost directly behind the singers, between Paul Griffin's piano and Joe Ascione's drums. He was facingside stage most of the time. (Donald had arranged for a friend to video both shows for his own personal collection.) Paul Griffin kicked in with his piano and the three vocalists went straight into Time Is On My Side, Grammy award nominee Jeveeta Steele taking the lead. George Naha played a plucky guitar solo as the song built to its climax. The band then segued straight into the great horn section intro to Stop!, which featured on vocals. Lou Marini, Alan Ruben and David "Fathead" Newman really punched it out; George Naha again soloed. The third song, Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, had been arranaged to include an extended intro; this allowed Paul Griffin to take center stage and encourage the audience to clap along with his ad-libs. They settled into a rock-steady groove with Dr. John's organ most prominent. Once into the song, Griffing screamed and grunted, his face contorted with the effort of his performance. Then Donald Fagen emerged from behind the shield of singers. He came up to the microphone and said, "Thank you for coming tonight. All these songs were written by Bert Berns and Jerry Ragavoy, and the next song is gonna be sung by Jeveeta Steele." Already some cries of "Boston Rag!" were coming from certain members of the audience. But an answering cry of "Grow up, you guys. It's not 1973 any more," more than put them in their place. Silence descended upon the Lone Star as the portly Miss Steele launched into a verytender and emotive version of Stay With Me, growing increasingly more desperate as the song progressed. How could anyone ever consider leaving her after such heartfelt pleadings? Miss Steele actually shed a few tears herself at the end of the song, too. This was no act; this was misery and loneliness itself. As both band and crowd applauded, a sympathetic fan at the front handed her a tissue. Paul Griffin, once again took the microphone, demanding "Is she hot? Is she hot?" and when the audience confirmed she was definitely hot, he continued, "I'm gonna give this guy a Sammy Davis introduction. He really deserves it and this is coming from the heart. This is a man who knocks my socks off every time he sings and plays. You all know who he is. Let's have a Mac attack here! Mac attack! He's the Doctor! He's the Doctor! Dr. John!" Mac Rebennack had swapped places with Paul Griffin and was now seated at the piano. He proceeded with a version of Solomon Burke's Cry To Me. Funky. His vocals were punctuated by the horn section and the Doctor gave it the full blues ending. Jeveeta Steele introduced Jeff Young to sing I'll Take Good Care of You. He was supplemented by the two girls on the chorus. Between songs, the shouts of "Steely Dan! Steely Dan!" again began to ring around the saloon. Ignoring them, Jeveeta Steele said, "Please welcome to the stage one of New York's own, Miss Phoebe Snow." At the start of Piece of My Heart, there was no indication of the heights to which she would take herself. She really got into the part, screaming and performing vocal acrobatics; George Naha soloed again allowing her to gather her breath for another shriek-ridden onslaught; Donald Fagen actually frowned at the power and extent of her range and commitment. Midsong, the musicians took it down low while she swooped and rocketed from one octave to another. The reception was rapturous. "Are you having a good time? I can't hear you, are you having a good time?" The crowd responded with a raucous affirmative. "We're gonna bring back the Mac attack now." Mac Rebennack sat at the piano again and sang Look at Granny Run Run in only the way Dr. John can. Unfortunately, Donald Fagen's synth was so low in the mix you couldn't hear it amongst all the other instruments. There were more shouts of "Sing, Donald!" and "Don't Take Me Alive!" while they readied themselves for the next song. When the band struck up they soon drowned the overzealous fans out -- Jeff Young singing Solomon Burke's Cry Baby. It was another fine example of the Berns/Ragavoy trait of building the song slowly towards the first climactic chorus, when the horn section came in with its hook. Donald Fagen nodded his head in time to the music and conducted them, waving his right arm in the air and indicating when a musician should take a solo. "Would you like some blues?" Jeveeta Steele asked. The crowd answered with a resounding yes. The band played another great danceable intro and the two saxes and trumpet powered It's Your Move along while Jeff Young/Jeveeta Steele provided the upholstery to enjoy the ride. It was George Naha's turn to solo again; Donald Fagen moved aside so the audience could get a good look at the guitarist in action. By now the shouted requests for various Steely Dan songs and/or for Donald Fagen to sing were becoming ever more insistent and, having already held his hand up once or twice to indicate enough was enough, a slightly embarrassed and more than indignant Donald came to the microphone and said, "Please don't be rude to these other great performers." The reaction was yet more "Sing, Donald!" yells and he said, probably just to silence them temporarily, "Maybe later. Now's not the time." Now this raised some very interesting questions which were debated at length after the show. Is a few dates a possibility -- maybe even a full-scale tour? Would this be as a solo artist or as Steely Dan? Has Donald decided to treat his fans to a live show at long last? And is he at this very moment trying to persuade Walter to accompany him on this venture into the spotlight? Myself, I detect a definite gradual raising of the Fagen profile in the last year. A surprise guest then strolled onto the stage. It was Bonnie Raitt. She lined up between Phoebe Snow and Jeveeta Steele while another introduction was being made. "We would like to feature a very special and talented artist, Miss Mindy Johnson." This was her one big moment; Mindy Johnson sang That's When It Hurts and rattled off a great harmonica break which set the crowd alight. Twist and Shout followed with Dr. John on vocals and was done as a slow reggae lilt. The singers each took turns to sing and David Newman played a sax solo. The three singers left the stage and as the musicians were doing so, they congregated at the side of the stage in earnest discussion. Were they deciding which Steely Dan song to do? Were they trying to persuade Donald to take the lead on a final song? (Between shows Paul Griffin actually told one fan that he was trying to persuade Donald to perform The Fez.) It would have been a great way to end the gig. They returned to their instruments and Fagen said, "Can we have the singers back, please?" However, after some delay it became apparent that they had disappeared altogether, so Fagen asked if there was anyone in the audience who wanted to sing. What? Was this a set-up? Two fellows eventually got up onto the stage and the band launched into an energetic version of The Rascals' Good Lovin'. The makeshift vocalists' performance was very enthusiastic and they obviously enjoyed their fleeting moment of fame enormously. Pat St. John returned to the stage and said, "You know, there's one more very important person we wanna introduce to you tonight. Would you say a very big hello to Mr. Jerry Ragavoy." As Jerry Ragavoy waited in center stage, looking much younger than his years, Donald Fagen stepped up and said "This is one of the guys who wrote these songs." Applause echoed around the room. He shook hands with Donald, exchanged a few quiet words, then said, "I would very much like to thank the producers, Libby Titus and Donald Fagen. I appreciate their efforts and I hope you understand as a songwriter to have a band like this and wonderful singers to play your music is, needless to say, a great, great pleasure and a thrill. Thank you, Donald." The audience thought the formalities were over so someone immediately shouted, "Let's have some Dan now!" The comment was ignored for its sheer insolence. Donald Fagen stood there with Jerry Ragavoy and gave him that apologetic, despairing look. Ragavoy continued, "We've seen a wonderful band, I think they and the singers deserve great applause. And last but not least I wanna thank my old friend and sometime co-writer Bert Berns. The songs of Bert Berns you heard tonight say it all and anything I could possibly say about Bert couldn't top what you've heard. I wish Bert was here to share it with me, but chances are Bert is up there trying to make a contract with God to sing, so I thank you all very much and I'm very grateful to everyone." Pat St. John: "Thank you all for coming -- one more time for the band and Jerry Ragavoy." As the audience left the Roadhouse you could sense their disappointment; everyone felt that he could have at least sung one Berns/Ragavoy composition, even if it was understandable that he steadfastly refused to sing a Steely Dan tune. It was not the right occasion for that. But possibly now that occasion is really not too far away.

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