Steely Dan Album: “Catalyst: The Original Recordings 1968-1971 by Walter Becker & Donald Fage”

Any hard-core Steely Dan fan has probably bumped into a few "Becker and Fagen" tapes while digging through the record store cut-out bins, featuring a random selection of their eariest recordings. This 2-disk set contains all the tracks I've ever seen on such tapes, and a few others besides.

I don't own the album itself, so I can't comment on things like liner notes or manufacturing quality. But this is the only set I've seen that has every one of their pre-stardom cuts. The "Android Warehouse" CD set does come close, however, and it's a bit cheaper (it's missing only the alternate take of "Sun Mountain" and "Let George Do It".) But again, I can't comment on the liner notes and packaging.

The songs themselves are reminiscent of SD's first album, and some of them are quite good - "You Go Where I Go", "Brain Tap Shuffle", "This Seat's Been Taken", and "Mock Turtle Soup" for example - despite the grainy sound quality of the recordings themselves. As others have said, it's a must-have for Steely Dan fans.

This 2-CD set is a bit pricey for anyone who isn't a stone-coldDan freak. But it's amazing to consider the level of Don and Walt'sgrasp of pop craft even this young, with no money, with one crummy piano (Disc 1), with little hope and with no studio to speak of.

Dig the modulations and cool time-sig shifts in the intro to "Old Regime"! Check the rock-solid pop of the alternate version of "Sun Mountain" (that's Kenny Vance singing it instead of Fagen; I actually like it better than Fagen's vocal)! Get your skeevy mind blown by the subversive, bluesy swing of "Let George Do It"! And more! Much more!

Well, yeah, but those are the high points. Still, if you really dig Dan -- or even better, if you think SD is nothing more than 2nd-rate easy listening with a layer of studio lacquer -- lend an ear... It's not especially good singin' or good playin', and minimal recordin', but the songs (most of them, anyway) are gems. END

authentic becker and fagen. old recordings, so sound quality not the greatest. that's ok, this album is more about hearing the roots of what later became steely dan. a must for the dan fanatic.