The Royal Scam

The Royal Scam is the fifth studio album by American rock band Steely Dan. It was produced by Gary Katz and was originally released by ABC Records in 1976. The Royal Scam features more prominent guitar work than the prior Steely Dan album, Katy Lied, which had been the first without founding guitarist Jeff Baxter. Guitarists on the recording include Walter Becker, Denny Dias, Larry Carlton, Elliott Randall and Dean Parks.

The Royal Scam
Studio album by
Steely Dan
ReleasedMay 31, 1976
RecordedNovember 1975–March 1976
Studio
Genre
Length41:11
LabelABC
ProducerGary Katz
Steely Dan chronology
Katy Lied
(1975)		 The Royal Scam
(1976)		 Aja
(1977)
Singles from The Royal Scam
  1. "Kid Charlemagne"
    Released: May 1976
  2. "The Fez"
    Released: September 1976 (US)
  3. "Haitian Divorce"
    Released: November 1976 (UK)[3]

"The Fez" has the distinction of being the only Steely Dan song with an additional writer credited beyond Becker and Fagen, namely keyboard player Paul Griffin. As Becker said, "There is an instrumental melody that Paul started playing in the session, and when we decided to build that melody up to a greater position, since we had some suspicion that perhaps this melody wasn't entirely Paul's invention, we decided to give him composer credit in case later some sort of scandal developed and he would take the brunt of the impact." However, Griffin claimed that Fagen already had the keyboard riff, and that he took it in a different direction.[4] Fagen later said of Griffin, "There are some musicians who are hacks, and then there are guys like Paul who can create something so different and unique they make the record."[5] The composition was explained as "a cheerful ode to the importance of always wearing a condom" in an August 22, 1993 Los Angeles Times article written by Chris Willman.[6]

In common with other Steely Dan albums, The Royal Scam is littered with cryptic allusions to people and events both real and fictional. In a BBC interview in 2000, Becker and Fagen revealed that "Kid Charlemagne" is loosely based on Owsley Stanley, the notorious drug "chef" who was famous for manufacturing hallucinogenic compounds, and that "Caves of Altamira", based on a book by Hans Baumann, is about the loss of innocence, the narrative about a visitor to the Cave of Altamira who registers his astonishment at the prehistoric drawings.[7] It is also influenced by Plato's Cave Allegory and Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn".

The album went gold and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200.[8] The album was re-issued by MCA Records in 1979 following the sale of the ABC Records label to MCA.

Cover

The album cover shows a man in a suit, sleeping on a bus stop bench in Boston, and apparently dreaming of skyscraper-beast hybrids. The cover was based on a painting by Zox, which was originally created for an unreleased Van Morrison album. Designer Ed Caraeff suggested superimposing a photograph by Charlie Ganse of a sleeping vagrant.[4] In the liner notes for the 1999 remaster of the album, Fagen and Becker claim it to be "the most hideous album cover of the seventies, bar none (excepting perhaps Can't Buy a Thrill)."

Eagles reference and beyond

In the song "Everything You Did", a lyric says, "turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening." Glenn Frey of the Eagles said, "Apparently Walter Becker's girlfriend loved the Eagles, and she played them all the time. I think it drove him nuts. So, the story goes that they were having a fight one day and that was the genesis of the line." Given that the two bands shared a manager (Irving Azoff) and that the Eagles proclaimed their admiration for Steely Dan, this was more friendly rivalry than feud.[9]

Later that year in a nod back to Steely Dan for the free publicity,[10] and inspired by Steely Dan's lyric style,[11] the Eagles penned the lyrics, "They stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast" in their hit "Hotel California". Frey commented, "We just wanted to allude to Steely Dan rather than mentioning them outright, so 'Dan' got changed to 'knives,' which is still, you know, a penile metaphor."[9] This comment refers to the name's claimed origin in William S. Burroughs' book Naked Lunch. Timothy B. Schmit, who sang background vocals on The Royal Scam, would later join the Eagles.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Chicago Tribune[13]
Christgau's Record GuideB[14]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[15]
The Great Rock Discography6/10[16]
MusicHound Rock3/5[17]
Pitchfork8.3/10[18]
Q[19]
Rolling Stone[20]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[21]

The album was not as highly rated upon its release as its predecessors with most reviewers finding that it did not show any musical progress. In contrast, the original Rolling Stone review was more positive,[22] and ultimately the magazine gave it five stars in a later Hall of Fame review.[20] In 2000 it was voted number 868 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[23]

Singles
  • "Kid Charlemagne" spent three weeks on the Billboard charts, reaching a peak position of No 82 in July 1976.[24]
  • "The Fez" spent five weeks on the Billboard charts and reached No 59 in October 1976.[25]
  • "Haitian Divorce" spent nine weeks on the UK Singles Chart and reached No 17 in January 1977.[26]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Solo(s)Length
1."Kid Charlemagne" guitar: Larry Carlton4:38
2."The Caves of Altamira" tenor saxophone: John Klemmer3:34
3."Don't Take Me Alive" guitar: Larry Carlton4:16
4."Sign In Stranger" piano: Paul Griffin, guitar solo by Elliott Randall4:23
5."The Fez"Becker, Fagen, Paul Griffinguitar: Walter Becker4:01
Side two
No.TitleSolo(s)Length
6."Green Earrings"guitar: Denny Dias (1st) and Elliott Randall (2nd)4:05
7."Haitian Divorce"talk box guitar: Dean Parks, altered by Walter Becker5:53
8."Everything You Did"guitar: Larry Carlton3:55
9."The Royal Scam"guitar: Larry Carlton6:28

Personnel

[27]

Steely Dan

Additional musicians

Production

  • Gary Katz – producer
  • Roger Nichols – engineer
  • Barney Perkins – mixdown engineer
  • Brian Gardner - mastering engineer
  • Dinky Dawson – sound consultant
  • Walter Becker – horn arrangements
  • Donald Fagen – horn arrangements
  • Chuck Findley – horn arrangements
  • Ed Caraeff – art direction
  • Zox – cover art
  • Tom Nikosey – typography

Charts

References
  1. Stuessy, Joe; Lipscomb, Scott David (2006). Rock and Roll: Its History and Stylistic Development (5th ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall. p. 320. ISBN 0131930982. The Royal Scam (1976) also utilized numerous extra players and had a clearer jazz-rock fusion sound.
  2. Obrecht, Jas (1989). "20 Important Rock Albums". In Cassabona, Helen (ed.). Rock Guitar. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 117. ISBN 0881889083. ...Steely Dan issued its funk-oriented The Royal Scam...
  3. Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 782. ISBN 9780862415419.
  4. Sweet, Brian (2018). Steely Dan: Reelin' in the Years. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1787600638.
  5. Pareles, Jon (June 25, 2000). "Paul Griffin, 62, Session Pianist For a Multitude of Pop Musicians". The New York Times. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  6. Willman, Chris. "From the Archives: The 1993 interview when Walter Becker opened up about Steely Dan’s subversive intentions," Los Angeles Times, Sunday, September 3, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  7. "BBC Chat - 3/4/00". www.steelydan.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  8. "Steely Dan Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  9. Excerpted from the 2006 book Is Tiny Dancer Really Elton's Little John?: Music's Most Enduring Mysteries, Myths, and Rumors Revealed, published by Three Rivers Press, written by Gavin Edwards.
  10. Was there any kind of a feud going on between Steely Dan and the Eagles in the '70s? Rule Forty Two.com. Glenn Frey: "We just wanted to allude to Steely Dan rather than mentioning them outright, so 'Dan' got changed to 'knives'"
  11. Quotes: Here are quotes from Don and others about his career Feldermusic. "At the time we were also quite fond [of] Steely Dan and listening to a lot of their records. And one of the things that impressed us about Steely Dan was that they would say anything in their songs and it did not have to necessarily make sense you know"
  12. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Royal Scam – Steely Dan". AllMusic. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  13. Kot, Greg (August 16, 1992). "Thrills, Scams and Nightflys". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  14. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Steely Dan: The Royal Scam". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor and Fields. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  15. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Steely Dan". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  16. Strong, Martin Charles (2002). "Steely Dan". The Great Rock Discography. The National Academies. ISBN 1-84195-312-1.
  17. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). "Steely Dan". MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  18. Cook-Wilson, Winston (November 20, 2019). "Steely Dan: The Royal Scam". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  19. "Steely Dan: The Royal Scam". Q. London (165): 131. June 2000.
  20. Scoppa, Bud (October 14, 2004). "Steely Dan: The Royal Scam". Rolling Stone. No. 959. New York. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved August 22, 2007.
  21. Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Steely Dan". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 778–79. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  22. Tucker, Kenneth (July 1, 1976). "Steely Dan: The Royal Scam". Rolling Stone. No. 216. New York. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved December 26, 2008.
  23. Colin Larkin (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 267. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  24. "Chart - History Singles" (PDF). chart-history.net. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  25. "The Fez". billboard.elpee.jp. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  26. "Haitian Divorce". www.officialcharts.com. The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  27. "The Royal Scam - Steely Dan - Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  28. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992: 23 years of hit singles & albums from the top 100 charts. St Ives, N.S.W, Australia: Australian Chart Book. p. 292. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  29. "Dutchcharts.nl – Steely Dan – The Royal Scam" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  30. "Charts.nz – Steely Dan – The Royal Scam". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  31. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  32. "Top Selling Albums of 1976 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
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