Can't Buy A Thrill (2022 Remastered) Steely Dan

• 1 Do It Again 05:54
• 2 Dirty Work 03:08
• 3 Kings 03:45
• 4 Midnite Cruiser 04:05
• 5 Only A Fool Would Say That 02:57
• 6 Reelin' In The Years 04:36
• 7 Fire In The Hole 03:26
• 8 Brooklyn (Owes The Charmer Under Me) 04:19
• 9 Change Of The Guard 03:38
• 10 Turn That Heartbeat Over Again 04:58
• Total Runtime 40:46

Info for Can't Buy A Thrill (2022 Remastered)

"Can't Buy a Thrill" is the debut studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released in November 1972 by ABC Records. The album was written by band members Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, recorded in August 1972 at The Village Recorder in Los Angeles, California and produced by Gary Katz. It features tight song structures and sounds that vary from soft rock, folk rock, and pop, alongside philosophical, elliptical lyrics.

Steely Dan's platinum-selling debut studio album Can't Buy A Thrill, released in November 1972, was a commercial success, peaking at No. 17 on the Billboard chart. It later appeared on many professional listings of the greatest albums, including Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000) and Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" (2003)

The album was written by band members Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, recorded in August 1972 at The Village Recorder in Los Angeles, and produced by Gary Katz. Its music features tight song structure and sounds from soft rock, folk rock, and pop, alongside philosophical, elliptical lyrics. Two songs recorded during the Can't Buy A Thrill sessions were left off the album and released as a single: "Dallas" b/w "Sail the Waterway." This is the only Steely Dan album to include David Palmer as a lead vocalist, having been recruited after Donald Fagen expressed concerns over singing live. Drummer Jim Hodder also chips in lead vocals on one song, "Midnite Cruiser" (sometimes spelled "Midnight Cruiser"), as well as singing the "Dallas" single. By the time recording of the next album began, the band and producer Gary Katz had convinced Fagen to assume the full lead vocalist role.

AllMusic gave the album 4.5 stars, with reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine praising the core duo Walter Becker and Donald Fagen as "remarkable craftsmen." Erlewine noted that "there are very few of the jazz flourishes that came to distinguish their (later) albums", but added that the first single from the album, "Do It Again," incorporates a tight Latin jazz beat, while the second single, "Reelin' In the Years," features jazzy guitar solos and harmonies.

Rolling Stone, in its review, said the debut album was a collection of some of the group's best jazz/rock songs.

"Two of Fagen's four (vocal solo) songs were the singles, Do It Again' and Reelin' In The Years,' the later starting off (and continues throughout) with a ripping solo by session player, Elliot Randall, and in fact, was rated by Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page as his favourite guitar solo of all time. That's quite an endorsement. The song peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Charts. Do It Again' charted at No. 6, making it their second highest chart for a single. Dirty Work,' another great song from the record features Palmer. The album is tight, with some of the best musicianship money can buy." (Rolling Stone)

The album cover features a photomontage by Robert Lockart that includes an image of a line of prostitutes, standing in a red-light area from Rouen in France waiting for clients. The image was chosen because of its relevance to the album title. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen themselves commented on the album art in their liner notes to the reissued The Royal Scam, saying that The Royal Scam album possessed "the most hideous album cover of the seventies, bar none (excepting perhaps Can't Buy A Thrill)." The cover was banned in Francisco Franco's Spain and was replaced with a photograph of the band playing in concert.

David Palmer, lead vocals on "Dirty Work" and "Brooklyn", backing vocals
Donald Fagen, acoustic and electric pianos, plastic (YC-30) organ, lead vocals (except on "Dirty Work", "Midnite
Cruiser", and "Brooklyn"), backing vocals
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, guitar, pedal steel guitar, spoken word on "Only a Fool Would Say That"
Denny Dias, guitar, electric sitar
Walter Becker, electric bass, backing vocals
Jim Hodder, drums, percussion, lead vocal on "Midnite Cruiser", backing vocals
Additional musicians:
Elliott Randall, lead guitar on "Kings" and "Reelin in the Years"
Jerome Richardson, tenor saxophone
Snooky Young, flugelhorn
Victor Feldman, percussion
Venetta Fields, backing vocals on "Brooklyn" and "Kings"
Clydie King, backing vocals on "Brooklyn" and "Kings"
Sherlie Matthews, backing vocals on "Brooklyn" and "Kings"

Engineered by Roger Nichols Produced by Gary Katz

Digitally remastered

Walter Becker (bass) and Donald Fagen (vocals, keyboards) were the core members of Steely Dan throughout its variety of incarnations. The two met at Bard College in New York in 1967 and began playing in bands together shortly afterward. The duo played in a number of groups -- including the Bad Rock Group, which featured future comedic actor Chevy Chase on drums -- which ranged from jazz to progressive rock. Eventually, Becker and Fagen began composing songs together, hoping to become professional songwriters in the tradition of the Brill Building. In 1970, the pair joined Jay & the Americans' backing band, performing under pseudonyms; Becker chose Gustav Mahler, while Fagen used Tristan Fabriani. They stayed with Jay & the Americans until halfway through 1971, when they recorded the soundtrack for the low-budget film You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It, which was produced by the Americans' Kenny Vance. Following the recording of the soundtrack, Becker and Fagen attempted to start a band with Denny Dias, but the venture was unsuccessful. Barbra Streisand recorded the Fagen/Becker composition ‘I Mean to Shine’ on her album Barbra Joan Streisand, released in August 1971, and the duo met producer Gary Katz, who hired them as staff songwriters for ABC/Dunhill in Los Angeles, where he had just become a staff producer. Katz suggested that Becker and Fagen form a band as a way to record their songs, and Steely Dan -- who took their name from a dildo in William Burroughs' Naked Lunch -- was formed shortly afterward. (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic)

This album contains no booklet.