This is the first of several Steely Dan tracks that I will be releasing in 2016.
Plenty of melody and emotion to hang your hat on in this tune. I opt for a nice clean 'American' sound to get my Ovation Breadwinner over. Another from the Aja album.
The Steelys are nothing, if not commercial. "Black Cow" was written by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, the co-front, core members of the band Steely Dan. It was released as the B-side of the single version of "Josie," which reached #26 on the US Hot 100. Two other singles released from the same album charted even better.
Note the deceptively simple disco-era instrumental starting out with a bass line and drums, then sneaking in layers of complexity with saxophone accompaniment and an electric piano solo. Steely Dan made a name for themselves for having highly polished productions. It was considered nothing special for them to take a year and dozens of session musicians to produce an album of less than ten songs.
Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz sampled the intro for their rap "Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)"
Speaking extra praise for Aja's perfectionism, it won the 1978 Grammy Award for Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording. Not only was Aja certified platinum, it was also one of the first to go platinum.
Theories as to what this song means: Take your pick of a troubled relationship, an ode to self-doubt, a commentary on nightlife, a reference to Hindu culture (cows are sacred), or it could be about Thelonious Monk, the American jazz composer who is often regarded as the father of bebop.
Do you have the multitrack masters for "Black Cow"? If so, Donald Fagen will apparently give you a $600 reward, since their copy went missing. For this reason, remastering the album as a Super Audio CD has been put on hold indefinitely. Sounds cheap to me!
