Nightfly: The Life of Steely Dan's Donald Fagen

by Peter Jones

Overview

Donald Fagen will forever be associated with Steely Dan, the band he formed with Walter Becker and four other musicians in 1972.

The smooth, radio-friendly veneer of the duo's songs made Steely Dan internationally popular and famous in the 1970s, but the polish glossed over the underlying layers of anger, disappointment, sleaze, and often downright weirdness lurking just beneath the surface. The elliptical lyrics were—and continue to be—an endless source of fascination. What kind of person was capable of writing such songs?

Fagen has always kept his true self hidden behind walls of irony, confounding most journalistic enquiries with a mixture of obscurity and sarcasm. Nightfly cracks open the door to reveal the life behind the lyrics and traces Fagen's story from early family life in suburban New Jersey, to his first encounter with Walter Becker at Bard College, their long struggle for recognition as songwriters, and the formation of Steely Dan. The band's break-up in 1981, re-formation in 1993, and Fagen's parallel solo career are covered in detail.

Author Peter Jones seeks to explain the public's continuing fascination with Fagen's music, both in collaboration with Becker and as a solo artist.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780897332576
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/24/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	404
Sales rank:	813,500
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Peter Jones is a jazz musician, journalist, and author. His two recent books are This Is Hip: The Life of Mark Murphy and This Is Bop: Jon Hendricks and the Art of Vocal Jazz. He performs regularly at jazz clubs in his hometown of London and throughout the UK.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Somewhere Between a Nerd and a Schmendrick

2. It Had to Pass for Straight

3. This Is Not a Democracy

4. Isn’t It Wonderful What You Can Do with Technology These Days?

5. You Go Too Far, There’s No One There to Stop You

6. Next Time, I’ll Bring the Thumbscrews

7. The Howard Hughes of Music

8. You’re Already Dressed in Black

Coda: A Single Stockholder

Appendix: Writing Songs the Fagen/Becker Way

Editorial Reviews

06/27/2022

Music journalist Jones (This Is Bop) presents a warts-and-all look at the life of Donald Fagen, cofounder of the legendary rock band Steely Dan. Born in New Jersey in 1948, Fagen came of age in the suburbs of South Brunswick and, at age 10, began “constructing elaborate defenses against his uncongenial surroundings” through music to escape the “wasteland of mud concrete.” From this came the “noir”-like songwriting that Steely Dan became known for, wherein baffled protagonists decried being trapped in trying and painful situations. Fagen’s passion for music led him to form bands while a student at Bard College, where he met Walter Becker and formed Steely Dan in 1970. As Jones traces the arc of Fagen’s career—which included a breakup with Becker in 1981, a subsequent reunion, and performing solo following Becker’s death in 2017—he does a solid job of conveying the marvel of Fagen’s music, but he sometimes has a tendency to get in the weeds, as when, in one section, he describes the tedious mechanics of a certain type of audio tape. Fagen doesn’t emerge with a halo, with Jones reporting on a 2016 domestic violence arrest that the writer explains was symptomatic of Fagen’s simmering rage over the years. Still, Fagen fans will find this detailed account a worthy complement to the singer’s own memoir, Eminent Hipsters. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"In Nightfly, Peter Jones has done an impeccable job illuminating one of music’s most mercurial and mysterious figures. Exhaustive research, rich storytelling and keen observations make this a must-read not just for Fagen fans and Steely Dan devotees, but any music fans that relish compelling inside stories from the vinyl era. A comprehensive, critical biography that will also help you listen to classic albums like Pretzel Logic, Katy Lied, Aja and others with fresh new ears." —Chris Epting, author of James Dean Died Here and other books

"Nightfly is a must-read for every Steely Dan fan. In this book Peter Jones covers all aspects of Donald Fagen’s career, both with his band Steely Dan and as a solo artist. I am amazed at the level of detail in the descriptions of the recording sessions and the analyses of the lyrics of the songs. There is no doubt Jones has put a lot of work into doing accurate research. Being an avid film noir buff myself, I can only agree with Peter’s note, 'Steely Dan were the closest thing in rock music to film noir.'" —Jay Graydon, Grammy–award winning songwriter and musician

"Fagen fans will find this detailed account a worthy complement to the singer’s own memoir, Eminent Hipsters."—Publishers Weekly

"Jones is a fitting writer to discuss Steely Dan’s and Fagen’s work given his own musicianship and jazz knowledge, as so much of the group’s song catalogue was founded upon jazz fundamentals. He clearly has a lot of passion for Fagen’s work, and for Steely Dan’s too, and presents a portrait of the band as we know it to be—consisting of Fagen and Becker who used a slew of talented LA session players to carry out their compositional will—no matter how many instrumentalists’ egos they bruised and hundreds of studio hours they used in the process—and produced some of the most classic and unique records of the 1970s as a result." - The Vinyl District

"Jones, a jazz singer himself, has stitched together a colourful story from scant first-hand material. He is at his sharpest appraising the albums and their legendarily lush production, informed by his musician’s ear." - All About Jazz

"In Nightfly, Peter Jones has done a great service to fans and admirers of Steely Dan and Donald Fagen. And it’s a thrill that they can buy." - The Houston Press

From the Publisher

08/26/2022

As half of Steely Dan (with the late Walter Becker), Donald Fagen has been making highly intelligent, idiosyncratic, and original music for more than 50 years. Jones (This Is Hip) chronicles Fagen's life—a true postmodernist whose upbeat music and downbeat attitudes became a hallmark of the 1970s hits. The author's thorough and readable book follows Fagen from his early years growing up in suburban New Jersey to meeting Becker at Bard College and their formation of Steely Dan. Eventually, they eschewed live performances and concentrated on making studio albums that relied on increasing perfectionism. The author details the creation and reception of classic albums such as Aja, and he examines their lyrics. Fagen made solo recordings when Steely Dan disbanded, before reuniting as live performers in the mid-1990s and making two more albums at the turn of the 21st century. Later in the book, the sections become a comprehensive but somewhat exhaustive chronicle of live dates and studio sessions that will probably appeal only to real Fagen aficionados. VERDICT Utilizing a wide variety of resources and some author interviews, Jones's book is an exemplary examination of Fagen's music and life and will appeal to Steely Dan fans.—James Collins

Library Journal