Aja (album)

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Aja (pronounced the same as "Asia") is an album by the rock band Steely Dan. The album was named after the Korean wife of Fagen's friend's brother. Originally released in 1977, it became the group's best-selling album. Topping at #3 on the U.S. charts and #5 in the United Kingdom, it was the band's first platinum album, eventually going platinum twice. In July 1978, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording. It has sold over 20 million copies worldwide.

The album is considered to be quite ambitious and sophisticated. The eight minute-long title track features complex jazz-based changes and a solo by renowned saxophonist Wayne Shorter, as well as dextrous drum work by drummer Steve Gadd -- most notably at the end of the tune.

Aja is also the subject of one of the Classic Albums series of documentaries about the making of famous albums. The documentary includes a song-by-song study of the album (the only one not included is "I Got the News"--which is actually played during the closing credits), interviews with Becker & Fagen (among others) plus live in the studio versions of songs from the album and the opportunity to hear some of the rejected (but not credited to protect the egos of the guilty) guitar solos for "Peg" before Jay Graydon produced the satisfactory take.

Track listing

All songs written by Becker and Fagen.

1. "Black Cow" – 5:10
2. "Aja" – 7:57
3. "Deacon Blues" – 7:37
4. "Peg" – 3:57
5. "Home at Last" – 5:34
6. "I Got the News" – 5:06
7. "Josie" – 4:33

Personnel

• Walter Becker - bass, guitar, electric guitar, vocals
• Chuck Rainey - bass
• Timothy B. Schmit - bass, vocals
• Donald Fagen - synthesizer, keyboards, vocals, background vocals, whistle
• Paul Griffin - keyboards, electric piano, vocals, background vocals
• Don Grolnick - keyboards, clavinet
• Michael Omartian - piano, keyboards
• Joe Sample - keyboards, electric piano, clavinet
• Larry Carlton - guitar, electric guitar
• Denny Dias - guitar
• Jay Graydon - guitar, electric guitar
• Steve Khan - guitar
• Dean Parks - guitar
• Lee Ritenour - guitar
• Pete Christlieb - flute, tenor saxophone
• Chuck Findley - horn, brass
• Jim Horn - flute, saxophone
• Richard Hyde - trombone
• Slyde Hyde - brass
• Plas Johnson - flute, saxophone
• Jackie Kelso - flute, horn, saxophone
• Lou McCreary - brass
• Bill Perkins - flute, horn, saxophone
• Tom Scott - conductor, flute, tenor saxophone, lyricon
• Wayne Shorter - flute, tenor saxophone
• Bernard Purdie - drums
• Steve Gadd - drums (on Aja)
• Ed Greene - drums (on "I got the News")
• Paul Humphrey - drums
• Jim Keltner - percussion, drums
• Rick Marotta - drums
• Gary Coleman - percussion
• Victor Feldman - percussion, piano, keyboards, electric piano, vibraphone
• Venetta Fields - vocals, background vocals
• Clydie King - vocals, background vocals
• Rebecca Louis - vocals, background vocals
• Shirley Matthews - vocals, background vocals
• Michael McDonald - vocals, background vocals

Production

• Producer: Gary Katz
• Engineers: Roger Nichols, Elliot Scheiner, Al Schmitt, Bill Schnee
• Assistant engineers: Joe Bellamy, Lenise Bent, Ken Klinger, Ron Pangaliman, Ed Rack, Linda Tyler
• Mastering: Bernie Grundman
• Production coordination: Barbara Miller
• Sound consultant: Dinky Dawson
• Consultant: Daniel Levitin
• Horn arrangements: Tom Scott
• Art direction: Vartan Reissue
• Design: Geoff Westen
• Photography: Walter Becker
• Liner notes: Walter Becker, Donald Fagen
• Reissue coordination: Beth Stempel

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1977	Pop Albums	3

Pop Singles

Year	Single	Label & number	Position
1978	"Peg" (B-side: "I Got the News")	ABC 12320	11
1978	"Deacon Blues" (B-side: "Home at Last")	ABC 12355	19
1978	"Josie" (B-side: "Black Cow")	ABC 12404	26

Awards

Grammy Awards

Year	Winner	Category
1977	Aja	Best Engineered Recording, Non Classical

In Popular Culture

New Jersey pop-punk band The Ergs! recorded a song called "Aja" on their EP Jersey's Best Prancers. The song contained the lyrics: "I met a girl named Aja, she said her dad loved Steely Dan. I laughed and asked her if her sister's name was Katy." The song ends repeating those lyrics, but "Katy" is replaced with "Pretzel Logic", references to the Steely Dan albums Katy Lied and Pretzel Logic.

External links

• Complete lyrics

References

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Last updated on Tuesday February 26, 2008 at 18:57:17 PST (GMT -0800)
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