Steely Dan returns to The Beacon Theatre in October

Photo from the show in 2011 (*)

Yes, Steely Dan will do another set of shows at The Beacon, New York this October.
Six nights between the 15 and 22 with the tried and tested one album a night approach.

This time around the audience can enjoy hearing the following albums played from start to finish: Aja, The Royal Scam, The Nightfly and Gaucho with one night branded Greatest Hits and one called Popular Demand (a thinly disguised Greatest Hits evening).

Tickets go on sale Friday May 3. But if you are an American Express cardmember you can get your tickets Tuesday April 30.

More on the shows here:

https://steelydanofficial.com/#!/news/298361

(*) If you're curious about the September, 2011 show were we took the attached photo - and enjoyed the music - just go here:
https://radiodupree.blogspot.com/2011/09/steely-dan-rarities-night-september-17.html

Zappa bodyguard John Smothers dies

Frank Zappa's bodyguard John Smothers has passed away. Frank's son Ahmet told the news on WNST radio recently.

Smothers (b. 1930) was more than a bodyguard. Besides being an efficient guard he became a part of the folklore around Zappa much thanks to his strong personality and unique language. Zappa even wrote a song about him, Dong Work For Yuda.

Smothers is featured in Zappa's film Baby Snakes which was shot in 1977, and in We Don't Mess Around filmed in Austria 1978 where he also is interviewed. This is how he describes Zappa:

"He's one of the best guys I done worked for.  I done worked for the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sister Soul, Temptations, I done worked for them all in the last 22 years. Frank is about the be- about the best one."

Dweezil Zappa announces Hot Rats tour

Dweezil Zappa announces his Hot Rats tour with several European dates.
In September he will tour Canada and the US (mainly the east coast) and then it is off to Europe. 

Here are some of the European dates (list not complete):

Cirkus, Stockholm, Sweden, November 21
Konserthuset, Gothenburg, Sweden, November 24
Oslo, Norway, November 25
Århus, Denmark November 27
Amager bio, Copenhagen, November 28

London’s Royal Festival Hall, December 4
Manchester’s Palace Theatre December 5
Southampton’s O2 Guildhall December 6
Oxford’s New Theatre December 8
Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall December 9
Leeds’s Town Hall December 10
Birmingham’s Town Hall on December 11

Review: Premiere of the Zappa hologram tour

How good is the Zappa hologram tour? Here is a link to a review of the premiere night on April 19, 2019 in Port Chester, N.Y.
https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/04/live-review-frank-zappa-hologram-tour-kickoff-2019/?fbclid=IwAR3nauQ1vjLnrlFHCIl7YCJ_Ykv8MXbKLqR6f-RVmy79kKVxf27V3bci0PI

Former Pink Floyd members reunite on stage

What a surprise! Nick Mason and Roger Waters on stage together again. That was what happened yesterday on April 18 at The Beacon Theatre, N.Y.C.

The unexpected moment took place during a concert with drummer Nick Mason's band Saucerful of Secrets.
The person that filmed what happened describes it like this:

...as I was zooming on Nick I just heard the sudden "AAAAHHHH" and noticed out of the corner of my eye a tall black figure cross the stage!

Roger Waters entered the stage. He gave Nick Mason a big hug and performed Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun with Mason and the band.

Since Waters and the other Floyd members have not been on too friendly terms the last decades this must be seen as a historic Pink Floyd moment!

Donald Fagen: The producer. Peter More's "Shoulder"

Seven months ago the Donald Fagen produced album Beautiful Disrepair was released,
Now three more tracks from the recording sessions appear as an EP with the title track being Shoulder:



In this article in Rollings Stone Peter says that Donald Fagen was amazing to work with.

"He really thrives being in the studio and getting the most out of each guy in the room. He's such a fun person to work with 'cause he's so bright and he's so tasteful.
His ears are picking up on all sorts so stuff that sometimes you're not hearing at first -- anything from how he mic'd the drums or the amps to doing harmonies. But there's a certainly sort of ease to it because everybody's having a good time. It was sort of like a crash course in recording music for us."

Record Store Day 2019!

Just a friendly reminder that Saturday April 13 is Record Store Day 2019.

As usual a bunch of special limited  vinyl releases will be on offer. We've found a handful couple of records we'd like to get our hands on. Here's the complete list:

https://recordstoreday.com/SpecialReleases

Download a pdf of the list:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/recordstoreday/2019/2019_RSD_PUBLIC.pdf