Hey 19

[Shawn40]

Hi Peter,

Great story !!!
I'm a big fan of this kind of story, I remember touring with Joe, I was always asking him for some old good stories...
Like you know, he has a lot to say, for me it's very uplifting...

It's scaring that Donald and Walter felt the difference between 118 and 119 !!!
I must say, respect.

Thanks again for everything Peter and have fun in Scandinavian's countries.

Peace.

[BennyAndTheSkins]

Peter:
I'm surprised they could hear that subtle a tempo difference, as I've always thought that Dennis' tempos on Alive In America "breathed" a bit, shall we say.

I'd probably loose that gig, (like I'd ever get it in the first place!) because after seeing how they picked up on that tempo diff, I'd be compelled to see where else they could detect a 1bpm difference. I bet they wouldnt have detected it on a more uptempo piece like "I got The News".

Now that I think of it, Peter, it must have been daunting to have such metronomic eyes like that on you when you were playing "Third World Man". I've always thought your tempo/playing on that was superb. (And so did Fagen, as I remember his liner notes singling your playing out on that tune)

[Clintuplet]

That is wild. Thanks for sharing Peter. Are there any other artists that you've played with that share that scary talent/anal retentiveness? [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]eek.gif[/img]

[Klemme]

Originally posted by erskoman:
gymmy is correct: "Hey 19" is WENDEL (WENDL?) technology / Marotta sound, as told to me by Roger Nichols ....

Here's a story for you all ...

When we were rehearsing for the 1993 Steely Dan tour (for approx 3 1/2 weeks at SIR studios in New York), a lot of time and attention were dedicated to getting the "right" tempo for each tune. In fact, we would sometimes double up the metronome/click so we could experiment with such tempos as 119.5 ...! Anyway, "Hey 19" was finally set at a metronome setting of 118 bpm.

(I've told this story at quite a few clinics ...)

About 3 weeks into the tour, I noticed that the rest of the band seemed to be pushing a bit on "Hey 19," and I thought that, perhaps, a slightly brighter tempo might sit better ... and since I was responsible for the count-offs, I made an executive decision on my own to change the tempo from 118 to 119 bpm. Now ... take out your metronomes and check out the difference; it is subtle, I assure you.

So ,,, I changed the metronome setting for that tune, counted it off at 119, and off we went ... it seemed to feel good at the time; this was in Cincinatti.

The NEXT day, in St. Louis, Donald Fagen called up "Hey 19" during the soundcheck, and then both he and Waler Becker turned around and looked up at me on the drum riser and said "Oh yeah ... it felt kinda fast last night ..."

And I said "Wow ... I'm really impressed ..." And they queried "Did you do anything different?"

And I replied "Yeah ... I counted it off at 119 instead of 118 ..."

And they chuckled .. and said "Yeah .... DON'T DO THAT AGAIN."

Cheers,

PE

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You told that at a clinic in Copenhagen back in 2001 before a show with the Yamaha All Stars ( Mike Stern, Chris Minh Doky and yourself ).

At that clinic you told another great story abour approaching your count off and or counting in general. If you don't want me to qoute you it was something the "eating a sandwich" [img]smile.gif[/img]

BTW who was that trompet player who jammed in at the last three tunes who used a beer glass as a muffler? he was great, man the whole audience taled about this guy for months after that gig.
a
Btw. i'm converting that Gaucho thing over to Mp3, espect the whole album to be uploaded in the upcomming week.

Cheers ( A little Drunk )

[Randy walker]

[img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

[benrand]

Funny, I actually like that groove, same with Glamour Profession, it just fits the music.

That is my fave SD disc. Every song is a masterpiece.

[erskoman]

Answer: No, I think they knew it ... for a couple of possible reasons:

1. the band might have taken this ever-so-slight tempo adjustment and, overall, we may have pushed the tempo a bit brighter during the course of the song (though we were usually pretty well locked-in)
OR
2. (more likely) Donald could tell by singing the lyrics ... one thing I've learned is that, with singers, if the tempo is just the slightest bit "off" from what they're comfortable with, they notice it right away. Fagen probably felt a bit rushed in getting the words out, ergo, "it felt kind of fast" ... but I also do not doubt that Donald and Walter are both very keen when it comes to tempo!

A couple of corrections: the kind words about "Third World Man" in the "Alive in America' CD booklet were actually penned by Walter Becker. Also, despite their reputation for being "picky" about things, when it came to interpretation, both Donald and Walter were quite liberal with us ... in fact, Donald would try to ecnourage me to break away from some of the beats; try as I might, however, I could not think of anything better than what mssrs. Porcaro, Purdie et al played orginally! So, I just did my best to play things in their spirit and feel.

As I chronicle in my book "The Drum Perspective," I could do a fairly good imitation of some of Jeff's beats .... but it was only when I played with Boz Scaggs a couple of years later (alongside percussionist Lenny Castro), and I understood and approached the tune on its own merits, that I was able to sound "authentic," and wound up sounding more like Jeff (for example) than if I had TRIED to sound like Jeff (which, for me, is impossible because he was such a deep and heavy, i.e., "great" groove player and drummer). In other words, when the beat was "true," it felt right.

Hope that makes sense.

In any event ... "breathing" is a good thing, and metronomic time is not all that important in the cosmic scheme of things. Like we used to say in the 60s: "If it feels good ... do it." (or, like we used to say in the 70s: "If it feels good ... overdo it." Unfortunately ... a lot of us did).

Cheers and good health to you all; greetings from Denmark.

Peter E

[peter c]

Thanks, Pete.

In the context of the singers (Donald),
what you say rings true and I am actually
surprised that I did not think of it.

When I rehearse with singers (usual), I
constantly hear them talking about the
tempo and I'm always listening, even if
they aren't making sense. I'm USUALLY
holding everyone down (back). The rare
times that the band is rushing, they
(singers) almost always mention that
they can't get the words out.

You are the best, Pete. I feel like a
million dollars every time you post.

Thanks so much.

[img]cool.gif[/img]

[peter c]

Question for Ersko:

Pete - I played it both ways. I
can't believe they can know the
difference from 118 to 119.

Let me ask you, do you think
they know it or that they just
found out from another band
member that you counted it off
at 119?

[img]cool.gif[/img]

[drumaddix]

"soon,you'll throw down your disguise...we'll see behind those bright eyes.
by and by when the sidewalks are safe,for the little guy."

amazing.just amazing.
i know this thread is about "hey 19" but "third world man" is a masterpiece.

Erskoman,you're one lucky musician for you had a chance to play some of the finest music of all time with those cats.(among many others)

as i said in another post,i could just play with da 'dan once in my life,and die a happy man. [img]tongue.gif[/img]