Donald Fagen's Step-daughter, Says He Has Retired From Touring

Amy Helm, the daughter of Donald Fagen's wife Libby Titus, is currently hosting Donald at her home in the Catskills.

She has taken over her father, Levon Helm's, Midnight Ramble.

When she tries to promote some of the shows, she shoots videos in her car, and who turns up in the passenger seat? Donald Fagen!

She was interviewed by Vulture, regarding Donald, and she actually mentioned that Donald was living with her in the Helm family home, in Woodstock.

“We’ve been playing a lot of music. He’s enjoying his retirement,” adds Helm, a singer and songwriter who organizes the ongoing series of concerts known as the Helm Family Midnight Ramble.

“He’s playing piano and singing the occasional rock-and-roll cover with our family band at the Midnight Ramble, and we’re having a great time,” she says. “He’s working on music with my son as well. They’re working on an album, and that’s been fun. So it’s a nice time for the family.”

Helm says that Fagen has no plans to perform with Steely Dan, explaining, “Right now he’s really enjoying being retired and not having any expectations or pressure. We drive around, we listen to music, and he picks fun covers for us to try at the Midnight Ramble. He’s just enjoying the downtime, but I guess you never know.”

Helm gave Vulture the update after some Instagram videos she posted to promote the Midnight Ramble went viral simply because Fagen was seen in the background.

“All of a sudden friends were texting me and letting me know that it was really resonating with Steely Dan fans,” Helm tells Vulture. She adds, “Someone asked him what he thought about having a viral moment, and he said, ‘We must really have our finger on the pulse of the nation.''

You can read the entire interview HERE.

Kawai

If you have ever had to deal with an institutionalized person, this book will resonate with you.

Kawai is the only son of Walter Becker, of Steely Dan.

His ex-wife, Elinor, and he have to deal with their young son, who overdosed in New York.

Being Walter lives in NYC, they place him in an institution in New Jersey, so that he can occasionally visit him.

His mother, Elinor, wants to bring him home to Maui.

She feels that he will get better care there.

So one day, she steals him, and brings him home to Maui.

It's a heartbreaking story, but I am glad I spent the time to read it.

You can buy the book, HERE.

Steely Dan At The KIA Forum 1/5/24

Steely Dan is opening for The Eagles Farewell Tour this year.

As I have said before, I refuse to spend hundreds of dollars to see a one hour show. Tickets were at least $177 a person, when checking the price.

The only thing that bothers me, is the fact that Donald Fagen had surgery in late 2023 and had to miss November and December's concert dates.

I, of course, watched this entire concert, just to see how he had recovered.

I am glad to say, he seemed in fine shape, and that made me very happy.

Here is the setlist, of this performance. Note, the clip is missing the band open, and the band closing number.

Setlist for Steely Dan 1/5/24

Josie

Hey Nineteen

Aja

Kid Charlemagne

Dirty Work

Time Out of Mind

Rikki Don't Lose That Number

Peg

My Old School

Reelin' in the Years

You can view it HERE.

It is almost exactly 1 hour long.

A Remastered Listen To "The Second Arrangement"

From Dan Belcher, a remastered version of the never released The Second Arrangement from the infamous September 17, 2011 rarities concert at the Beacon Theater.

Ah, how technology has improved over the past decade. :-)

I have mentioned this concert many times over the years.

It was probably the absolute best Steely Dan concert I ever saw and as you know (if you know me at all) I have seen a lot of Steely Dan concerts.

Don flubs the final chorus of the song, but minus that small imperfection, a great rendition that the fans can see all these years later.

A High Quality Reissue Of Steely Dan Albums

I am not a audiophile at all, but there is lots of talk going on in the Steely Dan world right now, in regard to a high quality reissue of the 9 Steely Dan albums.

November 4th is the release date for the first album: Can't Buy A Thrill.

Each one is $150, which means that it will be over $1000 for the 9 album set.

You are not getting something for nothing.

You can read more, in THIS article.

5 Years Later, Missing You Walter

It has been 5 years since we lost Walter Becker and though I am glad he missed COVID-19, it has been hard without him.

Donald Fagen goes out performing to this day, but it is not totally the same without his partner.

Many have joined Walter in the big jam in the sky, including his son, Kawai, who died in February of 2021.

I wish them well, together once again.

Nightfly: The Life of Steely Dan's Donald Fagen

A friend of mine who is into music, got me some info that I had not yet seen on Steely Dan boards.

Peter Jones is publishing a full book about the life of Donald Fagen.

Being I have heard nothing about it, I hesitate to recommend it, but I will be watching what happens around September 13th.

Is it the same things we hear about all the time, or is there something new that is worth the large investment.

You can make up your own mind by checking it out on Amazon, HERE.

Steely Dan Tour Taken Down By COVID-19 Protocols

The big news on Thursday was the cancelation of the remainder of the Florida part of the Steely Dan Tour.

As a matter of fact, they also canceled the stop in South Carolina, which makes it the next 5 tour stops and a total of 10 days.

They have been fighting positive COVID-19 tests for several weeks and it just got to the point where too much of the band was positive.

From what I heard, a positive test even knocked out the guitar tech, the man who keeps all the guitars going.

We know nothing about Donald Fagen himself, but people who have been quarantined over the past few weeks are Carolyn Leonhardt (who has been back stage singing behind Plexiglas). We also think that Keith Carlock has been stricken, because he has been wearing a mask up on the drum stand. Imagine trying to drum with a mask on.

I had noticed that both guitarists were masked recently and I showed that to my Husband. Though I think that may have been preventive, since neither of them sing.

Some of these dates have been canceled before, back in late 2021.

Glad we were tour day 3 and got to see them, finally.

Joni Mitchell's Carey (Performed By Steely Dan)

21 years ago, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker (among many other performers) were asked to contribute a song for a Joni Mitchell album.

They chose the song, Carey.

When the tribute album came out in 2007, the cut was missing because (reportedly) Joni did not like it.

Guess what turned up on my Facebook group Thursday? Carey. (Click the link)

Never having heard the Joni Mitchell song, on first listen, it is all Steely Dan in the EMG era.

Can't wait til I have time to listen to it again.

Steely Dan At The Hollywood Bowl: May 27, 2022

Here was the Setlist for the Hollywood Bowl Concert and a few thoughts.

Phantom Raiders (Stanley Wilson cover) Intro

Night by night

Hey 19

Black Friday

Aja

Kid Charlemagne

Home At Last

Green Flower Street

Time Out Of Mind

Babylon Sisters

Green Earrings

FM

Dirty Work (Danettes)

Bodhisattva

Keep That Same Old Feeling (Crusaders cover) Band Intros

Peg

My Old School

Reeling In The Years (encore)

A Man Ain’t Supposed To Cry (Joe Williams cover) Outro

Quick thoughts on the concert.

Adam Rogers was a masterful choice for the second guitarist. He was doing an excellent job replacing his friend, Walter Becker. Great technique and he went places with his solos. I wasn't happy to have lost Conner Kennedy, but Adam was a great replacement.

Snarky Puppy, the opening act, were great! I really enjoyed them, but missed lyrics in songs.

Some of the extended openings and mid sections were pretty wild. Adam Rogers was a part of that, I think. Green Flower Street comes to mind.

Donald did well with the songs but seemed a bit lost when he had to speak between songs. Almost like he didn't know how to put into words the things he was feeling about being in a town he had spent a decade creating these songs in. It truly must bring up memories for him. Many of them, not good.

From the setlist I had, they ended up pulling Josie and put in FM. It was a straight up version of the song and was probably added for the LA audience.

The two year hiatus did not do the band any good and it did not do the audience any good. We have changed and they have changed. We won't get that innocence back.

They were happy to give us what they could and it was a solid show.