Walter Becker

Once upon a time, I was in a band.

No laughing at the back.

We were ok, as student bands go. We played a brand of jazz, and later a brand of funk, and occasionally a brand of jazz-funk. Our small group of faithful followers enjoyed what we did, and it was all enormous fun.

We fancied, I think, that we were somewhat better and cooler than we actually were. We were 19. Bless.

Our musical tastes were … eclectic. Robert, about whom I wrote a few months ago, came at it all from a curious mixture of Benjamin Britten, Oscar Peterson, Yes and Spinal Tap. Our bassist Femi, properly brilliant whether on the huge upright double bass or his slender fretless, injected a blend of Jaco Pastorius, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Mark King and Spinal Tap.

I, only too aware of the fate of Spinal Tap’s drummers, was content merely to survive.

We dressed, in a wincingly self-conscious way, in dark suits and thin ties. We aimed for Marsalis-esque sophistication. We missed.

Then we gained a member. David, known for reasons lost in the mists of time, as ‘Bubba’. Trumpet and, later, vocals. Ménage à Trois became quatre.

Bubba appeared one day with an album.

‘This,’ he said, ‘is the business.’

We mocked. For the album in question was Donald Fagen’s Nightfly.

We were 19. Always remember that.

I knew about Donald Fagen, but, for reasons that are now utterly bewildering, had dismissed him. The same went for the recently dispersed Steely Dan, the band he formed with Walter Becker.

David bore our mockery well. He’s that kind of person.

Time passed, I grew up a teensy tiny bit, and somewhere somewhen I heard a Steely Dan track.

Scales. Eyes. Falling.

I listened. And listened. And listened. I never looked back.

Walter Becker died today. I apologise to him for my appalling ignorance. Bubba, I apologise to you too. You were so so right.

Now listen to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xaw0oDqDFlY

And this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgYuLsudaJQ&list=PLsivMY0UPVaGbghmzO8C9OhCjae-ufs0K

And this (maybe skip the first fifteen seconds).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea3Bofkmwlc

And this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lq-1pJaygQ

And this:

You get the idea. R.I.P. Walter Becker.

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