Pretzel Logic

Pretzel Logicis the third studio album by American rock bandSteely Dan, released on February 20, 1974, byABC Records. It was recorded atthe Village RecorderinWest Los Angeles, California, with producerGary Katz. The album was Steely Dan's last to be made and released while the group was still an active touring band, as well as the final album to feature the band's full quintet-lineup of Becker, Fagen,Denny Dias,Jim Hodder, andJeff "Skunk" Baxter(who subsequently left to jointhe Doobie Brothers), though it also features significant contributions from many prominent Los Angeles-basedstudio musicians.
A commercial and critical success, the album's hit single, "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", helped restore Steely Dan's radio presence after the disappointing performance of theirprevious album.Pretzel Logicwas reissued on CD in 1987, and remastered in 1999, to retrospective critical acclaim.
Like Steely Dan's previous albums,Pretzel Logicwas recorded atthe Village RecorderinWest Los Angeles,produced byGary Katz, and written primarily byWalter Beckerand bandleaderDonald Fagen, who also sang and played keyboard.The album marked the beginning of Becker and Fagen's roles as the principal members of Steely Dan, and the pair enlisted prominent Los Angeles-based studio musicians to record numerousoverdubs.Jim Hodder, Steely Dan's founding drummer, was reduced to a background singer on the album, which instead features drummerJim Gordonon most tracks, withJeff Porcaroplaying on two tracks.In addition to playing guitar,Jeff "Skunk" Baxtercan be heard playingpedal steel guitarand somehand drums.After costs grew prohibitive at the Village Recorder, the project was moved to the newCherokee Studiosin the distantChatsworthneighborhood ofSan Fernando Valley.
Pretzel Logiccontains shorter songs and fewer instrumental jams than Steely Dan's previous album,Countdown to Ecstasy(1973),as the group had decided to attempt to produce complete musical statements within the three-minutepop-song format.Music criticRobert Christgauwrote that the album's solos are "functional rather than personal or expressive, locked into the workings of the music".
The music on the album is characterized byharmonies,counter-melodies, andbopphrasing,and often relies on straightforwardpopinfluences.Thesyncopatedpiano line that opens "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" develops into a pop melody, and the title track transitions from abluessong to a jazzy chorus.
Steely Dan often incorporated jazz into their music during the 1970s.For example, on this album, "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" appropriates the bass pattern fromHorace Silver's 1965 song "Song for My Father",and "Parker's Band" features riffs influenced byCharlie Parkerand a lyric that invites listeners to "take a piece of Mr. Parker's band."Baxter's guitar playing drew on jazz androck and rollinfluences, and on the instrumental cover ofDuke Ellington's "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo", he recreates a classicTricky Sam Nantontrombone solo on pedal steel. On that same track, Walter Becker uses talk box guitar to recreateJames "Bubber" Miley's famous plunger-muted trumpet melody. Certain songs on the album incorporate additional instrumentation, including exotic percussion, violin sections, bells, and horns.Victor Feldmanplayed aflapambasolo to introduce the song "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" on the album, but this intro was removed from the single release upon orders from Geffen Records.
"Charlie Freak" recounts the tale of a vagrant drug-addict who sells his only possession—a gold ring—to the narrator so he can buy a fix, which kills him.
The album's cover photo featuring a New Yorkpretzelvendor was taken byRaeanne Rubenstein,a photographer of musicians and Hollywood celebrities.She took the photo on the west side ofFifth Avenueand79th Street, just above the 79th Street Transverse (the road throughCentral Park), at the park entrance called "Miners' Gate".
Pretzel Logicwas released byABC Recordson February 20, 1974,and it sold well.In the United States, it charted at number 8 on theBillboard200and became Steely Dan's third album to be certifiedGoldby theRecording Industry Association of America(RIAA).After the disappointing performance of the singles fromCountdown to Ecstasy, the album restored the group's radio presence with the single "Rikki Don't Lose That Number",which became the biggest pophitof their career, peaking at number four on theBillboardHot 100.On September 7, 1993,Pretzel Logicwas certifiedPlatinumby the RIAA, recognizing the shipment of one million copies in the U.S.
The album received critical praise at the time of its release.Bud Scoppa ofRolling Stonemagazine called the album's "wonderfully fluid ensemble sound" unprecedented in popular music, and said the ambiguous lyrics "create an emotionally charged atmosphere, and the best are quite affecting."Down Beatasserted that "there are no better rock recording groups in America, and damn few worldwide."Robert Christgaufound the album innovative, writing inCreem: "The music can be called jazzy without implying an insult, and Donald Fagen and Walter Becker are the real world's answer toRobert HunterandJerry Garcia."In a mixed review, Noel Coppage ofStereo Reviewwas impressed by the music on the album, but said that "the lyrics baffle me; maybe they know what they're talking about, but I can't get a clue."
At the end of 1974,Pretzel Logicwas namedNMEmagazine'salbum of the year.It was also voted the second-best album of 1974 in thePazz & Jop, an annual poll of prominent critics published byThe Village Voice.Christgau, who created the Pazz & Jop, rankedPretzel Logicnumber one on his own year-end list,and later wrote that the album encapsulated Steely Dan's "chewy perversity as aptly as its title", with vocals by Fagen that "seem like thegolden meanof pop ensemble singing, stripped of histrionics and displays of technique, almost [...] sincere, modest."
InThe All-Music Guide to Rock(1995), Rick Clark gave the album five stars out of five and wrote that, "OnPretzel LogicSteely Dan most successfully synthesized their love for jazz into their dense pop/rock sound."Allmusic'sStephen Thomas Erlewinecalled the album Steely Dan's "richest", and wrote that Becker and Fagen's songwriting was "seamless while remaining idiosyncratic and thrillingly accessible."Patrick McKay ofStylus Magazinecalled the album "superb", and noted that it found Becker and Fagen "relying instead on crack studio musicians that could realize their increasingly complex compositions".Rob Sheffield, writing inThe Rolling Stone Album Guide(2004), said that, when makingPretzel Logic, "Steely Dan's songwriting and Fagen's singing were at their peak of fluid power: The whole album is flawless".
Pretzel Logichas appeared on retrospective "greatest albums" lists. In 1994, it was voted number 67 inColin Larkin's bookAll Time Top 1000 Albums, with Larkin calling the album's mix of jazz, R&B, and pop styles "highly inventive" and "greater than the sum of its parts";it fell to number 292 in the update of the ranking from the year 2000.In 2003, the album was ranked number 385 onRolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time";it dropped one position, to number 386, on the 2012 update of the list.The album was also included in the book1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.