Pretzel Logic

***Pretzel Logic*** is the third studio album by the band Steely Dan, released on February 20, 1974 by ABC Records. It is the final album to feature the quintet Steely Dan with guitarists Jeff "Skunk" Baxter and Denny Dias and drummer Jim Hodder. After this album, the only band members would become the keyboardist and vocalist Donald Fagen and bassist / guitarist Walter Becker, the two sole songwriters of the group. They would utilize many session musicians for the rest of their records. The album spawned the hit single "Rikki Don't Lose That Number".

## Background

After risking it with jazzier compositions on their sophomore release *Countdown to Ecstasy* and failing, the band realized to survive in the musical landscape, they had to make a more rock / blues inspired album. The result was *Pretzel Logic*, an album that features many shorter songs than less longer songs. Some of the songs on this record are from the Pre-Dan Demos, including "Parker's Band", "Charlie Freak", and "Barrytown". This album also features an extremely popular song titled "Rikki Don't Lose That Number".

This album marks Fagen and Becker becoming the defining members of Steely Dan, hiring many Los Angeles session musicians for the album (but mostly for overdubs). Drummer Jim Hodder was replaced by two session drummers, Jim Gordon and Jeff Porcaro and reduced to a backup singer.

## Music and Lyrics

As previously stated, the album draws on more blues and rock influences than jazz, but there are still many jazz influences. The song "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" features a Latin bass line most famously used in Horace Silver's "Song For My Father", "Night By Night" features a jazz chord progression and a horn section, "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" is a Duke Ellington composition that features a wah-wah guitar as a trumpet, and "Parker's Band" is about and is inspired by the saxophonist Charlie Parker.

The album is considered in a trilogy of albums from 1973 to 1975 including *Countdown to Ecstasy*, *Pretzel Logic*, and *Katy Lied*, all connected lyrically. It features classic Steely Dan cynicism but also features more Country-Western influence, such on songs like "With A Gun", "Monkey in Your Soul", "Barrytown", and "Any Major Dude Will Tell You". The album is all over the place at times - "Night By Night" is a hard rocker with horns galore and distorted guitar, and then the next track "Any Major Dude Will Tell You" is a soft folk ballad. "Pretzel Logic" is a blues rock jam, and "Through With Buzz" is... there.

## Packaging and Marketing

The cover photo features a picture of a pretzel vendor in New York taken by Raeanne Rubenstein. The photo was taken at the west side of Fifth Avenue and 79th Street, above the road through Central Park, at an entrance called "Miners' Gate".

*Pretzel Logic* was released and sold very well, better than *Countdown to Ecstasy*, but fans were not that kind to it due to its nature to switch sounds suddenly and quickly, unlike other Steely Dan releases. Critics, however, loved the record (NME called it the best album of 1974) and gave it that boost in sales. The high sales certified it gold about a week after release, a very fast time for 1974. It launched the radio staple "Rikki Don't Lose That Number". However, sales halted because fans disliked the record. It was certified platinum in 1993.

## Track listing

All songs written by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker except "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" by Duke Ellington and Bubber Miley.

1. "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" **– 4:31**
2. "Night By Night" **– 3:38**
3. "Any Major Dude Will Tell You" **– 3:07**
4. "Barrytown" **– 3:21**
5. "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" **– 2:47**
6. "Parker's Band" **– 2:43**
7. "Through With Buzz" **– 1:32**
8. "Pretzel Logic" **– 4:31**
9. "With A Gun" **– 2:17**
10. "Charlie Freak" **– 2:43**
11. "Monkey in Your Soul" **– 2:34**

## Personnel

**Steely Dan**

* Donald Fagen – vocals, keyboards, saxophone
* Walter Becker – bass, electric guitar, backing vocals
* Jeff "Skunk" Baxter – electric guitar, pedal steel guitar
* Denny Dias – electric guitar
* Jim Hodder – backing vocals on "Parker's Band"

**Session Musicians**

* Michael Omartian – piano, keyboards
* David Palch – piano, keyboards
* Ben Benay – guitar
* Dean Parks – guitar, banjo
* Pias Johnson – saxophone
* Jerome Richardson – saxophone
* Ernie Watts – saxophone
* Ollie Mitchel – trumpet
* Lew McCreary – trombone
* Timothy B. Schmit – backing vocals on "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", "Night By Night", and "Pretzel Logic"
* Wilton Felder – bass
* Chuck Rainey – bass
* Jim Gordon – drums except on "Night By Night"
* Jeff Porcaro – drums on "Night By Night" and "Parker's Band"
* Victor Feldman – percussion
* Roger Nichols – gong on "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo"