Dirty Work: The Oral History of Recording with Steely Dan – Part VII
The pressure and the perfectionism ramp up during the Gaucho sessions.
What follows is Part VII of “Dirty Work,” my oral history of recording with Steely Dan. (Read the introduction, Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, and Part VI.) Only paid subscribers to Expanding Dan get access to all seven parts.
Part VII: Feeling the Pressure
Elliot Scheiner: Aja took a long time to make. But Gaucho took way longer, and they spent a lot more money. The difference was this time they were not settling for anything.
Elliott Randall: In their minds, there was pressure to follow Aja. They just wanted to excel more and more as time went on.
Rick Marotta: When they came to me to do Gaucho, I said, “Naaah.” I didn't wanna play a million takes that would never get on the record. Some of the musicians we worked with would come in and noodle around, but I’d focus so quickly, I’d wear myself out really fast. I would go fucking crazy because we would do a few takes and Hugh McCracken would still be tuning his guitar. So Donald said, “How about just the two of us play.” In one afternoon, he and I cut the drum tracks for “Time Out of Mind” and “Hey Nineteen.”