Katy Lied

Release type:What's this?
studio album
First released:
1975

Overview Edit

Katy Lied is the fourth album by Steely Dan, originally released in 1975 by ABC Records. It went gold and peaked at #13 on the US charts. The single "Black Friday" also charted at #37.

It is also notable for the first appearance of singer Michael McDonald on a Steely Dan album. The album cover features a picture of a katydid, a type of cricket. This is most likely a pun on the album's title, although a lyric in the song "Doctor Wu" mentions "Katy tried, I was halfway crucified", and "Katy lies, you can see it in her eyes," which could very well be what the album's title refers to. Jeff Porcaro, then only 21 years old, played all drums on the album apart from "Any World (That I'm Welcome To)", which features legendary session drummer Hal Blaine.

Band members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were not happy with the album's sound quality due to an equipment malfunction with the dbx noise reduction system. They refused to listen to the completed album. However, to most audiophiles and fans of the group it is difficult, if not impossible, to hear the alleged sound imperfections. It is now considered one of Becker and Fagen's most important records, both musically and technologically.

The album was re-issued by MCA Records after ABC Records was bought by MCA in 1979.

The Overview appearing in this section is attributed to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katy_Lied. Portions of this Overview may be available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, version 3.0 or any later version, available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Additional terms may apply. See Wikipedia Terms of Use for details.

This particular version Edit

Record label:
Catalog number:
11916
Release dates:
  • May 18 1999 in United States

Genres

Classic Rock, Fusion, Rock. Vote on Genres

What do Amazon.com customers think?

5 stars One Of the Best Albums Ever Recorded
By 1975, Steely Dan had abandoned touring and reconvened in L.A. to wring songs of confusion, loss, mayhem, and strange lust out of a new Bosendorfer and some ace studio musicians. The cryptic lyrics of such songs as "Dr Wu," and "Rose Darling" shimmer as in a dream amongst the syncopation and searing guitar work (just who is Snake Mary?). Although these are all rock songs, they are arranged and played in a jazz idiom for the backing tracks, giving Steely Dan their unique soundworld.

Walter Beck…
Written by Mark D Burgh "Music, Writing, Art, Film, History Freak"
3 stars The greatest tragedy of the decade
Katy Lied could have been the greatest album that Steely Dan ever recorded. After all, it represented a considerable refinement over Pretzel Logic in terms of songwriting. "Bad Sneakers", "Rose Darling", the fabulous "Doctor Wu" are standouts, and the musicianship is typically top-notch. The songs are more interesting melodically and lyrically than Pretzel Logic without any trace of the self-conscious brilliance that (slightly, IMO) marred Aja and totally ruined Gaucho. BUT (there's always a but…
Written by DarkAvenger

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Other versions Edit

Katy Lied 10 tracks format: 1 x vinyl
catalog number: 11916
release dates: May 18 1999
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Katy Lied 10 tracks format: 1 x CD
record label: Mca Dist Corp
release dates: Jun 7 1990
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