Maps of Music

Gaucho (1980)

Where the lyrics of Gaucho take you, and where it was really made.

A drum machine built for this album was awarded its own Platinum record.

Key places

Sigma Sound Studios, New York City (1980)

Recording site Sigma Sound Studios — The source lists this studio as one of the places where Gaucho was recorded. The pin marks the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

The Village Recorder, Los Angeles (1980)

Recording site Village Recorders — The source lists this Los Angeles studio as one of the places where Gaucho was recorded. The pin marks the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Gaucho is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Steely Dan
• Released November 21, 1980 by MCA Records
• Marked a stylistic shift toward rhythm and atmosphere compared with the band's earlier work
• The recording used at least 42 different session musicians
• Sessions ran over a year and far exceeded the original monetary advance from the label
• Won Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards

Background

• By 1978 Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were the only two permanent members
• Becker's escalating drug use strained the pair's working relationship
• Becker was hit by a car during the sessions and suffered multiple fractures in one leg and a sprain in the other
• He spent a six-month recovery period and suffered secondary infections
• His girlfriend Karen Roberta Stanley died of a drug overdose at his home on January 30, 1980
• Her family sued Becker for $17.5 million in January 1981; the court later ruled in Becker's favor
• A three-way legal battle between MCA, Warner Bros., and Steely Dan over the release rights followed
• Steely Dan did not release another studio album until Two Against Nature, nearly 20 years later

Recording

• The first four albums were recorded entirely in Los Angeles, while sessions for Gaucho began in New York in 1978
• Mixing the 50-second fade-out of 'Babylon Sisters' took more than 55 attempts
• Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits was hired for the guitar solo on 'Time Out of Mind'
• Engineer Roger Nichols built a drum machine that he named 'Wendel'
• Roughly three-quarters of 'The Second Arrangement' was accidentally erased in late 1979

Cover

• The cover art is based on a low relief sculpture by Argentine artist Israel Hoffmann
• The original work, 'Guardia Vieja – Tango', is in the Caminito street museum in La Boca, Buenos Aires

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1971 by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.
• Becker and Fagen met in 1967 at Bard College and began writing songs together.
• They moved to Los Angeles after producer Gary Katz hired them as staff songwriters for ABC Records.
• The band takes its name from a dildo mentioned in William S. Burroughs' novel Naked Lunch.

Members

• Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals) were the core duo.
• Early band members included Denny Dias, Jeff Baxter, and Jim Hodder.
• Fagen reluctantly took on lead vocals after the search for a suitable singer failed.

Career

• Debut album Can't Buy a Thrill (1972) produced the hits "Do It Again" and "Reelin' in the Years".
• After 1974 the band stopped touring and continued as a studio project using session musicians.
• Aja (1977) became the band's top-selling album and won a Grammy for engineering.
• The band disbanded in 1981 and reunited in 1993.
• Two Against Nature (2000) won the Grammy for Album of the Year.
• Becker died in 2017; Fagen continued the band until 2024 and retired in 2026.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001; has sold over 40 million records.

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone: Ariel Swartley said the metamorphosis that began with The Royal Scam was complete
• The New York Times gave a positive review and later ranked it the best album of 1980
• John Griffin of The Gazette wrote that the music is perfection throughout
• Pete Bishop of The Pittsburgh Press found it too well-crafted and lacking in spontaneity
• Robert Christgau of The Village Voice remarked on rumours that the LP was originally titled Countdown to Lethargy

Reappraisal

• Dave Marsh gave it 1 star out of 5 in the second edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide (1983)
• Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said it is sonically similar to Aja but overly rehearsed
• Erlewine named 'Babylon Sisters', 'Time Out of Mind', and 'Hey Nineteen' as the highlights
• David Sakowski of PopMatters reappraised it as a classic largely lost in the shadow of Aja
• In 2000 it was ranked number 504 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (third edition)

Records

• Billboard Top LPs & Tape: number 9 in the United States
• Certified Platinum by the RIAA
• UK Albums Chart: number 27
• 'Hey Nineteen' reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 10 in Canada
• 24th Annual Grammy Awards: won Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical; nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ja.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The drum machine 'Wendel' received its own Platinum record after the album sold one million copies
• Mark Knopfler's playing is heard on more than half of 'Time Out of Mind', though a common myth says about 15 seconds
• Becker did not perform on 'Babylon Sisters', 'Glamour Profession', 'My Rival', or 'Third World Man'
• Larry Carlton said he did not play on the album at first, and 'Third World Man' was reworked from old tapes after an erasure
• Jeff Porcaro recorded most of the drum parts but only his title-track drumming was kept

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

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