Pretzel Logic

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the album. For the song, see Pretzel Logic (song).
Pretzel Logic
Jazz rock[1]
  • pop rock[2]
    • Length34:02
    LabelABC
    ProducerGary Katz
    Steely Dan chronology
    Countdown to Ecstasy
    (1973)     		Pretzel Logic
    (1974)     		Katy Lied
    (1975)
    Singles from Pretzel Logic
    1. "Rikki Don't Lose That Number"
      Released: April 25, 1974
    2. "Pretzel Logic"
      Released: October 1974

    Pretzel Logic is the third studio album by American rock band

    studio 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 their previous album. Pretzel Logic was reissued on CD in 1987, and remastered in 1999, to retrospective critical acclaim.

    Recording and production

    Like Steely Dan's previous albums, Pretzel Logic was recorded at

    hand drums.[4]

    Music and lyrics

    Pretzel Logic contains shorter songs and fewer instrumental jams than Steely Dan's previous album,

    pop-song format.[4] Music critic Robert Christgau wrote that the album's solos are "functional rather than personal or expressive, locked into the workings of the music".[7]

    The music on the album is characterized by harmonies, counter-melodies, and bop phrasing,[6] and often relies on straightforward pop influences.[8] The syncopated piano line that opens "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" develops into a pop melody, and the title track transitions from a blues song to a jazzy chorus.[6]

    Steely Dan often incorporated jazz into their music during the 1970s.

    Song for My Father",[9] and "Parker's Band" features riffs influenced by Charlie Parker and a lyric that invites listeners to "take a piece of Mr. Parker's band."[7] Baxter's guitar playing drew on jazz and rock and roll influences, and on the instrumental cover of Duke Ellington's "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo", he recreates a classic Tricky Sam Nanton trombone solo on pedal steel. On that same track, Walter Becker uses talk box guitar to recreate James "Bubber" Miley's famous plunger-muted trumpet melody. Certain songs on the album incorporate additional instrumentation, including exotic percussion, violin sections, bells, and horns.[4]

    "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.[10]

    Packaging

    The album's cover photo featuring a New York pretzel vendor was taken by Raeanne Rubenstein,[11] a photographer of musicians and Hollywood celebrities.[12] She took the photo on the west side of Fifth Avenue and 79th Street, just above the 79th Street Transverse (the road through Central Park), at the park entrance called "Miners' Gate".[13]

    Marketing and sales

    Pretzel Logic was released by

    hit of their career, peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.[17] On September 7, 1993, Pretzel Logic was certified Platinum by the RIAA, recognizing the shipment of one million copies in the U.S.[14]

    Critical reception

    Retrospective professional reviews
    Review scores
    SourceRating
    The Great Rock Discography
    		9/10[20]
    Music Story[citation needed]
    MusicHound Rock4.5/5[21]
    The Rolling Stone Album Guide[22]
    Tom Hull – on the WebA+[23]
    Uncut[24]

    The album received critical praise at the time of its release.

    Stereo Review was 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."[26]

    At the end of 1974, Pretzel Logic was named NME magazine's album of the year.[27] It was also voted the second-best album of 1974 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of prominent critics published by The Village Voice.[28] Christgau, who created the Pazz & Jop, ranked Pretzel Logic number one on his own year-end list,[29] and later wrote that the album encapsulated Steely Dan's "chewy perversity as aptly as its title", with vocals by Fagen that "seem like the golden mean of pop ensemble singing, stripped of histrionics and displays of technique, almost [...] sincere, modest."[7]

    In

    The All-Music Guide to Rock (1995), Rick Clark gave the album five stars out of five and wrote that, "On Pretzel Logic Steely Dan most successfully synthesized their love for jazz into their dense pop/rock sound."[2] Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album Steely Dan's "richest", and wrote that Becker and Fagen's songwriting was "seamless while remaining idiosyncratic and thrillingly accessible."[6] Patrick McKay of Stylus Magazine called the album "superb", and noted that it found Becker and Fagen "relying instead on crack studio musicians that could realize their increasingly complex compositions".[30] Rob Sheffield, writing in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), said that, when making Pretzel Logic, "Steely Dan's songwriting and Fagen's singing were at their peak of fluid power: The whole album is flawless".[22]

    Pretzel Logic has appeared on retrospective "greatest albums" lists. In 1994, it was voted number 67 in

    Colin Larkin's book All 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";[31] it fell to number 292 in the update of the ranking from the year 2000.[32] In 2003, the album was ranked number 385 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time";[33] it dropped one position, to number 386, on the 2012 update of the list.[34] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[35]

    Track listing

    All tracks are written by

    Bubber Miley
    2:45
    Side two
    No.TitleLength
    6."Parker's Band"2:36
    7."Through with Buzz"1:30
    8."Pretzel Logic"4:28
    9."With a Gun"2:15
    10."Charlie Freak"2:41
    11."Monkey in Your Soul"2:31
    Total length:33:14

    Personnel

    Steely Dan
    Additional musicians

    Charts

    Album

    Chart (1974) Peak
    position
    Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[36] 18
    US Billboard Top LPs & Tape[37] 8

    Singles

    Year Single Catalogue number Peak
    position     		Chart
    1974 "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" (B-side: "Any Major Dude Will Tell You") ABC 11439 4 US Billboard Hot 100[38]
    1974 "Pretzel Logic" (3:59 edit) (B-side: "Through with Buzz") ABC 12033 57

    References

    1. ^ Varis, Chris (July 7, 2000). "Steely Dan revival a mix of fun surprises, letdowns". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
    2. ^
      ISBN 087930376X
      . On Pretzel Logic Steely Dan most successfully synthesized their love for jazz into their dense pop/rock sound.
    3. ^ "Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic CD Album". CD Universe. Muze. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
    4. ^ a b c d e Scoppa, Bud (May 23, 1974). "Pretzel Logic". Rolling Stone. New York. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
    5. ^ a b Morse 1998, p. 189.
    6. ^
      Allmusic
      . Retrieved May 3, 2013.
    7. ^
      ISBN 089919026X
      . Retrieved March 9, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
    8. ^ a b c Bacon, Tony (February 1981). "The Royal Scam". Hi-Fi News & Record Review. 26 (2). London: 71.
    9. ^ a b English 2007, p. 12.
    10. ^ "Steely Dan Sunday, "Charlie Freak" (1974)". 25 September 2011.
    11. ISBN 978-1-78323-529-2
      .
    12. ^ "Photography: Meeting Country Music's Superstars: Behind Each Portrait, A Story". NPR. September 27, 2014. Archived from the original on March 13, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
    13. ^ "Pretzel Logic - Steely Dan (1974)" at popspotsnyc.com
    14. ^ a b "American album certifications – Steely Dan". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
    15. ^ Rees & Crampton 1991, p. 501.
    16. ^ Uslan, Clark & Solomon 1981, p. 392.
    17. ^ English 2007, p. 13.
    18. ^ Kot, Greg (August 16, 1992). "Thrills, Scams and Nightflys". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
    19. ISBN 978-0857125958
      .
    20. OL 18807297M
      .
    21. ISBN 1578590612
      .
    22. ^ a b Sheffield et al. 2004, p. 798–9.
    23. ^ Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Grade List: Steely Dan". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
    24. ^ "Review: Pretzel Logic". Uncut. London: 88. October 2000.
    25. ^ Christgau, Robert (July 1974). "The Christgau Consumer Guide". Creem. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
    26. Stereo Review
      . 33 (1): 94.
    27. IPC Media. Archived
      from the original on December 29, 2011. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
    28. ^ "The 1974 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. New York. January 20, 1975. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
    29. ^ Christgau, Robert (January 20, 1975). "Our Own Critics' Poll". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
    30. ^ McKay, Patrick (August 27, 2007). "Top Ten Obscure Steely Dan Lyrics". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
    31. ISBN 978-0-85112-786-6
      .
    32. ^ "Rocklist". Retrieved July 22, 2018.
    33. OCLC 70672814
      . Retrieved 5 March 2006.
    34. ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
    35. ISBN 978-0-7893-1371-3
      .
    36. ISBN 0-646-11917-6
      .
    37. AllMusic
      . Retrieved 27 October 2004.
    38. AllMusic
      . Retrieved 27 October 2004.

    Bibliography

    External links
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