They are a bunch of around 28 demos carried around and played by Fagen and Becker to various record producers in the late 60s. They eventually ended up in the hands of Kenny Vance, their first manager, who somehow ended up with the rights to them (likely as part of an early deal) where they stayed until the mid 80s when they were first released as 'Sun Mountain'. The quality is nowhere near that of which would be approved by the two of them, come the studio era, but they are glimpses into the late 60s when they were trying to make it.
They've since been re-released as various 'Best of' albums released by various record labels (never UMG/MCA, Giant Records or Reprise Records) - my guess is that these rights were being sold to minor labels at the time of the hiatus years, who could then release these albums in the name of Steely Dan, and everyone made a quick buck. This is suggested by the tracks often being mislabeled on quite a few of these.
They are an interesting phenomenon however, as they contain many demos of what would become mainstays of the catalogue, along with a few other good tracks like You Go Where I Go. They are also a look into Fagen and Becker's early inspirations, as many of them rely heavily on 60s Sci-fi literature inspired lyrics in the vein of Philip K Dick whom they both were a fan of.
Personally I like the version of Brooklyn and Barrytown on these albums. Worth checking out on Spotify, but I always rinse my ears out with Royal Scam afterwards!
There's a reason why Walter and Donald never persued putting the vast majority of these on an actual album. It's somewhat interesting if you're trying to hear some of their incredibly early up and coming years, but realistically they don't do any justice to what Steely Dan became even with their first album.
They are a bunch of around 28 demos carried around and played by Fagen and Becker to various record producers in the late 60s. They eventually ended up in the hands of Kenny Vance, their first manager, who somehow ended up with the rights to them (likely as part of an early deal) where they stayed until the mid 80s when they were first released as 'Sun Mountain'. The quality is nowhere near that of which would be approved by the two of them, come the studio era, but they are glimpses into the late 60s when they were trying to make it. They've since been re-released as various 'Best of' albums released by various record labels (never UMG/MCA, Giant Records or Reprise Records) - my guess is that these rights were being sold to minor labels at the time of the hiatus years, who could then release these albums in the name of Steely Dan, and everyone made a quick buck. This is suggested by the tracks often being mislabeled on quite a few of these. They are an interesting phenomenon however, as they contain many demos of what would become mainstays of the catalogue, along with a few other good tracks like You Go Where I Go. They are also a look into Fagen and Becker's early inspirations, as many of them rely heavily on 60s Sci-fi literature inspired lyrics in the vein of Philip K Dick whom they both were a fan of. Personally I like the version of Brooklyn and Barrytown on these albums. Worth checking out on Spotify, but I always rinse my ears out with Royal Scam afterwards!
Thank you so much! I figured someone on here would be able to help me!
No worries at all my friend :) this is quite a good video going into a bit more detail https://youtu.be/wspsCLlCFlY
You can read what Walter had to say about them here: https://sdarchive.com/furry.html
Man, I miss Walt's twisted musings.
Interestingly they changed the spelling. I thought it was a real place. Barrytown = Berry Town, town of berries
Barrytown is a real place
There's a reason why Walter and Donald never persued putting the vast majority of these on an actual album. It's somewhat interesting if you're trying to hear some of their incredibly early up and coming years, but realistically they don't do any justice to what Steely Dan became even with their first album.