Walter Carl Becker (February 20, 1950 – September 3, 2017) was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter of the jazz rock band Steely Dan.[Russonello, Giovanni, " Listen to 13 Essential Walter Becker Songs." New York Times, 2017-09-04. Accessed 2019-05-29.]
Becker met future songwriting partner Donald Fagen while they were students at Bard College. After a brief period of activity in New York City, the two moved to Los Angeles in 1971 and formed the nucleus of Steely Dan, which enjoyed a critically and commercially successful ten-year career. Following the group's dissolution, Becker moved to Hawaii and reduced his musical activity, working primarily as a record producer. In 1985, he briefly became a member of the English band China Crisis, producing and playing synthesizer on their album Flaunt the Imperfection.
Becker and Fagen reformed Steely Dan in 1993 and remained active, recording Two Against Nature (2000), which won four . Becker released two solo albums, 11 Tracks of Whack (1994) and Circus Money (2008). Following a brief battle with esophageal cancer, he died on September 3, 2017. He and Fagen are the only two members of Steely Dan who appeared on every studio album by the band.
Early life and career (1950–1971)
Becker was born in
Queens, New York City. After Becker's parents separated when he was a boy, his British mother returned to England. Becker was made to believe by his father and grandmother that his mother was deceased, but at some point between his childhood and late adolescence, he discovered that she was living, and he maintained a rocky relationship with her from then on.
[J. L. Kelley (2021). "West of Hollywood: Humor as reparation in the life and work of Walter Becker." In: E. Vanderheiden & C.-H. Mayer (Eds.), ''The Palgrave Handbook of Humour Research (pp. 363–379). London: Palgrave Macmillan] He was raised in Queens and Scarsdale, New York
by his father and his grandmother. His father, Carl Becker, sold paper-cutting machinery in Manhattan
where Walter graduated from Stuyvesant High School.
After starting out on saxophone, he switched to guitar and received instruction in
blues technique from neighbor
Randy California, who later formed the band Spirit.
[
]
Donald Fagen overheard Becker playing guitar at a campus coffee shop, the Red Balloon, when they were both students at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. In a 2007 interview Fagen said, "I hear this guy practicing, and it sounded very professional and contemporary. It sounded like, you know, like a black person, really."
Becker left the school in 1969 before completing his degree and moved with Fagen to Brooklyn, where the two began to build a career as a songwriting duo. They were members of the touring band for Jay and the Americans
With Steely Dan (1971–1981)
In 1971, Becker and Fagen moved to Los Angeles and were hired by Gary Katz as staff songwriters at ABC Records, later forming Steely Dan with guitarists Denny Dias and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder, and vocalist David Palmer. Fagen played keyboards and sang, while Becker played bass guitar.
Pretzel Logic (1974) was the first Steely Dan album to feature Becker on guitar. "Once I met session Chuck Rainey", he explained, "I felt there really was no need for me to be bringing my bass guitar to the studio anymore".
Despite the success of Aja in 1977, Becker suffered from setbacks during this period, including an addiction to narcotics. After the duo returned to New York in 1978, Becker's girlfriend Karen Roberta Stanley, who was an employee of ABC Dunhill Records and personal manager for the band, died of a drug overdose in his apartment on January 30, 1980, resulting in a wrongful death lawsuit against him. Soon after, he was hit by a cab in Manhattan while crossing the street and was forced to walk with crutches while recovering.
Work in record production (1981–1993)
Following Steely Dan's breakup, Becker and his family moved to Maui. Becker ceased using drugs,
He produced albums for the new wave bands Fra Lippo Lippi and China Crisis, and is credited on the latter's 1985 album Flaunt the Imperfection as a member of the band.
Steely Dan reformation (1993–2017)
In 1993, Becker produced Fagen's album Kamakiriad.
Also in 1993, Steely Dan began touring for the first time in nineteen years, resulting in the 1995 release of their first live album, Alive in America, a compilation of live recordings from different American tour dates in 1993 and 1994.
In 2000 they released Two Against Nature, their first album of new material in twenty years. The album won four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. In 2001 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received honorary doctorates from the Berklee College of Music, which they accepted in person.
In 2005, Becker co-produced and played bass guitar on the album All One by Krishna Das and played guitar on the album Tough on Crime by Rebecca Pidgeon. He co-wrote "I'm All Right" from the album Half the Perfect World (2006) by Madeleine Peyroux, and "You Can't Do Me" and the title track from her album Bare Bones (2009). See the "Collaborations" section below for a full list of Becker's work with other artists.
He was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
His second solo album, Circus Money, was released on June 10, 2008, fourteen years after its predecessor.
Instruments and equipment
Becker was a collector of musical equipment, accumulating hundreds of guitars and Guitar amplifier, as well as numerous other instruments, Effects unit, pre-wired pedalboards, "Loudspeaker, recording gear, and ephemera."
After his death, his gear was auctioned off by Julien's for in total. Becker's guitar and amp collection was the largest ever sold by Julien's, whose owner said "what made the collection unique" was that Becker "literally played all of them."
In a column for Guitar Player magazine published in 1994, Becker coined the acronym G.A.S. ("Guitar Acquisition Syndrome"), denoting the uncontrolled accumulation of music gear.[Walter Becker: "The Dreaded G.A.S.", in: Guitar Player, April 1994, p. 15.]
Personal life
In 1975 Becker married Juanna Fatouros.
Illness and death
In the spring of 2017, Becker was diagnosed with "an aggressive form of esophageal cancer" during an annual medical checkup.
In a statement released to the media the day of Becker's death, Fagen recalled his long-time friend and musical partner as "smart as a whip, an excellent guitarist and a great songwriter," and closed by stating that he intended to "keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band."
Julian Lennon,
At a public ceremony on 28 October 2018, 72nd Drive at 112th Street, Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, was co-named Walter Becker Way.
Discography
Studio albums
Soundtrack albums
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1971: You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat (Spark Records) (with Donald Fagen)
Collaborations
The sources for this section include walterbecker.com,
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1969: Terence Boylan, Alias Boona (Verve Forecast) – guitar, bass
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1970: Linda Hoover, I Mean To Shine (Omnivore Recordings, released 2022) – bass, arranger, co-writer (with Donald Fagen) of five songs
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1970–1971: Jay and the Americans, touring band – bass
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1970: Jay and the Americans, Capture the Moment (United Artists) , "Capture the Moment", "Tricia (Tell Your Daddy)", "She’ll Be Young Forever" and "Thoughts That I’ve Taken To Bed" – co-arranger (with Donald Fagen) strings and horns, bass
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1972: Navasota, Rootin' (ABC Records) – co-arranger strings and horns (with Donald Fagen); "Canyon Ladies" – co-writer (with Donald Fagen)
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1973: Thomas Jefferson Kaye, Thomas Jefferson Kaye (Dunhill Records), "I’ll Be Leaving Her Tomorrow" and "Hole In The Shoe Blues" – bass
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1974: Thomas Jefferson Kaye, First Grade (ABC/Dunhill Records), "Jones" and "American Lovers" – bass
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1978: Pete Christlieb and Warne Marsh, Apogee (Warner Bros.) – co-producer (with Donald Fagen)
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1985: China Crisis, Flaunt the Imperfection (Virgin Records) – producer, arranger, synthesiser, percussion
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1986: Rosie Vela, Zazu (A&M) – lead guitar, guitar, synthesiser
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1987: Fra Lippo Lippi, Light and Shade (Virgin) – producer, guitar
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1989: China Crisis, Diary of a Hollow Horse (Virgin) – producer, synthesiser
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1989: Michael Franks, Blue Pacific (Reprise Records), "All I need", "Vincent's Ear" and "Crayon Sun (Safe At Home)" – producer
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1989: Rickie Lee Jones, Flying Cowboys (Geffen Records) – producer, bass on "Flying Cowboys"
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1991: Nathalie Archangel, Owl (MCA Records) – bass
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1991: LeeAnn Ledgerwood, You Wish (Triloka Records) – producer
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1991: Jeff Beal, Objects In The Mirror (Triloka Records) – producer
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1991: Bob Sheppard, Tell Tale Signs (Windham Hill Jazz) – producer
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1991: Andy LaVerne, Pleasure Seekers (Triloka Records) – producer
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1991: Bob Bangerter, Looking At The Bright Side (Don't Stop Music, Inc.) – mixing, co-producer (with Tom Hall)
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1991: The New York Rock and Soul Revue, live dates – guitar
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1992: Spinal Tap, Break Like the Wind (MCA Records) – liner notes
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1992: Jeremy Steig, Jigsaw (Triloka Records) – producer
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1992: John Beasley, Cauldron (Windham Hill Jazz) – producer
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1992: David Kikoski, Persistent Dreams (Triloka Records) – producer, liner notes
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1992: Marty Krystall, unreleased album, "Epistrophy" (on Windham Hill sampler Commotion 2) – producer
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1993 The Singing Mongooses, The Singing Mongooses (Alahao Records) – executive producer
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1993: Lost Tribe, Lost Tribe (Windham Hill Jazz) – producer
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1993: Andy LaVerne, Double Standard (Triloka Records) – producer
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1993: John Beasley, A Change Of Heart (Windham Hill Jazz) – producer
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1993: Donald Fagen, Kamakiriad (Reprise) – producer, bass, guitar
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1994: John Beasley, Mose the Fireman (Rabbit Ears Productions) – producer (music), co-writer (with John Beasley), bass, banjo, mandolin
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1998: Sally Taylor, Tomboy Bride (Blue Elbow Publishing) – mixing
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2005: Krishna Das, All One (Triloka Records) – producer, bass
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2005: Rebecca Pidgeon, Tough on Crime (Fuel 2000), "Tough on Crime" – guitar solo
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2006: Madeleine Peyroux, Half the Perfect World (Rounder/Universal), "I'm All Right" – co-writer (with Larry Klein and Madeleine Peyroux)
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2008: Lucy Schwartz, "Beautiful" (single) – co-producer (with Larry Klein)
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2009: Madeleine Peyroux, Bare Bones (Rounder/Universal), "Bare Bones" and "You Can't Do Me" – co-writer (with Larry Klein and Madeleine Peyroux)
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2009: Roger Rosenberg, Baritonality (Sunnyside Communications) – producer
External links
