| The Royal Scam | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Steely Dan | ||||
| Released | May, 1976 | |||
| Recorded | November 1975-March 1976 at ABC Studios, Los Angeles and A & R Studios, New York | |||
| Genre | Rock, jazz rock, funk rock | |||
| Length | 41:11 | |||
| Label | ABC MCA |
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| Producer | Gary Katz | |||
| Steely Dan chronology | ||||
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The Royal Scam is the fifth album by Steely Dan, originally released by ABC Records in 1976. The album went gold and peaked at #15 on the charts.[1] The Royal Scam features more prominent guitar work than other Steely Dan albums. Guitarists on the recording include Walter Becker, Denny Dias, Larry Carlton, Elliott Randall and Dean Parks.
The mood of the album stands in contrast with the band's more mellow and hugely successful follow-up, Aja.
In common with other Steely Dan albums, The Royal Scam is littered with cryptic allusions to people and events both real and fictional. In a BBC interview in 2000,[2] Becker revealed that Kid Charlemagne is loosely based on Augustus Owsley Stanley, the notorious drug "chef" who was famous for manufacturing hallucinogenic compounds.
The album was re-issued by MCA Records in 1979 following the sale of the ABC Records label to MCA.
Contents |
The album cover shows a man in a suit sleeping underneath (or perhaps dreaming of) images of skyscraper-beast hybrids. The cover was designed by Larry Zox, and was originally created for Van Morrison's unreleased 1975 album, Mechanical Bliss. In the liner notes for the 1999 remaster of the album, Fagen and Becker claim it to be "the most hideous album cover of the seventies, bar none (excepting perhaps Can't Buy A Thrill)."
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [3] |
| Robert Christgau | B[4] |
| Rolling Stone | [5] |
The album was not as highly rated upon its release as its predecessors with most reviewers noting that it did not seem to represent any musical advancement. In contrast, the original Rolling Stone review was more positive[6], and ultimately the magazine gave it five stars in a later Hall of Fame review.[5]
All songs by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, except where noted.
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | US Albums | 15[1] |
| 1976 | UK Albums | 11 |
Pop Singles
| Year | Single | Label & number | Chart & position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | "Kid Charlemagne" (B-side: "Green Earrings") | ABC 12195 | U.S. 82[8] |
| 1976 | "The Fez" (B-side: "Sign In Stranger") | ABC 12222 | U.S. 59[8] |
| 1976 | "Haitian Divorce" (B-side: "Sign In Stranger") | ABC 4152 (UK release) | U.K. 17[9] |
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