Gaucho

The Zoo Crew is spinning the smooth, enigmatic vibes of Gaucho by Steely Dan, a track from their 1980 album of the same name, and the Zoo Freaks are surely soaking in its jazzy, cynical groove. This song, like much of the album, is a masterclass in perfectionism, with a backstory as layered as its lyrics. Guitarist Steve Khan, who played on five of the album’s seven tracks, including Gaucho, shared in a 2024 interview posted on X by @baddantakes that the recording process was intense, with him laying down two distinct guitar parts for the song’s intro—one using a flanger and volume pedal for long notes, and another doubling the chords’ top notes with an MXR Envelope Filter for a quirky, funky edge. Khan was surprised that Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen and Walter Becker kept the latter, noting their willingness to embrace his experimental flair. The song’s lyrics, cryptic and evocative, paint a vivid picture of a mysterious “gaucho” figure, with lines like “Who is that gaucho, amigo?” echoing unanswered, as noted in a 1981 Rolling Stone review. The melody mirrors this questioning tone, rising and falling with the narrator’s bewilderment, creating a sense of unresolved tension that’s quintessentially Steely Dan.

Another fascinating tidbit about Gaucho comes from the album’s troubled production, which was plagued by technical mishaps and personal struggles. The recording of the album, including the title track, took over two years and involved 41 musicians, as mentioned in a 2023 X post by @in_yacht. A particularly infamous incident involved the accidental erasure of “The Second Arrangement,” a track Becker and Fagen loved, by an assistant engineer, which soured the mood during the sessions. The Gaucho track itself, with its tango-inspired imagery, draws from Argentine iconography, as discussed in a 2021 Reddit thread on r/SteelyDan. Fans theorized that the album’s cover art, based on a wall plaque titled “Tango de la Guardia Vieja,” reflects the song’s themes of decadence and nostalgia, paralleling the tango’s evolution from a gritty underclass dance to a glamorous, fading relic by the late 1970s. The song’s meticulous production, including the use of the $150,000 drum machine “Wendel,” engineered by Roger Nichols, underscores Steely Dan’s obsessive quest for sonic perfection, a point highlighted in a 2019 Pitchfork review.

Steely Dan, the brainchild of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, began in an unlikely setting: Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1967. The two met when Fagen, passing by a café, heard Becker practicing electric guitar and was struck by his professional, soulful sound, as recounted in a 1995 interview cited on Wikipedia. Bonding over shared musical tastes, they started writing songs together, playing in local bands before moving to Los Angeles in 1971. There, with producer Gary Katz, they formed Steely Dan, named after a dildo from William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch, a nod to their love of Beat literature. Initially a full band with guitarists Denny Dias and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder, and singer David Palmer, they released their debut album, Can’t Buy a Thrill, in 1972. The album’s surprise hit, “Do It Again,” launched them into the spotlight, but Becker and Fagen soon ditched touring and the band format, opting for a studio-only duo backed by top-tier session musicians, a model that defined their sound through albums like Gaucho.

For Zoo Freaks wanting to dive deeper into Steely Dan’s world, the band’s official website offers tour dates, merchandise, and news, while their Facebook page shares concert updates and fan engagement. The band doesn’t maintain an official Instagram presence, as confirmed in a 2023 Reddit post on r/SteelyDan, though Donald Fagen occasionally posts on his personal Facebook. On X, the band’s official account, SteelyDan, is less active, but fan accounts like baddantakes share interviews and memes. Fans can connect on the vibrant r/SteelyDan subreddit or join Steely Dan Fans on Facebook for discussions and rare content. The fan-run Steely Dan Archive is a treasure trove of historical documents, interviews, and bootleg insights, perfect for any Zoo Freak craving more of that Gaucho magic.