Kid Charlemagne

Infobox Single
Name = Kid Charlemagne


Caption = The cover of the "Kid Charlemagne" single features Fagen (top) and Becker (bottom)
Artist = Steely Dan
Album = The Royal Scam
A-side = "Kid Charlemagne"
B-side = "Green Earrings"
Released = 1976
Format =
Recorded =
Genre = Pop Rock
Length = 4:38
Label = ABC Records
Writer = Walter Becker, Donald Fagen
Producer = Gary Katz
Audio sample? =
Certification =
Last single = "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" (1974)
This single = "Kid Charlemagne" (1976)
Next single = "Peg" (1977)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = The Royal Scam
Type = studio
prev_track =
prev_no =
this_track = "Kid Charlemagne"
track_no = 1
next_track = ""The Caves of Altamira""
next_no = 2

"Kid Charlemagne" is a song by the rock group Steely Dan, which was released as a single from their 1976 album "The Royal Scam". It is notable as a fusion of a funk rhythm and jazz harmonies with rock and roll instrumentals and lyrical style.

Although the lyrics are, at first glance, typically oblique and allusive, writers Walter Becker and Donald Fagen have stated that it was loosely inspired by the exploits of the infamous 1960s San Francisco-based LSD chemist Owsley Stanley [http://www.steelydan.com/bbc.html Complete transcript of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker in a BBC-Online Chat] , March 4, 2000] — although it conflates the core story with numerous other images of the Sixties. This is evident in the following lines:

On the hill the stuff was laced with kerosene But yours was kitchen clean Everyone stopped to stare at your Technicolor motor home

The first two lines draw on the fact that Owsley's acid was famed for its purity, although the last line may be a reference to the famous psychedelic bus named Furthur, which was used by the Merry Pranksters, who were supplied their LSD by Owsley himself.

The lyric "You'd go to LA on a dare and you'd go it alone" alludes to a story in The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test about a trip taken by chief Prankster Ken Kesey.

The final verse foreshadows Owsley's eventual bust:

Clean this mess up else we'll all end up in jail Those test tubes and the scale Just get it all out of here Is there gas in the car? Yes, there's gas in the car I think the people down the hall know who you are

Owsley and another person were arrested after their car ran out of gas. According to an infamous legend, Walter Becker once informed a taxi cab driver in New York City that he was with the band Steely Dan. The cab driver stated that he thought he knew what the worst lyrics were in the Steely Dan catalogue. When Becker asked the driver what they were, the driver responded, "Is there gas in the car? Yes, there's gas in the car."Fact|date=September 2007

The song features a famous and notoriously difficult jazz-inflected electric guitar solo by guitarist Larry Carlton, notable for a single finger-tapped hammer-on near the end. (Fingertapping was not widely employed in rock till two years later with the release of Van Halen's first album.) The drum track was played by Bernard "Pretty" Purdie whose long-time session partner, Chuck Rainey, plays the bass.

The song was influential on musicians of the era. As an example, Steve Lukather, the session guitarist and member of Toto states the guitar solo is one of his favorites of all time.

Personnel ["A Decade of Steely Dan" liner notes]

* Lead Vocals: Donald Fagen
* Drums: Bernard Purdie
* Bass: Chuck Rainey
* Guitar: Larry Carlton
* Keyboards: Don Grounick, Paul Griffin
* Backup Vocals: Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald, Vanetta Fields, Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews

Pop Culture References

* In an episode of the Fox Broadcasting Company series "Malcolm in the Middle" an episode entitled "Garage sale" has Hal using the pseudonym "Kid Charlemagne" to operate an illegal radio station.
* Kanye West's song "Champion" contains a sample from "Kid Charlemagne".

References

Notes