The Royal Scam

This article is about the album. For the song, see The Royal Scam (song).

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
Producer	Gary Katz
Steely Dan chronology
Katy Lied (1975) The Royal Scam (1976) Aja (1977)

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.

With irony-laden verses about drug dealers, safe sex, extramarital affairs and hardships faced by immigrants, The Royal Scam is arguably Steely Dan at its most cynical.^{[citation needed]} 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.

Reception

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].

Cover

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.^{[citation needed]} 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)."

Track listing

All songs by Becker and Fagen, except where noted

Side one

1. "Kid Charlemagne" – 4:38
   • Guitar solo by Larry Carlton
2. "The Caves of Altamira" – 3:33^[7]
   • Alto saxophone solo by John Klemmer
3. "Don't Take Me Alive" – 4:16
   • Guitar solo by Larry Carlton
4. "Sign in Stranger" – 4:23
   • Piano Solo by Paul Griffin
   • Guitar Solo by Elliott Randall
5. "The Fez" (Becker, Fagen, Paul Griffin) – 4:01
   • Guitar solo by Walter Becker

Side two

6. "Green Earrings" – 4:05
   • Guitar solos by Denny Dias (1st) and Elliott Randall (2nd)
7. "Haitian Divorce" – 5:51
   • Talk box guitar solo by Dean Parks, altered by Walter Becker
8. "Everything You Did" – 3:55
   • Guitar solo by Larry Carlton
9. "The Royal Scam" – 6:30
   • Guitar solo by Larry Carlton

Personnel

• Donald Fagen – keyboards, vocals, background vocals
• Walter Becker – bass, guitar, vocals
• Chuck Rainey – bass
• Timothy B. Schmit – bass, vocals, background vocals
• Paul Griffin – keyboards, vocals
• Don Grolnick – keyboards
• Denny Dias – guitar
• Larry Carlton – guitar
• Phil McCracken – guitar
• Dean Parks – guitar
• Elliott Randall – guitar
• Bob Findley – horn
• Chuck Findley – horn
• Dick "Slyde" Hyde – horn, trombone
• Jim Horn – saxophone
• Plas Johnson – saxophone
• John Klemmer – saxophone
• Rick Marotta – drums
• Bernard "Pretty" Purdie – drums
• Gary Coleman – percussion
• Victor Feldman – percussion, keyboards
• Venetta Fields – vocals, background vocals
• Clydie King – vocals, background vocals
• Sherlie Matthews – vocals, background vocals
• Michael McDonald – vocals, background vocals

Production

• Producer: Gary Katz
• Engineer: Roger Nichols
• Mixdown engineer: Barney Perkins
• Sound Consultant: Dinky Dawson
• Horn arrangements: Walter Becker, Donald Fagen, Chuck Findley
• Art direction: Ed Caraeff
• Cover art: Zox
• Typography: Tom Nikosey

Charts

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]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} The Royal Scam - Steely Dan > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums at Allmusic. Retrieved 27 October 2004.
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. The Royal Scam at Allmusic. Retrieved 27 October 2004.
4. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Steely Dan > Consumer Guide Reviews". Robert Christgau. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=steely+dan. Retrieved 5 March 2006. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Scoppa, Bud (October 14, 2004). "The Rolling Stone Hall of Fame: Steely Dan The Royal Scam > Album Review". Rolling Stone (959). Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071001161920/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/steelydan/albums/album/321794/review/6487010/the_royal_scam. Retrieved 22 August 2007. 
6. ^ Tucker, Kenneth (July 1, 1976). "Steely Dan The Royal Scam > Album Review". Rolling Stone (216). Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/the-royal-scam-19760701. Retrieved 26 December 2008. 
7. ^ The lyrics, written in first person on the theme of art, follow in typically abstruse fashion the story of a young boy who would avoid society by entering a cave and admiring cave paintings on its walls.
8. ^ ^{a b} The Royal Scam - Steely Dan > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles at Allmusic. Retrieved 27 October 2004.
9. ^ the highest UK chart position for a Steely Dan single

External links

• Complete lyrics