Attendees in person or in spirit -- Our first follow-up page is at walterbeckerway.com Let's hear...
Got a Dollar?
Hello D.
Writing to THANK YOU for the beautiful and greatly needed $1,000 gift you donated to the Jazz Foundation on 10/30/18. We are honored to be the recipients of your t-shirt sale during this important occasion - and the monies raised will directly impact the (more than) 1200 musicians and their families who we currently "serve" in the States, including Puerto Rico.
Where would any of us be without music -- and without the extraordinary men and women who have devoted their lives, time and talent to enhancing ours.
Obviously I'm speaking to the choir here and just want to send a "personal" note of great appreciation.
Wishing you all very best - peace and music, always,
bridget
Bridget Sullivan
Director of Development
Jazz Foundation of America
322 West 48th Street
New York, NY 10036
(o): 212.245.3999, ext 18 /(m): 917.716.6608
I have always loved the design on this T-shirt. I have 2!
Thanks ☺️ W and I worked hard on this one.
Sorry can't be in NYC today, best wishes to all WB fans.
Can this be a "Thank you?" thread? I hope it can. Walked back to my midtown hotel from Queens, the proud owner of a new Circus Monkey [sic] t-shirt & a signed glossy, knowing the name of that Maui studio wher--"HYPERBOLIC SOUND"! So thanks to both mods - one for his eloquent speech, which had me laughing and nodding along, & the other, who chose, maybe deliberately, not to speak, maybe believing the generosity of spirit & humor on display throughout the day would say more than she ever could. Thanks to the participants, especially the UK journalist dressed like Screamin' Lord Sutch's older brother, who apparently has more room in his head for WB-themed trivia than all the rest of us together. & to the weather god(s), for those brief flashes of sunlight, for the gentle rustling of still-green leaves overhead. Thanks to everyone involved. Your work is registered and seen.
Hey cjbrayshaw - that's one hell of a trek. Did you walk through a tunnel? lol. I can't stand the tension, itching to know how TIMB strikes people because, as I've said, it's such a one-off and, um, Audiophiliacly challenged (?). I'm eager to know if people think the trade-off is worth it. I even started a thread...
https://www.walterbeckermedia.com/forum/rarities-unreleased/this-is-my-building
@Moderator: D-Mod DB: Just seeing this question now, because after the street party & Nightfly Night I flew to off-grid California for a few weeks with my camera(s), just back on the WWWs now. The short answer to your question is that Queens to Midtown takes about 4.5 hrs by foot, & rather than braving a scary tunnel, one takes a little ferry from western Queens to Manhattan. The other answer is that I haven't heard TIMB yet because as the flash drives were being handed out, I was picking up a signed 8" x 11" glossy - THANKS! It survived my backpacks and several flights, & is going in a "little frame...something cheap" (Bowie) & then up on a wall of prized stuff in my Vancouver bookstore. So, picture Walter frowning gently down above the till from here to eternity...
@cjbrayshaw - Vancouver? Bookstore? do tell....or is that "do till?' or is that "from here till eternity?" etc. Seriously, what neighbourhood?
o goodness. Thank you!
They got to around 50% of their planned program, leaving 50% of some cool giveaways on the table; gold record; Grammy garments (not to be confused with Morman undergarments), carved Polynesian stringed instrument, and so on. Matt should be along presently and may give us his street-level view.
And of course, there was the demo of a demo (very rough audio!) of a Circus Money era Becker/Klein track — on a WBW-branded USB flash stick full of Becker music --- called "This Is My Building". No lie.
If you have this track, please
keep it under wraps until we post it on this site...soon!
In the days and weeks ahead, walterbeckerway.com will house much of the material they didn't get around to -- short video greetings from Walter's daughter Sa, Larry Klein, John Beasley....and maybe we can run that Caption Contest from there!
In the meantime, thanks again for the comments; well-deserved appreciation for some very hard workers
Bummed I couldn't be there. NYC is just a little too far away from Kentucky to have made it work this time with the vacation stuff I already had planned for the year. I'm glad to hear the celebration of Walter went well though!
Enjoyed your speech (saw it online.)
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU a million times over for the street naming! It was WONDERFUL to be there. The giveaway was fantastic, something to be treasured always. I bought a shirt, and could have kicked myself for not buying a few more (maybe to be used for quilting something one day). The entire ceremony was a great tribute to Walter. He will be missed forever.
Hi Barbara - finally! someone on here that was there! I started a "This Is My Building" thread for anyone who had heard it -- it's such a one-off for this site, I for one am etremely interested in how it's received. Glad you enjoyed Sunday :))
I really wanted to meet you and asked several people if you were there. Was a bit bummed not to find you but respect your privacy.
So... Can we ALL meet at the sign next year and maybe have a block party or whatever??? Any takers?
I was there in my Halloween costume; long-ish grey hair, british accent —I’m the one who won the leather jacket! lol.
I love the idea of a repeat event of some sort. What do you think; the First Annual Becker-Fest !?
Somehow I don't believe your description of yourself, lol! Next you'll be selling me a bridge! But you made me laugh, and I thank you for that!
Count me in for the First Annual Becker Fest! Sunday was so much fun. Let's all "Do It Again!"
I had a lot of fun. I think everyone around me was having fun too. I liked the speakers and the fans I got to talk to. Surprised by how many British fans showed up and by how many fans from a block or two away were there. Thank you to everyone who did this.
Thanks lizking593, some folks worked pretty hard to bring the whole thing off. And we're going to find ways to give away some of what was left on the table because they ran long, over at walterbeckerway.com. We'll post some videos too from Larry Kelin, Walter's daugter Sa, John Beasley...
Glad you enjoyed it
"Very Special Guitar Pics"?
I know guitar pics are collectables for players — I’ve heard. But c'mon people, explain it to a non-player, and to the partner of a non-collecting player. I watched the video of the crowd ooo-ing and aahhh-ing when Jim Kerr said "..and your prize are some guitar pics”. I figured it must have been facetious, right? And the clip of a guy looking into the little crystalline packet of his prize of a few pics and saying 'wow!"…I replayed it a few times to make sure the crystalline contained pics and not blow.
On the very low probability that someone reading this got a guitar pic -- or even just saw one — would you please tell me why in hell it drew apparently nonfacetious oohs and aahs and wows? What do they say: tomorrow’s winning lottery numbers or something?
My guitar picks just remind me I suck at playing guitar. LOL
Well, I suppose it's like anything one tends to collect; it brings a certain enjoyment/satisfaction when one finally obtains an elusive item, Walter's pics being one of those. Some guitar players throw 'em out by the handfuls (e.g. Rick Neilson/Cheap Trick) making them less sought after and easier & cheaper to obtain. Others will play with one pic all night and then perhaps place in their own pocket at the end of the evening. I happen to have 2 different promo ones for WB, one that says 'Circus Money', and the other 'Forward the Bass', both acquired from eBay; rarely popping-up and not cheap, even though he never actually played with either one. In general, I guess I've been collecting Steely Dan-related stuff since around 1984, when I was 18, and haven't stopped since. I'll admit, I feel somewhat silly sometimes now as a 52 year-old married man, with 2 kids, a nice home and good job, collecting music memorabilia of an old "rock-n-roll" band, but it does brings me a lot of joy, especially when, as mentioned before, an elusive/rare piece comes my way. My wife and kids think I'm a "nut", but hey... I usually stray-away from purchasing the autographs, as they're so easy to forge; however, I do have a couple of DF-signed pieces that I know are legit, but nothing from our main man, WB. Anyway, probably more than you wanted to know, but pics are cool, take-up little room, and a fun keepsake for guitar players.
I think that its because guitar picks from better players tend to be personalized, are intimately tied to their art and instrument, and are small enough to be treasured without taking up a lot of space. Drummers and their sticks and guitar players with their picks can do this, where as keyboard players can't. And while I suppose the tenor sax (or bari sax in the case of SD) player could take of their reed and toss it towards the audience, I doubt that a saliva soaked bit of cane would be as affectionately sought after as a nice pick. I remember Q auctioning off one of Fagen's empty coke cans on Ebay a number of years ago, and setlists handed out by the stray guitar tech or roadie after a show are highly prized as well. But sticks and picks are special...you can pick them up and play with them, hoping a little bit of that mojo rubs off on you.
Gosh, so sad I missed this. Was there anything else on this thumb drive apart from that one treasure that would make it worth it on its own?
the tumbdrive had both solo albums in full in mp3 and flac, a small selection of material from this website, and the single "new" cut -- This Is My Building -- which will be posted here soon. So it's more like a (pretty comprehensive) Sampler than a collection of rarities per se. If you wanted to turn a Becker virgin on to WB's work, this thumb drive would certaily get them started. Walt On A Stick, shall we say...
Great idea! Converting the heathens can be a full time job when it comes to making people understand the enormous, equal contribution to SD. It can be exhausting, although with Fagen's unfair head start by being the well-known "voice" of SD, it's really hard for people to see Becker's fingerprints on the fretboard. There are a hand full of Becker solo songs (apart from just "Book of Liars") I always wished Fagen would sing. I'm almost positive is one said, "This is a newly discovered lost SD song!" - "Downtown Canon" (or countless others) would suddenly be come one of that "SD fan's" favorite SD songs.
Either way, looking forward to hearing "This Is My Building" when you deem us worthy of hearing it. I'll preface this with admitting you've already spoiled us, but I'm feeling greedy (and always in the need of new, inspiring music - plus I miss Becker) and the slow trickle can be maddening. If you guys ever feel like gracing us with a, perhaps, a thematic or somehow linked grouping of a few songs, I, for one, would not argue with such a concept. Again, total greed. I own that. I have to live with it. My terrible, terrible greed.
Regardless, thank you for all you have given us and for keeping the brilliant Becker music alive. It's much appreciated.
@neplicot the USB drive was from Matt's labor entirely - yes, a great idea, and beautifully done.