I was wondering if anyone here has access to the original lead sheets from Steely Dan. I know they were auctioned off last year at Julien's and was curious if anyone here has them and would be willing to share?
Hey David —I’m only like, o, a couple years late on this (sorry), but wanted to jump in on the topic of lead sheets generally.
I agree it’s great to have the sheets/charts that were (probably) handed out to the studio or stage musicians….and someday perhaps they all will be housed in some Library Archive somewhere. They’re certainly an improvement over those often-dreadful commercially released “songbooks”—-as are the thoughtful and informed chord sheets here in this category.
But as several comments through this category—discussions among our musicians here — point out, even good lead sheets may only provide a starting point. This is perhaps true for many pop songs, but *certainly* for reduction-resistant music like Sd/Df/WB’s.
Think Rainey in the CA doc noting: chart had great chords, bass parts etc…but then great musicians wonderfully re-voicing them (obvious paraphrase)
Think Denny in the same doc talking about the combo of tight vs cluster voicings on Aja
Think W himself saying his intent on Whack was an emphasis on melody and bass line, but not so much on chording…so harmonies weren’t fixed with static comping chords, but rather implied or revealed by melodies and roots
Think…oh hell had a couple other eg.s in mind, but poof they’re gone now.
All of which is to just repeat what contributors to this category have already observed: In sophisticated (or sophisticatedly simplified) multi-instrument tracks, sometimes something is missed…or is difficult to set down or notate in the traditional <keys & bass> or <melody & chord name> sheet.
So agreed, it’s always great IMO to get a look at SD/DF/WB charts or sheets. But there still may remain some ‘work to do’ in getting to adequately representing or recreating the ‘songs’ we heard on record or hear in our heads — absent the occasional (re)consideration of ‘just how the hell DO we notate that chord’?
There were pictures of the front page of some of these up on Julien's.