© 1992 Zeon Music
Vocal: Walter Becker
Drums: John Keane
Bass: Neil Stubenhaus
Guitar: Dean Parks
Keyboards: John Beasley
Saxophone: Bob Sheppard
Engineer: Roger Nichols
Recorded at Signet Studios, Los Angeles, 1992
In case you're wondering it's alive and well
That little habit that you left with me
Here in the suburbs where it's hard to tell
If I got the bear or if the bear got me
How did you know that it would take me down
Down to the bottom of the wine dark sea
Where you were waiting there to bring me 'round
Where you knew all the dopest cuts to be
Drowned at the bottom of your mystery
Down in the bottom of the wine dark sea
Saw your old lady in the park today
The legendary smile is wearing thin
Behind that guessing game you make her play
Now that she knows that she could never win
I guess you're never gonna take her down
Down to the bottom of your little black heart
Lay with her naked on the cold hard ground
To watch the sunrise in the dopest part
Down in the bottom where your lifeline shows
Down in the bottom where nobody goes
I like the feathers and I love the hat
I like that little gypsy tune you're humming
I guess I'm happy now we've had this chat
Oh yeah I'm really glad I saw you coming
There in the corner of the eastern sky
The tortured angel of your rising sign
Darkens the evening with his one good eye
An evil omen of the dopest kind
Down in the bottom where your demons fly
Down in the bottom of the eastern sky
Down in the bottom where your lifeline shows
Down in the bottom where nobody goes
Drowned at the bottom of your mystery
Down in the bottom of the wine dark sea
The production on the actual Tracks of Whack makes sense to me. As I said before, it was a bit more grunge in spirit. A bit more rough cut than Aja and more fitting for the times. But honestly, I enjoy this "Steely Dan" take on Down At The Bottom too. Either would have been fine for me. It's the melody and the lyrics (aka the spirit) that matters most to me and Down At The Bottom is one of his best
I really like 11 Tracks of Whack as it is, but, man, I really love this version.
Man! What a joy to hear this version. I’m sure Walter had his own perfectly valid reasons for using the other version on his album, but all I can say is, I love this one and already I think I prefer it. It rocks in a way that the other doesn’t, and the sax just blows me away! So maybe he didn’t care for those things so much... but again, just Wow. It reinforces my belief that a full-band version of 11ToW would be so sweet. Thanks to D-Mod as always for agreeing to surface these treats!!
Thanks as always for sharing. I really enjoy this version, but I surprisingly agree that the album version is better even though this one has real drums (and I really love the sax stuff in this version). The palm muted electric guitar here instead of acoustic guitar makes things darker and less snappy, and additionally the bass guitar doesn't have the midrange bite that Walter's does in the album version, which removes a lot of the string attack sound and takes away some of the percussive feel of the bass. Finally this whole recording sounds dark (especially the drums), since it didn't get a proper mastering to get the balance quite right. One thing I suggest trying is to adjust the EQ on your music player to add some highs, pretty aggressively in fact, I started bumping up the highs at 6khz and set 12khz pretty high. Once you do this, the whole song sounds sharper and more energetic, the hi hat and snare suddenly have new weight and propulsion, and it brings it closer to the vibe you get from the actual released version. (Just remember to set your EQ back to normal when you're done so the next song you listen to doesn't attack your ears with an ice pick!)
Thanks very mu