Circus Money 10 Year anniversary

We would be remiss if we didn't take a moment to reflect on Walter's Circus Money release on June 10th, 2008, a decade ago this week. We hope that those of you who enjoyed the album have also enjoyed the bonus tracks and demos we have shared from it, with more coming in the days and months ahead.

At some point in the not so distant past, the online storefront that existed for the site's launch was taken offline, but those interested in purchasing the album can do so in digital format on amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Circus-Money-Walter-Becker/dp/B0016KJS3I) or iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/circus-money/281365415) and on most of, if not all of, your favorite streaming services.

Fans looking to purchase an actual physical cd jewel case copy of the album might note that prices on amazon (likely filled through third-party marketplace vendors) are currently astronomically high, in the neighborhood of $50 in the US or £50 in the UK. We have confirmed that Mailboat Records (https://www.mailboatrecords.com/walter-becker) is still shipping the physical jewel case cd for the much more reasonable price of $9.99 US. Long term, we are working to get our custom store back online to ensure all versions are available everywhere.

We would also like to take a moment to acknowledge Larry Klein (https://www.larrykleinmusic.com/), Walter's collaborator and producer for the Circus Money project, who has kindly and generously agreed to the release of demos, extras, and goodies from the CM sessions on this site. And a final thank you to you, the fans who have listened to, absorbed, and reflected on Walter's music. If it wasn't obvious by his words at hundreds of concerts, his output on the web, or his insistence on this project and the sharing of his previously unreleased work, he truly cared for his fans and their relationship with his music.

Circus Money was in my car's six disc cd changer from June 10, 2008 until l traded that car in last month. The new car doesn't have a cd player at all.

This was my review of the album, posted on June 10th, 2008 to amazon:

Circus Money, the sophomore album by Steely Dan's Walter Becker, comes a mere 14 years after his initial solo effort (11 Tracks of Whack), and if any album has ever justified such a long wait, this one certainly does.

Take the smoothness and production of Steely Dan, add a dash of reggae, top with a voice that is remarkably suited for the songs, and you'll have Circus Money. Larry Klein (of Joni Mitchell fame, whose production work on Herbie Hancock's latest album garnered it a Grammy for Album of the Year) keeps it simple, and the production never detracts from the best parts of the album, namely Walter's intelligent and wry lyrics and the interplay between some of the finest musicians recording today, made into a cohesive unit by touring together with Steely Dan and Walter's songwriting partner Donald Fagen over the last five years. This doesn't sound like a collection of musicians so much as a real band, and that makes this album sound more cohesive than any Steely Dan related release since perhaps Donald's The Nightfly, way back in 1982.

Listing highlights on this album would be as simple as making a list of all of the songs, leaving none off, but it seems easiest to break this album down as such: songs that remind you of why you love Steely Dan (Downtown Canon, Paging Audrey, Upside Looking Down), songs that show the reggae influence most clearly (Bob is Not Your Uncle Anymore, Do You Remember the Name), and songs that show-off Walter's aptitude as a songwriter (all other tracks).

Thanks Matt. You are one for whom your good early impression seems to have held. Interested in others' opinions; has CM "aged" well or not-so-well for you?

I still love it as much today as I did the day it came out. Upside Looking Down has brought me to the verge of tears several times, such a thing of beauty. Just happened the other day

If any song cycle released in the past fifty years or so has aged well, it is Walter Becker's incredibly wonderful Circus Money. This is easily one of my personal favorite chunks of music, period. I mean, you have these "Desert Island" albums, and then you have an elite group of discs (vinyl, CD, whatever) - "forever records" - music you just can't live without - that you'd choose to take with you on your first flight to Mars, or that you'd insist on listening to on your way to The Chair (when The Governor finally sez, "Fry that bastard's ass!"), or when you're about to otherwise shuffle off This Mortal Coil, reluctantly leaving those other/otherwise/very-slightly-lesser all-time greats behind on that God-forsaken little double-palm-tree clump in the middle of the ocean. Walter Becker's second album is in that elite/indispensable category for me. It's indescribably good, which is why all the overwhelmingly-positive reviews it received when it was released, and those it has garnered since then, have ultimately failed to convey how damn good it actually is. It's not enough to read about it, folks - you have to listen to it. Unlike some other "critically acclaimed" stuff...

Although - I love this quote from Matt's Amazon review - "Listing highlights on this album would be as simple as making a list of all of the songs, leaving none off..." - I couldn't have said it better, Matt. Because, very possibly no truer words have been spoken in the English Language thus far.

Spring/Summer 2008 seems like just a few minutes ago for me, and I have some delightfully clear memories of listening to Circus Money in its entirety several times on the long trip in June of that year from Toronto to NYC as we headed for a whole bunch of Steely Dan Beacon Theatre shows. Just as we were entering the Lincoln Tunnel, leaving New Joisey behind, Three Picture Deal was playing at full volume with the NYC skyline briefly in view in all its glory...I'll never forget that moment. Thanks, WB.

We (two of us, to be exact) had a little Circus Money Tenth Anniversary Party last night. An entire night of nothing but CM, over & over. It's a brilliant album, as thoroughly excellent as anything any human being has ever done, ever. I love Walter Becker's Circus Money, as much as one person could possibly love a thing, and you should too.

I have already mentioned how much I thought W grew between his 2 releases, It's obvious those who know think so too. I bought CM twice when it first came out and am about to buy it again since the idea of having it in the CD changer at all times seems like the right thing (for me) to do!!!

"over & over" bout covers it for me, it's endlessly enjoyable to me, I'm happy to know he was proud of this remarkable record.

Thank you both so much!! Flat hat tip to W!

Tangental to the release of C$... The morning after the show at the Beacon, several of us went out to breakfast. To our surprise, Abe Vigoda was at the diner as well. Matt or Jim may remember more details, but when Mr. Vigoda was leaving, Mark Drinan (RIP) went outside with him and showed him the CS liner notes (he had been mentioned on the second to last page) and explained who WB was and, I think, gave him his copy of C$.

Mr Vagoda must have been a creature of AM habit...

Skip Gildersleeve (RIP) got this picture, same neighborhood

Ha! That's great. I wonder if that's Mark's CD? BTW, in answer to your original question, Circus Money holds up extremely well. I sometimes stop listening to all Walter and SD music for a while, then go back to it so it's a little fresh, and I always am amazed at the clarity, the pristine-ness (is that a word?) of the recording. His voice as clear and warm as if he were right there, and the music just sweeps me away anew. It's a gem.

"In the littlest hours tween the dusk and dawn, as the night light glows w the music on, you can climb so high in the dreamtime sky and go anywhere".....wow!! So profound, so sophisticated. My favorite. Thankyou and we miss you Walter!!

Circus Money is really something else.

It's an audiophile's dream, it's so crystal clear that Swarovski should find a way to make jewelry out of it. The bass is perfectly balanced, you can really feel it (in a literal and emotional sense) thanks to the tight bottom end with just enough midrange punch to be defined and melodic. I'd be happy just to listen to the multitrack tape of Walter's bass tracks only. The rest of the sound is three dimensional. The cymbals dance and float above your head, the shakers and triangles slide off somewhere in the depths behind my speakers, the backing vocals swirl around in circles, and every syllable Walter sings sounds like a conversation just inches away from my face. The musicians Walter chose to be on this record are there for a reason. Jon Herington says so much in just a 7 second guitar solo in Three Picture Deal. Keith Carlock has chops for days, but every tom hit or crash cymbal ringing out is there for a reason (remember kids, it's just as much about what you don't play!)

The songwriting and arrangements on Circus Money are just... I don't have a word here to do it justice. Larry Klein did a wonderful job working with Walter on this one. The melodies are the kind that are instant earworms, but don't get boring or tired. There's a huge emphasis on space and rhythm, and I dig that. The lyrics range from hilarious (Selfish Gene makes me smile like a doofus) to grabbing-my-heart (holy shit, Paging Audrey). I'm not the narrator in Downtown Canon, I've never gone through a relationship like that one, but goddammit if I don't feel like I am by the time we get to the "I’m leaving with all I need but less than I deserve" line. Makes me want to go down to the kitchen, grab a glass, and start working on a big pour of barrel strength bourbon. Also, I'd like to take a moment to appreciate this little bit of brilliance in Somebody's Saturday Night: "She looked good / In the available light." Paints a picture of the scene, and also leaves the potential for it to be either sincere, or one of the greatest backhand compliments I've ever heard.

Also, this album gave us the line "Like a permanent picture of your pussyprint in cement," which is not something I ever dreamed I would hear in a song. So, good job Walter.

I come back to Circus Money more than any other post-reunion SD/DF/WB record. I think part of the reason is the quality of the mix and recording, It's such a warm record that envelops you instantly. If I went song for song, I might say I have a slight preference for 11TOW, but this always felt like a more cohesive work. It also happens to feature my favorite Dan collaborators - Carlock (of course), Chris Potter, and the best keyboard players DF and/or WB ever worked with, Ted Baker and Jim Beard.

There are a lot of comedic gems in Becker's lyrics here - the aforementioned "mind meld/ like a permanent picture of your pussyprint in cement" which is a just a stunning alliterative turn of phrase, or the "coal mine" bit in somebody's saturday night, most of "darking down" and "selfish gene."

I know many fans were hoping for some live performances of Circus Money tunes. When it became clear it wouldn't happen with Steely Dan, I recall a rumor (or maybe just wishful thinking) that Becker was considering a small solo tour or series of club dates. It would have been one hell of a show.

2011 Interview

Would you ever do a solo tour? I don't know is the answer to that. I'd like to get a band together and play live, but I probably would do that for a while in one place and try to grow it in a stable environment with musicians in the town that they live rather than starting to schlep it around straight away.

I heard the 2011 solo- or club-date rumors too, & socked some money aside, & told my staff that they could expect me to disappear on short to no notice. Figured I'd be going to some small room in NYC, or LA, or (& maybe this was just wishful thinking) Maui, where the audience might only consist of a hundred or hundred & fifty bodies, tops. Not to be, & I understand the cost involved in hiring & rehearsing sidemen. & etc., "charts of doom," transportation, catering & the rest so maybe there was a bit of wishful thinking involved. & still...

Hoping to have more from that Slims SF thing we got 3 Sisters from...:-)

This is the last album I truly anticipated and bought the day it was released. I loved it immediately though there was a song or two I tended to skip. Now those songs I felt were lesser are some of my favorites. I remember checking the Steely Dan page daily and googling Don and Walt when I first got to work. When the news of this album came out I was thrilled. Walter has always been my favorite part of the Dan. I feel such a profound lost now that he’s not here. My life has been a series of disappointments and something about Walter’s lyrics (I feel I know which are his) always feel relatable.He has been the soundtrack to my life. He gave the sense that life may or may not get better but a little rhythm and blues makes it tolerable.

Hey, Sam. You captured something important and ineffable about Walter (“life may or may not get better but…”) and that can be hard to do.

His advice to Berklee graduates was "The blues. Playing the blues. Play the blues -- it works over everything.” He’d often say something like that — I think I read somewhere that he whispered much the same thing to a guitarists who was having trouble wth a solo — and most people figured it was just a cute little affectation Uncle Walt liked to style.

But he really meant it — much the way, I think, you seem to mean it too. All manner of music can often stop the bleeding. It’s just that some people seem to bleed alot…and for them, only a certain type will do. And even that won’t “ cure” them. It will nurture them just enough to keep putting one foot in front of the other... and for them, that is as much of a "cure" as one could hope for.

Welcome, Sam.

I revisit CM every couple of weeks and find something new to fall in love with almost every time. On the topic of love, my 11ToW CD went missing for weeks. I found it in my then-girlfriend's Honda, at which point I knew I had to marry her. That was 17 years ago this month (we're still married, got two great kids.)

wow - that's 2 reported long-lasting relationship birthed in part by...Walter Becker?! As Howard Rodman said "...our lives are long and strange and on a good night, not unwonderful"

As was told to me it is like a fine whiskey, better with time. I pick up more every time I listen..