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Wix has been threatening me with a forced migration from their older "Forum" format to their newer "Groups." No one asked for it, but they set a deadline to sunset the old forums, and rather than procrastinate until the last minute and lose everything that has been written, posted, commented, and contributed here since site launch in 2018ish, I decided to go ahead and punch that hornet nest. I can tell right off the bat that there are things I don't like...like why can I only have one image for a group, if you're going to use the same image for a 980x240 pixel hero banner across the top and a 40x40 square icon in the righthand nav? It defaulted to creating a group post for each time I changed said image, which meant I had to delete a slew of posts I didn't intend to make in the first place, and…

So not sure how much involvement Walt had on this one, but I imagine it had to be some. Anyways have seen other posts on this"Fake Book" of other Becker/Fagen Compositions and thought I'd share if anyone will appreciate it it would be people on this forum no doubt hahaha.

i can’t write home about u

riff

Amaj7 to F#m7

E/A(Amaj7add9) F#m7 A6/9

until “here they said life is reckless and free…

https://amzn.to/3FuEGQX

New autobiography by good old Chuck Rainey. I ordered a copy, so we'll see what he has to say for himself.

I had no idea this was on the horizon, but Chuck posted a link on his Facebook page. I always enjoy hearing him reflect on his lifetime of making incredible music with incredible musicians, and I'm very much looking forward to diving into this one.

Back in the innocent days of, say, ’18, I thought to compile an index of Walter’s expansive library as its tomes and I commenced our brisk footrace towards that Great Pulpyard in the Sky.

Then came the more sober days of, say, ’19, when I realized that bright BookBuddy (TM) idea was… just not gonna pan out. 

Next, the somewhat embittered-yet-still-pathetically-hopeful days of, say,  ’21, when I thought: “Hey! — I’ll just photograph all the spines! Brilliant!” 

Probably don’t have to tell you how far that plan went.

So in a deflated '25, with the Pulpyard ever closer, ^ ^ uh * * ... I guess ~ ~ … here are a few pics: 

One small shelf over one small desk in one small room of one small home. 

As I finish reading the Newsletter, I feel I must give thanks to those who maintain this space —D-Mod, Matthew Kerns and... whoever else may help in the shadows. I am certainly not on here all that often, but knowing that the source is available when I need it is a very comforting luxury. And having handled the maintenance of similar (but much less illustrious) content myself, I understand the amount of work behind it, the motivation/energy/passion it requires and the frustrations that often ride along with it. So let it be known that your work is much much appreciated. It is of immense value to me to have access to this repository/library of works from the man we all love, and to know this place gathers kindred souls. For all that: Thank You. Love, Paul PS: if/when the workload should become too much, feel free to reach out.

Taking Stock of the online record.

In the 19th(!) year since launching walterbecker.com and the first issue of the Walter Becker Newsletter, and in the 7th year of WBMedia, it’s a good time to take stock of the footprints Walter, his Estate, and his fans are leaving in the online sand — and in the historical record. 

… Because biographies may be cobbled, articles written, interviews given, YT/TT Hot Takes dropped — but whatever mess these “content items” might make of the actual reality of Walter Becker’s time in this world, there will always be an extraordinary body of first-person and real-time material available — at least, available — to countervail the smudges of time and the compressions and de-pixilations of invested or disinterested voices. We can be proud of what we're leaving behind. On the record. 

To start, there’s the impossible lunacy of classic sd.com’s 17-year run, overflowing with W’s writing in many forms, while also serving…

At Madison Square Garden last week, the Marxist Woke Mob — aka judges of the Westminster Dog Show — perpetrated a heinous, inexcusable injustice on all Goodest Boys and Bestest Girls everywhere.

They’d have you believe their judges “compare each individual to the breed’s ideal, not each other” and quack quack blah blah blah... 

… but no amount of quasi-eugenic gaslighting can obscure the simple fact: Mercedes was ROBBED of the Top Honor to which she was obviously entitled

I mean, just look at this quintessential GS low-rider glide

… and this majestic stack!

We’re proud of the footprints Walter, his Estate, and his fans are leaving in the online sand — and in the historical record — and want to do right in protecting it. 

So in keeping with our new Snitch State Reality, we’re inviting the WBM crew to help us root out the Enemies of the Empire … uh, no, we mean the Lame Fake Media … um, wait, the Corrupt DeepWeb Bureaucrati Grifters, or…well … maybe it’s all of the above. 

We’re speaking of course of the online locations, on any platform, that present WBM material and/or media without proper (or any) attribution. It’s one thing to ignore our dictum on the Downloads page (and in the FAQ) that any shared WBM material must be accompanied by its copyright information. But the most egregious vandals present and share WBM material — sometimes a lot of it — with not so much as a mention of its source —  tha…

This 3-parter on "11 Tracks of Whack’s" Girlfriend has been in the works for a while. 

But we've finally pulled together a few interesting and, we hope, illuminating bits from the voluminous Vault versions of this popular tune. 

But it’s more than just a full-band rundown, which many of you have requested over the years. 

Because the twists and turns and — some would say — surprising resolution for this cut are pretty good Exhibit-As for one of our WBM lief motifs: the persistent and oftentimes iterative process of songwriting and track production. 

It also happens to illustrate that sometimes the right step forward may be a step back. 

And zooming in to the personal, we’ll consider that Walter really seems to have dug in ... to get this tune emotionally, psychologically right; to discover and distill some core subjective truths which he felt compelled to express.