Walter Becker

For other people named Walter Becker, see Walter Becker (disambiguation).

Walter Becker
Birth name	Walter Carl Becker
Born	20 February 1950 (1950-02-20)
Origin	Queens, New York
Genres	Rock, jazz/fusion
Occupations	singer, songwriter, record producer, musician
Instruments	bass, guitar, vocals
Years active	1971–present
Labels	ABC Records MCA Records Giant/Reprise/Warner Bros. Records Reprise/Warner Bros. Records
Website	Official Site

Walter Carl Becker (born February 20, 1950) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder, guitarist, bassist and a co-writer of Steely Dan.

Career

Becker was born to a Jewish family in Queens, New York, grew up in Westchester County and Forest Hills, Queens, and is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, class of 1967. After starting out on saxophone, he switched to guitar and received instruction in blues technique from neighbor Randy Wolfe who, under the pseudonym Randy California, played with Jimi Hendrix and founded the group, Spirit.

He met his long-time musical partner, Donald Fagen, while attending Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Becker and Fagen formed and played in a number of groups, including The Leather Canary, which also included the now famous actor/comedian Chevy Chase on drums. At the time, Chase called the group "a bad jazz band." Becker and Fagen's youthful career also included a stint with Jay and the Americans under pseudonyms prior to relocating to California and forming Steely Dan. The band released seven successful albums in its initial ten-year career. In addition to co-writing all of the band's material, Becker played bass on many of the band's tracks, as well as providing guitar solos, rhythm guitar, occasional backing vocals and arrangements.

Following Steely Dan's breakup in 1981, Becker moved to Hawaii, and began a career as a record producer, producing records from Rickie Lee Jones, China Crisis and Michael Franks. Becker is credited as one of five official members of China Crisis on the sleeve of their 1985 album Flaunt the Imperfection, which he produced; he also produced tracks on their 1989 album Diary of a Hollow Horse, although he is not credited as a band member on that release.

Becker reunited with Fagen briefly to collaborate on the debut album of singer Rosie Vela. Their partnership properly resumed in 1993 when they undertook a new tour as Steely Dan.

Becker also produced Fagen's album Kamakiriad in 1993. In turn, Fagen co-produced Becker's belated solo debut album 11 Tracks of Whack in 1994.

Steely Dan continued touring, and their work on new material resulted in their first studio album in two decades, Two Against Nature, released in 2000. The album won four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. The duo was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. The next Steely Dan record, Everything Must Go followed in 2003, featuring Becker's bass and electric guitar work, as well as the first studio Steely Dan track with a lead vocal by Becker, "Slang of Ages". The band spent the following years touring behind their back catalog.

Becker was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame on October 30, 2008. Becker's second solo album, Circus Money, was released on June 10, 2008. The album prominently featured Becker's bass playing, performances by much of the Steely Dan backing band, and work by producer Larry Klein (who received co-composition credits on all but one song). The songs were heavily inspired by reggae and other Jamaican music.

Solo discography

• 11 Tracks of Whack (1994)
• Circus Money (2008)

Other works

Becker produced Fra Lippo Lippi's 1987 Norwegian single, "Angel", as well as the 1985 China Crisis album, Flaunt The Imperfection. In 2005, Becker co-produced and played bass on the Krishna Das album All One. Becker played solo guitar on the title track of the 2005 Rebecca Pidgeon album Tough on Crime. Madeleine Peyroux's 2006 album Half the Perfect World featured a single, "I'm All Right", that was co-written by Becker with Peyroux and producer Larry Klein. Peyroux's 2009 album Bare Bones contains two songs co-written by Becker, "You Can't do Me" and the title-track "Bare Bones".

Awards

In 2001, both Becker and Fagen received Honorary Doctor of Music degrees from Berklee College of Music. They both accepted their degrees in person.

See also

• Katy Lied

External links

• Walterbecker.com Walter Becker's official website
• Steelydan.com Steely Dan's official website
• Members.home.nl Complete discography