Steely Dan's 'Gaucho' Returning To Vinyl

10-03-2023

() In 1980, after nearly two years in the studio, Steely Dan emerged triumphant with their brilliant seventh studio album, Gaucho. The GRAMMY-winning title would not only mark their final release under MCA Records but also their last studio album for 20 years. Featuring the Top 10 hit "Hey Nineteen," plus such classic cuts as "Babylon Sisters" and "Time Out of Mind," Gaucho also boasts a who's who of legendary guest musicians, including Mark Knopfler, Michael McDonald and Bernard Purdie.

Available on December 1 via Geffen/UMe, Gaucho continues the label's extensive reissue program of Steely Dan's classic ABC and MCA Records catalog, which returns the band's first seven records to vinyl - most of which haven't been available since their original release. Overseen by founding member Donald Fagen, the series launched in November 2022 with the group's legendary 1972 debut, Can't Buy A Thrill, followed by Countdown To Ecstasy (1973), Pretzel Logic (1974), and, most recently, the duo's 1977 multi-platinum jazz-rock masterwork, Aja.

Gaucho has been meticulously remastered by Bernie Grundman from a 1980 analog tape copy, originally EQ'd by Bob Ludwig. Additionally, Gaucho, like all of the titles, is being released as a limited edition premium 45 RPM version on Ultra High-Quality Vinyl (UHQR) from Analogue Productions, the audiophile in-house reissue label of Acoustic Sounds. Analogue Productions is also releasing this series of titles on Super Audio CD (SACD).

Additional titles rolling out over the next few months include 1975's swing-pop perfection Katy Lied (featuring "Black Friday," "Bad Sneakers" and "Doctor Wu," as well as the addition of Michael McDonald on vocals) and 1976's guitar-driven The Royal Scam ("Kid Charlemagne," "The Fez").

All albums in the series are being mastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes except for Aja and Gaucho (there's no evidence the original tapes containing the flat mixes of these two LPs were delivered to the record label and it's presumed the tapes no longer exist). Lacquers for UMe's standard 33 1/3 RPM 180-gram version will be cut by Alex Abrash at his renowned AA Mastering studio from high-resolution digital files of Grundman's new masters and pressed at Precision. They will be housed in reproductions of the original artwork.

The 45 RPM UHQR versions will be pressed at Analogue Productions' Quality Record Pressings on 200-gram Clarity Vinyl, packaged in a deluxe box, and will include a booklet detailing the entire process of making a UHQR along with a certificate of inspection. Each UHQR is pressed, using hand-selected vinyl, with attention paid to every single detail of every single record. All of the innovations introduced by QRP that have been generating such incredible critical acclaim are applied to each UHQR. The 200-gram records feature the same flat profile that helped to make the original UHQR so desirable.