Gaucho (album)

Gaucho
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 21, 1980
Recorded1978–1980
Studio
  • Soundworks, New York City
  • A&R, New York City
  • Sigma Sound, New York City
  • Automated Sound, New York City
  • Village Recorder, Los Angeles, California
  • Producer's Workshop, Hollywood
Genre
Length37:55
LabelMCA
ProducerGary Katz
Steely Dan chronology
Aja
(1977)
Gaucho
(1980)
Alive in America
(1995)
Singles from Gaucho
  1. "Hey Nineteen"
    Released: November 21, 1980
  2. "Time Out of Mind"
    Released: March 1981 (US)
  3. "Babylon Sisters"
    Released: March 1981 (UK)[1]

Gaucho is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Steely Dan, released by MCA Records on November 21, 1980. The album marked a significant stylistic shift for the band, with more focus on rhythm and atmosphere than their earlier work, but the recording sessions demonstrated the group's typical obsessive nature and perfectionism,[2][3] as they used at least 42 different session musicians, spent over a year in the studio, and far exceeded the original monetary advance given by the record label.[4] At the 24th Annual Grammy Awards, Gaucho won Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical, and was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

The making of the album was plagued by a number of creative, personal, and professional problems,[5] and, once it was completed, there was a three-way legal battle between MCA, Warner Bros., and Steely Dan over the rights to release it. After the album was released, jazz pianist Keith Jarrett sued Walter Becker and Donald Fagen for copyright infringement, claiming the title track plagiarized "'Long As You Know You're Living Yours" from his 1974 album Belonging, and he was given a co-writing credit. Steely Dan did not release another studio album until Two Against Nature, nearly 20 years later.

  1. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 782. ISBN 9780862415419.
  2. ^ Canada.com: Steely Dan still feeling the groove Archived 2009-07-03 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ^ MSN Inside Music – Re:Masters: Steely Dan Think Fast and Tour Archived 2010-09-04 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ PopMatters review: "Steely Dan – Guacho."
  5. ^ Mojo article: "The Mojo Interview."