I was producing an album with Rickie Lee Jones and it took about eight or nine months to do, and she’s great, a great artist I love working with her and learned a lot from her. Do you remember what set off your need to do that? Was 11 Tracks of Whack brewing for a long time? It was a long time into your career before you did make a solo record. Now, of course I did collaborate with Larry, but he was extremely masterful and minimalist-style in the sense of when it came to say, “I disagree with this or that,” he would say it, but he would usually wait for the right moment to say it, and only say it once, and it had real resonance. And at a certain point, you sort of need to exercise that and say, “I’m gonna work now,” “I’m gonna knock off for a couple days,” “I’m goin’ home now,” “I don’t like that song,” “Let’s write another song,” “Let’s fix this song,” and not necessarily have to do it as a collaboration with somebody. But the one thing I can do on a solo record is anything I want any way I want to do it.

Well, the main difference, to tell you truth, is that there are a lot of things I can’t do solo that I can do with Steely Dan because of Donald’s voice and what Donald brings to the equation. I actually spoke to Donald Fagen when he did his last solo record, and I thought I’d start by asking you a question that I asked him: What can you do solo that you can’t do with Steely Dan? As he prepared to rehearse for the upcoming Steely Dan tour - which hits Beacon Theatre June 13, 14, 17, 18, 20 TONY met with Becker to discuss, among other topics, his love of classic reggae, his preoccupation with down-and-out types and his feelings on the Yacht Rock phenomenon. The new Circus Money, Becker’s second solo disc and first in 14 years, allows Dan fans to hear just how much he adds to the mix. But his songwriting partner, guitarist-bassist Walter Becker, has just as much to do with the group’s signature combination of mordant wit and burnished jazz-pop. In the case of Steely Dan, that someone is Donald Fagen, the group’s longtime keyboardist-frontman. No matter how well-balanced an artistic partnership is, someone always gets more of the glory.

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