Walter Becker facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Walter Becker
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Becker in 2013
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Walter Carl Becker |
| Born | February 20, 1950 Queens, New York, U.S. |
| Died | September 3, 2017 (aged 67) Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, record producer |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1969–2017 |
| Labels | ABC, MCA, Giant, Reprise, Warner Bros. |
Walter Carl Becker (born February 20, 1950 – died September 3, 2017) was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was one of the main people who started the band Steely Dan. In the band, he played guitar and bass, and helped write their songs.
Becker met his future songwriting partner, Donald Fagen, when they were students at Bard College. After playing music in New York City for a short time, they moved to Los Angeles in 1971. There, they formed the band Steely Dan, which became very popular for ten years. After the band broke up, Becker moved to Hawaii. He didn't play music as much, mostly helping other artists make their albums as a producer. In 1985, he joined the English band China Crisis for a short time. He helped them make their album Flaunt the Imperfection and played synthesizer on it.
Becker and Fagen got Steely Dan back together in 1993. They kept making music and even won four Grammy Awards for their album Two Against Nature in 2000. Becker also released two solo albums: 11 Tracks of Whack (1994) and Circus Money (2008). He sadly passed away on September 3, 2017, after a short illness.
Contents
Early Life and Musical Start (1950–1971)
Walter Becker was born in Queens, New York City. He grew up in Queens and Scarsdale, New York, with his father and grandmother. His father, Carl Becker, sold machines that cut paper. Walter went to Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan.
He first started playing the saxophone. Later, he switched to the guitar. A neighbor, Randy California, who later formed the band Spirit, taught him how to play blues guitar.
Walter met Donald Fagen when they were both students at Bard College. Fagen heard Becker playing guitar at a campus café. Fagen later said it sounded "very professional." They formed a band called Leather Canary. Another student, Chevy Chase, played drums in this band. Chase once called their group "a bad jazz band."
In 1969, Becker left college before finishing his degree. He moved to Brooklyn with Fagen. They started working together as a team to write songs. They also played in the touring band for Jay and the Americans, but they used different names. They even wrote music for a movie called You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat, which came out in 1971.
Joining Steely Dan (1971–1981)
In 1971, Becker and Fagen moved to Los Angeles. Gary Katz hired them as songwriters for ABC Records. Soon after, they formed the band Steely Dan. Other members included guitarists Denny Dias and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder, and singer David Palmer. Fagen played keyboards and sang, while Becker played bass guitar.
Steely Dan spent the next three years touring and recording. After 1974, they stopped touring and only worked in the studio. The musicians they worked with changed for each album. Becker helped write all of the band's songs. He also played guitar and bass guitar, and sang background vocals.
The album Pretzel Logic (1974) was the first Steely Dan album where Becker played guitar. He explained that once he met the session musician Chuck Rainey, he felt he didn't need to bring his bass guitar to the studio anymore.
Even though their album Aja was very successful in 1977, Becker faced some tough times. In 1978, he and Fagen moved back to New York. Becker's girlfriend passed away in his apartment in 1980. Soon after, he was hit by a taxi in Manhattan and had to use crutches. All of this, along with the pressure of making the album Gaucho (1980), made him very tired. Becker and Fagen decided to stop working together in June 1981.
Working as a Record Producer (1981–1993)
After Steely Dan broke up, Becker and his family moved to Maui, Hawaii. Becker spent time growing avocados and thinking about modern life.
He started producing albums for other bands. He worked with new wave bands like Fra Lippo Lippi and China Crisis. He is listed as a band member on China Crisis's 1985 album Flaunt the Imperfection. He also produced albums for Michael Franks and John Beasley.
Becker produced Rickie Lee Jones's album Flying Cowboys. He also played bass on the main song, which became very popular. In 1986, Becker and Fagen worked together again on Zazu, the first album by Rosie Vela. In 1991, Becker joined Fagen's New York Rock and Soul Revue.
Steely Dan Gets Back Together (1993–2017)
In 1993, Becker produced Donald Fagen's album Kamakiriad. A year later, Fagen helped produce Becker's first solo album, 11 Tracks of Whack.
Also in 1993, Steely Dan started touring again for the first time in 19 years. This led to their first live album, Alive in America, released in 1995. It was a collection of live recordings from their tours in 1993 and 1994.
In 2000, they released Two Against Nature, their first album with new songs in 20 years. This album won four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. In 2001, they were honored by being put into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They also received special degrees from the Berklee College of Music. In 2003, they released the album Everything Must Go. Becker sang the main vocal on the song "Slang of Ages." They then went on tour.
In 2005, Becker helped produce and played bass guitar on the album All One by Krishna Das. He also played guitar on Tough on Crime by Rebecca Pidgeon. He helped write songs for Madeleine Peyroux's albums Half the Perfect World (2006) and Bare Bones (2009). In 2008, he was honored by the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.
His second solo album, Circus Money, came out on June 10, 2008. This was 14 years after his first solo album. The songs on this album were inspired by reggae and other types of Jamaican music.
Instruments and Gear
Walter Becker loved collecting musical equipment. He gathered hundreds of guitars and amplifiers. He also had many other instruments, pedals, pedalboards, speakers, and recording gear. When he played concerts, he often used custom-made guitars that looked like Stratocasters.
After he passed away, his musical gear was sold at an auction by Julien's. It sold for a total of US$3,300,000. Becker's collection of guitars and amplifiers was the biggest ever sold by Julien's. The owner of Julien's said that Becker's collection was special because he "literally played all of them."
In a magazine article in 1994, Becker created the acronym G.A.S. This stood for "Guitar Acquisition Syndrome." It described how musicians sometimes collect too much music gear. This term was later changed to Gear Acquisition Syndrome and is still used today.
Personal Life
In 1984, Walter Becker married Elinor Roberta Meadows, who was a yoga teacher. They had two children, including an adopted daughter named Sayan. They divorced in 1997. Becker wrote a song called "Little Kawai" for his son. This song was the last one on his album 11 Tracks of Whack.
Becker was also married to Delia Cioffi and Juanna Fatouros at different times.
Illness and Passing
In the spring of 2017, Walter Becker was diagnosed with a serious illness during a checkup. Even though he received strong treatment, his health quickly got worse. He was unable to perform at Steely Dan's concerts in the months before he passed away.
He died on September 3, 2017, at his home in Manhattan, New York City. He was 67 years old. At first, the cause of his passing was not announced. However, in November, his wife, Delia Becker, shared details about his struggle with the illness.
On the day Becker passed away, Donald Fagen released a statement. He remembered his long-time friend and musical partner as "smart as a whip, an excellent guitarist and a great songwriter." Fagen also said he planned to "keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band."
Many other musicians shared their sadness about Becker's passing. These included Julian Lennon, Steve Lukather, and John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats. Rickie Lee Jones, whose album Flying Cowboys was produced by Becker, wrote about her long friendship with him in an article for Rolling Stone magazine.
Discography
Studio Albums
- 11 Tracks of Whack (1994)
- Circus Money (2008)
As a Sideman or Producer
- 1969 Alias Boona, Terence Boylan
- 1974 First Grade, Thomas Jefferson Kaye
- 1985 Flaunt the Imperfection, China Crisis
- 1986 Zazu, Rosie Vela
- 1987 Light and Shade, Fra Lippo Lippi
- 1989 Diary of a Hollow Horse, China Crisis
- 1989 Blue Pacific, Michael Franks
- 1989 Flying Cowboys, Rickie Lee Jones
- 1993 Kamakiriad, Donald Fagen
- 1994 Mose the Fireman, John Beasley
- 2005 All One, Krishna Das
- 2005 Tough on Crime, Rebecca Pidgeon
- 2009 Baritonality, Roger Rosenberg
- 2011 Fra Lippo Lippi, Fra Lippo Lippi
Images for kids
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Becker in 2013
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Becker and Donald Fagen at Pori Jazz, 2007
See also
In Spanish: Walter Becker para niños
