The Finer Things Lead Sheets and Analysis by Steve Khan

Soundclip:

See Steve's Hand-Written Chordal Lead Sheet | Melody Lead Sheet

"The Finer Things"(Donald Fagen)

As many of you, who follow these pages, might suspect, I loved the 1982 very dark film by director Martin Scorcese, "THE KING OF COMEDY." It starred Robert De Niro as the unforgettably terrifying Rupert Pupkin and Jerry Lewis as the kidnapped comedy superstar, Jerry Langford. When all was apparently completed, Scorcese asked Robbie Robertson to assemble music for a soundtrack album, and Robbie went to Donald Fagen and asked him if he had something that he would like to contribute to that forthcoming album. Somehow, "The Finer Things" became that song.

In his prophetic wisdom, Donald decided to make alto saxophonist David Sanborn the voice of this fantastic song. One that could have easily gone unfinished and we would never have heard it.
    Having just shared a wonderful conversation, as we periodically do, producer Gary Katz filled in a few interesting pieces of historical information that served to help this story become a bit more clear. When I endeavored to refresh his memory with the dates from my 1982 datebook, with some degree of confidence, he was able to state, and clearly, that "The Finer Things" was a track that was cut for Donald's masterpiece, "THE NIGHTFLY," which had been released in 1982!! To add to the chronology of events here, I know that my small contribution to Donald's brilliant album, playing acoustic guitar on "The Goodbye Look" took place on July 27th, 1982 @ Soundworks Studios here in New York.
    The session that produced "The Finer Things" featured these great players: Michael Omartian (Ac. Piano); Chuck Rainey (El. Bass) and Ed Greene (Drums). Everything that you now hear was added in later via overdubs, including yours truly, Steve Khan (Guitar). The great Rob Mounsey contributed the string arrangement, and the vocal chorus that is only heard at the very end was supplied by Valerie Simpson & Leslie Miller (Background Vocals) with Donald adding in a 3rd voice in part of the brief phrase. Though it is not stated in the credits on the soundtrack LP, never released as a CD, Gary believed that the song had to have been mixed by Elliot Scheiner. The sound is very consistent with "THE NIGHTFLY" mixes. However, after having had a couple of great conversations with Elliot, he doesn't remember doing anything on this song and, he states emphatically that, he did NOT mix it. Until just before sharing this piece, I was still in the dark on that one!!! For the record, Daniel Lazerus is the only person credited as the engineer on the LP sleeve, but now I know that Daniel actually mixed the song.

    Here I sit, and it is now February of 2025, and we are some 43 years beyond what my memory can accurately recall about the session or sessions that produced some of the final results for the Donald Fagen/David Sanborn collaboration on Donald's love song, "The Finer Things." Lucky for me, I have safely kept all of my datebooks since I arrived in New York City in January of 1970. As the soundtrack album from "THE KING OF COMEDY" was released in 1983, it seemed to me that any recording done for this song had to have taken place in 1982. And so, I went to that datebook and found the following 3 dates all connected to "The Finer Things."

                                    Monday, October 25th, 1982, 7 P.M. to Open @ Soundworks Studio
                                    Tuesday, November 9th, 11:30 P.M. to Open @ Soundworks Studio
                          Friday, November 12th, Noon-2 P.M. @ Mediasound Studios
            - Rob Mounsey's String Arrangement Recorded
                    Friday, November 12th, 2-5 P.M. @ Mediasound Studios
        - Alto Saxophonist David Sanborn Recorded

As it has turned out, Rob Mounsey also kept all of his own datebooks and located the precise date when he recorded his fantastic string arrangement for "The Finer Things." He also wrote down that the arrangement was written for 7 violins; 6 2nd violins; 6 violas and 5 cellos. The richness to the bottom sonic end of Rob's arrangement where you really can feel the muscle of the cellos. I especially feel them when Letter [B] arrives and you hear the rich harmonies of those C7(9b5) chords. It's just magnificent sounding. However, beyond that, Rob doesn't remember much of anything about the conversational parts of his interactions with Donald.

While reflecting, I thought that I had remembered being at Mediasound Studios and doing something for this song there, but I was wrong. Where my own performance was concerned, this only took place at the 2 prior sessions indicated, both at Soundsworks Studio, which was a small room that Donald and Gary liked to work in. I suppose that a 4-5 piece rhythm date could have been done there, but it would have been fairly cramped

, and I don't recall how good their acoustic piano might have been. So it doesn't seem all that likely that Michael Omartian, Chuck Rainey, Ed Greene could have been cutting that track in that small room. But now that Gary has filled in some crucial parts of the chronology, I'll have to see what else I can unearth from the memories of the other players.

    Through both Gary Katz and Rob Mounsey I was able to reconnect with engineer Daniel Lazerus, now Winter Lazerus and our recent communications have opened up a whole new world where Donald's "The Finer Things" is concerned. When Daniel/Winter sent me the photo that now appears at the bottom of the Chordal Lead Sheet page, it miraculously shows the piano parts, labeled as the Master Rhythm parts for some 8 of the songs that were intended for "THE NIGHTFLY"! One of those songs did not make it to the album, and there you can see, with your own eyes, "The Finer Things" - and it becomes a known, a certainty, that it was, in fact, recorded as part of the music, the songs for that historic album by Donald Fagen. Daniel/Winter explained to me that the title: "Talk Radio" eventually got renamed, "The Nightfly" and becomes a big part of the greater story as, after all, it is now the title song of the album. "The Rich Kids" is no longer a mystery thanks to Lazerus' cache of memories. What began as "The Rich Kids," believe it or not, is what eventually became the very much beloved "Maxine"! It stands as a stunning development. The main thing here is that one of mysteries of "The Finer Things" has been solved and we are all the better for that. I don't know that the jewel of now being able to see these Master Rhythm charts is the 1st time that Fagen fans, Steely Dan fans have been able to actually see what the musicians got to see and work from, but if it is? It then becomes one great gift from Daniel Winter Lazerus!
    Thanks to the photographic efforts of B.C. Campbell, just in time, I was able to receive the Master Rhythm chart for "The Finer Things" which turns out to be 7-pages in length. But considering that it is a 2-stave piano part this all makes sense. Also, there are no repeats until final refrain or vocal chorus section for a Fade! This adds to the length. I think that most musicians would prefer to simply read from left to right and just follow the chart that way and not have to turn pages to go backwards. I think that we are all so fortunate to be able to see the 1st 2 pages of this chart as such things are rarely if ever seen or shared in a public forum.

    You might be wondering just why, after all of these years, I sat down and transcribed the chords and the song's structure. The principal motivator was that I just love this song and wanted to refresh my own experience having played on it, and, to see what it might have looked like. Of course, in those days, which for me went back through both "AJA" and "GAUCHO," at the basic rhythm section dates, we were always presented with a keyboard/piano part on full-size music paper 9.5" x 12.5" - I would guess that the original was easily 5 pages in length. So my chordal lead sheet pales in comparison with the beautiful calligraphy of what we played from. Anyway, as everyone now knows and/or realizes, there are Steely Dan Tribute Bands all over the world, and I became friendly with one such band from The Netherlands, vocalist/saxophonist Lo van Gorp and his group, The Royal Dutch Scam which features great players and vocalists recreating the music from Donald & Walter's vast catalog. As periodically, I will just sit and listen wistfully to "The Finer Things" for pure enjoyment, it came to me that perhaps, if I presented a nice lead sheet to Lo van Gorp, as he is a saxophonist, he might consider adding this rather obscure, never really finished, tune to their repertoire. And so, the lead sheets, both chords and melody, that I am presenting here, are exactly what I sent off to The Netherlands. Thus far, I have never heard that they worked up an arrangement based upon the original. But, it would have involved a lot of work on their end, writing out parts, etc.!

    If you will allow me, I would like to sing the praises of my old friend, bandmate and colleague, David Sanborn, who sadly left us last year, 2024. Since I first heard this performance right up until this moment, I find Dave's playing and statement of Donald's melody to be so emotional and moving. When he enters at Letter [A], from his first notes, there is no question that he owns this melody. He plays it as if he composed it himself, which is only a tribute in and of itself to Donald Fagen's talent as a composer.

As usual, Sanborn's playing is a mix of bluesy influences laced with his own shadings via his internal dynamics within the phrases. With the changes in harmony as the song hits the Bridge, Letter [B], Dave's expressiveness ramps up and Donald's melody notes sit perfectly within or on top of the chordal voicings, now with both the power and sensitivity of Michael Omartian's acoustic piano and Rob Mounsey rich strings. Sanborn captures the very emotional build-up from bars 9 through 16 of the section to drive it towards a return to Letter [A]. When the song arrives at Letter [C], a section which could best be described as an Interlude which features Rob's strings carrying more of the melodic load and Dave's alto providing a couple of fills to maintain his principal role as the voice of the song until the last 4 bars of the section are carried by Rob's strings leading into [A4] and the final statement of the main melodic material. These last 14 bars of the melody are even more powerfully stated than the previous times and it all leads to the emotional payoff of the escalating harmonies in the 4-bar [Tag]. When the song hits Letter [D], this is the only time where the vocals of Valerie Simpson & Leslie Miller enter with their refrain and Donald's lyrics then give us a sense of the perhaps sarcastic view of love. It is a fascinating and unusual 7-bar phrase with Dave's fills always appearing in bar 4 through 7. I love that one super-duper blues/soul phrase during the 4th repeat as the track is fading. Pure Sanborn that one!!!
Referring again to my fantastic exchanges with engineer Daniel Winter Lazerus, he was describing for me how, after Rob Mounsey's string arrangement had been recorded @ Mediasound Studio 'A', Daniel selected a Neumann U-47 tube microphone from all of the mics for strings that had been employed, because David Sanborn was coming in to record his alto saxophone part. When I heard that, and remembered that I had written down that date & time in my 1982 datebook, suddenly it came back to me that I had had a very friendly conversation with Donald Fagen about these upcoming sessions for "The Finer Things," and I remembered that he had actually asked me if I could be there while Dave was recording, because Donald had never really worked closely with Dave on anything, and he thought that having a friendly face and voice in the control room might help to make things go more smoothly. For me, it is amazing to remember this, but I guess that my presence helped a little bit. I still get goose bumps just hearing Dave's performance. It stands as superb.

Looking at what remains of Donald's lyrics in this instrumental presentation of his song, the refrain or chorus looks like this:

[D] (Fade)

Give her the gold that loving brings
Still she looks to you
For the finer things....

It goes without saying that pianist/arranger/producer Michael Omartian has staggering credits to his name. But the grace, elegance and power that his piano playing brings to "The Finer Things" is evident right from the start. If you listen to Michael's playing in Letter [I], the Intro to the song, it becomes obvious that he is the bedrock of the performance along with Ed Greene's huge drum sound and feel. When I first began to write this piece, I wrote the following: I wish that I could tell you that I remember seeing the original keyboard part for the song, but what Michael played in the Intro was either something Donald had written into the part, or it was simply Michael's musicality, and that he plays the piano with an arranger's musical sense? Now, having had the rare privilege, thanks to Daniel Winter Lazerus's archives, I now know that Michael must have improvised these quarter-note triplet fills that he plays bars 2, 4, 6 and 8, each one leading into the following chord. They're so good that Rob Mounsey followed those lines with his string arrangement. To repeat myself, what we now know with certainty is that those lines in Letter [I] were not written into Donald's original piano chart. One of a few mysteries that has been solved and revealed.
In my newly minted keyboard lead sheet, you can follow along with the very expressive way Michael presents this melodic material well before David Sanborn's entrance at [A]. As an Intro, the movement of the chords, if you just look at the odd numbered bars: 1-3-5-7 notice that the major7 chords descend in major 3rds, and this movement brings you right back home to Eb major where we began, and thus making it so smooth to then go from Bbmaj7-C/D and into bar 1 of [A] and Gmaj7. Michael Omartian

It is very much a part of Donald Fagen's composing style that often times the chords sit on big, fat whole-notes and sometimes 2 half-notes with the rhythmic motion being supplied by the bass, drums and sometimes the guitar as well. So, within this stylistic point-of-view, a great pianist like Michael will choose musical spots to offer transitional fills to lead to the next chord. The first such melodic transition comes in bar 8 as D/E cadences to Am7. In this first section, as David Sanborn's very soulful statement of the melody unfolds Omartian's playing is very minimalist, but ever solid. Through being able to revisit Donald's original piano chart, you are presented with the detail of the style of harmony that he likes to employ. Notice that almost every single voicing contains a small cluster with the interval of a 2nd somewhere in the voicing. For most listeners, this is something that, at best, is felt more than actually heard. When listening to harmonies like these, most people will say something like: "Oh, that's nice." Or, "That's pretty." But they just can't appreciate the profound nature of this approach to harmony.
    During the repeat [A2], Michael's activity picks up. Notice the nice fill in 3rds during the last half of bar 4 and then in bars 7-8 some wonderful single-note lines in quarter-note triplets to again cadence to bar 9 and Am7. I would imagine that Donald had written into the arrangement the half-note intervals in bars 7-8 of the 2nd Ending. At Letter [B], Michael's playing is again very tastefully minimal with each chord change occupying 2 bars with Rob Mounsey's strings adding melodic motion - though they were added much later. In the last bar of this section, notice the single-notes that make the cadence back to [A] and Gmaj7 by playing E-natural to G-natural to F# and finally a D-natural on beat 1 of what is [A3]. In bar 4 of of this 3rd statement of the main melody, Michael plays some wonderful 3rds from the last half of the bar into the Em7 chord in bar 5. In bars 7-8 over the D/E chord he fills the available space with his wondrous sense of melody into the Am7 chord in bar 9. In bar 2 of the 2nd Ending over the B7(#5#9) chord he again uses a phrase with quarter-note triplets to fill into the 4 half-note transition chords into, what I have labeled here as, the [Coda]. Perhaps some of you might be wondering, "Why all of the quarter-note triplets?" You have keep in mind that the whole groove of this tune is still a 1/2-time shuffle which always indicates to one's instincts about musical flow, the sense of triplets - in any and all phrases involving more than 1/2-notes. It's an instinct born of an internal response to the feel. It doesn't have to be discussed at all.
    And so we finally arrive at Letter [C], and it is really hard for me to know, from my own fractured memories and recollections, exactly what this section might have been when a lead vocal was a part of the song. In many ways, Rob Mounsey's string arrangement takes over the sense of melody and you hear David Sanborn's alto sax, beginning in bars 4-5 basically sparsely soloing through the end of the section. As for Michael Omartian? I chose to write in on my lead sheet the top notes of the wonderful transition fill that he plays out of the section over the whole chord of Gbm7 to the final bars with, 2 beats each of Am7 to D7(9) which leads us back to the last statement of the main melody in [A4]. It would be my sense that Michael's fill was improvised and not written into Donald's original sheet, but I could be wrong about that. Once in bars 7-8 with the space provided over the D/E sonority he fills it with a beautiful phrase again leading into the Am7 chord in bar 9. When we hit the 4 bars that I have labeled as the transitional [Tag], over the Cmaj7 chord in bar 2 he again fills the space masterfully to lead into the Fmaj7 chord. Once we arrive at Letter [D], which is the only time that the vocals and lyrics enter, supplied by our two angels: Valerie Simpson and Leslie Miller. A little "vibes" part enters during the 1st 3 bars and then David Sanborn fills out the rest, so Michael's playing becomes the careful statement of the chords in whole notes or half notes. The section loops around for a Fade, and out we go.
    Finally, after weeks of trying, I did hear back from Michael Omartian, and he was very kind but could only say the following:

    "Steve, good to hear from you. I am racking my brains to remember anything about this track. The sax isn't helping me to recall what we did. The track sounds good, but I cannot remember the session. Anyway, I might have a memory jog at some point, but I apologize that I can't be a help at this moment. Sorry. Michael"

    And so, there you have it. Considering the remarkable career that Michael has enjoyed, small wonder that a session like this would have escaped his memory. But, for me, it was worth all of the effort and patience required to connect with him.

    Again, my thanks to engineer Daniel Winter Lazerus, because when I began to pour over the 7-page Master Rhythm chart for "The Finer Things," I realized that I was seeing structural and chordal that I remember from 43 years ago. Some details that were NOT present in the version of the song that many of us have come to know and love. This brought up a few questions that still cannot be conclusively answered. Though I don't believe that it is right to present the full Master Rhythm chart, what Donald had to do to put the song in its present form was to cut from the end of Bar 84 on Pg. 5, and go directly to Bar 99 on Pg. 6. If one does that, then the 'chart' complies with the recorded version!!! What would have happened on the original chart/arrangement/song is that, in total, there would have been 5 verses to the song - but VERSE 4 would have seen a modulation to E major (appearing as Letter [F]) and this is what got edited OUT. The burning question for me is, WHEN did this edit take place? Is it possible that, at the original tracking session, which according to most the musicians present were only Michael Omartian and drummer Ed Greene, and maybe those present, including Donald, decided to make that cut and simply play and record the track without those 14 bars? The other possibility would be to have record the full song, as is, and then, after great thought, Donald decided to make this structural edit on the 3M Digital 32-track machine, which would have required renting a 2nd machine to do it. As frustrating as it might be for some of you reading this, it is a question that I cannot answer - only because I do not know!

    Addressing the song and the chart from a guitar perspective, it's important to make certain that it is understood that, general speaking, when playing Donald's music, we were all playing from a single piano/keyboard part where you could easily see the voice-leading of the top notes of each chord. During this period of Donald's writing, you would often see whole-note chords sometimes tied to a 2nd bar, or the chords would move in half-notes. This was very common. And this is exactly what you see when looking at my hastily assembled lead sheets for the song. As the guts of the track had already been performed by Michael, Chuck and Ed, it really made things very easy for me. I don't remember if I was asked by Donald to play upbeats at this tempo, meaning percussive higher voiced chords (top note on the high E-string or maybe the B-string) on beats 2 & 4, but that is certainly what felt right for the rhythmic motion of the piece.

Though it's very subtle, you can hear and feel that Ed Greene, one of my favorite drummers, is playing a half-time shuffle where his bigger-than-life backbeat is played on beat 3. The kick drum always plays on beat 1, so there is lots of space. I believe that there was a clavinet playing these same upbeats so, in essence, I was doubling that part while perhaps adding a bit of percussiveness to it. As human beings were performing these parts, I can now hear some very subtle flamming between notes here and there - but the parts were pretty consistent all things considered. Once you got in the groove, you just kept going. Needless to say, the chords, the harmonic movement is so wonderful and so romantic in its way that, playing through a song like this becomes effortless. It's a bit remarkable that, at Letter [A], you have the most basic chord progression in music, that being: I-vi-ii-V - but with a spectacular melody it hardly sounds ordinary by any means.
If you look at the chord voicings in the last 2 bars of [A] where you see the top voice moving: A7(13) [F#]- A7#5 [F-natural] - Am7(6) [F#] - Dm7(sus) [F-natural] - I highlighted that movement by playing just the top notes, bending to unison from my G-string with the B-string and dialing them in with my volume pedal. This gave it a little extra character. Obviously, Donald liked it or it never would stayed in! 2 bars before Letter [B], you see and hear some very specific melodic intervals played by the piano - and you hear the guitar keep chugging along with the upbeats but perhaps as an overdub, I doubled those intervals too? But I'm not certain that I hear that. When Letter [B] arrives you can feel the lush nature, the richness of Rob Mounsey's string arrangement that support these gorgeous harmonies. As I stated earlier, when I was called back to add something for this tune at Mediasound Studios, the one session that I remember. I believe that Donald, after listening for quite some time to what he had, felt that there were a couple of empty spaces that he wanted me to fill. Two of those moments happen in bars 3-4 and bars 7-8 of [B]. Unfortunately, both fills are undermixed and you can barely hear them - but they are there! The next little fill comes during bar 2 heading into bar 3 of what I have labeled as [A4] on Pg. 2. Two bars before the [TAG], I played in some volume pedal chords to accentuate the movement into this 4-bar transition. The last little fill appears over the Dbø7 (Dbm7b5) where I played a short bluesy-oriented fill using notes derived from the E minor pentatonic scale[E, G, A, B, D]. This transition takes us into [D], which is a remarkable little 7-bar section that loops around and, to me, always feels as if it is constantly modulating except that it's not. The chords arrive at Bmaj7 and then the D7(9) chord turns it back around to Gmaj7, where it began.

As part of my search for information about this remarkable song, after years of living and working in Los Angeles, drummer Ed Greene had moved to Nashville where he has been for quite a number years now and, not having been in contact for some 10 years, I reached out to him.

He graciously responded, and we had a wonderful conversation reminiscing about all kinds of stuff. I never knew that Ed is a bit like me in that he kept personal records of so much of the recording work that he did all those years ago. He couldn't find something specific related to "The Finer Things" but, where "THE NIGHTFLY" was concerned, he located a session that he did for that album in early 1982 at Village Recorders Studio 'D' in Santa Monica where present at that date were Michael Omartian, Ed, Donald Fagen, Gary Katz and engineer Elliot Scheiner, with our hero of this piece, Daniel Winter Lazerus ably assisting. No bassist nor guitarist was present! That day/evening, they cut the tracks for both "New Frontier" and the never completed "The Rich Kids" but thanks to Daniel's memory, we now know that this song and Ed's drums somehow became "Maxine"! How about that? Perhaps with the passage of some time, a further memory or two will filter back to him?
    Where Steely Dan lore is concerned Ed is forever remembered for his remarkable performance on the song "I Got The News" - it stands out as remarkable because the feel of the song is very much in between musical things with which we are normally comfortable: a shuffle, Jazz with upbeats (where one might snap their fingers), a big foot and snare. All the while, Ed has to negotiate lots of figures, choosing when to ignore them or when to catch parts of them. I think that it is one of Steely Dan's most complex songs. Of course, it comes from their music-changing album, "AJA." The song that is also marked by the very Jazzy piano stylings of the most marvelous Victor Feldman, best known in Jazz circles for writing the title song from Miles Davis' classic 1963 album, "SEVEN STEPS TO HEAVEN" along with the oft-interpreted Jazz standard "Joshua." On both of those tunes, Herbie Hancock is the pianist. While thinking back on Ed's most spectacular career, I was reminded to ask him if HE had played on my favorite Barry White song from 1977, "Playing Your Game, Baby" and, sure enough, he did! I love the way everyone plays on this classic!
    Let me begin this segment by repeating myself that, I love Ed's playing - his BIG sound, his BIG beat, and his feel - all for constructing a song. Working with/for Steely Dan or Donald Fagen can always become an adventure in the different. Initially, I believe that, on "The Finer Things," there was not a single crash cymbal played throughout the entire performance, but as Ed recently pointed out to me, as the song arrives at Letter [A2], there is a light tap on cymbal on the right side of mix! I had to really crank the playback to hear it, but it IS there! It certainly would have been strange had there not been a single crash throughout an entire song. This is now something that I am happy to have been wrong about. It is no less interesting that there is no pick-up fill into the song. That was a bit strange too. A detail that I am always interested in where drums are concerned, where production is concerned, where mixing is concerned is HOW are the drums panned? In this case, they are panned to represent drummer's perspective, which means the hi-hat is on the left side. Having once been a drummer, of sorts, this is the way I like to do things. On "AJA," the drums are mixed from audience perspective - in other words, how they sound as if you were looking at the kit.
    Before Ed and I spoke by phone, he had re-listened to the entire song and heard and could recount to me little moments in the track where he had played fills, tom-tom fills, and did a few open hi-hat splashes here and there as well. So, I went through the performance and here is where these things take place. Ed's first fill happen in bar 5 of the 2nd Ending leading into the sustained Em7 chord. Then, he hits his open hi-hat leading into Letter [B]. The next fill during the track comes going into Letter [C], then there's an open hi-hat leading in bar 6 and another one heading into the last statement of the main melody at [A4]. After the 4-bar [Tag], Ed plays a tom-tom fill into [D], the final section which loops around for Fade! During the 2nd repeat of the section in the very last bar, bar 7, there is a hi-hat splash going back to the 3rd repeat. And that's really it. A performance, in total, that well represents Ed Greene's big 1/2-time shuffle groove with the huge and solid sound of his kick and snare with fills and hi-hat touches that always appear in very musical places. Still, it is all a perfect example of playing less is more!!!
    As I wrote above in the section about pianist Michael Omartian's contributions to "The Finer Things," neither Michael nor Ed seem to remember anything about recording this song and certainly nothing about the fact that there had to have been a 14-bar edit, within Donald's Master Rhythm chart, that eliminated a modulation for another verse from the song. Sadly, for amateur detectives like me, this will have to remain a mystery - at least for now.

    During the latter years of the '70s and into the '80s, I suppose that you could say that Donald Fagen and I were friends outside of the studios - or certainly friend-ly. As I have written before at another page at the site, Donald and I had a couple of lunches or dinners together and, on occasion,

a phone call - though such calls were usually related to songs that had been recorded - but still, it was always cordial and pleasant. I could be wrong about this, but it is my recollection that the last time that I saw Donald was in 1992 at River Sound Studio when I was helping to produce pianist Eliane Elias' album "FANTASIA"(Somthin'else). In those years, Donald had been doing a lot of work at that studio and might have had some financial interest in the room. It was great to see him that day/night, we spoke a bit and I believe that I invited him into the room to see/hear what we were doing - but, I don't know that he actually went in. So, needless to say, unless I have forgotten seeing him somewhere in the intervening years, that was now 33 years ago. A long time! So, add another 10 years to that date and we would right at the recording of "The Finer Things."
I did reach out to Donald to try to see what he remembered about this song, about the track and the performances of the musicians involved, but as I write this, I haven't heard back from him. It's completely possible that he might not recall anything about it. Considering that, for my part, I was part of three separate sessions for "The Finer Things" (all detailed above), with all of that time spent together, it's hard to believe that Donald did not share stories about the song and the creation of the track as it had existed to that point. Often times, during such conversations, the things that Donald said would stick with me, and for years, because they were so classic in his style of storytelling. Now, the most frustrating part for me is that I don't remember anything about what he might have said - and that is precisely what puts me in this position of speculating about some of the remaining details. I even reached out to chief engineer Roger Nichols' widow, Connie to see if she might remember something about this song, because Roger was so very involved with the recording of "THE NIGHTFLY" and perhaps he kept some notes at home that have survived? But, this was also a longshot that sadly yielded nothing new.

It remains remarkable that, sometimes, one's dogged persistence can actually produce results of a certain kind. Through the kindness and positive energy of both Gary Katz and Rob Mounsey,

I was able to make one last, and hugely important, connection relative to this song, and that was with recording engineer Daniel Winter Lazerus! When we connected via messages, he was working on an animated film project in gorgeous and peaceful Bergen, Norway for his own production company, Trollywood Productions. That film, with animation by Simone Hooymans, is titled: "Beneath The Surface Touch The Sky." It is also narrated by our own distinguished actor, Bill Pullman. The information that Daniel/Winter has provided was so remarkable to me that I was just stunned at my good fortune to have connected with a goldmine of memories. Probably more than anyone, he worked very closely with Donald on so many musical projects, but especially on "The Finer Things" - successfully bringing it to the conclusion that we now all know. Just the fact that somehow Daniel hung onto and preserved the beautifully calligraphed piano lead sheets for all of the songs from "THE NIGHTFLY" becomes an astonishing treasure and gift in and of itself. Through Daniel, we have all learned with certainty that "The Finer Things" was, in fact, at least in intent, an original part of those fantastic sessions. That these musical glories even exist at all somewhere is too much - but best of all that they were stored and curated by someone who loved and cared for them. Therein lies the gift for us all.

    And now, here we are, the current events have led us to February 11th, 2025, and I am posting this story or recollection in its present state for all those who are interested in reading it. Needless to say, a lot of outreach went into with it, sadly not much of it turning up any more detailed anecdotes than what I was able to accumulate. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank: Gary Katz; Elliot Scheiner; Rob Mounsey; Ed Greene; Daniel Winter Lazerus; and Donald Fagen for their contributions to this piece of writing. Without their input, I would have been left with speculation, guesswork and not nearly enough factual data to share.
    To repeat it again, it can't be ignored that for all of those involved, this was 43 yrs. ago and memories do fade as more important musical and personal life events unfold. So this was the best that I could do. More than anything, my writing were born of my own musical impressions of "The Finer Things" but, the hard-nosed detective work makes for good storytelling - at least, I can hope so. Though this one wonderful song did not make it onto "THE NIGHTFLY," I am obliged to say it again, and that is that, Donald Fagen's "THE NIGHTFLY" is one of the greatest albums ever recorded! One could search for the words to make this recording fit into one genre or another, all of that is of no meaning, because the work stands alone, all by itself and will be remembered and beloved for being spectacular forever and always. There can be no doubt that, for all of us who were involved, be it a role that was small or large, it is simply so rewarding to have been a part of something that is this good!

     Wishing those of you who continue to stick with me and read these pieces the very best of everything, especially good health! PEACE OUT, Steve

Reflecting back on 1982, I am beginning to realize, yet again, that it was quite an incredible year for me, both musically and personally. As I have been assembling this piece on Donald Fagen's "The Finer Things" so much has come flooding back to me, and to try and close my musings and recollections of that recording, I suddenly began to see that single year in a different light. I suppose that one could say that, it began with the release in Japan of "EYEWITNESS" which had brought me together most magically with Anthony Jackson (Contrabass Guitar); Steve Jordan (Drums) and Manolo Badrena (Percussion & Vocals). We had flown to Japan in May of 1982 to play at the famous Pit Inn and to do the ultimate crazy thing by recording an album of our 1st live gig - 1st time playing in front of a real audience! This all happened on May 3rd & 4th. That live recording would eventually become "MODERN TIMES/BLADES" and would be mixed and mastered and released later that same year in Japan only. All of the recordings that we made as this original incarnation of Eyewitness did not get released in our own country, the USA, until 1985, Fabulous Babe - Steve

and by the time the original 1st album came out here - we had already recorded 3 albums! It was small wonder that we began in the under the underground for practically our entire existence as a band. And so, when I left Tokyo to return to New York, I somehow decided to break up the trip with a stop in my hometown of Los Angeles, CA and visit some friends, and even my long-since divorced and very separated parents.

After arriving in L.A., I found myself wandering over, in my rent-a-car, to a dear friend's home for some laughs and conversation not knowing that also present in her home that night would be a young woman, a singer/songwriter, whom I actually had gone to high school with, though I was closer in age to her older sister. So, as we connected, we had so much in common, both of us having grown-up in West Los Angeles and having attended University High School, a public school. Though now this was all many, many years ago, 4 decades ago, my main memory is that she and I ended-up talking in the kitchen for what seemed like hours. In the classic sense, for me, it felt as though we had known one another since forever. As the night was drawing to a close and everyone had to go their separate ways, I only knew one thing! And that was that, I wanted to see her again, and VERY much so!!! I think that we closed out that night with me having her phone number. I think that I was staying in a hotel, because I did not like staying with or in either my parents' homes. I believe that we made plans to speak and then arrange to have dinner together? When we saw one another again, the conversation continued, and by the end of that evening, there was little doubt in my being that I had fallen in love with her. I thought that I had met the person that I might be with for the rest of my life. Yes, that is what I thought.
This began a wondrous time of intense closeness. She had a beautifully furnished and decorated home in the Hollywood Hills, and we made plans for her to visit me in New York. Our time together was to that point in time probably the happiest time in my life. We even went together to visit my long-since divorced parents separately as I was so proud to be with her. It was wonderful having her here in New York with me, I was then living in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. She met my son, Heath, who had just turned 9 yrs. of age at the time, and she was to be one of the few women in my life that he really, really liked and welcomed. I couldn't believe it, because it made everything so much easier. As part of all the fun adventures that we were sharing, I decided that we should take advantage of the moment and take some really nice photos to remember this time together. And so, I arranged for a photo session at photographer David Tan's studio just a few blocks away. David had taken all of the photos for all of the Eyewitness albums and would end-up photographing all my albums through "GOT MY MENTAL"(1997). This is the first time that I am sharing any of these photos in public. For me, all of them are treasured memories.One of the funniest memories was Manolo Badrena would always ask me about her by saying: "So Steve, how's your fabulous babe?"

It was so funny because he was referring to her as if she had been Fabergé's Fabulous Babe® from their commercials that were still airing everywhere. It still makes me laugh, way too funny. One of the many wonderful things that she did for me was taking me on a fantastic weekend retreat to Desert Hot Springs, which was the 1st vacation that I had ever had in my adult life! NO ONE had ever done anything that nice for me! To that point, other than travel for work, I had been completely dedicated to making certain that Heath would always have what he needed to have a nice and full life. In truth, I would not have another such vacation until some 20 years later.

    But in the end, as rapidly as it all began, as brightly as the flame had burned, it was over by July of that same year. For me, at that moment, it was devastating, and it took me years to finally figure out that my great error in judgment might have been in jumping into things so quickly, and not having taken the proper time to fully understand what the depth of feelings had been for her in her prior relationship. One that had ended not all that long before I waltzed into her life that night at a mutual friend's home in Los Angeles. It was also quite foolish of me to have imagined a life together by maintaining homes on two different coasts. Experience has taught that this never, ever works. I only know of one person who has succeeded at this - and he is one of favorite physicians. He was in New York, and she was a doctor in Chicago. Eventually, they got married after sustaining their relationship for years living apart. Amazing! For me, on the very positive side, the feelings shared were so remarkable that, in truth, I would not experience them ever again until 1999, when my love affair with Venezuela began. Of course, that did not work out well either! I'll say it again, "There's no fool like an old fool!"
    Yet, still and all, from this, Eyewitness would go on to record its own rather monumental album, "CASA LOCO" in 1983. And, tying it all together, Donald Fagen and I would record Thelonious Monk's "Reflections" for the Monk Tribute album, "THAT'S THE WAY I FEEL NOW"(A&M) on September 13th, 1983 @ Mediasound. This collaboration was inspired by Donald's affection for my solo acoustic guitar album, "EVIDENCE"(1980), which had included an 18-minute "Thelonious Monk Medley." Perhaps these projects were the great creative gift of that remarkable personal experience? I know that I will remain forever grateful that these recordings happened!

    So, all of this that I have recounted here was such an immense part of the emotions of 1982, and yet, there I was getting a phone call from Donald Fagen to become a small part of the wonderful story of his handing over a great song to alto saxophonist, David Sanborn, and there I was adding some finishing touches in October and November of that same year. Looking back, what a remarkable year that was.

[Photos of: Donald Fagen; David Sanborn; Michael Omartian; Steve; Ed Greene; Rob Mounsey & Daniel Winter Lazerus
And the Fabulous Babe® and Steve]

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