Steely Dan’s classic 1976 album, The Royal Scam, will be released on vinyl for the first time in 45 years. The new LP version of the band’s fifth studio effort, featuring newly remastered audio, is due out on June 6.
Videos by American Songwriter
The release of The Royal Scam will bring to a close a reissue campaign that sees the return of Steely Dan’s first seven studio albums to vinyl. The initiative, which has been overseen by frontman Donald Fagen, began in November 2022 with the rerelease of the band’s 1972 debut album, Can’t Buy a Thrill.
A limited-edition 45-rpm version of The Royal Scam pressed on 200-gram ultra-high-quality vinyl will be released by the Analogue Productions label. A Super Audio CD version of the album also will be released by the company. Universal Music will release a standard 180-gram edition of The Royal Scam that plays at 33-and-1/3 rpm.
In addition, a remastered edition of The Royal Scam will be released via digital-service providers on June 6.
You can pre-order the new vinyl edition of The Royal Scam now.
More About The Royal Scam
The Royal Scam was released in May 1976, and peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 chart. It found the band’s leaders, singer/keyboardist Donald Fagen and bassist/guitarist Walter Becker, working with a variety of respected and talented session musicians and vocalists.
Among the best-known songs featured on the album are “Kid Charlemagne,” “Haitian Divorce,” “The Fez,” and the title track. “Kid Charlemagne” and “The Fez” were minor hits on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 82 and No. 59, respectively. “Haitian Divorce” rose to No. 17 on the U.K. singles chart.
The Royal Scam featured lauded guitarist Larry Carlton and several tracks, including “Kid Charlemagne” and the title track. Other musicians who contributed to the album included, drummers Bernard Purdie and Rick Marotta, keyboardist Paul Griffin, guitarists Denny Dias and Dean Parks, and bassist Chuck Rainey.
Frequent Steely Dan collaborator Michael McDonald sang backing vocals, as did Eagles bassist Timothy B. Schmit and veteran session singers Venetta Fields, Clydie King, and Sherlie Matthews.
Probably the album’s most recognized tune, “Kid Charlemagne” is an homage to San Francisco counterculture legend Owsley Stanley, famed as an LSD manufacturer and an audio engineer for the Grateful Dead. The song alludes to Stanley troubles with the law and waning of the hippie era.
The Royal Scam was certified platinum by the RIAA in 1993 for sales of more than l million copies in the U.S.
More About the Steely Dan Vinyl Reissue Campaign
The other five Steely Dan albums that have already been released as part of the vinyl reissue campaign are the Countdown to Ecstasy (1973), Pretzel Logic (1974), Katy Lied (1975), Aja (1977), and Gaucho (1980).
The Royal Scam Track List:
Side A
- “Kid Charlemagne”
- “The Caves of Altamira”
- “Don’t Take Me Alive”
- “Sign In Stranger”
- “The Fez”
Side B
- “Green Earrings”
- “Haitian Divorce”
- “Everything You Did”
- “The Royal Scam”
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.