Today’s classic song of the day is another track from Steely Dan’s Aja album. The song is “Josie,” and it was released as a single in August of 1978, just before I started my junior year in college. The track went all the way to #26 on the Billboard Hot 100, which wasn’t bad for a Steely Dan tune.
“Josie” was supposedly one of the first tunes that Donald Fagen and Walter Becker wrote for Aja. The musicians they recruited for this one included Victor Feldman on electric piano, Larry Carlton and Dean Parks on guitars, Chuck Rainey on bass, and Jim Keltner on drums. Fagen played synthesizers, Becker played the lead guitar solo, and the Eagles’ Timothy B. Schmidt sang backup.
As to what “Josie” is about, get out your Steely Dan decoder ring and make your best guess. I think it’s about a party girl from the neighborhood who returns home after some time away. Others guesses are that it’s about a hot rod coming back from the shop, a street fighter, a drug dealer, the second coming of Jesus, the Greek god Dionysus, or maybe Walter Becker’s wandering dog. Maybe it’s one of those things. Maybe it’s something completely different. Choose your own interpretation, it’s the Dan.
The tune features a snarky little horn arrangement by Tom Scott, which buttresses the track’s extended ending. Then there’s that little drum fill after the last instrumental break, after the last chorus. That’s studio legend Jim Keltner right there, adding some real magic to the tune. It’s pretty odd but it fits.
By the way, Rick Beato refers to “Josie” as the song with the “weirdest intro of all time.” Just look at these fast-moving chords, played on guitar:
E – D – F#5 – D#5 – E5 | E – D – F#5 – D#5 – B5 D5 | E – A – G – F#5 – B | C/F – F#7#9 – D/G – AbMaj13
I could try to analyze that but would fail miserably. It’s just really cool—and today’s daily bonus video is Mr. Beato talking about that.
