"Kid Charlemagne" is a song by the rock group Steely Dan, which was released as a single from their 1976 album The Royal Scam and reached number 82 in the Billboard charts.[1] It is a fusion of a funk rhythm and jazz harmonies with rock and roll instrumentals and lyrical style. The guitar solo by jazz-fusion guitarist Larry Carlton was ranked #80 in the list of the 100 greatest guitar songs by Rolling Stone.[2]
Contents[]
Composition[edit][]
Writers Walter Becker and Donald Fagen have stated that the lyrics were loosely inspired by the exploits of the infamous 1960s San Francisco-based LSD chemist Owsley Stanley[3] — although it conflates the core story with numerous other images of the Sixties:
On the hill the stuff was laced with kerosene But yours was kitchen clean Everyone stopped to stare at your Technicolor motor home
Every A-frame had your number on the wall
The first two lines draw on the fact that Owsley's acid was famed for its purity, and the third line is likely a reference to the famous psychedelic bus named Further, which was used by theMerry Pranksters, who were supplied their LSD by Owsley himself.[citation needed]
The lyric "You'd go to LA on a dare and you'd go it alone" alludes to a story in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test about a trip taken by chief Prankster Ken Kesey.
The final verse foreshadows Owsley's eventual bust:
Clean this mess up else we'll all end up in jail Those test tubes and the scale Just get it all out of here Is there gas in the car? Yes, there's gas in the car
I think the people down the hall know who you are
Owsley and another person were arrested after their car ran out of gas.[citation needed]
The song features a jazz-inflected electric guitar solo by guitarist Larry Carlton. The drum track was played by Bernard "Pretty" Purdie whose long-time session partner, Chuck Rainey, plays the bass.
Personnel[edit][]
- Lead Vocals: Donald Fagen
- Drums: Bernard Purdie
- Bass: Chuck Rainey
- Guitar: Larry Carlton
- Fender Rhodes: Don Grolnick
- Clavinet: Paul Griffin
- Backup Vocals: Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald, Vanetta Fields, Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews
Covers[edit][]
While he was part of the Japanese Brass Band "Spectrum", guitarist Shinji Nishi would perform bits of the guitar solo from this song, after playing their own song, "First Wave".[citation needed] At some point, both songs have a similar chord progression.
A version of this track is one of several Steely Dan covers on the 1978 album by Woody Herman "Chick, Donald, Walter and Woodrow."
In 2007, Kanye West released the song "Champion" on his double-platinum album Graduation that samples Kid Charlemagne extensively.