w a l t e r b e c k e r m e d i a p r o j e c t - u p d a t e
New shit has come to light, man
This page exists --- this project exists -- because two amazing DanFans -- Matt Kerns and Jim McKay -- created a phenomenal browsable database of WB's famous "Hey 19 Raps" -- long on the wish-list of many of us. And as a tribute to Walter, they did it. It was collected and formatted as a true labor of love, and many other fans contributed by sending in their own clips or helping to hunt down more.
Meanwhile, here at walterbecker.com we were trying to figure out how to post unreleased material that Walter had OKd for release after his death. But for a few meaningless reasons, some truly nasty shit exploded sending its shrapnel this way, and it didn't seem feasible that we could do any of that without dumping Walter's work into a cesspool.
But the danfans came through once more! With the boundless help of one who will remain nameless (Matt Kerns), we have indeed created our own site where we can both post the audio clips, and provide discussion forums for people to… well… discuss them.
But the magic sauce was you; with enough of you interested in the actual music as much or more than you were interested in an endless game of musical chairs, you showed up. And with great generosity, you also showed yourselves and shared yourselves, which sparked the heart of the enterprise into beating (and inspired me to mix my metaphors).
So here it is. This link will send you
out of this site and onto sister site
where you will find, well, Walter Becker media.
But please note that while it is a standalone website, it is obviously a companion site to the official Walter Becker site (here!), which will continue to do all the usual stuff.. and some unusual stuff as well. So don't be a stranger. Walter left more than just audio behind for us
Finally, if you have not yet signed up for our newsletter, please do; it only takes a moment. And please encourage your friends to do the same. We don't have access to Steely Dan's massive mailing list, and most people reasonably assume any Becker projects would appear in a Steely Dan Newsletter or on their site. Alas, not to be, and we are on our own. So Newsletter sign-ups are our only way to spread word around. Thanks.
As of several days after posting the first clip,
it could be reasonably claimed the thing
is a success so far.