Kid Charlemagne

"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, stating "In the late seventies, Steely Dan made records by using a revolving crew of great session musicians through take after take, which yielded endless jaw-dropping guitar solos. Larry Carlton's multi-sectioned, cosmic-jazz lead in this cut may be the best of all: It's so complex it's a song in its own right."[2]

"Kid Charlemagne"
The cover of the "Kid Charlemagne" single features Fagen (top) and Becker (bottom)
Single by Steely Dan
from the album The Royal Scam
B-side"Green Earrings"
ReleasedMay 1976
GenreFunk rock, pop rock, jazz fusion, jazz rock
Length4:38
LabelABC
Songwriter(s)Walter Becker, Donald Fagen
Producer(s)Gary Katz
Steely Dan singles chronology
"Bad Sneakers"
(1975)		 "Kid Charlemagne"
(1976)		 "The Fez"
(1976)

Composition

The lyrics tell the story of the rise and fall of a drug dealer in the context of the psychedelic scene of the 1960s on the West Coast. Specifically, writers Walter Becker and Donald Fagen have stated that the lyrics were loosely inspired by the exploits of the 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 Furthur, which was used by the Merry Pranksters, who were supplied their LSD by Owsley.[4][5] A-frame homes also increased in popularity during the 1960s due to the availability of low-cost prefabricated kits that could be assembled by unskilled laborers in a matter of days.

Personnel

Other appearances
  • Kanye West sampled the song on "Champion", from his 2007 album Graduation. Becker and Fagen initially refused West's request to use the song. They changed their mind after receiving a personal letter from West explaining the song's importance.[6]
  • In the 15th episode of season four of the tv series Malcolm in the Middle ("Garage Sale"), Hal (Bryan Cranston) uncovers an old radio transmitter which he used in college for a pirate talk-radio broadcast he ran in college under the pseudonym "Kid-Charlemagne". However, when he makes unacceptable speeches about the government again he becomes wanted by the FCC and the FBI.[7]

References
  1. Steely Dan USA chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  2. "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs". Archived from the original on May 30, 2008. Retrieved 2017-05-05.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Retrieved 2011-01-25.
  3. Complete transcript of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker in a BBC-Online Chat Archived 2009-04-13 at the Wayback Machine, March 4, 2000
  4. Greenfield, Robert (2011-03-14). "Owsley Stanley: The King of LSD". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  5. Pershan, Caleb (2015-07-20). "'Kid Charlemagne': A Close Reading Of Steely Dan's Ode To Haight Street's LSD King". SFist. Archived from the original on 2016-03-17. Retrieved 2017-08-13.
  6. Scarano, Ross (16 October 2012). "Interview: Steely Dan's Donald Fagen Talks New Album, Reclaiming the Ghetto, and Getting a Letter From Kanye". complex.com. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  7. "Malcolm in the Middle episodes guide - 4 Season, Episode 15 (78) - Garage Sale". imdb.com. 6 April 2003. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
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