Christopher Cross almost got to play on Steely Dan’s ‘Gaucho’ album but didn’t.
Watch the Christopher Cross Noise11 interview:
Here’s what happened according to Christopher Cross. “I didn’t knock it back. What happened was Gary Katz, the producer, called me and said ‘hey, I’d like you to play on something’, because Donald (Fagen) had heard ‘Ride Like The Wind’ and liked the solo at the end. I was sort of half terrified but also half excited. Then it turned out, Gary told me, they got something on that song they liked and that they would like me to do something else. I was half relieved because they are tough. They could have as many as 10 guitar players and then not use any of them”.
Christopher says they made a wise choice not using him in the end. “As it turns out, I found out later that the song they wanted me to play on was a song called ‘Third World Man’ off ‘Gaucho’ and all I said when I found out was ‘thank God I did play on it’ because Larry Carlton took the place, arguably one of the most incredible soloists of all time. I certainly wouldn’t have brought that to it”.
In the end Christopher Cross never played on a Steely Dan record but gets a great dinner conversation for life. “The greatest part about this story is that I get to claim that I they asked me but I didn’t actually have to embarrass myself.”
Christopher Cross is heading to Australia with Toto Dates are:
Wednesday 16th April
John Cain Arena, Melbourne
Saturday 19th April
ICC Sydney Theatre, Sydney
https://teglive.com.au/live_tour/toto/
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