Media Condition: Near Mint (NM)

Sleeve Condition: Very Good Plus (VG+)

Condition Notes: Top copy. Couple light marks but still near mint copy. Some edge and spine wear on the cover. Santa Maria pressing

Aja by Steely Dan.

By 1977, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker had abandoned touring entirely, pouring their obsessive perfectionism into the studio instead. The result is an album recorded across a remarkable constellation of rooms — Village Recorders in West L.A., A&R Studios in New York, Sound Labs and Producer's Workshop in Hollywood, and more — as the duo chased the exact performance they heard in their heads. Produced by longtime collaborator Gary Katz and captured by an engineering team anchored by Roger Nichols, it stands as a benchmark of what high-fidelity rock could achieve.

Musically, this is Fagen and Becker's compositional craft at its most expansive, where rock chassis meets jazz harmony and immaculate studio precision. Tom Scott's horn arrangements lend sophistication and sweep, threading through songs built for subtlety rather than bombast. Every element is placed with intent, rewarding attentive listening with layers that reveal themselves gradually — the kind of record where the playing is as much about restraint and phrasing as it is about display.

This particular copy is a Santa Maria pressing with the "Eighth Note" ABC logo on the "Target" label, mastered by the legendary Bernie Grundman. It arrives in its original glossy gatefold with the custom cardstock inner sleeve carrying lyrics and credits — a desirable, well-specified pressing of an audiophile touchstone that belongs in any serious collection.

Pressing Details:

Track Listing:

A1. Black Cow

A2. Aja

A3. Deacon Blues

B1. Peg

B2. Home At Last

B3. I Got The News

B4. Josie

Credits:

Tom Scott - Arranged By [Horns]

Donald Fagen - Composed By

Walter Becker - Composed By

Al Schmitt - Engineer

Bill Schnee - Engineer

Elliot Scheiner - Engineer

Roger Nichols - Engineer

Ed Rack - Engineer [Assistants]

Joe Bellamy - Engineer [Assistants]

Ken Klinger - Engineer [Assistants]

Lenise Bent - Engineer [Assistants]

Linda Tyler - Engineer [Assistants]

Ron Pangaliman - Engineer [Assistants]

Roger Nichols - Engineer [Executive]

Michael Phalen - Liner Notes

Steve Diener - Liner Notes

Bernie Grundman - Mastered By [Credits]

Bernie Grundman - Mastered By [Runout Etch]

Gary Katz - Producer

Notes:

℗© 1977 ABC Records, Inc.

[url=https://www.discogs.com/label/376197-Columbia-Records-Pressing-Plant-Santa-Maria]Santa Maria Pressing[/url], with "Eighth Note" ABC logo on "Target" label, but variant cat#;

AA-1006 on label, rear sleeve and spine.

Original glossy gatefold; custom (cardstock) inner sleeve contains lyrics/credits.

Recorded at:

Village Recorders, West L.A.

Producer's Workshop, Hollywood

Warner Bros. North Hollywood Recording Studios

ABC Recording Studios

Sound Labs, Hollywood

A&R Studios, N.Y.C.

Artist: Steely Dan

Format: 1LP

Genre: Rock

Label: ABC Records

Catalog Number: AA-1006

Release Year: 1978

Country: United States