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The Royal Scam is the fifth studio album by American rock band Steely Dan. It was produced by Gary Katz and was originally released by ABC Records in 1976. The Royal Scam features more prominent guitar work than the prior Steely Dan album, Katy Lied, which had been the first without founding guitarist Jeff Baxter. Guitarists on the recording include Walter Becker, Denny Dias, Larry Carlton, Elliott Randall and Dean Parks.
In common with other Steely Dan albums, The Royal Scam is littered with cryptic allusions to people and events both real and fictional. In a BBC interview in 2000,[3] Becker and Fagen revealed that "Kid Charlemagne" is loosely based on Augustus Owsley Stanley, the notorious drug "chef" who was famous for manufacturing hallucinogenic compounds, and that "Caves of Altamira", based on a book by Hans Baumann, is about the loss of innocence, the narrative about a visitor to the Cave of Altamira who registers his astonishment at the prehistoric drawings. It is also influenced by Plato's Cave Allegory and Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn".
The album went gold and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200.[4] The album was re-issued by MCA Records in 1979 following the sale of the ABC Records label to MCA.
Track listing Side one No.TitleWriter(s)Solo(s)Length 1."Kid Charlemagne" guitar: Larry Carlton4:38 2."The Caves of Altamira" tenor saxophone: John Klemmer3:34 3."Don't Take Me Alive" guitar: Larry Carlton4:16 4."Sign In Stranger" piano: Paul Griffin, guitar solo by Elliott Randall, guitar solo believed to actually be Larry Carlton[according to whom?]4:23 5."The Fez"Becker, Fagen, Paul Griffinguitar: Walter Becker4:01 Side two 6."Green Earrings"guitar: Denny Dias (1st) and Elliott Randall (2nd)4:05 7."Haitian Divorce"talk box guitar: Dean Parks, altered by Walter Becker5:53 8."Everything You Did"guitar: Larry Carlton3:55 9."The Royal Scam"guitar: Larry Carlton6:28Steely Dan – The Royal Scam - 1976 - ABC Records ABCD 931 Vinyl LP VG+.