Assisstant Engineer Lenise Bent on Working on Aja 

Thank you for re-posting this interview! 👩🏽‍🚀🤘🏽

The story of Lenise getting burned out on Home at Last has always been my absolute favorite "Donald and Walter are insane perfectionists" story. Also, Donald taking a pill called "Perk A Dan" to calm him down enough to sing is hilarious to me.

I always remember this story when I think or hear, Home At Last. It was a snippet I heard where she spoke of the "Well the, well the, etc. I thought that she walked. Apparently, she hung in. Cracks me up. It’s nice to hear her defend the process.

I'll never hear 'Home at last' the same again.

I’d only read about this before. Very nice to be able to hear about it

Master tapes held in the trunk of her car. This is the most Steely Dan thing ever.

Crazy that Lenise (a young woman by video pic at the time) had such an important job for SD, and other bands then. This is not a knock on her…just the time. I loved SD then, and she was obviously a big part of that. I would like to hear more about what got her to this job at that age.

Fascinating. Thank you for sharing

love these stories

This is a great insight into the day to day work on a Steely record by someone who was so involved, brilliant!

“Well the danger on the rocks is finally pasted”! Love this song. Thanks for sharing. Just saw Donald in concert, loved the small talk. Well the… nightmares paid off. Thx 🙏!

Donald didn’t want it perfect…he just wanted it right.

Fagen was so obsessed with getting the “well the” phrasing just right, but won’t even sing that part live now.

The closest thing to a perfect album ever recorded.

Very ,very cool!!!

Wow!

Is there more of this interview? Love this backstory..

priceless - thanks you so much for that

Mind blown 🤯

No ofense but I though that the voice was from Carol Kaye, so similar to me.

"Come on lady I gotta get gone, gimme that thing you're sittin' on!" (Leon Redbone) Just figured I'd throw that out there.

That looks like a Nakamichi 1000 in the background. She’s cute, too.

Well the…

Great interview. If your going to be an assistant engineer, what better project you could you work on than Aja. Roger Nichols was such an innovative engineer. He got the drums he wanted on Gaucho with his pet Wendal- clever guy. I bet sessions like this made Lenise a sought after engineer.

That's at least 50 minutes too short.

Well the....Danger on the rocks is surely past, still I remain tied to the mast. Could it be that I have found my home at last? Home at last...

1:25 - Donald shooting hoops, slam dunkin' ?...Hard to imagine, but I've read he is or at least used to be a pretty good table tennis player back in the day.

Any more of this?

Cabana did want it “Right” but also wanted it “Perfect”

you can really smell the blood sweat and tears that went into home at last

Well the 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Having to do the well the over an over is a clear sign that it was critical as a starting point for the rest of the chorus to sound and feel right to Donald

“Well that…”. He’d record it once, then he’d “Go back, Jack, do it again…” for the next 4 days…

Get Barry Manilow or Barbara Streisand?