It was 1973. I was 17, and it was my first day of school, after being transferred to continuation school in order to graduate that year. I walked into my English class and there he was, sitting on a table, playing guitar, his long hair hanging down into his face, oblivious to anything else. Ricky Lee Hamlin was the best, most fluid guitar player I have ever personally known. He played this old beat up thing. I dont even remember what make it was. Anyway, after a few all night jam sessions and sharing the location of some of my best fishing holes, we became close friends. We were both named Rick. Both Leos, and we loved fishing and music, including a lot of Steely Dan songs. Rick spent the whole time during our first jam session figuring out the fairly intricate lead guitar parts from Reelin in the Years. We eventually decided to start working on a duo act. We practiced hard 3 times a week, and although we were our own worst critics, we would often draw a small crowd when we played in the park. Our set list included 3 Steely Dan songs. One of my semi obscure favorites, With a gun, Dirty work, and one of my top 5 SD favorites, on the flip side of the single, Rikki dont lose that number, Any major dude. Its a great feel good song with a really cool chord structure and Rick and I had all of the harmonies worked out. Well, Rick loved motorcycles and his 59 Harley Davidson panhead eventually became his main focus. One day, I think it was 1978, I came home and my wife met me in the front yard crying. Rick had been drinking and was killed in an accident. I was devastated and angry at him at the same time. Eventually, it all turned to sorrow. We used to call ourselves brothers from different mothers, after an album by Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisbeg, but one of the brothers was gone. Years later, I was listening to the radio and Rikki dont lose that number came on and I started thinking about the lyrics. After all these years, I still wasnt sure what the song was about. What is he talking about, send it off in a letter to yourself? Then I remembered Rick and I talking about songwriting. We had both written some songs and we were wondering what the next step might be. Im thinking, you need to copyright. Then it hit me. Rick had told me about a poor mans copyright. You write out the song and send it, in an envelope, sealed, stamped, and postmarked by the post office! Then you are technically protected against copyright infringement. So that had to be what Donald Fagan was talking about, right? Even though it didnt seem to fit the rest of the lyrics. I did some minor research and mostly came up with stories about a girl named Rikki, who Fagan knew, and who was married to a college professor, but never really got involved with....or did he. Does anyone have any inside information about the song, or about Fagans involvement with Rikki ?
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 04:11:09 +0000
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