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The Boston Rag


General info:

"The Boston Rag" is the third track of Steely Dan's second album Countdown To Ecstasy. The Lonnie mentioned in the song's lyrics is actually a real person, Lonnie Yongue, Fagen's first roommate when he attended Bard College.


Live info:

"The Boston Rag" was likely first performed sometime in 1973, although this could be false. In 1974, it was always performed after "Bodhisattva", the usual opener of the tour. It stayed in this position all the way until the tour ended.

"The Boston Rag" returned after 26 years as an opener during 2000's Two Against Nature tour. It would only pop up in setlists every now and then, with it being performed once in 2009 and twice in 2011. It made a brief return in 2015 for 6 performances before dropped yet again in favor of "FM (No Static At All)" and "Rikki Don't Lose That Number". It would only be played twice afterwards, both on Countdown To Ecstasy album nights at the Beacon Theatre in 2016 and 2018.


Statistics:

First performance: [Unknown, possibly 1973]
Latest performance: October 24, 2018: Beacon Theatre, New York City, New York, US

More stats coming soon...