The Steely Dan’s Lost Schlitz Beer Jingle

The Schlitz Beer jingle comes from the archive of late, longtime Steely Dan engineer Roger Nichols. It arrives roughly one month after the 1979 song “The Second Arrangement” surfaced online, also courtesy of Nichols’ archive.

The sub-two-minute jingle bears all the hallmarks of a Steely Dan tune, combining an airtight jazz-rock arrangement with a winking aloofness as Fagen sings, “Once around life / Once around livin’ / Once around beer / And you’ll keep around Schlitz.” Fagen also translates Baxter’s Spanish narration into English, pronouncing: “When I get home from a hard day’s work / He says he likes to grab for all the gusto he can get / ‘Cause you only go around one time.”

Despite the band’s best efforts, Schlitz ultimately shelved the ad due to concerns over the Spanish word for “grab.” As Baxter told Malooley: “The verb ‘coger’ can be used as a slang term for sexual intercourse.” A photo of Fagen and guitarist Denny Dias from the session later appeared on the back cover to Steely Dan’s 1975 album Katy Lied.

https://youtu.be/t8NIdnEX2hI