The Greatness that is Steely Dan

[Asithappens 978]

Listening to Gaucho. 

High in the Custerdome. 

Absolutely awesome. 

563 days ago that Walter Becker passed away.

[Sbbruin 22142]

I wholeheartedly support this thread.  Have seen them twice, the last time at the Hollywood Bowl a couple of years ago, not long before WB's death, with Elvis Costello opening.  Amazing show.  I love it all, but Royal Scam, Can't Buy a Thrill, and Aja hold a special place for me.

[Asithappens 978]

6 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

I wholeheartedly support this thread.  Have seen them twice, the last time at the Hollywood Bowl a couple of years ago, not long before WB's death, with Elvis Costello opening.  Amazing show.  I love it all, but Royal Scam, Can't Buy a Thrill, and Aja hold a special place for me.

Wow. What I wouldn't give to have heard Costello and The Dan. 

[noharleyyet 2864]

Think it was 2016...Red Rocks. Superb....

Edited March 20, 2019 by noharleyyet

[Buzzrock 15136]

Only seen them once but I'm a fan. That Mu Major is what's up.

[ohchaucer 1444]

Aja is an all time favorite but I celebrate their whole catalog. My daughter goes around the house singing Dirty Work (she's 4). 

Gaucho is my favorite song but the Gadd and Purdy tracks on Aja are just unlike anything else. 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

1 hour ago, Sbbruin said:

I wholeheartedly support this thread.  Have seen them twice, the last time at the Hollywood Bowl a couple of years ago, not long before WB's death, with Elvis Costello opening.  Amazing show.  I love it all, but Royal Scam, Can't Buy a Thrill, and Aja hold a special place for me.

Put Pretzel Logic in that mix, and you have my pantheon of Steely Dan.  Not a fan of gaucho, too poppy, jazzy IMO.

[Sbbruin 22142]

1 hour ago, Asithappens said:

Wow. What I wouldn't give to have heard Costello and The Dan. 

It was awesome.  And the Hollywood Bowl is a great venue for music.  Interestingly Becker was doing a lot of the talking between songs.  Fagan is usually the verbose one.  So bummed he passed.

Edited March 20, 2019 by Sbbruin

[noharleyyet 2864]

"Popularity has everything to do with business and nothing to do with music." 

Donald Fagen

[stc 1500]

i'm all about countdown to ecstacy and aja, all their albums are good though. have seen them 3 times, phenomenal live band. 

[66BUFF 2608]

Named after a strap on dildo.

[Nole-4-Life 814]

Skunk Baxter is a criminally underrated guitarist.

[noharleyyet 2864]

3 hours ago, 66BUFF said:

Named after a strap on dildo.

The steam powered Steely Dan III from Yokohama...

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

4 hours ago, Nole-4-Life said:

Skunk Baxter is a criminally underrated guitarist.

Brah if you've been immortalized as a Muppet you've arrived .

[Nole-4-Life 814]

Brah if you've been immortalized as a Muppet you've arrived .

Didn’t know about that. I just never see him mentioned on any Top guitarists lists and he’s incredible.


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[Onboard 2.0 9083]

7 minutes ago, Nole-4-Life said:

 

Didn’t know about that. I just never see him mentioned on any Top guitarists lists and he’s incredible.


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Been a Doobie brothers fan from way back.  Yeah they did a skunk Baxter muppet guitar player.

[Nole-4-Life 814]

Been a Doobie brothers fan from way back.  Yeah they did a skunk Baxter muppet guitar player.

Saw him with the Doobies in 76. First time I’d ever heard of him. Sat on a stool the whole time.


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[Onboard 2.0 9083]

5 minutes ago, Nole-4-Life said:

 

Saw him with the Doobies in 76. First time I’d ever heard of him. Sat on a stool the whole time.


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Probably saw that same tour . Saw em 4 times in the 70's

[Nole-4-Life 814]

Probably saw that same tour . Saw em 4 times in the 70's

It was the Takin it to the streets tour. Only one I know of that had Tom Johnston and Michael McDonald. And the Memphis Horns. Bob Segar was the opener. Amazing show.


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[mr. sunshine 2859]

 

[MAUFRAIS 6739]

Never the same after they got rid of Chevy chase.

[retread 2951]

Making of Aja. Click on YouTube link for playlist.

 

[ztejas 44223]

Do it again just came on in my uber. 

Such a great track. 

[retread 2951]

 

[Mach 1 1677]

I have a handful of songs that immediately stop me from scrolling around the dial.  Rikki Don't Lose That Number is one of those.  Reminds me of when I was a kid swimming at the local pool during the summer.

[Buzzrock 15136]

Peg cannot be turned up loud enough.

[retread 2951]

Peg is one of the definitive SD songs for me. Same for Aja and My Old School.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

FM has always been one of my favorite SD numbers not from an SD album

Edited March 23, 2019 by Onboard 2.0

[retread 2951]

That's a great one. Home at Last. Kid Charlemagne w Larry Carlton.

[DougO 5264]

I binged on Steely Dan last year and re-equainted myself with a catalog with which I had not been nearly familiar enough. I particularly like the earlier stuff, and Skunk was just nasty AF. Katy Lied rules your face.

Edited March 23, 2019 by DougO

[Asithappens 978]

With all the love for Baxter, don't forget Elliot Randall on  Reelin' in the Years.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

12 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

FM has always been one of my favorite SD numbers not from an SD album

Such a great Song I had to post it twice I guess...

Edited March 23, 2019 by Onboard 2.0

[retread 2951]

10 hours ago, DougO said:

I binged on Steely Dan last year and re-equainted myself with a catalog with which I had not been nearly familiar enough. I particularly like the earlier stuff, and Skunk was just nasty AF. Katy Lied rules your face.

Same. I wasn't as familiar w the early/mid 70s stuff. There are some tremendous songs in there. Sign in Stranger, Barrytown, Dr Wu, Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)...

[WhatTheBuck 28928]

Steely Dan didn't write a bad song until Glamour Profession, imo. And for them "bad" is relative. The song doesn't suck or anything. It's just their first song that I didn't think was very good. 

I love Katie Lied. I played it at my poker game last night. Dr. Wu is great and so is Your Gold Teeth II. I love that song.

[noharleyyet 2864]

Only A Fool Would Say That and Dirty Work worth mentioning.

[Ths71 472]

Skunk Baxter is a criminally underrated guitarist.

His solo on “My Old School” is an all time favorite.


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[Mr.Hovis 71]

Love SD, so many great tunes and always top notch musicians on their recordings/live shows. Hard to pick favorites from such deep and diverse catalog but Chain Lightning, Any Major Dude come to mind. Rick Derringer with the solid guitar work on Chain Lightning.

The video they did to promote Everything Must Go is hilarious. Cab rides with the Dan in Vegas(I think) really shows their quirky sense of humor. They are in their own musical category for me.

[WhatTheBuck 28928]

4 hours ago, Mr.Hovis said:

The video they did to promote Everything Must Go is hilarious. Cab rides with the Dan in Vegas(I think) really shows their quirky sense of humor. They are in their own musical category for me.

That was awesome. The cabbie was one of the drivers from HBO's Taxicab Confessions so it was basically a Steely Dan take on that formula. 

[Mr.Hovis 71]

On ‎3‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 1:00 AM, WhatTheBuck said:

That was awesome. The cabbie was one of the drivers from HBO's Taxicab Confessions so it was basically a Steely Dan take on that formula. 

Yeah, it was a great video, but Everything Must Go is the least familiar of all their work to me. Gotta give it a listen again

[DougO 5264]

Any major dude will tell you that Steely Dan rules.

[BurdineBandit 846]

I gave Steely Dan a shot after a Google search led me to give 'Aja' a listen as one of the best records to own on vinyl (after I bought my turntable). I finally found an OG copy a few months ago and now I get the hype. What a great album. I still struggle to describe what makes it great, it's just kind of everything. I spent an hour last night watching live performances/making ofs, etc. of 'Peg' and 'Home at Last'. Black Cow, Deacon Blues, Aja, all great. Gotta try the other albums, I know some of the songs from growing up with classic rock radio.

 

 

[stc 1500]

y'all should listen to this if you haven't

 

 

[DougO 5264]

Aja has some great tunes on it, but I don't think it's as good as any of their preceding albums.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

8 minutes ago, DougO said:

Aja has some great tunes on it, but I don't think it's as good as any of their preceding albums.

Uhhhh.........Ummmmm...... your personal taste of course is .....  I .....  greatest album............  never mind.....  (walking away shaking head)

[Sbbruin 22142]

23 hours ago, DougO said:

Aja has some great tunes on it, but I don't think it's as good as any of their preceding albums.

It is incredibly technically sound.  A bit of a departure from their previous albums musically, but to put it at the bottom of their catalog is wrong on every level.  

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

2 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

It is incredibly technically sound.  A bit of a departure from their previous albums musically, but to put it at the bottom of their catalog is wrong on every level.  

Yeah for sure. It's a swerve to a more jazz flavored album, but it stands out as their best musically technical album to me.  That me, as a 9th grader listening to it for the first time recognized the originality, and greatness that it was makes it their best for me. I was listening to southern rock then, so that was a huge step for my musical taste.  It's their best album in my opinion followed by those that came before.  

Their weakest album was Gaucho IMO, which was just waaaay to poppy for my taste as a high schooler listening to classic rock, punk, Elvis Costello, Little feat, bluegrass, the Dead, Zeppelin, etc in the early 80's.

[Ths71 472]

I actually had 4 tickets for the Dallas stop of the Aja tour. 1978 I think. Would have been their first tour in three or four years. Then they cancelled. So incredibly bummed out.


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[Brandywine 1330]

Aja is in my top 5 go to albums. Along with Miles Davis Kind of Blue. Actually, I may have only top 2 go to albums.

[billfromlaketravis 11817]

I love Can’t Buy a Thrill. Just a good, chill album to throw on when you’re doing stuff around the house. 

[Ignatius 4137]

I generally hate excessively-produced music (despise prog rock), but Dan were the masters of overproducing a clean, sparse sound. Even songs of theirs I don’t really care for sound great; the ones I like (Don’t Take Me Alive, My Old School, FM) sound fresh every time even though I’ve heard them a million times....