Steely Dan: "Steely Dan's name has been popping up as a hip musical crush. Remember, this glossy bop-pop was the indifferent aristocracy to punk rock's stone-throwing in the late 70's. People fought

Steely Dan means a lot to me. On a personal level, my friends and I used to hang at each other's places in rural IL or in Rockford and jam all these classic rock LPs and we jammed Steely Dan more than anyone else. And everyone we knew loved them. And we weren't teenagers in the '70s, we were '90s kids and we mostly heard them via parents (not mine; they were folkies) and classic rock radio or popping up more than you'd imagine at the local pool hall. We all had different favorite albums. Mine was always Countdown to Ecstasy. My one friend, his favorite song was always Sign In Stranger. It was about the way Fagen sang that title in such a strangled way, and the imagery of "Pepe has a scar from ear to ear." My other friend, his band covered a couple songs from Can't Buy a Thrill. When I moved to L.A. there were a bunch of well wishes from everyone that invariably included hopes for good times inspired by the songs from Side 1 of Gaucho. They started off as one of the best NYC bands and then wound up the best and for their milieu the most *accurate* L.A. band, which is no small feat. But they kind of take me back home, lots of wood paneled rec rooms that smell like weed and air freshener, parents out partying somewhere, us winding down a night listening to Donald and Walter, among others (but like I said, no others as much as them.)

A dollop of Walter Becker genius. Tap asked him to write a little something technical re BREAK LIKE THE WIND & he did. pic.twitter.com/DX8XPz4Oo3

— Michael McKean (@MJMcKean) September 3, 2017

god that's so good

Hearing SD everywhere I go today: coffee shop, movie theater, grocery store, every rock station on the dial...

RIP

Forest Hills represent !

Noooo... ;_:

man, this is a bummer. RIP. this band has been one of my great musical discoveries of the past few years, just digging in and hearing more and more with each spin. incredible music, incredible songwriter, incredible player. seriously kicking myself for not seeing them the last time they came through town.

His production on China Crisis' Flaunt the Imperfection is OTM and a huge part of the reason why it's their best album.

^^^

yeah no argument there

Got my tickets to see SD next month in the mail today.... hard to imagine the mood at these shows

http://www.walterbecker.com/img/dad.jpg

Really love this pic from his daughter's tribute:
http://www.walterbecker.com/daughters.html

I'll have to check out some of Becker's productions. His solos on SD records were marvelous - snarling and mordant with sweetness and pathos peeking through at unexpected moments, just like in SD's lyrics. You could see why he took a lot of solos on their records even when Fagen and Becker had the best studio players in the world at their beck and call - Becker's guitar put the duo's sensibility across as succinctly as Fagen's whine. But don't discount his bass lines either - "Deacon Blues," to my ears, is probably his single greatest performance. Or his lacerating wit - it's my understanding that a lot of the lyrics were his, and despite many obits' puzzling assertion that he played the background in their public persona it's also my impression that he was a fair bit more responsible than Fagen in crafting that persona - certainly in the last two decades he took the lead in terms of their online presence, liner notes, pr and public correspondence, etc.

much respect, brother walter

I know you're out there
w/rage in your eyes and
your megaphones
saying all is forgiven
mad dog surrender pic.twitter.com/bDtwWBalFl

— mike watt (@wattfrompedro) September 5, 2017

you want the song, huh? of course SO much about music! https://t.co/P5axyyq69H luckless pedestrian - his he w/who or whatever... or are you? pic.twitter.com/UocKZMpHiN

— mike watt (@wattfrompedro) September 5, 2017

. But don't discount his bass lines either - "Deacon Blues," to my ears, is probably his single greatest performance. Or his lacerating wit - it's my understanding that a lot of the lyrics were his, and despite many obits' puzzling assertion that he played the background in their public persona it's also my impression that he was a fair bit more responsible than Fagen in crafting that persona - certainly in the last two decades he took the lead in terms of their online presence, liner notes, pr and public correspondence, etc.

The biggest clue is Fagen's solo work. Nary a trace of sardonicism in The Nightfly, Kamakiriad and the rest, replaced with a perfectly modulated irony.

I had no idea this made it back online:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=dimyNC1BytY

Goddamit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dimyNC1BytY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK7QO9Hx3xM

haha! yeah I love that little doc/bonus thing. the women in it are great. Walter is hilarious

holy shit

Strangest thing I learned in wake of Walter Becker’s death: Phil Hartman (of SNL/Simpsons) designed cover for ‘Aja'https://t.co/TxlTd3ZxGq pic.twitter.com/aF4joOgIFY

— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) September 6, 2017

iirc Hartman did design some album covers but the Aja attribution is an internet mistake that spread widely

Seems like most of his work was for Poco and America, poor guy.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/914811-Phil-Hartman?filter_anv=0&subtype=Visual&type=Credits

RIP

this is pretty sad. i am only just now discovering the music of Steely Dan. i started listening to The Royal Scam, Katy Lied, Aja, Countdown to Ecstasy, this year. i really love the music. the groves are all very tight, it is very locked in. it is very evocative Night Time Driving music to me. thank you for the music

"Is there gas in the car?
Yes, there's gas in the car."

The covers for Poco’s Legend and Steely Dan’s Aja look like they could be classic album covers, in a world where the albums they were associated with were a lot better.

Regardless of the misattribution, what the fuck kind of Aja opinion is this?

I prefer every Dan album that came before Aja to Aja but yeah, that's a silly thing to say given that Aja is generally seen as not only Steely Dan's finest work but also a canonical classic.

Gaucho on the other hand...

rules and is amazing, I know

let's not do this again

...has its fans but was perfectly judged at the time and has become grossly overrated since.

I've had 'Peg' stuck in my head all day.

Michael McDonald on Walter Becker:

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7957597/michael-mcdonald-walter-becker-steely-dan-interview

That was nice. Gave new dimensions to the Becker i knew of.

Very nice. Thanks Ned

yeah, that was really honest and heartfelt

many xps @nomar, i also grew up listening to the dan in northern IL (rockford and freeport) during the 90s, lots of fond memories. honestly, i'm surprised by how sad I've felt about Becker's death.

Such a humble and life-affirming tribute from McDonald

Are there any good books on the Dan?

There's this Barney Hoskyns edited Dan anthology coming out soon that looks pretty good - contributors include Charles Shaar Murray, Robert Palmer, Ian MacDonald, Bud Scoppa, Penny Valentine, Fred Schruers, Sylvie Simmons and Michael Watts:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472127552

Ooh yes, that would hit the spot, I guess - love a lot of those writers' work

I was at a deep house night in L.A. around 1999-2000 and Doc Martin dropped a house remix of "New Frontier". It was revelatory for me at the time. I went from "fuck that shit" to "grooooovy mannnn".

Guitars and Gear Belonging to Steely Dan’s Walter Becker to Be Sold at Auction

https://www.guitarworld.com/news/guitars-and-gear-belonging-to-steely-dans-walter-becker-to-be-sold-at-auction

And the circle closes - today on Pitchfork, retrospective (favorable) reviews of Can't Buy a Thrill, Katy Lied, The Royal Scam, Aja and Gaucho.

Yup, I immediately thought of this thread when I saw that pitchfork was giving them the deluxe 5-album retrospective treatment.
It's official.

all they had to do is LISTEN to Steely Dan for God's sake

So does this mean Steely Dan has regained their crown as hipster scumbags or is Pitchfork now officially the music site for yacht-rock granddads?

Either you die a Dan hater, or you live long enough to see yourself become a Dan fan

piece on the royal scam is good as hell

Piece on Aja is great, too, if only for the link to a Rolling Stone interview by Cameron Crowe from around the time of its release. And for once they got the rating right too. 10.

Sorry but Steely Dan >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the vast majority of so-called punk rock music.
― o. nate (onate), Thursday, February 12, 2004 8:00 PM (fifteen years ago)

yep
― roger adultery (roger adultery), Thursday, February 12, 2004 8:01 PM (fifteen years ago)