Steely Dan - Deacon Blues broken down

Interesting look into some of the song structure, players and production.

 

Thanks for that. Enjoyed it thoroughly.

 

This is the section of the Classic Album DVD, that has Walter and Donald explaining how they put together Deacon Blues, for the album "Aja". Steely Dan style.

 

thanks for that.. cool to see, this also

nevermind, the poster above me posted it.

later
-1

 

Very nice. Wish they had gotten more into the theory.

 

That was great; would gladly watch one of those for every one of their tracks. The "Classic Albums: Aja" doc is one of my most watched DVD, and I wish they'd done one of those for every album, too. Two of the sharpest, funniest people around.

 

It's been awhile since I last saw that...thanks!
Just hearing their thoughts about their music and concepts is always very fascinating... And adds yet another level to their music, which can stand alone by itself.

A poignant short clip with Roger "The Immortal" Nichols, too.

"Pheromones For Kids!" had me laughing out loud.

 

It would definitely be interesting to see the CA treatment on Pretzel Logic and Katy Lied.

 

Deacon Blues always struck me as a very soulful track; despite Becker and Fagen's supposed rep as "sardonic hipsters" and their music as "overproduced", this song has more feel than many other acclaimed songs of the genre.

Their technical dissection of the song easily demonstrates how each musical element that they built the song with created a sonic masterpiece.

And like any great literary work or classic film, I appreciate that further analysis of the piece allows greater appreciation of the work, as opposed to a pretty facade that just falls apart upon scrutiny.

 

Hadn't seen this before, thanks for posting. Really fascinating as they isolate tracks to show how the song was built. Another clip talking about "Peg" has some of the different guitar solos that were rejected and it just reinforces how they found the right one after so many try-outs.

 

it's too bad that CA started throwing in extensive bonus time not long after the Aja album doc was made.

Nice to see Chuck Rainey get his due

Elton's GYBR has very extensive add ons

 

All of these Classic Albums shows are thoroughly enjoyable, and the Dan one is a master class in arranging.

 

Thx. to all for sharing these videos. Very informative insights on this great song by Dan.

 

I haven't watched the program yet, but I have always wanted to create most of the segments of "Deacon Blues" by using segments of their earlier recordings. I was just listening to "The Royal Scam" album the other day and kept thinking, "There's "Deacon Blues" again".

 

There needs to be episodes for the first three albums. Would love to hear Jeff Baxter discuss those albums

 

Thanks for posting these. I'm off to give a listen.

 

I wonder how many other great songs utilize the "Mu Major" musical notation.
I'm afraid it would have to pointed out to me

 

I hadn't heard of that before and wouldn't be able to identify it either! Cool to see it's roots so far back.

 

I've watched that DVD so many times, if it were a video tape it would be worn out. It's a masterpiece of documentary film editing.

 

That is a Classic Documentary; should have its own 15th anniversary Special Edition. The scene where they isolate McDonald's vocals on "Peg" - both of them stifling giggles.... Or when they're listening to rejected guitar solos for the same track, completetly stone-faced. "Speaks for itself, really...". They should have a podcast or something.

Actually, while I'm on the subject, I highly recommend Becker's writings on their official website. For instance, there's a series of letters to various people concerning their bid for the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame that reads like the outline for some demented showbiz sitcom. I used to read these at work. Have a dig around:

WB's Collected Writhings »

 

They used it pretty commonly. It becomes most notable on the compositions that have a more simple triad-type chord structure, which is why it stand out on "Peg". Also on "Reelin' In The Years". You can hear it strongly on the live version of "Reelin'"

With more complex chord structures, like on "Deacon Blues", the "mu" (basically adding the 2nd between the root and the 3rd) gets lost in the sound. But you can still hear them using it a lot.