The Steely Dan Appreciation Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Mirror Image, May 13, 2023.

  1. Peter HG

    Peter HG Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Donald has said that the Dan's dark cynical lyrics are Walter's, and the futuristic one's are his
     
  2. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing

    Gaucho was one of the first to employ a natural sounding drum machine....added to the basic actual drummer's track sessions...with the "drum machine" laying down the basic drum beat with proper timing/beat that Becker and Fagen were so desperate to achieve.

    "On some tracks"...I can't figure which ones as it was done so well.

    ...the final resultant sound is nothing like many of the mechanical drum machines I loathe so much...it seems they combined their best top talent session drummers' licks with their drum machine (nicknamed Wendel). I would never have guessed the natural sounding jazz drumming in the pocket beats on Gaucho are from a drum machine. Nowadays software generated drum "machines" can sound as good as the real thing. --LK

    From wiki:
    Even though the session musicians who played on Gaucho were amongst the most talented from both the East and West Coasts, Becker and Fagen were still not satisfied with the basic tracks for some of the songs, particularly with regard to the timing of the drum tracks.[14] In a 2006 interview for Sound On Sound Magazine, Fagen stated that he and Becker said to Nichols:

    "'It's too bad that we can't get a machine to play the beat we want, with full-frequency drum sounds, and to be able to move the snare drum and kick drum around independently.' Nichols replied 'I can do that.' This was back in 1978 or something, so we said 'You can do that???' To which he said 'Yes, all I need is $150,000.' So we gave him the money out of our recording budget, and six weeks later he came in with this machine and that is how it all started."[15]
    Nichols named the drum machine "Wendel".[14] When Gaucho sold one million copies, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awarded "Wendel" its own Platinum record.

    According to Ken Micallef in an article in Modern Drummer, the drum track for title song was assembled from 46 different takes. The drummer on the session, Jeff Porcaro, has been quoted as saying:

    "From noon till six we'd play the tune over and over and over again, nailing each part. We'd go to dinner and come back and start recording. They made everybody play like their life depended on it. But they weren't gonna keep anything anyone else played that night, no matter how tight it was. All they were going for was the drum track."[16]

    [​IMG]
    Above:Jeff Porcaro

    Drummer Bernard Purdie plays his signature half-time shuffle beat, the Purdie Shuffle, on "Babylon Sisters".


    [​IMG]
     
  3. Roger Thornhill

    Roger Thornhill Senior Member

    Location:
    Ilford, Essex, UK
    That is only true after PL and they stopped touring.
     
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  4. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    Decade was my first SD cd, was a great decent sounding disc of their ABC/MCA years, not all the big hits, but a nice sampling.
    I like that it had the original version of FM.
     
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  5. sekaer

    sekaer Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    This is enjoyable

     
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  6. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing

    Everything Must Go....such a great jazz groove....love it.
     
  7. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing

    Really fun...thanks!
     
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  8. Wild Horse

    Wild Horse Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    True, but they still brought in pros before PL. Like Elliot Randall's solo on "Reeling In the Years", Rick Derringer, etc.
     
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  9. Icenine1

    Icenine1 Forum Resident

    Just bought the remaster Geffen 24/192 download of Countdown to Ecstasy on ProStudioMasters. Def the best deal at $19. I know this is being released as SACD as well but this is pretty great as it is. I own all the early MCA 1985 CD's of theirs and they sound fantastic. I also bought the download of Can't buy when it came out a few months back. These are excellent so far. Can't hardly wait for the Royal Scam!
     
  10. smilin ed

    smilin ed Senior Member

    Location:
    Durham
    I think there is a certain section of Dandom that prefers the first two albums, which, in some areas, don't stray too far from West Coast rock and by the time Gaucho arrived, that was long over the horizon. Maybe they felt the band had strayed too far from (what they considered were) its roots.
     
  11. Mr. Dean

    Mr. Dean Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    I can't get enough of these guys lately. Such great music.
     
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  12. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing

    yep, jazzbo's
     
  13. Boltman92124

    Boltman92124 Go Padres!!

    Location:
    San Diego
    This top 5 song stuff is really silly. Why? That being said, Haitian Divorce belongs on some Steely Mt Rushmore!
     
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  14. Dr Wu

    Dr Wu Active Member

    Location:
    UK
    As you can see I am a fan and have been since a workmate (to who I have since been forever grateful) lent me Countdown to Ecstasy in 1973. Can't Buy a Thrill must count as one of the best debut albums ever released. I recently bought The Horace Silver album Song for my Father the title track of which the boys used the intro for Rikki Don't Lose That Number. The jazz influence is always there but culminates on Aja.
    I couldn't possibly list 5 favourite tracks but would be interested to know your favourite solos of which there are many great ones to choose from. Three of mine are -
    'Skunk' Baxter (Guitar) on Change of the Guard
    Wayne Shorter (Sax) on Aja
    Steve Gadd (Drums) on Aja
     
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  15. sekaer

    sekaer Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Denny Dias' solo on "Your Gold Teeth II"
    Larry Carlton on "Kid Charlemagne", "Don't Take Me Alive"
    Skunk Baxter on "Rikki"
    Phil Woods (sax) on "Dr Wu"
     
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  16. StingRay5

    StingRay5 Important Impresario

    Location:
    California
    There's some truth to that, but it doesn't explain why some people love Aja but don't care as much for Gaucho. I think the drum machine has a lot to do with it. Aja always feels like real musicians playing music. Gaucho feels stiff and doesn't swing much aside from the Purdie shuffle on "Babylon Sisters". That stiffness may be what Becker and Fagen wanted, but I don't think it benefits the music. I also like the songs on Aja a lot more than the ones on Gaucho.
     
  17. smilin ed

    smilin ed Senior Member

    Location:
    Durham
    Yes, I do too. A lot more, though that doesn't mean I don't enjoy Gaucho. I wonder, as well, if there wasn't that feeling of anticipation after Aja and then disappointment when it wasn't as good when it finally came out after a gap of three years; then, I guess, there were the stories coming out about what was going on behind the scenes at the time and the 'too much reliance on technology' argument, which made the album something of a target for the media. Then we have the Keith Jarrett suit, which left a sour taste with some fans, though it remains my favourite track on the album. I think it grew on me over a period of time.
     
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  18. lothianlad

    lothianlad Forum Resident

    Location:
    scotland
    What do we all think of "everything must go". I've been listening to it in the car a fair bit recently and i just can't get into it.
     
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  19. StingRay5

    StingRay5 Important Impresario

    Location:
    California
    I've only listened to Everything Must Go a few times in the last 20 years and I haven't been able to get into it either. Maybe I'll try again today.
     
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  20. Ohmboy68

    Ohmboy68 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Renton, Washington
    I really Like most everything by the DAN - and as varied as my tastes are, and even though I go through stages of listening to one band or another non stop for a while, I alway come back to Steely Dan. Ever since I was in junior high-
    and I'm 55 now. I can say they are the ONLY band I never get tired of, or turn the dial if it comes on the radio. There are a few perfect albums out there front to back in my opinion. Kind of blue, and on the other end of the spectrum, maybe Dirt by Alice In Chains,. and definitely some others. But as a whole, front to back, AJA > all the other albums by anyone.....Again this is only MY opinion. There're definitely some other great great albums by the DAN but AJA is just magic to me.
     
  21. fathom

    fathom Senior Member

    Location:
    Florida
    I was more into hard rock and prog in the early 70s. I of course knew Steely Dan's radio singles and they were good but kinda got lost in all the great music on the radio back then. Around 1977 I developed an interest in jazz, so when Aja came out my ears were wide open to it. Then I got the Greatest Hits album and loved it. I'll always associate Gaucho with a tiny winter beach apartment and with John Lennon's death. Later in the CD era I went back and got the full albums but often struggled to enjoy some of the unfamiliar songs. CBAT is my favorite of the early albums. To this day I can't get into Countdown.
     
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  22. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing

    Maybe. but that being said, it's kinda cool to focus on what tracks are our faves from whatever SD album we are into at the moment...
    and it inspires me to see others' faves -- then I'll go back to a particular album for another deep dive for those faves. I mean, there are some SD tracks that we aren't quite as fond of...at least for me. Even if I love em all...

    :cheers:
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2023
  23. Hall Cat

    Hall Cat Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    I'm in that bag, but I definitely recognize those weren't their roots
     
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  24. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing

    Dr. Wu for sure....may be my fave all round...as is Katy Lied the LP (that's is, only by a nose...). The first Steely Dan LP I bought, though I was a fan from their debut single onward.
     
  25. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing

    I am just really getting into Gaucho of late...the jazz influence is still quite strong especially with those sax/horns (Babylon Sister), electric piano riffs, and other top jazz players in the mix.
     

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