The outro is insane . I remember being a kid in middle school hearing this for the first time and having to go get the album . The 70’s musically were incredible looking back now .
The group a had a killer twin-lead guitar attack courtesy of Denny Dias and Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter. Dias connected with Becker and Fagen while all three were still in New York, having the jazz chops that the duo favoured in their music. Baxter was recruited once the band moved to Los Angeles and signed with ABC Records. Baxter’s background in psychedelic rock was contrasted with his fascination with technology and eventual career as a military weapons expert. When the two played together, there was a clear spark that gave early Steely Dan albums a distinctive sound. There’s no better example of the pair’s interplay than on the Countdown to Ecstasy track ‘Bodhisattva’. Dias and Baxter play harmonising lead parts during the song’s verses that are intricate and technically brilliant, showing off the almost preternatural connection the two guitarists had.
Countdown to Ecstasy was recorded when Steely Dan was still a touring band with a core lineup of 5 band members. They later became a studio band with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker using a revolving lineup of session musicians on the later Steely Dan albums (Katy Lied, The Royal Scam, Aja, and Gaucho).
Steely Dan is a very deep rabbit hole, not a bad song to be found. I recommend Don't Take Me Alive, Kid Charlemagne, Black Cow, The Fez, Haitian Divorce
I think you do a great job of music analysis, and how you have it structured. If my grandkids would let me have a phone and credit card together, I would support you. Good job John, and Patreons. "Thank you"
Hey John - I always figured I was the world's biggest Steely Dan fan. But commenters on reaction videos have humbled me. For Rock Steely Dan - try Do It Again, Reeling in the Years, Black Friday For Cerebral Steely Dan - Aja (obviously), Your Gold Teath, Doctor Wu, Chain Lightning For Story Telling Steely Dan - The Royal Scan, Charlie Freak, Dirty Work, Haitian Divorce The categories are endless and the journey is a great one. thanks for hitting up Steely Dan - keep up the good work Ken
6:20 - that instrument is likely Donald Fagen's ARP Soloist synthesiser, or maybe an earlier ARP model, he has mentioned that he had a couple in the early 1970s and he'd also use it live, on top of his acoustic piano. You can hear it in the many bootlegs available on YT, w/ shows of their 1974 'Pretzel Logic' tour. By '74 Michael McDonald had been drafted to augment their live band, playing Wurlitzer electric piano and singing backing vocals.
Can’t go wrong with Steely Dan…just spin the wheel…they are all great… Truly appreciate your thoughtful & honest reactions👍 Otherwise…Would like to see you check out YES “Close to the Edge”…of course, Also for something fresher and ongoing…Tokyo Groove Jyoshi “What is Hip” as well as their sometime saxophonist Harumo Imai “Mama’s Boy”.
I think they were making fun of some organized religions and their followers. In the beginning of the song, the singer is interested in the religion's roots in far off Japan and China. At the end of the song, the singer is giving up his things to the religious organizer and admiring the organizer's pricey things - your japan (to 'japan' furniture is a technique that makes it very shiny and dark and expensive) and your china (ie decorative and fragile wares). Interesting to set those notions to a rockabilly tune.
Delighted by your video. Please allow me to add some context. A Bodhisattva is enlightened, like the Buddha, yet, instead of scoring the field goal of Nirvana, chooses to stay behind in the Earthly realm for the sake of teaching others the path of Enlightenment. Articulated profoundly well by the Beastie Boys in their song "Bodhisattva Vow" Bodhisattva Vow As I develop the awakening mind I praise the Buddhas as they shine I bow before you as I travel my path To join your ranks I make my full time task For the sake of all beings I seek The enlightened mind that I know I'll reap Respect to Shantideva and all the others Who brought down the dharma for their sisters and brothers I give thanks for this world as a place to learn And for this human body that I will have earned And my deepest thanks to all sentient beings For without them there would be no place to learn what I'm seeing There's nothing here that's not been said before But I put it down now so that I'll be sure To solidify my own views And I'll be glad if it helps anyone else out too If others disrespect me or give me flack I'll stop and think before I react Knowing that they're going through insecure stages I'll take the opportunity to exercise patience I'll see it as a chance to help the other person Nip it in the bud before it can worsen A chance for me to be strong and sure As I think on the Buddhas who have come before As I praise and respect the good they've done Knowing only love can conquer in every situation We need other people in order to create The circumstances for the learning that we're here to generate Situations that bring up my deepest fears So we can work to release them until they're cleared Therefore, it only makes sense To thank our enemies despite their intent The Bodhisattva path is one of power and strength A strength from within to go the length Seeing others are as important as myself I strive for a happiness of mental wealth With the interconnectedness that we share as one Every action that we take affects everyone So in deciding for what a situation calls There is a path for the good of all I try to make my every action for that highest good With the altruistic wish to achieve buddhahood So I pledge here before everyone who's listening To try to make my every action for the good of all beings For the rest of my lifetimes and even beyond I vow to do my best to do no harm And in times of doubt I can think on the dharma And the enlightened ones who've graduated samsara - Beastie Boys
The 70s music was driven by the boomers who came after WW2 when all the winner warriors returned from the battlfields and spawned the boomers .By 1960 we were coming into puberty and by 1970 our romantic creativity had matured. The 60s atmosphere was ripe with hormones from the millions of kids coming of age. Through the 60s we experimented with everything we could and grew up learning all about the battlefields our fathers fought in and the drama and tradgedy was not lost on us. Watch Saving Private Ryan'. Having this in our faces as we grew we wanted none of it. Then along can Vietnam in which 58 thousand of our generation died.Thus was born the anti war generation, the Flower children, the hippies. All this incredible surging energy created some of the worlds best music and it will not ever happen again like this. get it while you can, the new age classics.
SD does NYC Residency Month at the Beacon Theater (pre-pandemic) and Countdown is a fun Album night. I usually get a 3 ticket pkg of AJA, Pretzel Logic (for Rikki) & Greatest Hits. 🥰 A different Album played front to back + Encore songs. 😁🐰
The "Bodhisattva" in the song is one of the many exotic gurus and other religious figures of the times and it describes the many followers who would sell their earthly possessions and join the guru... If you don't know by now, you will soon know that most of the Dan lyrics are sarcastic and cerebral...
Hey John - yes you're generally right about a bohdisattva but as some people point out in the comments, more of a Buddhist than Hindu concept. Whether it has a thing to do with the song, it's still a wonderful idea: a bodhisattva has attained liberation (enlightenment) and is freed from the body and the cycle of life and death. But doesn't go "to the heavens", rather, chooses to stay and help others, rather than merge back in to Oneness. A supremely compassionate being.
That 'first sound' was indeed a synth (probably layered with other keyboards). The Dan doesn't really fit into any category, except Steely Dan. Rolling Stone magazine called them "the perfect musical antiheros of the seventies". If you like prog rock, I'd suggest Yes, Genesis, and Emerson Lake and Palmer, for 70's bands. King Crimson is a great band too, but it'll probably get blocked. As far as rock bands from the 70's my favs are Led Zeppelin, The Doobie Brothers, Pink Floyd, The Who, and finally, The Eagles (who definitely will get blocked). Pink Floyd's album "Dark Side of the Moon" was on the Billboard Magazine 'Top 200' chart for 962 weeks (that is equal to 18.5 years!).
Thanks for this list! I will definitely have to check out these greats. I've listened to the Tarkus album by E.L.P. and I was impressed! And I've just barely gotten into King Crimson. Will definitely give them more of a listen. Genesis has been a long time coming as well.
Steely Dan wrote this to kind of mock all the people trying to re-invent themselves in the late 60s and 70s Talking about being enlightened; selling everything and moving to a commune…. But their lives are frenetic and tooo busy to relax into being enlightened “Take me the hand” “gonna sell my house in town” …. Looking for something missing in there stress and anxious lives
Not Peg! 😁 But I'll take this! 🤗 Because like Rush, any SD is good SD. 🙏🏿 Hoping for AJA if you do an Album. 😒 Have you figured out what a Steely Dan is yet? 🤭😏😁🐰
@@JohnSlopReacts They don't have a house style. Aja - jazz , Bod - Rock & Roll. You're going to love Peg (pop jazz disco, beautiful guitar solo, heavenly backing vocals). The only constant is Donald's exquisite vocals - they're instantly identifiable, despite all their output sounding unalike.
The lyrics, in true sardonic Steely Dan fashion, predicate the infatuation the occasional Westerner has with Eastern culture. Willing to sell their house and immerse themself in something they know nothing about.
