Steely Dan: More Than Just a Band 

It should also be noted that Aja is one of the most well mixed and mastered album of all time because they just simply refused to stop working on it until it was sonically perfect. Which it is.

Steely Dan’s music can’t be classified as a certain music genre. Steely Dan are their own genre of music.

I'm very lucky to be 72 years old now...That means I grew up with SD music. Now I sit on my patio each evening, drinking a Black Russian and still listening to Steely Dan. Life has been good for many years.

What I love about Steely Dan is how different they sound from everything else.

My father used to tell me..."Steely Dan, the band that never was". As for that statement....he pretty much summed it up. This band has been his favorite since he was a young man when his parents moved him over from Germany in the early 70's. By that time, he was in his early 20's. He had never seen the band performed live....ever, until 2017. I took him for a Father's day present to see them live here in Kansas city. The look on my father's face was priceless...the songs I grew up with, the albums, the dancing and singing to us. Getting to have a beer with my 67yr old dad, at that time, watching him sing every song, every word and just taking it in. Priceless!!

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who love Steely Dan, and those who have never heard Steely Dan.

When I was a kid in the 90s, I had always written off Steely Dan as boring soft rock. Then I ate a bunch of mushrooms and my friend put on Do It Again. It's timeless and flawless. Absolutely zero pretense.

Thank God Steely Dan was in the 70's before music videos. I have my own mind pictures listening to the music.

I grew up a black kid who chose Steely Dan as his favourite band. I saw ridicule for years, but as a kid dreaming of becoming Steve Gadd or Pretty Purdie, I knew in my heart where the greatness reigned. Thanks for creating this informative and inspiring video. I jumped for joy at so many points... OFF TO JAM TO BABYLON SISTAS! 👊🏿🧔🏾

My 23 year old daughter recently said to me: Once you know Steely Dan...its like taking a step through a door to a new musical dimension...and you never look at contemporary music the same way again.

Endlessly replayable music. Many times after listening to a track I want to go back and immediately listen to it again. Some of it is just sublime, like a drug.

How can you not mention Michael McDonald as a back up singer for Peg? It's truly a part of their history

aja is one of the greatest albums ever made

Steely Dan is my desert island band. If I was stuck on an island and I could only listen to one band it would be them. Their body of work is immense and varied. No matter how many times I’ve heard their work It always brings a new sound. I had no idea that Donald Fagan mixed over 200 versions of Peg. That must have drove the engineers nuts.

I always loved the line “handle in your hand”, a handle was always slang for the big 1.75L bottles of alcohol around where i grew up. I mentioned this to a friend and he had no idea what i meant, he always read it as the handle of a slot machine. Both readings make complete sense in context and i would like to think Fagen knew that when he wrote it

dirty work is one of my favorite songs by them, palmer's voice was perfect for it. It's an insane song that imperceptibly changes key between the verse and chorus.

Steely Dan is your favorite band's favorite band.

Steely Dan is one of the most UNIQUE bands ever. I love everything about them.

I was a freak....I loved Steely Dan.....by God I was right! Best Rock/Jazz fusion band ever. I played trombone in my grade school and high school band. And piano on the side trying to figure out those chords and notes on my own. My first vinyl record ever was a 45 rpm of Do It Again from 1972. All the studio albums followed. While the world was discoed out in the 70's I was groovin' to Aja and The Royal Scam....."See the Glory....Hear the Glory...of Steely Dan"....

Steely Dan were a phenomena whose incredibly thoughtful tunes not only each told a story, but defined the best of the music of the 1970's! However their songs and instrumentals were so well crafted that they are actually timeless! I had forgotten how many excellent tunes they had put together - so this video is much appreciated!

Can you imagine being so musically talented that "Countdown to Ecstasy" sounds like a rush-job to you?

When I was 15 years old I met Steely Dan at a music store promotion. Skunk Baxter was playing guitar and asked if anyone played. The guys I was with told them I did. He ask me to play with him. I sat down and asked him how he made the cool whistling sound on the lead part to My Old School. He then taught me how to play pick harmonics like he did. It was great! He also gave us all tickets and an invitation to meet back stage. We met them all. Very cool guys ,very cool memories.

I first discovered Steely Dan when I was around 20 years old and they changed the course of my musical tastes. I'm now 62 years old and they're still at the top of my list of favorites. With all of the many musicians who've played on their albums, they remain totally unique and instantly identifiable.

So well done. I was born in 1969, and Steely Dan has been a staple in my life. My father was a big band jazz guy born in the mid-30's, and this perfect fusion became a staple of my life and a shared experience for me and my dad. I'm forever grateful for that, and Walter and Donald.

“Steely Dan is an aesthetic.” Perfect!

Haha Dirty Work is one of my favourite songs, his fragile voice suits that song, just like Elliot Randalls solo totally fits Reeling in the Years.

I LOVE the vocal on dirty work. It’s perfect and one of their best songs imo

Steely Dan has a huge and excellent catalog of music. Rock, soul, blues, they did it all. I’m so happy that I got to see them before Walter Becker died. The great music from the 70’s. Don’t be putting down Show biz kids! I love it. Doesn’t get better that that. 💯🎶🤗

Every time I hear a Steely Dan tune, the song gives me something new. Just layer after layer of genius unfolding.

Steely Dan was great writing by two guys, dozens of the best studio musicians who've ever lived, and brilliant perfectionist recording and engineering. This will never happen again in music, the industry has changed too much

I consider Aja and Gaucho, the two most sophisticated albums I have ever listened. Fagen and Becker along with the other musicians were on another level!

“Only a Fool Would Say That” is a masterpiece

I was in the US Navy stationed outside Bella Napoli Italy when I heard Aja for the first time in 1980. At the time I was into Led Zeppelin, Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd, you know "light up and put the headphones" on music. I was also a drummer and I played horns in HS orchestra, so I was familiar with music. When I heard Aja and Steve Gadd's drumming I thought fucking perfection. The entire album is perfection. This album blends pop, jazz and fusion in perfect harmony and time. Music is not composed like this anymore...

Steely Dan is so Unique. It's like they carved their own special-niche in Music. No one Sounds like them. Thy combine elements of Rock, Funk, Jazz, Blues, Latin music. Just fantastic songwriters and amazing studio production. Their Aja Album was an absolute Masterpiece ( among many of their other gem's ). Really enjoyed this. R.I.P. Walter Becker.

i will say that all of Fagen's OCD on Babylon Sisters paid off. That is unquestionably the best sounding recording I have heard in my life.

Never get tired of listening to Can't buy a Thrill. One of the very best albums ever produced. No Hyperbole.

I actually liked David Palmer singing “dirty work”

I like David Palmer singing dirty work, one of my favorite song from them.

I spent 40 years playing these guys on the radio and never really new the inside story on Fagen and Becker...Geniuses really, to pull all that together. The longer I live and the more music I hear I'm convinced the 70 and some 80's was the greatest time for music. Your video was expertly crafted. Thanks for the education on some of my all time favorite tunes.

Their music reminds me of some of the best times in my life.

Aja: six different drummers on the seven tracks.

I’d say Steely Dan is a project more than a band.

The Dan is one of my favorite bands....I'm a brother and I have jammed the Dan all of my life...I tip my hat to Walter and Donald so much talent.....much love Steely.

Every time you play one of their songs you hear something that you didn’t hear previously especially after the whole catalog was remastered. Nichols won several Grammy Awards for engineering their albums. Nothing less than perfection

Deacon Blues and Babylon Sister are the smoothest songs. Playing them in car or just listening in a dark room with headphones you were transported to another time and space

I sat front row before Becker passed. It was like being in the studio with them. They used the highest quality amps and speakers live. McIntosh Labs.

Best explanation of Steely Dan I’ve ever seen/heard. Congratulations on your masterpiece video.

Thank you, by the way. It’s because of this video that I really started appreciating Steely Dan. I literally listen to them every single day. I can’t think of a bad song; not a single one!

I absolutely love Steely Dan's music. I especially love listening to them on long solo drives.

My father used to call them the "University" of music

Steely Dan is also one of my father’s favorite bands and I owe him a lot for my musical tastes. Cheers

These guys, with their ear for every detail being to perfection, are amazing.

I love Steely Dan. I was a kid in 1990 when my uncle died. He left behind a ton of music records and CDs. One of which was Aja. Haven't stopped listening since.

I just inherited my grandfather’s records. He has every SD album. I’ve always known about SD but never gotten into them, until I listened to Gaucho and Pretzel Logic. GOD DAMN they’re so good!!

Lifelong Dan fan... I remember getting 'Aja' for my 14th B-day. The thing that always struck me about them was they never wrote a bad song.

I wish my 'worst output' was Countdown to Ecstasy. I love that album, and actually like it's rawness. Like Joni Mitchell, they seemed to have a knack of knowing which musicians to use on any given song. That's a talent in itself.As a guitar player myself I can categorically state that the guys they used are all fantastic in their own way. Jay Graydons solo on Peg always puts a smile on my face, "no licks," Denny Dias is incredibly underrated and Larry Carlton is, well, Larry Carlton. I miss 'bands' like this.

When I open my jazz cafe Steely Dan will fill the air.

"aja" is the only disc that has a permanent slot in the changer in my car (yea, CD, I'm old). Every time it comes up it's like the first time I heard it.

Steely Dan albums sound like audiophile pressings cause they're perfectionists

They are their own genre literally no other band sounds like them

Steely Dan and Chicago were the bands the music teachers liked in high school in the 70s

Steely Dan. The Stanley Kubrick of music.

They are in my top 5 favorite bands

Babylon Sisters is one of my favorite songs of all time. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve listened to that song.

Yes! Polyphonic + steely dan is a good day

I'm 75 yrs old and they still make the blood flow! Great piece! Thanks!

The saxophone solo on Aja is so emotive

I was 10 years old in 1978 when my aunt from California came to visit with a gift of Aja. I've loved it ever since. And I was already a Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest fan. Well, maybe not Judas Priest at that point.. But I can still remember setting it on the record player, watching it drop and start to spin, watching the needle move over and slowly drop, hearing the crackle of records, then the juicy sound came out. I can remember it exactly. So weird.

Their music still sounds as fresh and relevant as when it was released. Timeless.

My dad was in the air force with a guy who went on to sell music equipment. He often worked with the Dan, providing them with the latest, highest quality gear in the industry

The Dan are the ultimate jazz rock of the future. Their perfection and use of pro musicians was genius! Jazz rock fusion masters that made their music the pop future! Love it. 😎

Can't buy a thrill, absolutely my favourite !! played it thousands of times.

Steely Dan is one of the best groups of the 70s. They are truly musician's musicians. Too many good tracks on their albums to list. Great video!

This probably one of my favourite videos you've done. Mostly because I love steely dan but 100% because your videos are consistently high quality. Keep doing what you do man. Your love for music really shows in your videos man.

Aja will forever be my favorite album by Steely Dan.

Palmer's voice on dirty work was beautiful.

been a fan since 1974,their music is timeless,RIP Walter...

Steely Dan is my Papa's favorite band. He always used to play their music on our hours-long road trips to and from Baguio City, Manila, Laguna and Isabela. Hearing a Steely Dan song never fails to transport me back to my childhood days.

The thing that gets me about SD is NONE of their music sounds dated. You could put any of their tracks on the air today and nobody would know what year it released. They're so timeless.

Anybody else was considered weird for listening to SD as a teenager in the early 80’s

I have loved this band since I heard the intro to "Reelin in the Years" back in the 70s. At 73 years old they remain the best rock /jazz band I have ever heard. Thank you Becker & Fagan.

I got turned on to Steely Dan when my sister moved home from California to die at “home” from breast cancer. 1981. She named her daughter Katy after the album. Very influential band

Right on describing the band as an aesthetic more than just music. Their music is fantastic, but the image that Steely Dan leaves in your imagination, after the music has ended, is even greater.

Jim Gordon is probably my favorite drummer. His work with Derek and the Dominos and Steely Dan truly sets him apart

I LIKE the vocal on Dirty Work.

Aja - you missed the sublime horn arrangement of "Deacon Blues"

These guys are so innovative and just all around talented

Love their music and their snarky lyrics absolutely set the hook in me.

a level of career-long musicianship that will probably never be achieved again in pop music. Steely Dan=da best.

Two more facts: 1. While at Bard Fagan and Becker had a jazz combo. They had a drummer for that combo who would give up music after graduation. That drummer's name....Chevy Chase (yep that one). 2. They were directly responsible for discovering a young backup singer from St. Louis named Michael McDonald who was featured most prominently on Bad Sneakers.

THIS is the finest production I've seen in many many years! Bravo... sound quality content, edit.. supreme. Thank you

Black Cow is probably in my top 5 favorite songs. If not my favorite song ever. So funky and full of soul. RIP Walter Becker.

Truly one of the greatest musical acts of all time!

Great job, and great birthday present for your dad. My dad got me into Steely Dan when I was younger and they were definitely one of his favorites if not the favorite. He passed away in the 90s but I still think of him when I hear the Dan.

I just love how in a lot of songs they hint at a tonality and when it hits its like: "nah fooled you"

I was privileged to have gone to many recording sessions from Katy Lied to Gaucho. What is not mentioned is the fact there may be as many as 5 variations of each song that made it on the record. Different musicians plucked and replaced, or an entire East Coast/West Coast recording of the same song. Sometimes as Roger said, it would be the slightest little "bubble" in a basic track by a player, and they would be back the next day in the same studio, only with 1 or 2 new session musicians. Analog days you did not punch in on drum tracks, so the drummer's carried the most weight on a tracking date!

This analysis is a hidden gem. Work well done.

Outstanding documentary. I really loved how you brought visibility and credit to the lesser-known contributors. I am a HUGE Steely Dan fan and have loved their music since it first came out. Every one of the clips you played were so good. I never, ever get tired of listening to them. Beethoven, Mozart, … Steely Dan. We should call their music “Classical Music”.

Simply amazing…my sister just gave me “a decade of Steelee Dan” for my birthday. Absolutely amazing!

OMG IVE NEVER CLICKED ON A VIDEO FASTER!!!