When I think of the greatest rock albums of all time invariably the same names pop up like The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd, Who's Next by The Who, Led Zeppelin II and IV, Moving Pictures and 2112 by RUSH, Hotel California by The Eagles, Exile on Main Street by the Stones, Back in Black by AC/DC, Rumors by Fleetwood Mac, etc ... yet somehow I seem to forget that Can't Buy A Thrill by Steely Dan deserves to be in the conversation
@@reallymysterious4393 So many on that list, youll probably get a 1000 replies. "Highway to Hell"-ACDC. Bon's last. Then you have Iron Maiden showing and proving what life would be after you lose an iconic lead vocalist answereing, "Killers"(Paul Di'Anno, lead vocals) with the, "Number of the beast"(Bruce Dickinson, lead vocals). This literally could go on forever....
Blanche Hudson they’re not icons and that’s your opinion. Arguing about who’s the best guitarist from that era is ignorance on a cosmic scale. Just sayin
@@CyrusOG666 Totally agree. How do you pick a "winner" from Page,Beck and Clapton alone for instance? Just that former Yardbirds trio and people can argue about who's best from now until Hell freezes over and no one would ever make a definitive case.
"You been telling me you're a genius since you were 17. In all the time I known you I still don't know what you mean." I love that line but whoever inspired them to write that part...damn. What a burn.
Reportedly that line is about - Chevy Chase! Donald Fagen was a friend of his from schooldays and actually Chevy played drums in a very, very early version of "The Dan".
Does ones heart good to see you making the connection with these songs that meant so much to us in our youth... we oldsters really had it good back then.
I'm 57. When I was young, great songs like this were on FM radio every day. They seemed to just keep coming and I thought the it would last forever. Sadly, it didn't work out like I thought.
My son's favorite Steely Dan song. He is 17 now but he saw them live at age 8. He can't explain why to this day. He will play it from time to time in his room. I think it the harmonies. One of my favorites as well.
Watching these videos is like watching your kid opening up his presents on Christmas morning, and really wanting him to like what you got him, and he gives you the best reaction. You're bringing joy to the world, Jamal!
The more you listen to Steely Dan the more you get hooked unreal been listening to them since the 70's glad to see the younger generation enjoying cool music
@@ralph0901 Got to meet the tenor saxophonist on "FM" Pete Christlieb at The Mt. Hood Jazz Festival in Gresham, Oregon, back in the mid-80s. He graciously signed my "Aja" album where he played on the song "Deacon Blues."
@@ralph0901 And at the first Mt. Hood Jazz Festival in Aug. 1982 I got to meet Steely Dan producer Gary Gatz who helped assemble The Hoops McCann Band of session musicians who played an entire set of instrumental versions of Becker & Fagen classics. Seemed like everyone in the crowd was a Danfan that day.
I remember seeing Steely Dan at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, England back in 1974, they where fantastic then and still are. Glas you,re enjoying one of my favourite bands.
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter on guitar. One the most talented "under the radar" guitarist of all time. Suffered from polio, would play live on stage (with the Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan didn't play live back then) sitting on a stool. Little known, he is, to this day a certified rocket scientist. Helped design the Patriot Missle system, worked for Raytheon, etc. Sits on the government "Missle Defense Panel". Long hair, mustache and all. His security clearance rivals the president. Now THAT'S f***ing COOL!!!
It is a joy to watch you groovin’ to Steely Dan - reawakened me to my love for their music. For sheer fun, you have to listen to “Daddy Don’t Live in That New York City.” Lyrically alive, musically deep in the funk, you will KNOW Daddy at song’s end. Can’t help but smile and laugh.
This song takes me back to 1973 walking to Jr. High School and listening to the radio Man those were much simpler times! Agree on Supertramp. One of my favs back in the day.
" Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has reportedly said that session player Elliott Randall's guitar solo on "Reeling In the Years" is his favorite solo of all time. " en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reelin'_In_the_Years Babylon Sisters is worth a listen.
I was like 12 when this came out one of my brothers listened to this when he was in college when I first heard it. Awesome music and an awesome band. Doesn't surprise me you checked this song out and enjoyed it.
Keep doing what you do Jamal. I’m reliving my youth watching you react to these songs. Yes children of the 60s & 70s were spoilt with music. Once your down that rabbit hole there’s no going back 👍
YES to your "executive decision" to react to requests of songs you may have "heard" before. The thing about the quality of most of this music is the deeper and more attentively we listen, the more we notice and appreciate. You are dead right that we may have heard and noticed a "hook" "groove" or "refrain/chorus." A closer than cursory listen reveals so much more. This is what makes great music not only stand up to repeated listening. Music of that quality almost requires repeated listening to fully grasp and appreciate.
Classic Steely Dan - fading out during the best part of the guitar solo. Love them, and love you and your joyful, exuberant reactions to the music I grew up with and still listen to all the time. Keep it up Jamal!
"... the things that pass for knowledge I can't understand..." boy that line is more applicable now than it ever has been in modern times. We now live in an age where kids go to college to learn how to be more stupid.
@@jimjames8660 , he's just sore that getting a degree in gender studies and being saddled with student loan debt only qualifies him to be a barista at Starbucks.
True Geniuses of Rock and Roll ... they did it thier way .... which was writing incredible tunes and hiring everyone who was anyone to give it a stab in the studio, and putting the best on record. They made some of the coolest stuff,, next level, hard for me to believe still.
You've listened to all the songs on Aja except "Home At Last" and "I Got The News", try those, I promise you'll agree the whole album is a masterpiece!
Steely Dan was a duo (Donald Fagan, Walter Becker) + every great studio musician of the 70s. Unique they blended jazz chord progressions with pop melodies...
Here's a lesser known steely Dan song, "Cousin Dupree". A funny story about getting reacquainted with a long lost cousin, who, let's just say has "developed". Lesser known, but typically great steely Dan music.
Steely Dan, and Doobie Bros. are my favorite bands. A lot of musicians played for both bands. The cool thing about Steely Dan was that they would put a guitar solo anywhere in the song. Very few bands start with a guitar solo.
Jamal - this Welsh grandad has been listening to the Dan since I first heard Haitian Divorce back when I was 18. Loving your channel -but you really need to check out The Caves of Altamira. Love from the UK.
If you want to keep going, keep going. My list: "Pretzel Logic" "Night By Night" "Black Friday" "Don't Take Me Alive" "Sign in Stranger" "The Fez" "Green Earrings" "Haitian Divorce" "FM" "Babylon Sisters"
On his Black Cow review i made a list after running thru their discog. Somehow got deleted. Had everyone of these & more on it. Not doing that again lmao.
Jamel, Really enjoyed your reactions to Steely Dan. I'd love to see your reaction to Steely Dan's Bodhisattva, Chain Lightning and Sign In Stranger. Stay safe !!!
Would love to see you do a video on the band "Yes" heart of the sunrise is one of my favorite songs from them as well as roundabout. " I've seen all good people" is also a good one as well.
Great story behind the guitar solos on this 1972 classic . On Dec. 4, 1966 The Yardbirds played a show at Lima, Ohio's Springbrook Gardens club. NYC native Elliott Randall, then a 19 year-old guitar teacher at Lima's Custom Percussion Music Store, introduced himself to Jimmy Page at the show. Six years later Randall, now a NYC session guitarist, would get the call from Steely Dan songwriters Donald Fagen and Walter Becker to join them in L.A. where he would play the solos on "Reelin' In the Years" … which Jimmy Page would famously say were so good they made him rethink his whole approach to guitar solos.
Oh wow, I was thinking about suggesting Boz Scaggs as I was scrolling. I was having an anxiety attack the other day watching all the coronavirus news, and I stumbled upon a Boz Scaggs suggestion and it took me back to when I was a kid and my mom and her friends listened to that all the time. I felt better after that and got more sleep than I had all week.
You’re doubling up on their debut. That’s awesome. Amazing to consider that despite sounding like he was born 45 and cynical, Fagen was 23 when they wrote and recorded this.
PLEASE keep reacting to music you might already recognize, because WE get the wonderful outcome of living again, through you, the FULLNESS of the offering these artists gave to us in our youth. You can't convince others. They have to feel it. Thank goodness for you. ❤️
This is such a good freakin song. One of my all time faves from them. I could say that about so many of their tunes though. This album had a little more of the rock/pop flavor with the jazz hints in there and obviously the brilliant studio mix. Always playing with time signatures too. So good.
We/I love your reactions to the tunes brother! Your enthusiasm encourages us to share also! We/I feel great sharing my tidbits of knowledge with my new fam jam.
