The Evolution of Steely Dan (A Video Essay) 

I obviously wasn't there at the beginning because of my age, but I have to imagine that the way they bridged jazz and rock together was a big part of that uniqueness. As much as I enjoy a band like Chicago, the jazz side of their sound was more cursory than with Steely Dan. At least from what I've heard of their work

Couldn't agree more with the "Dreary" label on Deacon Blue. I'm baffled as to why that, of all Dan songs, was ever a hit. Just a buzzkill song; "Die behind the wheel...." Gosh, that's aspirational. Don't Take Me Alive--Man, I spent 6 months learning that intro! There was a fantastic tribute band here in San Diego--The Steely Damned--when SD won the Grammy, they hired these guys to play their party. They always closed their shows with My Old School. Their guitarist, Hank Easton, is a god. He went on and formed a smaller group, Steely Damned II, which I think still gigs every once in a while. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5pvOxXJXyUs.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-f3uOOf2DttM.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-E07ojFRiXvE.html

@@CocoonMasterBrendan Kid Charlemagne alone refutes that.

A band that uses different contributions from different big names and shear talent on certain instruments ..... makes for a far cry from a set group of band members doing THEIR sound always . Still - they were such innovators, perfectionists and unique performers . GBjj

wow so she was only 8 when she sang on that song. very impressive

I appreciate that! Hope you enjoy your Steely Dan journey :)

Oh yeah, for sure. It's crazy; one of the music sites I'm a part of has Everything Must Go at a 2.7/5 average, which seems way too low to me. It's still my least favorite Dan album, but even the worst album of theirs still has plenty of awesome moments. They never had a dud in their discography :)

Thanks, I appreciate it!

Katy lied was inside my cabinet forever then it blossomed out. Be probably the most unique Album of the Dan collection top sound with an easy flow track to track made it spin on my table till almost white you just can’t get it all in the first spin thanks for your Spokane words it makes the Dan more touchable in a retro sense of history RIP Walter n. Donald never stop recording

@@NickRatto Agreed, Katy Lied is such a unique and wonderful album in their discography. To me, it's a near-perfect mix between their early work and their later work, so it bridges their poppier and more sophisticated moments wonderfully

Thanks, I appreciate the comment! Yeah, Jeff's performance on Gold Teeth II (and Katy Lied in general) is just fantastic. That's cool that you knew him back then! I'm a much younger listener, and I really hope to meet some more of my music heroes sooner than later. I've met a few so far, including Uli Jon Roth, Victor Wooten, and a few members of Alice in Chains and Dream Theater. Knowing Jeff must have been a real trip 🥁🥁🥁

Thanks, I appreciate it! And it's funny that you mention Zappa, because I do remember reading that he was a fan of Steely Dan -- especially because of their cryptic lyrics. And then Donald reciprocated this later on, saying that Zappa was a big influence on the band's weird, dark sense of humor. So there was mutual respect on both ends. But I love how cryptic the Dan's lyrics are; it always leads to fun speculation about what each song is really about. Thanks for watching the video!

Thanks, I appreciate it :)

@@CocoonMasterBrendan Hey man, I hear you brother. I do voiceovers for part of my living and getting rid of those "plosives" can sometimes be a bear. I find that utilizing a pop filter (colloquially known as a "popper stopper") can really help. Even a coupla socks over the microphone can do wonders (doesn't muffle the sound as much as one would imagine and when you get closer to the mic, just the quality of being closer makes up for it, usually). You can also EQ the voiceover audio where you can goose up the high-end a little bit to make up for any muffled quality. Another trick is to talk "off axis" to the microphone. That would be like at a 45° angle where the main force of the "wind" (created by speaking) goes across the microphone rather than directly into it. That will definitely do wonders as well 🙂 I myself get about 3 1/2 inches from my microphone - but I have a pretty hefty pop filter on it & talk at that 45° angle (ish). Cheers and thanks again for the video!

No one listeners to the Marshal Mathers album anymore. It holds up against Kid A well.

Yeah, Michael McDonald was such a good addition to the band at the time (not to mention his legendary vocals on Peg later on, of course). Rick Beato just interviewed McDonald recently, and it makes me hope he gets Donald Fagen on his show sometime soon 🙏

It's still in my top 5 SD tunes. Such an underrated gem

Thanks, I appreciate it!

Yeah, Tomorrow's Girls was off of Kamakiriad. Funny enough, that actually may be my favorite solo effort from either member now... and considering how much presence Walter has on it, it's almost like a 90s Steely Dan album in disguise. Great stuff though; I think Snowbound would be my personal favorite from that one

@@CocoonMasterBrendan And Countermoon, Teahouse on the Tracks. Good album!

Agreed 🎸🎸🎸

That sounds amazing! Sadly I didn't get into their work until after Walter passed, but I'd still love to see Donald in concert before Steely Dan is done for good

I appreciate the feedback! The reason I pronounced it as "die-az" was that I saw an interview with Donald Fagen where he pronounced it that way. But I kept going back and forth on how I wanted to say it, lol. Again, thanks for the comment!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the video 🎸

Already a big fan of that one :)

Yeah, that seems to be a pattern with a lot of people who love SD's music. They'll hear the hits first and be like, "ok yeah, this is pretty cool". But then some deep cut will come along later and change one's entire perspective of their sound and style, and then the addiction begins. And I'm so glad that I found one of those deep cuts, because it's made me a fan forever I've heard of The Early Years, but haven't listened yet. I'll make sure to do so!

What's funny is that I read the book long before I ever listened to SD, and somehow I didn't connect the dots until years later. But yeah, it definitely fits in with their twisted sense of humor

lol, I never considered that possibility "Oh hai, Walter!"

@@CocoonMasterBrendan My favorite Dan song by far is My Old School. The lead guitar solo in that is awesome. The more jazzy the Dan song the less I liked it. However Kid Charlemagne grew on me, especially Larry Carlton's solos.