Especially session musicians. They are almost always better musicians than the people they are recording for and they need to interface with every musician that comes through the studio, so it seems like the job selects for mellow, personable people who are sick musicians.
Steely Dan is one of my top 5 favorite bands of all time. The rhythm section(s) were so tight, but as a guitar player, the triumvirate of Dean Parks, Larry Carlton, and Jay Graydon was beyond amazing!!!
Dean is so awesome. Super great player super great gear super great person and super great ability to play tastefully and squeeze out killer tone. Magic
An interesting story for most, Becker and Fagen did an album before Steely Dan also produced by Gary Katz, it had an unknown female vocalist by the name of Linda Hoover singing and was to be titled as a Linda Hoover album. It got tied up in a publishing dispute and was never released, Linda Hoover ultimately frustrated, walked away from the business as an unknown . Ultimately a little more than a half century later the album was produced in 2022 from a copy set of masters. The Album, Linda Hoover I mean to Shine, has five of the cuts written by Becker and Fagen and you can absolutely hear the "Steely Dan" influence in the album with Denny Dias and Jeff Baxter joining the crew. Kinda Steely Dan with a female vocal. Its a sad story if you research into it, Linda Hoover kinda got screwed by the business, Her Vocals with Becker and Fagen could have had a very different trajectory this half century later.
One of my first true guitar heroes ❤❤❤❤ Interesting to learn that Don was the original creator of that intro, but it doesn't take away from Dean's brilliant musicianship being able to pull it off live. Thanks so much for this interview, Mason. 💛
Thanks for a fantastic interview , Dean's an absolute Artist and what a musician. To be fair there are no slouches when you're working with STEELY DAN , thanks again and have a wonderful week. PEACE AND LOVE TO EVERYONE ❤❤.
I love hearing the back stories with SDan. Becker and Fagan had idea in their heads, and they were usually right. I love hearing the musicians explaining it and the work arounds they came up with. The result? Fantastic music. Been listening since Can't Buy a Thrill and will until I crap out. Great justification for my outrageous sound system. ;)
Wow. I've been hearing this song my whole life, hearing and reading about all the legendary musicians in guitar media for 30 years, but I'd never heard of Dean Parks until I watched a Tim Pierce video about 30 minutes ago. I've got some catching up to do!
Now that the master has showed his hand I think I might finally be able to wrangle that intro. I'm a mere mortal Earthling guitar player. Guys like Parks are from Krypton! Mad respect to any musician who got a wage from Walter and Donald even if they didn't make the record!
Amazing. I've always thought this was Larry Carlton all the way. I've been out of the session musician business for quite a while and it shows. Great video. Love these interviews, Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenhour, etc.
