So we've done Whitney and The Eagles... Steely Dan?

[tlc1976]

I absolutely love Chuck Rainey's work with them. One band I work with does Peg and Josie, and playing his lines are a highlight of the gig for sure.

"Peg" was one of my favorite bass parts, even before I started playing, or even knew what the song was.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

Love them, one great band. To bad Walter is now gone.

 

[ZenG]

No no no.....The Eagles and Whitney were yacht rock..

Anyway ...it's pretty easy to sit down at the keys and bang out a Whitney or Eagles song cold.

Try that with Steely Dan...not so easy. Gotta have your 6ths and 9ths down to a science.

 

[Liam Wald]

No doubt that Steely Dan was the hippest and the coolest.

 

[lfmn16]

Where is the "meh" option ?

far from pretentious music or too many key changes .... never listened to Dream Theater or other prog band ?

+1

Some good songs, some put me to sleep. Just like most bands.

 

[Liam Wald]

Gosh, who are you dating if you’re asking about Steely Dan?!

Hey nineteen, that's 'Retha Franklin, she don't remember...

 

[desertrider71]

Try that with Steely Dan...not so easy. Gotta have your 6ths and 9ths down to a science.

+1 You could never accuse them of not putting in the extra effort.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

I think you’re biased. No option here to report that I think they suck. Or carrrots.

Carrotted.

 

[deste]

Perfect songwriting, the best sessionmen playing the best arrangements, recorded by the best sound engineers and producers.
Is it "simple r'n'r"? No.
Is it "great pop music"? Yes. Maybe the best imaginable.
(listen to 2017 bands like Monkey House and guess why...)

 

[garp]

Serious musicians that didn't take themselves too seriously. I'm gonna miss that.

"They got the Steely Dan t-shirts..."
– "Show Biz Kids" (from Countdown to Ecstasy, 1973)

 

[lermgalieu]

Thank you for including carrots. Not quite the “meh” I wanted, but it will do. Now on the other hand, a drummer named Dan Eckis I played with a long time (a really good drummer, who also happens to be my best friend) LOVES Steely Dan. So we called him “Steely Dan Eckis.”

 

[Son of Wobble]

The only problem I have with Steely Dan is when people refer to them as "The Dan".

I just call them "Frisco," or "The City."

 

[Son of Wobble]

As to the name, I’m pretty sure it’s from William Burroughs’ story, not Edgar Burroughs.

Rather unlikely that the author of Tarzan and John Carter, Warlord of Mars was writing about a marital aid.

Quite right, and Tarzan boasted not a Steely Dan, but a Pelted Dan.

 

[Son of Wobble]

Carrotted.

Is carrotted a verb? On TB it is.

 

[Tommyc]

For me it was fusion gone right. I cannot warm up to anything post Bitches Brew except Fagen & Becker

 

[woodyng2]

When i first heard their debut album,it was immediate love. As someone else said,this was a BAND,and the music was more rock n roll. It took a lot of repeated listens for me to get into Aja,pretzel logic,etc. ( which i did thoroughly enjoy eventually).
Show biz kids,Rikki,and Reeling are still my favorite SD songs....

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Really funny thing about Steely Dan. I was managing a record store in LA when they came out. We had their first album - Can't Buy a Thrill - in the store for about 6 months. Powers that be had decided that they were going to be a hit and had sent out a large initial allocation. Well, after 6 months of no sales and no airplay, we were supposed to send back all but two copies. I had played the album in the store and was sure it would take off if it just got some airplay. So I sent 2 copies back and kept the other 40.

It finally did get some airplay and I was the only shop in the area that had copies of it. Everybody scrambled to get more, but it typically takes a couple of weeks to do so and I sold the heck of them in the meantime. They had a number of #1 hits off that album. Next thing you know Steely Dan is scrambling to get the guitar player back who recorded the lead on that album because he'd gone on to other things.

Yeah their music might get a bit esoteric in both music and lyrics, but IMHO they are definitely one of the great ones.

 

[Son of Wobble]

Thank you for including carrots. Not quite the “meh” I wanted, but it will do. Now on the other hand, a drummer named Dan Eckis I played with a long time (a really good drummer, who also happens to be my best friend) LOVES Steely Dan. So we called him “Steely Dan Eckis.”

Funny, and what's odder yet is that i too always called them "Steely Dan Eckis," but never knew why until this... Deja vu.

 

[InhumanResource]

Where is the "meh" option ?

far from pretentious music or too many key changes .... never listened to Dream Theater or other prog band ?

Dream Theater doesn't do anything remotely similar in terms of harmony. Though they definitely have the market cornered on pretentiousness!

 

[GretschWretch]

"Although Steely Dan's music was rooted in jazz and blues, the band's name came from a literary source--Edgar Burroughs' novel "Naked Lunch," which made mention of a "steely dan," a steam-powered adult penile toy. This playful reference fit perfectly within the framework of Steely Dan's angular arrangements and Fagen's often bitingly cynical and sarcastic lyrics."

Read more:The Origin of the Name Steely Dan

The name may have originated with William Burroughs. The concept, most emphatically, did not.

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