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Steely Dan - Any good?

#43
I'm not a huge Steely Dan listener...I just have a few MP3's of some of their songs that I really like downloaded on my computer.

Since nobody's mentioned it yet though, I thought I might say that Chevy Chase used to be in Steely Dan, either when he was in high school, or shortly thereafter. When he quit the band, he described Steely Dan as being "a really bad jazz band." :hmm:
 
#44
Ok been listening to Showbiz Kids for a while now and I must say that some of it is excellent. What surprised me was how many songs I was actually familiar with without consciously knowing that they were Steely Dan tunes. Like Do It Again and Haitian Divorce.

Technically the sound is excellent and they sound far better on my Hifi at home than they do on my laptop. The CD's really seem to bring out the best of the hifi system I have.

I have to say at times they do come over a little bland and I think that I'm going to opt for a live CD or DVD next.
 
#45
John Deppel said:
Since nobody's mentioned it yet though, I thought I might say that Chevy Chase used to be in Steely Dan, either when he was in high school, or shortly thereafter. When he quit the band, he described Steely Dan as being "a really bad jazz band." :hmm:
Click to expand...

I 'might' say.......??? :hmm:

I wouldn't, as it is complete rubbish!! ;)
 
#48
That's right - they were at college in the 60s and there were several years between that and Steely Dan - involving other bands and other jobs - besides "Steely Dan" was always just Donald and Walter - everybody else was a hired hand.

A Brief History
Becker and Fagen met at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York in 1967. After Fagen graduated in 1969, the two moved to Brooklyn. After a while doing small jobs gotten with help from Kenny Vance from the band Jay and the Americans, they met Gary Katz, who soon became a staff producer for ABC Records in Los Angeles, California. He got Becker and Fagen jobs as staff songwriters. They flew west to Los Angeles. After realizing their songs were too complex for other ABC artists, they formed their own band with Denny Dias, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, Jim Hodder, David Palmer, Victor Feldman, Jerome Richardson, and Snooky Young
 
#50
Judge said:
...I was actually familiar with without consciously knowing that they were Steely Dan tunes. Like Do It Again and Haitian Divorce.
Click to expand...
Since you're a little more "East" than most of us...whaddayathink of "Do It Again"?
The tune(obviously) has an Eastern/Indian vibe with the drone & Dias' sitar-like guitar playing.
I used to feel sorry for the guys I played with that tried to cop Dias' lines & voicings. Poor bastards.
;)
 
#55
I keep checking in on this thread because I read the title, and the question is just so funny to me. Is Steely Dan good? Ha! Ha ha ha!!!! HA!

Is the sky blue?
Does a bear s@#it in the woods?
Is George W. Bush the president of the US?
Does a bass have 4 strings?

Waitaminnit, something went awry in my humorous list of rhetorical questions.... I feel like Daffy Duck in that Robin Hood pardoy cartoon: "dodge, spin, parry, thrust -- THWACK!!!"
 
#56
I remember watching a live show of SD at a friend's a while ago, I think it was in NY or something like that? Is this show still available?

All I remember was that one of the backing singers was VERY cute, the one standing in the middle of the three.

My box set is on its way. I've long been a fan of the Dan, it's now time to bite the bullet and buy them all.
 
#57
Well, I know that there is a lot of (justified) appreciation of the Aja/Gaucho era, especially by bass-centric folks, but there are a lot of us that think that Katy Lied was the last of the really good song-based albums SDan did, and that that was their real talent. They were not a "bad jazz band" but a really good jazz-influenced pop/rock band. With Aja, they went all disco, and polyestered out way beyond my reach. Of course, my opinion is worth just exactly what it is worth, but that is the view from, perhaps, a little older-skool perspective.
 
#58
7flat5 said:
Well, I know that there is a lot of (justified) appreciation of the Aja/Gaucho era, especially by bass-centric folks, but there are a lot of us that think that Katy Lied was the last of the really good song-based albums SDan did, and that that was their real talent. They were not a "bad jazz band" but a really good jazz-influenced pop/rock band. With Aja, they went all disco, and polyestered out way beyond my reach. Of course, my opinion is worth just exactly what it is worth, but that is the view from, perhaps, a little older-skool perspective.
Click to expand...

"Disco"?

:hmm:

"Katy Lied" is still one of my favorites. Which part of "Aja" did you consider Disco? Just curious:D

As far as old school, I got into SD when "Do It Again" and Reeling In The Years" were originally released;). been a big fan ever since.
 
#59
Brad Johnson said:
"Disco"?:hmm:
"Katy Lied" is still one of my favorites. Which part of "Aja" did you consider Disco? Just curious:D
Click to expand...
I did play "Josie" in a '70s Disco/dance/Top-40 club(that's what they were called back then).
IMO, there ain't no stinkin' Disco(the genre) on Aja. Which tune has the ever-present Disco-fied drums?
As far as old school, I got into SD when "Do It Again" and "Reeling In The Years" were originally released;). been a big fan ever since.
Click to expand...
Me, too. Both tunes were just so different compared to what I was listening to...especially "Do It Again".
 

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