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Steely Dan

#41
I can honestly say that I don't have a favorite anymore, each project has something amazing to offer IMO. It's cool to go back tot hte older ones for a re-listen. I have everything they've released. My wife even picked up a demo project of theirs before their first album. That's about the only weak stuff I've heard from them. She's a big fan too.

I also like Becker's guitar and bass work... though Anthony Jackson's lines in most of the cuts he's been involved in kill me. I like their most recent projects and "Morph the Cat" was in an almost OCD-type rotation when it first came out. "The Night Belongs To Mona" is an extremely cool song IMO.
 
#42
after listening to alot of early funk recently, I put "Everything Must go" in the car CD and was like... hmm, dont like this one... thats a "kidde" groove on bass, dont like this one... Very odd how my cognition was mave been warped listening to Funk and Wooten, as I didnt dig "Everything" like I did when i first bougth it a few years ago.

Still a fan, and I cut my adolescent music teeth on Dan ( and ZZ Top, go figure), but with a new set of " deep groove" ears, I find Beckers bass lines and sometimes the whole tune, sterile. On bass maybe its that " too clean Sadowsky" sound, I donnow.

Now Chuck Rainer on Gaucho, huh, there's a felt bassline!

Anyway, just an observation, I couldn't listen to the album yesterday.
 
#43
BuffaloBass said:
Very odd how my cognition was mave been warped listening to Funk and Wooten, as I didnt dig "Everything" like I did when i first bougth it a few years ago.
Click to expand...

It's not your cognition..it's the fact that for the last 12 years they have been writing children's music and shopping mall soundtracks for the blue haired generation. Nightfly is about as far as I will go, MAYBE Becker's 11 Tracks of Whack, the rest is pap.

Had to be said.
 
#47
Great band with GREAT players!

Loved 'em until "Aja". It was downhill from there.
"Countdown to Ecstasy", "Pretzel Logic" and "Can't Buy a Thrill" are prob my faves.
I just preferred their rockin' years. Smooth jazz-rock just isn't my cup of tea - not to discredit the players at all!

I saw 'em a couple of times in the late 70s and their live shows were pretty bad.
Terrible sound and they rushed through every song.
They probably figgered Seattle was the boonies. Bet they sound great now!
 
#50
Entre Nous 2007 said:
why does every discussion on TB result in a Victor Wooten reference? get off the guy's tip already, we're talking Dan... i don't know how a Steely Dan discussion has anything to do with listening to funk/Wooten...
Click to expand...

Blame my ears for listening. The reference wasnt quite necessary, but I am searching for why I ejected that CD so quickly, after being more patient with it earlier. The follow on post was spot on. And I understood why it felt so lifeless to me. I ahve also aged with Becker and Fagan, thru Telle Tubbies and all.....

And I was weaned on Dan, Katy Lied is likely my #1. In those formative years of 15-21, there was always Steely Dan on the turntable. The master of Aja is still kick arse on the old Ariston RD 11s.
 
#53
fish slapper said:
I'll cop to being such an "Aja" freak that I own the DVD these clips come from. Chuck Rainey's comments regarding have to hide his popping and slapping from Fagen are fascinating. The documentary is interesting for interviews of the musician's but almost all the performances are partial takes from recent performances.:crying:
Click to expand...

That's a great DVD. A must for true SD fans.
 
#56
Been a fan since "Countdown", IMO one of the most solid albums of the early '70s. Every subsequent record had some really outstanding songs and, of course, superb musicianship. Chuck Rainey had been my main inspiration on bass, so it was a treat to hear him with the Dan (though I read he had to take Fagen down a peg or two initially :) ).

Many people would say they peaked with "Aja", but for me their comeback album "Two Against Nature" is the most sublime thing they've done. The sheer depth of the songwriting, the pared-down perfection of the "Dan groove", Fagen's surreal phrasing and pitching and the impeccable studio mix still get to me every time. And Chris Potter's long tenor solo on "West of Hollywood" makes me want to cry.

"Everything Must Go" came out surprisingly soon after that, but it is post-9/11 and post-Enron. This may be reflected in some of the bleak lyrical themes of endgames, loss and collapse. As a whole, it's a looser and less complex album, but still has its fair share of good grooves and fine, multi-layered couplets.

Btw, Becker's "Circus Money" is being released now and can be sampled here.
 
#57
Walter used to have a studio here, before the Divorce That Ate His Life (studio's shut down now :() . I was doing some sessions up there, right after his "Eleven Tracks Of Whack" album came out. I told him that I really dug the CD, and he said "Really?"... like he was genuinely surprised. That's a cool album, worth checking out.

Towards the end of this particular session, he said "stick around, I've got something I've been wanting to try out". I had my Steinberger five string, and he pulled out some random bass, probably his Music Man. So he got the drummer doing something in four, and then he gave me a bassline with some alternating time signatures. Then, he played another bassline on top of mine, I can't even remember what time sig he was playing in. It all looped back on itself every so often, and the effect was very gamelan/King Crimsonish. I must have a tape of that somewhere, it was fun. I was late for my gig that day. ;)

He had a funny way of recording my Steinberger... he had me roll off all the bass, and boost all the treble. This bass has active EMGs, mind you.It sounded normal to me in the studio, because he had me running through an amp in the room. Then, I went into the control room and he played it back, and it sounded like a mosquito on crack. I asked him why, and he said, "I figure I have a little more sophisticated EQ back here than you have onboard, so I just want the signal and the notes, as clean as I can get them". He was right; it sounded great after he mixed it. Kinda weird, though... that's the only time I ever ran into anyone doing it that way.
 
#58
If you get a chance to see them now live, Check out guitarist Jon Herrington. He is one of the best I have seen in a long while. If you have the Dan's DVD with him playing on it, it doesn't do him justice. The DVD was filmed when he first joined the band.

His soloing is unbelievable now. He plays in and around the original solos but twists the melodically and harmonically with greats taste. He is like Houdini, getting himself all twisted then coming out right on que. One of the best shows in my life was Fagan with Herrington and Wayne Krantz on his Morph The Cat tour at Westbury Music Fair....the sound quality was like listening to a high end stereo....Herrington was outstanding.

His tone is awsome..he plays through Guytron amps...just beautiful.

Now back to Bass talk....Picks, plastic or tortise shell?
 
#60
I am a huge Steely Dan fan and I really love
the fact that they started using the best session musicians around to
record with. I am a huge fan of the songwriting and singing of Donald Fagen.
His voice is just great. The AJA album is superb ...not one weak track on that album. I could go on and on about each song but I'll spare you. I hope to see them live soon.
 

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