Steely Dan on Letterman, October 20, 1995, Upgraded and Expanded
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ส.ค. 2019
- This is an upgraded and expanded version of Steely Dan's October 20, 1995, appearance on Late Show with David Letterman. It includes the band participating in both the break music preceding and following their broadcast performance of "Josie."
In far superior video and audio quality.
1. Break music #1: "Do It Again"
2. Broadcast performance: "Josie"
3. Break music #2: "Deacon Blues"
There are audio edits in the source video. I tried to clean them up as best I could.
The world is definitely not a better place without Walter Becker casually killing it on guitar
My life changed when Walter left this planet! Can't explain...
"Casually Killin'" I love that description. He was the Keanu Reeves of guitar players.
FUCK YA MAN, casually killing it, awesome quote
Agree. There's definitely a coolness effect with how casual he was playing those lines. Much respect. He's definitely missed.
That solo just destroyed😅
You’re too cool for school if you’re blasting this in 2024!
I love how Becker and Fagen both look like a couple of math teachers! 😂
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
As a person with academic and work experience in mathematics, I enjoy that.
They are math teachers
@@JMBvideo In a way, yeah!
I know nothing about musical composition but my feeling has always been ( whenever dealing with people who do ) that math theory and music composition have some kind of common ground . Maybe it's just that both are outside of my area of comprehension.
There aren't too many videos like this where you can see Walter Becker showing his chops. An absolutely superb musician sadly missed.
Check out the "Steely Dan Jazz/Rock Party" DVD. Lots of amazing close up footage. You can find a bunch of stuff from the DVD on youtube
Big loss it was
Walter produced Ricki Lee Jones' album "Flying Cowboys". It is a masterpiece.
I love Walter’s stage presence. He just plays like it’s another day at the office.
And looks like it too.
That's because for them it is just another day at this office.
I always thought his movements resembled animatronics at Disney
That's because he's a cool cat.
So smooth!
Becker and Fagen without question are two of the most important American musicians of the last half century. Fusing styles so effortlessly. Always original. The embodiment of American exceptionalism.
No band like them.
American exceptionalism is an imperialist doctrine of world domination and oppression. Nothing to do with the great music the Dan, alongside many other extraordinary American bands and artist, have offered the world.
The only real American supergroup, in my opinion.
snore fest
@@lee-daniels uneducated?
Steely Dan had so many fabulous guitarists over their career that it's easy to forget how great Walter Becker himself was. An enormous talent.
Exactly- I don't know anyone else that plays both guitar and bass at that level- so many of those great lines are his, not the hired guns.
@@bambledaczymbledek I saw the Dan play a special show with Larry Carlton recreating his parts on Royal Scam, he left Becker in the dust
@@DavidRPascaleJr Left in the dust -guitar is art, and art is not competitive like using a race car analogy. The tasty phrasing of Becker shows maturity, restraint, he's not blowing his load like a full on solo artist might do. If you can't appreciate Becker, or have to compare (hey, EVH, Hendrix), then you are not feeling the art.
Yes sir his style was so “Django-esque” He will be forever missed 😢
@@DavidRPascaleJrTo be fair, 99% of guitarists would be left in the dust by Carlton.
That unmistakable sound of contemporary jazz, rock, soul and blues. Only Steely Dan could pull that off and make it popular music down to this day.
I could listen to Steely Dan every day, and never get tired...just LOVE them!
Absolutely. They personify everything that's truly wonderful about music. A band, for the ages. 😎👍
Steely Dan was a music genre of one. A truly unique band that no one else sounds like.
This.
@@MissThinkabunchCan you elaborate?
Thanks, David Letterman, you always had great bands on your show and gave others a chance that no one else would!!!! 😘
RIP Walter. He makes it look so easy.
He really did
I've loved "Aja" since it first came out. Shortly afterwards I bought the very first Sony "Walkman" for a train ride from Chicago to New York City. It only played cassettes and played in one direction only, and it cost a little over 200 bucks! But man, it was worth it. I'd be sitting there on the train with my headphones on and people would ask me periodically what that thing was I was listening to. I'd just smile, take off the phones, put them on their heads, and watch their eyes open wide while they said, WOW!
This comment needs much more attention
spreading the love of music mate!
I love this story. Thank you for sharing!
That is a awesome story- should be in a part of a movie……..
@@tomeemerson ..the renaissance of great popular music. We had it in the 30ties
Side note: That’s Peter Erskine from Weather Report back there on drums. Killing it here.
!!!!
Tom Barney on bass and I think Drew Zingg on rhythm guitar?
U raciest
Chris Potter on sax
SIDE NOTE:
Peter Erskine played ‘Birdland’ before he joined Weather Report
(W/ Maynard Ferguson)😉
RIP Walter. Every time I watch a Steely Dan performance, I realize how much I miss the anticipation of the possibility of seeing you play live.
In the 70’s I named my beautiful female shepherd mix puppy dog “ Aja “ after listening to Steely Dan ! I was so awestruck at the musical arrangements it seemed heavenly to me ! When I hear their music I am transported back in time and it is very emotional for me ! What an exceptional band Steely Dan is and always will be ! ❤❤❤ thanks 😊
I’m 58, I grew up with the great Steely Dan. All my kids love the music, even my 17 year old. My kids are smart enough to understand what real music performed by real musicians sounds like. The sound is timeless
Your kids are but most are clueless. Mine think rap is good. Wtf?
@@gregpalermo3861Show them this th-cam.com/video/K6YlvPIZw2k/w-d-xo.html or this th-cam.com/video/mVnoNpncfh0/w-d-xo.html or this th-cam.com/video/jbAe9iFPJtU/w-d-xo.html
@@gregpalermo3861rap is good. Rap actually samples steely Dan quite a bit if you’d open up your mind.
@@deeznutz8033 rap is not music.
Once the kids get into any kind of instrument, they'll appreciate music better because they'll understand what it takes to produce the sounds. My youngest daughter now 22 plays piano. I tried to turn her on to Steely...but she took a liking to ELO more😅
They were the soundtrack of my life since the first album.
Do you remember the thrill of seeing them perform "Do It Again" and "Reelin' In the Years" absolutely live on NBC's "The Midnight Special" in 1973? That's what made my wife and I drive 90 miles one-way to see them in concert at the U. of Toledo in April 1974. Concert of our lifetime.
I agree with that !!!
surfing the musical tube again and came upon this Steely Dan classic..always a musical treat with Fagen and Becker.......and Peter Erskine again on drums....he plays with everyone!! and plays it all so well!!
Among the best songwriters and musicians in modern music history.
I agree with that !!
100% !!
great, great playing - imagine jamming to this standard! it's just majestic
Didn't expect this video to make me nostalgic for both Steely Dan and Letterman, but here we are...
Paul and the boys with a pretty phenomenal Do it Again on the commercial break there, thanks for including that!
Yea, I thought so too. Too bad there wasn't video as well as audio.
Yeah, I was pretty blown away by that take on Do It Again. Not one Walt and Don ever seemed to dust off too much. Great take
The chord changes in Josie give me goosebumps
fagan usually wrote most of these songs starting with blues and substituting the hell out of every turnaround. source: his instructional video..
@@jimmythebold589 interesting, thanks for sharing
I always heard more jazz chords and overall jazz influences than I did the Blues personally
Becker and Fagen were never known for their looks, just incomparable music. Their kind of musicianship doesn't exist on the charts today.
Wow, in addition to a top quality audio and video performance from the great Steely Dan, you get to hear Paul's band play throughout the commercial break. Those who have been to a Letterman taping know that one of the joys is hearing Pauls' band play fantastic music for many minutes during station breaks...Cool to see. Nice job getting this. Thanks for posting.
And it's a lost phenomenon. We saw Colbert's Late Show in 2019 and the most the band played was during the intro. Then they seemed to play non-descript looping chord songs after that during the breaks. Nothing to jam or rock out to. The big difference was that Letterman did his show "live to tape" meaning that the hour-long show took an hour to shoot. Colbert stopped and started a lot and (in a good way) recorded around 4 more guest interviews during our taping which aired on shows in the following weeks.
The Ca-Ca-Mercials kept us from hearing what Paul Schafer's group could really do.
Seeing how the session guys are so into it makes me feel happy.
I will never understand how it is that Walter Becker isn't on the list for Top 20 guitarists of all time.
It always depends on who's making the list.
Because he's not.
@@Dr.ScatKohlenblo-nj2cv His work on Bodhisattva days otherwise.
Ahh, Walter Becker. The David Gilmore of Jazz guitar. Absolutely Gorgeous phrasing!
Great respect for him…the driving force of Steely Dan..but always wanted to be a Larry Carlton…but he could not..
... Becker is way better than Gilmore, whose solos are whatever rambling sequence of notes he feels like at the time
@@stephenhunter2942 no talking to you dude.
Amazing way to put it!
WELL SAID. Somewhat of an overrated player. And yes, his playing does have a ring of Carlton about it. But it's a very bland version with not nearly the skillset of that absolute master.@@hanksteely3206
8:03 - Walter playing the "If I Only Had a Brain" melody from The Wizard of Oz at the end there!
Wow nice catch
Thank you for confirming that, I thought I was going crazy lol
GOOD CALL!!
Yes! I thought so. Was about to add a comment and saw you beat me to it. I love the way guys with jazz chops throw in musical quotes like this.
Didn’t even notice until you said it! Very smooth!
I had the pleasure of seeing this live…..
Okay, so I'm jealous....
Thanks for the sleuthing, Don. No other '70s band did more than Steely Dan to raise the musical I.Q. of popular music fans.
well said
With Gentle Giant
@@matthieuphaneuf You just became my friend forever!
@@2xmachine that's like saying fine wine is "pretentious wank" compared to beer. Both are allowed to exist in the beverage world. Steely Dan's music could not be created without a level of theoretical and performance knowledge beyond the grasp of most people in the pop and rock world.
I don't think you need to have that knowledge to appreciate it as a listener, which may be your point, but I do think being exposed to that kind of genius does raise your "musical IQ," if there is such a thing, just as reading Classics does as opposed to a diet of Joan Collins books.
@@2xmachineNo, it's a verifiable fact that after the success of Steely Dan's 6th album "Aja" and their #18 on the pop charts 1978 single "FM," Top 40 radio began playing jazz fusion artists in regular rotation. I lived through it. I'm guessing you didn't.
Sophistication in arrangement and lyrics, no one compares.
Sophistication is a perfect word description.
There are all the really good, proficient rock bands with deep jazz roots, ... then there is Steely Dan. They are a like a dissonant kaleidoscope of rhythms, harmonies and chord changes that somehow blend together as smooth as butter.
Steely Dan was a ‘one off’ for me. In the early 90’s and well into the 2000’s I was a doom, thrash and punk rock guy. The crew I hung out with was badged the same. There was one caveat which seemed to transcend that scene. Steely Dan. I/we loved steely Dan. I still do. What incredible musicians. The sound, the musicianship, the quality, the feel. They had it all. When Becker passed it hit hard. Now, I play at lot of Steely Dan when my kids, wife and i are hanging out. I still love them. Perhaps now more than ever.
No band has ever come close….been a fan forever.
Ditto! Still get goosebumps! Have loved them for 45 years!
Played the “Josie” on VHS off air at least fifty times back in the day.
Finding the music bumpers is quite something. Unbelievable, high 25.
Steely Dan... just a transcendent experience to hear.
RIP Walter. Thanks for the innovative music!
Walter Becker is absolutely swagged out in this performance with those white sneakers.
It's nice to hear out takes oe extended parts that the tv audience never gets to hear, now that Walter has left us, I have a fondness for his solo on Josie even more so.
Aja was recorded and engineered so well it’s a great album to test the fidelity of an audio system.
Agreed - it may be the quintessential audio system acid test - the best recorded album on vinyl in the planet’s history.
If your audio system sounds crappy with AJA playing - change those 2 way speakers to 3 ways - and do it now!
@@LoveThatRod I like Rush's _Moving Pictures_ for a heavier but equally good test.
I have it on vinyls, tapes and CD's for exactly that reason.
Tame Impala is one guy.
I know someone who listens for the drum click in the drum solo of Aja when he's testing a turntable 😅
I love rock and jazz, but I've pretty much always avoided most jazz with vocals. But Steely Dan brought rock, jazz, cerebral lyrics and awesome melodies together like no other band.
Maybe a coincidence but my (modest) audio setup started to change quite a bit when I got heavier into Steely Dan.
Except maybe FZ and the Mothers 👍
Man, this brings back some good memories of simpler times! Fagan and Becker and the gang were unstoppable in the 70's and 80's!!😎👍
They were "on hold" in the 80s after Gaucho was released in 1980. Fagen released Nightfly in 82, Becker had drug issues. They "reunited" and resumed touring in 1993 after not playing live since 1974. They've been playing live ever since 93.
I've totally been into Steely Dan lately so this is great timing, thank you Don!
Iconic band of the '70s especially. Can't imagine that decade without Steely Dan.😎
Or any decade since.
So mellow, so smooth, so amazing seeing Steely Dan play live.
I’ve seen them live four times. It’s truly the coolest show ever, and I’ve seen some great bands.
I saw the comeback tour, 93 Shoreline amphitheater. It literally brought me and my friend to tears after being fans for 20 years at that stage.
Just one of my all time favorite bands..........these guys and girls were fabulous !!!
great show once more! the sound is good, and the solos are original ones. Steely Dan remain my fav band ever... ;)
Nothing Better than the Late Show and when Dave had guests like Steely Dan..Wow..what a show..I remember it like yesterday. Love Cornelius Bumpus: tenor saxophone RIP, Walter Becker...RIP .Cornelius carried that music through the commercials..no one better!
I'm glad somebody taped this and saved it. It's awesome.
More musicality in one song than any album.
Well said!
Except a Steely Dan album ... 🙂
This is so cool. I'm amazed you were able to get the break music. What a gem. Joni Mitchell named Steely Dan as one of her favourite bands.
My two takeaways... flawless performance, as expected. And Dave's brutal dig on Paul. Both classic.
The outro (?) into commercial stopped me....in my tracks! Whoa, my Steely ears perked up. Don Giller thank you for this gem. The guys in such fine form ;-) RIP dear dear Walt.
Thanks for leaving a 3 minute "commercial break" in the video 🤣. Really brings back the good old days.
RIP Walter Becker! Love what you did for music!!!
I remember back in 1990 I introduced my 21 year old boyfriend to them. He was a classic metal head. He was never the same way again. 😊
Good for him 😊
That camera pullback during the intro to Dewacon Blues is really nice. A rare treat.
Damn! Totally killing it here.
Friggin legends. Beautiful music and I’m a metal head! How can you not love this
Me and a friend used to love to stay the night and watch the late show for all the hottest musical acts. We were 14-16 years old but the acts were hot 94-96 and always. We called it Letter Man. My friend passed away unfortunately. But the Letter Man was still great.
Saw them live about 15 years ago with Michael McDonald in Pittsburgh . Fantastic show. RIP Walter Becker.
Walter Becker , amazing guitar...
RIP. 🎵🎶🎼👏👏👏👏👏
I have been exposed to a multitude of music genre, since the 60’s…Big Band, Be-Bop Jazz, Straight ahead, Cool, Soul, funk, R&B, Rock, folk, pop and contemporary, but I had never heard a band that encompasses so many different styles until I heard Steely Dan, the closest might have been Blood Sweat and Tears.
I can still remember hearing “Ricky Don’t Lose That Number” in the early 70’s for the first time and thinking who is this killer band, happy to say have been a dedicated fan ever since, thanks S D for so many years of music pleasure.
❤❤❤
Dave taking the audience to commercial and Don kicks off Deacon Blues. Love it.
Walter’s tone is A+!
I agree, he allowed studio musicions to do all his parts when recording but during jamming, he'd pick up the ax (and for David Letterman)
Loves that Telecaster! A far more versatile guitar than most people think it is.
@@TheOwl I'm pretty sure that's a Pensa/Suhr. Like but not at all Telecaster
@@christopherthomas2445 I think you're right. Those Pensa/Suhr guitars have amazing tone.
Thanks for leaving the commercial lead in/out jams in! You're a gentleman and a scholar.
Thanks for sharing - never heard the Do It Again or Deacon Blues jams before. And great vid/audio quality throughout. Much appreciated.
DWK • I want to say those instrumental versions of 'Do it Again' and 'Decon Blue' during the commercial breaks were more than likely Paul Shaffer and the band, showing their respect. I think this because the mixes were way different and those versions weren't tight enough to be SD. Also the arrangements were all over the place, plus the no vocals thing only added to my assumption. Finally, playing instrumental versions of various songs during the commercial breaks is what Paul and the band are there to do, every night.
This recording is awesome… so,spacious…thank you so much!
Awesome to hear the extended pieces after all these years! And my heart actually jumped when, of all things, I saw the midtown Sam Goody in the bumper pic during "Deacon Blues"! I've worked in and around Rock Center for almost my entire career, and I miss the old, forgotten hangouts.
When I was a young punk ...
Skateparks and just hanging out ... Steely Dan always playing in the background ... Didn't know how good I had it ...
Because of the exceptional musical guests, Dave is the best!
8:03. Walter riffing “If I Only Had a Brain” . Brilliant stuff.
Lmao thats ace
Dude. Great catch hahaha
A bit ironic that the original tenor sax solo on "Deacon Blues" was played by a member of Doc Severinsen's "Tonight Show" band, Pete Christlieb.
...Alanis, is that you?
Pete said he thought Deacon Blues was about his life.
@@ClarenceHW That's great to hear. I was lucky enough to meet up with Christlieb in the mid-'80s at Gresham, Oregon's Mt. Hood Jazz Festival where he graciously autographed my 1977 "Aja" album jacket.
@@andyinoregon Andy, I saw him in L.A. I think at Donte's jazz club in the 1980s a true, jazz/bop tenorman,very creative.
Why is that ironic?
I’m 75 today and until blundering into this video this morning, I’d never been aware of Steely Dan. In the 60s I was a folk and folk/blues nut and avoided all else. I’ve never listened to pop music radio (geez I hate it still!) but this is very good indeed.
This is f&^%ing awesome! I've been lucky enough to see Steely Dan live 3 times and this is exactly what I remember. Fantastic musicians playing their asses off...
Its that time cant wait fornthen16th
3x! Lucky you.
I've seen Steely Dan over 20 times since they resumed touring in 1993. Been a fan since I first heard Do it Again and Reelin on the AM radio circa 1972-73. Saw them do the Aja, Gaucho and Royal Scam albums in order on different album nights. A top 5 band for me, #1 when I'm listening to them, 😆
Thanks for your hard work on this. Not sure how you got it looking & sounding so good, but it was worth it. I really wish they'd chatted with Letterman. Great characters. Never a dull moment. They both chose Josie as a favourite song from Aja (especially to play live), so here it is! Wow! Even the jams during breaks are great to hear.
Very cool Steely Dan doing their warm up during the commercial break. Yes just very laid back but awesome! 😎
Wow! Awesome that you were able to get the audio breaks during commercial as well. It really hammers home the intimate connection these guys had with modern jazz.
Steely Dan was so good in this live set that we all watch it and gush about it even though the video and audio qualities of the recording were so far from what we have now. Astonishing.
wow--what a GREAT live performance
So good! The commercial breaks are outstanding as well!
Walter and Donald looked great in that era. And seemingly more comfortable in front of the cameras / crowd.
Im now 67. and Josie is still as good as it sounds way back then
Don, everybody always gratefully thanks you. Now, it's my turn. With the expanded audio, it was like watching new TV. I may have missed the original anyway due to being married to the world's craziest (now ex-) wife.
Thank you from the very bottom out depths of my heart.
RIP Walter Becker.
Thanks!
Man that was great. How did I happen to miss this episode?
By any standards this is a tight band. Love Steely Dan
Steely Dan, I remember when they came out HUGE in the 70's, they were a huge sensation, a new sound no one had ever heard before. it's so sad we lost Walter, his guitar skills were amazing, rest well Walter, God has you now.
Love how they have evolved into jazz
I am a serious pretzel logic fan !
Saw Steely Dan with Jesse Colin Young here in Honolulu in 1974...AWESOME show, have loved both ever since.
Can't help but have a big smile watching Becker play up there...
Got ta love Walter's homage to 'If I only had a brain' on the fadeout.
Loved their first big hit " Do it Again" back in 72'
That was my theme song to life. I "went back and did it again" so many damn times ! ! ! !
Junior in high school. Announced my inpending adulthood. Then "Reelin' in the years" confirmed I can't go home again. Steely Dan always seemed to point something out about my life. Miss them.
Amazing a band that can really play without backing tracks & auto tune . There isn't a popular band today that can come even close to the level of talent of Steeley Dan . Losing Walter was blow to everyone who is a fan of S.D... thank god Donalds keeping it real .
Thank you so much and thank you for seeing this for what we need. Well done Sir!
Lord this mix is insane - as is the performance. Amazing
Ahhh Walter Becker ... consummate musician, dressed like your favorite English Professor. Loved that guy. RIP
Thank you for posting this. It's wonderful.
Watched this broadcast, bought the CD, then absolutely played the shit out of it. Love Steely Dan. RIP Walt.
Sounds so great live.