What's that instrument at the beginning of "Black Cow" ? I still don't know, even though I've loved this album since I first heard it as a kid in 1977-78. Is it a bass.....or a synth (keyboard) ? I love that, it's funk.
Back in the day songs like this were just what was on the radio. Music was less segregated, so we knew the best stuff from earlier generations and what was good outside of our favorite genres.
Although Sultans of Swing is a different band (Dire Straits), the leader and guitarist (Mark Knopfler) of Dire Straits once played for Steely Dan in what is considered one of their best songs.
Steely Dan has got to be one of my top five bands of all time. It seems that EVERY song is a stone cold classic. I highly recommend Kid Charlemagne, My Old School, Reeling in the Years, Haitian Divorce, Rikki Don't Lose That Number and Dr. Wu. And that just scratches the surface of all the great songs. You've stumbled upon a very deep rabbit hole my friend!!
I started listening to Steely Dan in 1972 with their first album. I've never come across a bad song. I listen to lots of different kinds of music right up to 2022. But you can always go back to Steely Dan and never be disappointed.
"Peg" is the all-time best pop song ever. I stand by this. Also, pegging wasn't a known popular culture thing back in the day and people didn't write popular songs about it, so no worries about content.
I feel like this is one of those songs that most people don't have on their playlist even tho we all know it...and know every word too...very underrated song bc it really grooves!
Man, Steely Dan have a HUGE catalogue for you to get into. So many great songs but I've got to recommend you check out Home At Last when you get a chance, it's a lesser known track of theirs but definitely one of their best.
Steely Dan "FM(No Static at All)," was my first."Hey 19", "Black Cow", "Ricki Don't Lose that Number" , "Deacon Blues" ",Hey Nineteen".Michael McDonald sings backup on "Peg". You and Tasha reacted to "Do it Again". Steely Dan is more than a Band.They are a Phenomenon. By the Way the song you mentioned "Sultans of Swing is by aroup called Dire Straits.
"I keep your pin shot with your Letter", she sent him a Dear John letter breaking up with him, he keeps it with her pin up photo. "Peg, this will come back to you", warning her of bad karma to come, "Then the shutters fall, you see it all in 3D" describes her epic downfall. But, still he's at her photo shoot still hanging around her.
Corrected: "Then the shutter falls, you see it all in 3D." It refers to a camera shutter. There's some song-fit but it's misleading because "fall" is not the term used at the time for a camera shutter movement.
So funny to watch these kids listen to songs that we have been listening to from the time they hit the charts back in the 70s. I love that they can discover tremendous talented singers, song writers who actual played instruments. Have fun!
Michael McDonald was everywhere back in the day. Pretty much every band that was anything had him guest as backup vocals. Check it out. th-cam.com/video/Yna1ZN7AdOg/w-d-xo.html
Michael recorded each harmony himself. Insane. No recording one take and artificially pitching it down by semitones like you would do now. And with how tight those intervals are? And how perfectly in pitch he is? Just nuts.
I was a senior in HS when this album dropped and to this day it’s still one of my favorites. The writing and arrangements of the music, the long list of studio greats that played on it, it doesn’t get any better than this. This track in particular had the great Chuck Rainey on bass, and the amazing guitar solo belongs to the great Jay Graydon.
I hope you realized that Michael McDonald was the background vocalist on Peg. That, and Donald Fagen's instrument arrangement and Walter Becker's guitar, just made it an absolute vibe.
Also Black Friday, Bad Sneakers. When I go to an audio store to check out speakers, headphones, etc, I always bring a Steely Dan greatest hits CD. They have the cleanest, best produce rock music. Perfect to find the right equipment for listening.
I’m a big fan of Michael McDonald. He did some work with steely Dan. Easy to hear his voice in this song. He was also involved with the Doobie Brothers. You should check them out too.
I'm was fortunate enough to grow up in as time when radio was a thing ansd the local "rock" station played everything from Sabbath and Zeppelin to Aretha Franklin and Low Rawls and Motown and CSNY funk and so on. This stuff was so common we'd hear it come on the radio and think "God, this again?" I have come to really appreciate it a lot more deeply than I did then.
Great request Dirty. T there’s nothing to be anxious about with their songs. Lots of double entendres, but that’s it. A genre unto themselves. Maybe you can do a Steely Dan livestream! 🔥🔥✌️
Saw "The Dan" a few weeks back. Donald Fagen and team crushed it, as always! Growing up as a kid in the 70s, the radio was full of Steely Dan songs. Peg was one of my favorites. The fills in this song, especially the keyboard fill, is sweet. So many great SD songs...Do It Again, Reelin in the Years, Hey Nineteen, Rikki Don't Lose That Number, Kid Charlemagne, Josie....on and on. Anyhow, The Dan rocks!
Great reaction T! Looking forward to your introducing Tasha to this one. Check out Steely Dan's other great hits - FM, Rikki Don't Lose That Number, Hey Nineteen, Black Cow and Reelin' In the Years.
This song is about an aspiring actress, with the director/photographer promising her a big break. Whether he's leading her on or not is unknown, and given where the band got its name, you can't help but wonder what kind of actress Peg is.
She was a friend of theirs that went to Europe and made a "foreign movie" to earn extra cash, thinking no one would find out. Foreign movie was slang for porn.
They had something like 20 LA sessions guitar players come in to try and do a solo on this track, nobody could do it, until they found the guy that made the recording.
Listen tot he song Babylon Sisters from the Groucho album. It’s said to be about an aging playboy and his last fling with a couple of party girls. Very smooth with the rock/jazz infusion.
You should check out Reeling in the Years, Hey 19, Kid Charlemane (tell me which rapper sampled it), or Black Cow. I could suggest so many more, it is a never ending library of amazing music.
That guitar solo.. Jay Gradon I think, totally improvised, all in the first take. He didn’t know it made it onto the song till he heard it on the radio.
Steely Dan is great at playing smooth songs about the seediest of people and situations. Don't Take Me Alive, about a hostage situation. Kid Charlemagne, about one of the inventors of LSD (and the Grateful Dead's sound engineer). Deacon Blues, about a man hitting rock bottom. Peg, about an actress who works in X-rated movies (the reference to "foreign movies"). Sign In Stranger, about identity laundering. Dirty Work, about a married woman having an affair. Hey Nineteen, about a dirty old man trying to make it with college girls.
back in the late 70s when all of my friends and myself got a new turn table, amp, equalizer and speakers we put on Aja to test them out. nothing sounds better, it just doesnt.
There is a documentary on all streaming apps there in the studio making the Aja album it’s mind blowing interviews with all the artist who played on the album.
Stay with Steely for anytime and you're hooked. Each album brings something a little different. Yes, the lyrics belie the music. My vote for the next track is "Green Earrings." Enjoy the ride!
Chuck Rainey, and Bernard Purdie, the bass player and drummer. These two we on a lot of these great tunes, Rainey was Quincy’s right hand man for a long while.
Watching your reaction gives me chills; it's exactly how I felt when I discovered them in my teens. One of the most amazing music experiences in life is Steely Dan.
Steely Dan is immortal. No matter how many times I've listened to Peg -- since 1977 -- it's reborn each time I hear it.
Steely Dan is a goldmine of funk. "Dont take me Alive" "Deacon Blues" "black Cow" - always worth a listen.
What's that instrument at the beginning of "Black Cow" ? I still don't know, even though I've loved this album since I first heard it as a kid in 1977-78.
Is it a bass.....or a synth (keyboard) ? I love that, it's funk.
YESSSSSS … DEACON BLUES, BLACK COW, ASIA AND PEG WITH MICHEAL MCDONALD HELPING WITH THOSE AWESOME BACKGROUND VOCALS! 🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
The bass line in this song is 🔥!!!
Bassist on this cut was session cat Chuck Rainey.
@@tmintheslot And he Killed it!
THAT BASS WAS ROCKING! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Welcome to the world of Steely Dan !! Enjoy the ride !!
I always feel underdressed listening to this band. "Get this man a martini!"
Back in the day songs like this were just what was on the radio. Music was less segregated, so we knew the best stuff from earlier generations and what was good outside of our favorite genres.
They reached the absolute epitome with Aja. Listen to the musicality of every instrument in that one.
Although Sultans of Swing is a different band (Dire Straits), the leader and guitarist (Mark Knopfler) of Dire Straits once played for Steely Dan in what is considered one of their best songs.
Right. Time Out of Mind.
@@jml-rj5re Did not know that, thanks for both comments!
@@billholder1330 Not surprised, but didn't know that either.
Steely Dan has got to be one of my top five bands of all time. It seems that EVERY song is a stone cold classic. I highly recommend Kid Charlemagne, My Old School, Reeling in the Years, Haitian Divorce, Rikki Don't Lose That Number and Dr. Wu. And that just scratches the surface of all the great songs. You've stumbled upon a very deep rabbit hole my friend!!
Isn't it great when you have have hi expectations and they get exceeded? That is basically Steely Dan in a nutshell.
I started listening to Steely Dan in 1972 with their first album. I've never come across a bad song. I listen to lots of different kinds of music right up to 2022. But you can always go back to Steely Dan and never be disappointed.
These guys are the soundtrack of the 70's for me! When I hear "70s", I think Steely Dan!
Kid Charlemagne should be the next song of theirs to check out ✌️
If you haven't listened to FM by Steely Dan, you will love love love it. Great band.
I don't know about people listening but one of my favorite steely Dan songs is dirty work.
That F'ing guitar solo is just sick, it's too good to chart.
"Peg" is the all-time best pop song ever. I stand by this. Also, pegging wasn't a known popular culture thing back in the day and people didn't write popular songs about it, so no worries about content.
I feel like this is one of those songs that most people don't have on their playlist even tho we all know it...and know every word too...very underrated song bc it really grooves!
Check out , " Hey Nineteen", "Reeling In the Years", and the very funky " Green Earrings " !
Yeah I hope he hits Green Earrings. It's one of my favorite SD songs and I've been a huge fan for almost 50 years.
Put all their songs on a dart board Put a blindfold on and fire away you can't miss with this band.
My fave Steely tune!
My favorite Steely Dan song is "Deacon Blues" It will blow your mind for sure.
Chuck Rainey paying homage to Larry Graham playing slap bass. One of my top albums of all time.
One of the very best rock groups in history, their song arrangements were second to none
Your favorite band’s favorite band. Michael McDonald singing peg in the chorus. His voice blends so well with the instruments.
Steely Dan= perfection
Man, Steely Dan have a HUGE catalogue for you to get into. So many great songs but I've got to recommend you check out Home At Last when you get a chance, it's a lesser known track of theirs but definitely one of their best.
Home at last is a great song. I love "Brooklyn" as well .
Steely Dan "FM(No Static at All)," was my first."Hey 19", "Black Cow", "Ricki Don't Lose that Number" , "Deacon Blues" ",Hey Nineteen".Michael McDonald sings backup on "Peg".
You and Tasha reacted to "Do it Again".
Steely Dan is more than a Band.They are a Phenomenon.
By the Way the song you mentioned "Sultans of Swing is by aroup called Dire Straits.
"I keep your pin shot with your Letter", she sent him a Dear John letter breaking up with him, he keeps it with her pin up photo. "Peg, this will come back to you", warning her of bad karma to come, "Then the shutters fall, you see it all in 3D" describes her epic downfall. But, still he's at her photo shoot still hanging around her.
Corrected: "Then the shutter falls, you see it all in 3D." It refers to a camera shutter. There's some song-fit but it's misleading because "fall" is not the term used at the time for a camera shutter movement.
SteelyDan is a DEEP rabbit hole. But well worth the adventure!
So funny to watch these kids listen to songs that we have been listening to from the time they hit the charts back in the 70s. I love that they can discover tremendous talented singers, song writers who actual played instruments. Have fun!
Michael McDonald from Doobie brothers on back up vocals ... Unmistakable
Michael McDonald was everywhere back in the day. Pretty much every band that was anything had him guest as backup vocals. Check it out. th-cam.com/video/Yna1ZN7AdOg/w-d-xo.html
Michael recorded each harmony himself. Insane. No recording one take and artificially pitching it down by semitones like you would do now. And with how tight those intervals are? And how perfectly in pitch he is? Just nuts.
THIS is the reaction I NEED! Recognizing that it’s a banger off da top!👌🏾
every year they go up .... pretty soon
Top 5 ...all time
That's Michael McDonald (Doobie Bros.) singing background vocals on this track.
FM and Deacon Blues have always been my favorite Steely Dan songs.
I love every Steely Dan album for their uniqueness. I hope you enjoy discovering their amazing work.
I was a senior in HS when this album dropped and to this day it’s still one of my favorites. The writing and arrangements of the music, the long list of studio greats that played on it, it doesn’t get any better than this. This track in particular had the great Chuck Rainey on bass, and the amazing guitar solo belongs to the great Jay Graydon.
Love Steely Dan
love puutin steely dan on when i'm doing stuff around the house and want that grooving background music.
I hope you realized that Michael McDonald was the background vocalist on Peg. That, and Donald Fagen's instrument arrangement and Walter Becker's guitar, just made it an absolute vibe.
Also Black Friday, Bad Sneakers. When I go to an audio store to check out speakers, headphones, etc, I always bring a Steely Dan greatest hits CD. They have the cleanest, best produce rock music. Perfect to find the right equipment for listening.
He was gonna take it somewhere else, PEGGED 🤣
I’m a big fan of Michael McDonald. He did some work with steely Dan. Easy to hear his voice in this song. He was also involved with the Doobie Brothers. You should check them out too.
I'm was fortunate enough to grow up in as time when radio was a thing ansd the local "rock" station played everything from Sabbath and Zeppelin to Aretha Franklin and Low Rawls and Motown and CSNY funk and so on. This stuff was so common we'd hear it come on the radio and think "God, this again?" I have come to really appreciate it a lot more deeply than I did then.
Deacon Blue is a Stealy Dan hit....and a great vibe......
For soooooo many year of my life I was singing ‘Hey’ not ‘Peg’. I’d only heard it on the radio.
Sounds like your first “Dan” song was “Do It Again”. If not, check it. First song on the first album in 71.
Delasoul sampled from this song on Three Feet High and Rising
He's talking about Do It Again.
Great request Dirty. T there’s nothing to be anxious about with their songs. Lots of double entendres, but that’s it. A genre unto themselves. Maybe you can do a Steely Dan livestream! 🔥🔥✌️
Reelin in the Years! My favorite Steely Dan
They have a great song titled " Don't Take Me Alive"
PEG is a smooth, vibing "JAM!!!" Great reaction, too bad your wife wasn't in this one to enjoy it with you!!!
“Reeling in the years MUST be next!
They're new to me as well, and "Peg" is in my top two.
Virtually all their songs are fantastic. Maybe try their song “ Time Out of Mind”. Great reaction. Thanks
Steely Dan is the American boomers' gift to the musical universe.
Saw "The Dan" a few weeks back. Donald Fagen and team crushed it, as always! Growing up as a kid in the 70s, the radio was full of Steely Dan songs. Peg was one of my favorites. The fills in this song, especially the keyboard fill, is sweet. So many great SD songs...Do It Again, Reelin in the Years, Hey Nineteen, Rikki Don't Lose That Number, Kid Charlemagne, Josie....on and on. Anyhow, The Dan rocks!
"Reelin' in the years " and "Do it Again " are fantastic!
For your next Steely Dan song...since you're new to them, I definitely suggest checking out "Kid Charlemagne".
It was De La Soul that helped me discover this song after they sampled it for their song Eye Know. Both great songs.
Great reaction T! Looking forward to your introducing Tasha to this one. Check out Steely Dan's other great hits - FM, Rikki Don't Lose That Number, Hey Nineteen, Black Cow and Reelin' In the Years.
This song is about an aspiring actress, with the director/photographer promising her a big break. Whether he's leading her on or not is unknown, and given where the band got its name, you can't help but wonder what kind of actress Peg is.
It’s about a porn star.
She was a friend of theirs that went to Europe and made a "foreign movie" to earn extra cash, thinking no one would find out.
Foreign movie was slang for porn.
One of the best bands ever.
Steely Dan has so many great songs. I'm glad you all discovered them. Sultans of swing is Dire Straits.
They had something like 20 LA sessions guitar players come in to try and do a solo on this track, nobody could do it, until they found the guy that made the recording.
My Steely Dan selection for you to react to is "Deacon Blues." It's as smooth as a song can be.
This (Aja) is 100% my favorite Steely Dan album. We used to have Steely Dan weekends in college.
Listen tot he song Babylon Sisters from the Groucho album. It’s said to be about an aging playboy and his last fling with a couple of party girls. Very smooth with the rock/jazz infusion.
Great song....any song off that Aja album is excellent....they em all..ps Sultans of Swing is actually Dire Straits✌️
The song you speak of at the beginning is 'Kid Charlemagne'
Thanks. I was wondering.
Of course their whole catalog is amazing…. That’s the great Michael McDonald doing the main background vocals… his voice sounds almost like a horn!!!
You should check out Reeling in the Years, Hey 19, Kid Charlemane (tell me which rapper sampled it), or Black Cow. I could suggest so many more, it is a never ending library of amazing music.
That guitar solo.. Jay Gradon I think, totally improvised, all in the first take. He didn’t know it made it onto the song till he heard it on the radio.
My 11 year old uses steely Dan as his walk up song in baseball! “reeling in the years”
Great band T my favorite Steely Dan songs are Hey 19, Dirty Work and FM like the comments below they have a huge catalog definitely worth the dive.
Definitely check out Black Cow and Time Out Of Mind! You'll love both! This band was INCREDIBLE!
Steely Dan is great at playing smooth songs about the seediest of people and situations. Don't Take Me Alive, about a hostage situation. Kid Charlemagne, about one of the inventors of LSD (and the Grateful Dead's sound engineer). Deacon Blues, about a man hitting rock bottom. Peg, about an actress who works in X-rated movies (the reference to "foreign movies"). Sign In Stranger, about identity laundering. Dirty Work, about a married woman having an affair. Hey Nineteen, about a dirty old man trying to make it with college girls.
Steely Dan is something that most need in their music rotation. Also sampled for De La Soul's "Eye Know"
Was looking for this comment before I left it!✌🏾
You can't go wrong with any Steely Dan track...try Green Earrings, I got the News, Black Cow, The Fez...
Jeff Porcaro's picture, but Rick Marotta on Drums. Dean Parks I believe played the guitar solo.
People can discover things that others already know about, they’re just not the first to know.
The whole Aja album is fire start to finish
Anything teely Dan does is truly amazing. One of my absolute favorite brand bands growing up.
One of my favorite Steely Dan songs.
Deep and Soulful and Top Radio Play
Decon Blues
De La Soul sampled this for "Eye Know" if you didn't know
I remember when I was listening to Eye Know by De La Soul as a kid and then stumbling across Peg...Good times
Hit the nail on fhe head - the epitome of Peg is "smooth"
Brilliance!
back in the late 70s when all of my friends and myself got a new turn table, amp, equalizer and speakers we put on Aja to test them out. nothing sounds better, it just doesnt.
Makes me smile
Prog rock at it's best. Big sound, jazz influence .
He really pushed everyone's buttons. In the end, he offended the wrong people. His TV series was hilarious.
There is a documentary on all streaming apps there in the studio making the Aja album it’s mind blowing interviews with all the artist who played on the album.
Stay with Steely for anytime and you're hooked. Each album brings something a little different. Yes, the lyrics belie the music. My vote for the next track is "Green Earrings." Enjoy the ride!
SO much to love here, but Chuck Rainey's bassline is my favourite. SO funky.
Chuck Rainey, and Bernard Purdie, the bass player and drummer. These two we on a lot of these great tunes, Rainey was Quincy’s right hand man for a long while.
Watching your reaction gives me chills; it's exactly how I felt when I discovered them in my teens. One of the most amazing music experiences in life is Steely Dan.