Walter told of a taxi driver picking him up in front of the music studio and he asked Walter was he in a band. Walter told him steely Dan and the driver said something in the line of (they have the dumbest lyrics ever "is there gas in the car,yes there's gas in the car.lol
This was their tribute to Owsley Stanley, the sound engineer & LSD maker for the Grateful Dead, and most of the Bay area. He was a genius, and the Marching Bears were his invention as well as the Wall of Sound. Great tune. ✌️❤️🎶
@@markdraine3571 My head resident was from there & a Stanford grad back in the early ‘70s; we called him our Resident Head for the trips he brought us. Cleanest & brightest!
Lex is on to something with her analysis of the Steely Dan sound being so unified. It really comes down to each player being a virtuoso and all of them directed by a couple musical geniuses.
The good ones always just play the song and let the instruments support it. When you reach this level of playing, it comes a lot more naturally. So I've heard.
Brad & Lex, their "Deacon Blues" and "Josie" are next for you!!!! 4 songs in now, you know Steely Dan is always great! edit- Steely Dan is known for their production work. Donald and Walter hired the best musicians around, often picking them based on the song they wrote!!! This song: Donald Fagen- lead vocals, organ;Larry Carlton- lead guitar; Walter Becker- rhythm guitar; Don Grolnick- Fender Rhodes electric piano; Paul Griffin- Hohner Clavinet; Chuck Rainey- bass; Bernard Purdie- drums; Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald, Venetta Fields, Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews - background vocals.
Sometimes, Fagan and Becker would have different groups of players record the same song, group after group until they either got the "ideal" production they heard in their heads -- or they would call back a certain musician whose part they wanted to add to a different session. Perfectionists.
Dude...they don't relate to this music. Any person with a REAL EAR for good music LOVES Steely Dan. If you listen to their reactions, they don't really understand composition, flow, note ranges ect. This is high brow stuff. Some people just never get it.
I love the way Lex (just puts it out there) What she sees, what she feels, and what she hears. Its really quite a brave thing to do. Lots of respect for Lex 😎
Steely Dan. No childish songs, no simpleton lyrics, every song tells a story, incredible production, insane arrangements, and most of all, real unfiltered unaltered unfake musical art.
Steely Dan, now you are in my wheelhouse! This has one of the greatest guitar solos in the history of rock which was performed by the incredible Larry Carlton. (also, if you listen closely, Michael McDonald does a couple vocal riffs near the end)
@Brs…you are correct, he did play on that song. My comment was more towards the ‘and other songs’ OP mentioned, most notably (to me) Steve Gaad. He played on my favorite SD song, Aja.
Fun fact, Steely Dan don’t usually license their stuff for sampling, etc. And the first time Kanye’s lawyer tried to get the rights, Becker and Fagen gave it the 👎. So Kanye hand wrote them a letter about how his song is about his complicated relationship with this father, and how “KC” as a song summarized what he was trying to say, etc. And on the strength of that handwritten note, they were convinced and they 👍 him using the sample.
@@soakedbearrd Wow context? Becker and Fagan should have still said Fk off! And I'll bet they wish they did. Kanye turned out to be a racist, homophobic, anti-semite. And I bet you're just fine with that...aren't you?
4:19-4:23 "is there gas in the car. yes there's gas in the car" - love the humor with the lyrics here. Owsley Stanley, who this song is about, was arrested after his car ran out of gas. Steely Dan was roastin' fools back in 76'.
I didn't write this. David Ryder gave this nice explanation of this song: "Check out the wikipedia article about Owsley Stanley. He was not the creator of LSD, but he certainly was "the best in town" and made literally millions of doses in his East Bay underground lab and "turned it on the world", while moonlighting as the Grateful Dead's first sound engineer. "Those San Francisco nights" would be "The Matrix", "Avalon Ballroom" and those other tiny acid-drenched venues the nascent San Francisco sound began in. Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead owned an "A-frame" house in Mill Valley in Marin county and probably had Owsley's number on the wall. "Those day-glo freaks who used to paint the face have joined the human race." The daisy-chain hippies in Golden Gate Park with the painted faces eventually got jobs like their parents. Owlsey did go down to LA and supplied the six Acid Tests between Feb and March of '66 in southern California. "Still an outlaw in their eyes" ... LSD became outlawed in California in October of '66. Anyway... yeah, it's a potent song in many ways. Pregnant with meaning". I'll add that the "White men in the streets" refers to the rise of cocaine and how people turned from LSD after it was outlawed. Also Stanley was captured by the police when his car ran out of gas ("Is there gas in the car? Yes there’s gas in the car"). That line is still funny to this day.
Steely Dan... simply one of the greatest bands of all time!!! Two guys really...Becker and Fagan, but they always used the best studio musicians on their records.
Lex is very astute, she is hearing the flawless production of a seemless composition and post production all tied together by the super tight rhythm section of bass, drum and rhythm guitar! Super ears!
She is amazing! She does that all the time. She even knew this sound was many virtuoso musicians expressing the singers vision, instead of one virtuoso backed by a band with a singer added to that (VH). Plus, she knew the two guitar solo's were intentionally serving two different purposes. The outro solo does indeed reference the lyrical content in an indirect way by letting loose and "getting the heck outta dodge!" The middle solo was jazzier. She knew that, somehow. I love her reactions. And Brad is the perfect compliment to her reacting style.
Lex's point makes sense. It doesn't sound like individual musicians playing their individual parts but instead it sounds like as if one person was doing everything simultaneously since it all goes together so smoothly.
I never get tired of hearing Larry Carlton's solo and outro on this track. I saw him in concert once - just an amazing guitarist and super nice guy too!
The look on Brad’s face was priceless when he found out about Kanye 😂. Now I can’t wait to see his reaction to the bands song black cow… he will be shocked!
I was in the High School Band with Steely Dan's drummer..Keith Carlock. He drove me and my brother back to our house one time after school. It was me and my identical twin brother's 16th birthday. As we pulled up to the house my parents had a banner that said "Happy Birthday..Sweet-16 and never been kissed with a fuzzy plush pair of lips stuck to the banner..We jumped out of his ride and completely dismantled that banner in a matter of seconds. Never forget that to this day.
I remember seeing Keith at 55 Bar in NYC with Wayne Krantz on Thursday nights back around 2003. Changed my whole way of thinking about improv and rhythm. Keith is already a legend.
@@joelhammond4162 Understood- but I think they meant "Steely Dan's drummer" as in current/most recent drummer. Without getting too pedantic- Carlock has recorded and toured with SD since 2003 (thats almost 20 years now), and it seems like referring to him as their de facto "drummer"- isn't really that unusual. In fact, Keith's been tenured with them consistently longer than those other session cats were. I could be mistaken, however. And I'm not by any means taking anything away from those previous guys. Porcaro, Purdie, Gadd, Marotta...the list goes on and on. All great and creative pros, second to none. Steely class. They are all wonderful musicians and I love every minute of listening to them.
That jaw drop, though! Brad, my man, look into how much Steely Dan has been sampled by rap artists over the years; you're gonna be blown away. Now....Black Cow.
I've been listening to Steely Dan for 50 years now, and every time I really listen I come up with a new level of appreciation for the product they put out (hate to call it 'product,' but ypu all get what I mean
Brad&Lex, go watch Rick Beato’s video posted today. Includes a deep dive into the guitar solo’s of this song. Video is “These two solos made me a MUCH better guitar player”. You’ll see some very cool techniques. And a view into the guitar playing rabbit hole you fell into.
Snap! I was just watching Rick break down two of my favourite solos. I learned much the same techniques from Hey Joe...but Larry's work always requires some brain power and Rick's done most of the hard yards for me. Lex mentioned the difference between the middle and end solos. She's right. Although it's the same guitar sound, the solo in the middle is over a constantly changing pattern; at the end it's over a repeating pattern, but all Larry gold.
I do love your insights into these songs. But, imagine what those of us thought who were listening to the beginning of rocknroll in the late 50's and especially the 60's. Our parents had lived through the great depression and were getting on with their lives after WW2 and knew only the big band era. Then the new music hit us like the proverbial freight train and it exploded into what you know today. What a ride it has been.....
Steely Dan always had an unique sound that made then stand out from other musical artists... The music arrangement and Donald Fagen's vocals just flow so smoothly together which makes their music very cool to listen to while you're on a road trip.
Sister has it right. It takes understanding of how other instruments work, in order to play effectively together. Thus the more one can play other instruments, the closer they can sync with each other.
You’re right Lex, the reason for that is Steely Dan’s music was all written and recorded by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. They would contribute piano and vocals, but would hire the greatest studio session musicians of the day to play all the other instruments. Many times they would already have a particular musician in mind for specific song or part, especially starting with the drummer, because getting the right feel for a song always starts with the rhythm and timing of it. Often for guitar parts and/or solos they would already have a specific sound and/or style in mind and they would keep auditioning different guitarists until they got exactly what were looking for. There is a lot of variety in their music, yet it is always unmistakably Steely Dan. BTW, interesting fact, the band name comes from a book in reference to a sex toy.
If you were a kid in the late 70's more than likely your parents were blasting this on a Sunday afternoon doing yard work. Then the uncles came over and bar b qued while steely d was still jamming in the background.
It doesn't strike me a psychic performance, sounds more like players being sensitive to the song and lyrical content giving performances from smart, savvy, session experience. These are players who get paid to make someone else's writing come to fruition. Psychic is the esoteric jazz on the ECM label from the 80s.
The next song should be "Don't Take Me Alive". It also has Larry Carlton on lead guitar. The song opens with a lead guitar solo. It is a masterpiece. Love your reactions.
I would love to see you go down this rabbit hole. I'm a little jealous that you're listening on headphones. This is some of the cleanest, best produced music you'll hear.
I HAVE LISTENED TO STEELY DAN MORE THAN ANY OTHER BAND INCLUDING MY BELOVED BEATLES.I THINK THEY SET A BENCHMARK FOR EVERY ASPIRING BAND SEEKING GREATNESS TO REACH OR SURPASS.THE ULTIMATE PROFESSIONAL COMBO
One of my favorite Steely Dan songs! Great description of a big drug dealer. Do yourself a favor and listen to Don't Take Me Alive! You will dig the hell out of that one! Steely Dan is another one of those classic bands that is a one of a kind and will be listened to for a very long time.
A fantastic album, for me their last album that l truly loved. I know that AJA is also a fantastic album, and regarded by many fans as their best work, but I think it's almost too sophisticated and polished, Gaucho and the last two albums Two Against Nature and Everything Must Go just didn't have the same appeal as their earlier stuff.
Steely Dan was probably my second-favorite band from the '70s, after Pink Floyd. So many great albums with track after track that was so good. Always with the clever lyrics, the funky-jazzy feel, the distinctive vocals, and catchy melodies. They had a sound, like Cake, so that when you heard a Steely Dan song you knew it was Steely Dan, but some of their songs also had a different feel to them. They mainly used studio musicians, which made it pretty difficult for them to tour, so no live shows. But their albums still sold well because of their sheer excellence.
No LIVE SHOWS??? What? I've literally seen them live in EVERY DECADE 70s,80,90,2000s. They're still touring, even w/o Walter! Do you live under a rock??
@@LynnThompsonAuthor Some of the studio musicians join them in tours on and off throughout the tour,(like Micheal McDonald!!!) but yes, some of them did not play on that particular album. But make no mistake. ALL the musicians that do tour with them are TOP NOTCH! ANd..you literally can't tell the difference between them live, or in studio. It's an Awesome experience.
Larry Carlton was an amazing guitarist he did the work on the first guitar solo, a lot of people referred to it as the best guitar solo of all time, I kind of prefer the second guitar solo which is Walter Becker one of the founding members of Steely Dan, he is a completely underrated guitar player
For the most part Walter Becker and Donald Fagen are Steely Dan. They are the song creators. They employed many amazing studio musicians to fill in what they didn't do themselves (other instrumentalists like drummers, special guitarists and other singers). Larry Carlton often played guitar on their songs, Bernard Purdy played drums on many of the songs. Initially they did not play live concerts.
How very astute Lex, Steely Dan indeed used the best session people around. In this instance, Larry Carlton on lead guitar, Bernard Purdie on drums, and Michael McDonald ( Doobie Brothers ), and Venetta Fields on backing vocals, loved your description, and thanks for the entertainment.
Widely known as one of the greatest solos ever recorded.
Larry carlton still plays this solo to this day.
The magic of Larry Carlton (guitar) and his incredible hands and brain.
Steve Gadd on drums
Yep 😁
@@bill_4359 In this song? That's Bernard Purdie.
Those two solos are superb. Lex seemed to connect to both of them.
He was great in the session jam with bb king
“Is there gas in the car? Yes there’s gas in the car!”
Classic song, classic solo, classic lyrics, simply brilliant from start to finish.
Walter told of a taxi driver picking him up in front of the music studio and he asked Walter was he in a band. Walter told him steely Dan and the driver said something in the line of (they have the dumbest lyrics ever "is there gas in the car,yes there's gas in the car.lol
The reason they threw that line in is because when he was running from the cops he got caught because he ran out of gas.
@@holybananas5708 that's wild I never knew that, thank you.
@@johndbrandhorst4434 It is believed that Owsley ran out of gas and that is how he was caught.
Pronounced “cahhhh.”
This was their tribute to Owsley Stanley, the sound engineer & LSD maker for the Grateful Dead, and most of the Bay area. He was a genius, and the Marching Bears were his invention as well as the Wall of Sound. Great tune. ✌️❤️🎶
I liked the White Owsley ..Kitchen -clean and the best in town.
@@markdraine3571 My head resident was from there & a Stanford grad back in the early ‘70s; we called him our Resident Head for the trips he brought us. Cleanest & brightest!
That's right. Marching bears, not dancing bears.
and a tribute to the LSD he cooked up, but hey his was "kitchen clean".
There's a lot of A frames in California
Lex nailed it. World class musicians. More Steely Dan please!
Rappers love to sample Steely Dan. Loved Brad’s facial reaction here when he realized he knew this from the Kanye song!
Steely Dan was the band most bands listen to back stage to unwind and party after a show.
"Sample"= "Steal" ( people who have no original talent)
@@johnwriter8234 hold this L
@@johnwriter8234 common old head L
@@johnwriter8234 Damn ure a walking L
Lex always gets it. SD is comprised of 2 incredible talented songwriters/musicians who record with the best studio musicians in the industry!
Keep going. Steely Dan is a very deep rabbit hole to explore.
Dirty Work is killer!
I put their whole library on a flash drive to play at work!
Lex is on to something with her analysis of the Steely Dan sound being so unified. It really comes down to each player being a virtuoso and all of them directed by a couple musical geniuses.
also doing a million takes...doing it until its perfect....then going beyond perfect until its totally natural feeling
Mike Betts .. You practically wrote exactly what I was thinking about Lex's comment! Cheers!
The Stanley Kubrick's of rock music
The good ones always just play the song and let the instruments support it. When you reach this level of playing, it comes a lot more naturally. So I've heard.
Top player $$ can buy. And they all loved playing together. Because they all raised the bar for one another.
When I was a young guy I got to listen to tunes like this on the radio and take it for granted
Brad & Lex, their "Deacon Blues" and "Josie" are next for you!!!! 4 songs in now, you know Steely Dan is always great! edit- Steely Dan is known for their production work. Donald and Walter hired the best musicians around, often picking them based on the song they wrote!!! This song: Donald Fagen- lead vocals, organ;Larry Carlton- lead guitar; Walter Becker- rhythm guitar; Don Grolnick- Fender Rhodes electric piano; Paul Griffin- Hohner Clavinet; Chuck Rainey- bass; Bernard Purdie- drums;
Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald, Venetta Fields, Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews - background vocals.
I've always loved Any Major Dude will Tell You.
Sometimes, Fagan and Becker would have different groups of players record the same song, group after group until they either got the "ideal" production they heard in their heads -- or they would call back a certain musician whose part they wanted to add to a different session. Perfectionists.
Good suggestions but nothing is as provocative as Babylon Sisters. And the Purdie Shuffle groove is unequaled.
Dude...they don't relate to this music. Any person with a REAL EAR for good music LOVES Steely Dan. If you listen to their reactions, they don't really understand composition, flow, note ranges ect. This is high brow stuff. Some people just never get it.
but they are open to listening and getting exposed to it…hold the negative comments & let the Dan sink in and take root…
I love the way Lex (just puts it out there) What she sees, what she feels, and what she hears. Its really quite a brave thing to do. Lots of respect for Lex 😎
Steely Dan. No childish songs, no simpleton lyrics, every song tells a story, incredible production, insane arrangements, and most of all, real unfiltered unaltered unfake musical art.
Steely Dan, now you are in my wheelhouse! This has one of the greatest guitar solos in the history of rock which was performed by the incredible Larry Carlton. (also, if you listen closely, Michael McDonald does a couple vocal riffs near the end)
Some of the best musicians that ever lived played on this and the rest of their songs
S K U N K ! ! !
Steve Gadd!
@@jenl3162 It's actually Bernard Purdie.
@Brs…you are correct, he did play on that song. My comment was more towards the ‘and other songs’ OP mentioned, most notably (to me) Steve Gaad. He played on my favorite SD song, Aja.
Fun fact, Steely Dan don’t usually license their stuff for sampling, etc. And the first time Kanye’s lawyer tried to get the rights, Becker and Fagen gave it the 👎.
So Kanye hand wrote them a letter about how his song is about his complicated relationship with this father, and how “KC” as a song summarized what he was trying to say, etc.
And on the strength of that handwritten note, they were convinced and they 👍 him using the sample.
Wow context just enriches doesn’t it? Not only for Steele accepting the request but also your description of this to me and others.
@@soakedbearrd Wow context? Becker and Fagan should have still said Fk off! And I'll bet they wish they did. Kanye turned out to be a racist, homophobic, anti-semite. And I bet you're just fine with that...aren't you?
4:19-4:23 "is there gas in the car. yes there's gas in the car" - love the humor with the lyrics here. Owsley Stanley, who this song is about, was arrested after his car ran out of gas. Steely Dan was roastin' fools back in 76'.
I didn't write this. David Ryder gave this nice explanation of this song:
"Check out the wikipedia article about Owsley Stanley. He was not the creator of LSD, but he certainly was "the best in town" and made literally millions of doses in his East Bay underground lab and "turned it on the world", while moonlighting as the Grateful Dead's first sound engineer. "Those San Francisco nights" would be "The Matrix", "Avalon Ballroom" and those other tiny acid-drenched venues the nascent San Francisco sound began in. Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead owned an "A-frame" house in Mill Valley in Marin county and probably had Owsley's number on the wall. "Those day-glo freaks who used to paint the face have joined the human race." The daisy-chain hippies in Golden Gate Park with the painted faces eventually got jobs like their parents. Owlsey did go down to LA and supplied the six Acid Tests between Feb and March of '66 in southern California. "Still an outlaw in their eyes" ... LSD became outlawed in California in October of '66. Anyway... yeah, it's a potent song in many ways. Pregnant with meaning".
I'll add that the "White men in the streets" refers to the rise of cocaine and how people turned from LSD after it was outlawed. Also Stanley was captured by the police when his car ran out of gas ("Is there gas in the car? Yes there’s gas in the car"). That line is still funny to this day.
and the CIA was behind the Gr8ful Dead from the start....
Thanks for the insight....never knew. Grew up with this band...still takes me back to the 70's
Brad this would be a good song to dive into what the lyrics mean, they actually formed a narrative and tale based on a real person.
Steely Dan... simply one of the greatest bands of all time!!! Two guys really...Becker and Fagan, but they always used the best studio musicians on their records.
U can't shun Larry Carlton Mr es 335.becker be 3rd
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Steely Dan are the greatest band of the 70s 🙌🏻🙌🏻. You guys should check out "Josie" next!
I always get them mixed up with Steve Miller Band. It's good to hear them though because I'm usually on Deep Purple, UFO etc. for 70s.
You're correct. They're America's Beatles, with more cryptic lyrics and OCD levels of quality control.
@@hmpz36911 Nice as Steve Miller is I think he'd concede he isn't in the same league.
@@briangray00 Possibly.
@@briangray00 He might not, but everybody else will!
Another gem 💎 from Steely Dan
Lex is very astute, she is hearing the flawless production of a seemless composition and post production all tied together by the super tight rhythm section of bass, drum and rhythm guitar!
Super ears!
She is amazing! She does that all the time. She even knew this sound was many virtuoso musicians expressing the singers vision, instead of one virtuoso backed by a band with a singer added to that (VH).
Plus, she knew the two guitar solo's were intentionally serving two different purposes. The outro solo does indeed reference the lyrical content in an indirect way by letting loose and "getting the heck outta dodge!" The middle solo was jazzier. She knew that, somehow. I love her reactions. And Brad is the perfect compliment to her reacting style.
Some of the best studio musicians assembled played on many Steely Dan records.
Timeless music and a massive catalog.
Lex's point makes sense. It doesn't sound like individual musicians playing their individual parts but instead it sounds like as if one person was doing everything simultaneously since it all goes together so smoothly.
She nailed it! She also knew the two solo's served to different purposes. Amazing.
I never get tired of hearing Larry Carlton's solo and outro on this track. I saw him in concert once - just an amazing guitarist and super nice guy too!
Impeccable musicianship. Every damn song.
I was listening to this when I was 13-years old in my friend's basement. Didn't realize at the time how great this was.
The look on Brad’s face was priceless when he found out about Kanye 😂. Now I can’t wait to see his reaction to the bands song black cow… he will be shocked!
His reaction was *Champion.
*sorry.
Oooohh! That opening Bass riff… Brad will recognize it in less than 3 seconds.
Steely Dan - Night By Night! By far their funkiest track
I was in the High School Band with Steely Dan's drummer..Keith Carlock. He drove me and my brother back to our house one time after school. It was me and my identical twin brother's 16th birthday. As we pulled up to the house my parents had a banner that said "Happy Birthday..Sweet-16 and never been kissed with a fuzzy plush pair of lips stuck to the banner..We jumped out of his ride and completely dismantled that banner in a matter of seconds. Never forget that to this day.
I remember seeing Keith at 55 Bar in NYC with Wayne Krantz on Thursday nights back around 2003. Changed my whole way of thinking about improv and rhythm. Keith is already a legend.
Steely Dan doesn’t have “a” drummer. Steely Dan had many different drummers album to album and track to track.
@@joelhammond4162 Understood- but I think they meant "Steely Dan's drummer" as in current/most recent drummer. Without getting too pedantic- Carlock has recorded and toured with SD since 2003 (thats almost 20 years now), and it seems like referring to him as their de facto "drummer"- isn't really that unusual. In fact, Keith's been tenured with them consistently longer than those other session cats were. I could be mistaken, however. And I'm not by any means taking anything away from those previous guys. Porcaro, Purdie, Gadd, Marotta...the list goes on and on. All great and creative pros, second to none. Steely class. They are all wonderful musicians and I love every minute of listening to them.
Great number, even after all these years. A truly original sound.
The whole Royal Scam album is 🔥!
That jaw drop, though!
Brad, my man, look into how much Steely Dan has been sampled by rap artists over the years; you're gonna be blown away.
Now....Black Cow.
Brad had that look on his face like he was loving this jam.
The song "Do it again" by this duo will have you mesmerized.
They’ve done it!
Top 10 maybe 5 songs for me. The guitar is so melodic, the vocals are killer, and the lyrics tell a great story.
probbly the most perfect song ever...one of my favorite bands
This was the best part of last nights live feed. When you both find the threads of all the old music being sampled into the current sounds.
I love the drumming by Bernard Purdie (a living legend) because it's so self-assured and authoritative. And impeccable.
I think she's learned something. Steely Dan is a really deep band and have many a great way of telling stories.
"The Fez" is one of my favorites & I love to see if Brad can figure out what it is about
One of my faves
never saw Brad smile so much.......Lex ALWAYS!!!!!!!
First track on The Royal Scam, and every other song is just as good! The Caves of Altamira, Everything You Did and The Fez three other superb songs.
They really need to check out Green Earings!
@@markfilla9305 Oh....that got sampled too. Apparently black rappers can't actually write music. Imagine that.
I've been listening to Steely Dan for 50 years now, and every time I really listen I come up with a new level of appreciation for the product they put out (hate to call it 'product,' but ypu all get what I mean
Brad&Lex, go watch Rick Beato’s video posted today. Includes a deep dive into the guitar solo’s of this song. Video is “These two solos made me a MUCH better guitar player”. You’ll see some very cool techniques. And a view into the guitar playing rabbit hole you fell into.
Snap! I was just watching Rick break down two of my favourite solos. I learned much the same techniques from Hey Joe...but Larry's work always requires some brain power and Rick's done most of the hard yards for me. Lex mentioned the difference between the middle and end solos. She's right. Although it's the same guitar sound, the solo in the middle is over a constantly changing pattern; at the end it's over a repeating pattern, but all Larry gold.
Love
Steely
Dan
Larry Carlton is the shit. He was the studio musician on the guitar track
Still plays this solo to this day, his son is a great bassist as well
I do love your insights into these songs. But, imagine what those of us thought who were listening to the beginning of rocknroll in the late 50's and especially the 60's. Our parents had lived through the great depression and were getting on with their lives after WW2 and knew only the big band era. Then the new music hit us like the proverbial freight train and it exploded into what you know today. What a ride it has been.....
Watching Lex groove to my favourite songs brings me so much joy.
Black Cow, FM, Home at last!!! a must for Steely request
Larry Carlton on guitar and Bernard Purdie on drums, that's perfection.
Steely Dan always had an unique sound that made then stand out from other musical artists...
The music arrangement and Donald Fagen's vocals just flow so smoothly together which makes their music very cool to listen to while you're on a road trip.
“Is there Gas in the car? Yes, there’s Gas in the car!” 🎼 best line ever! 😎
Sister has it right. It takes understanding of how other instruments work, in order to play effectively together. Thus the more one can play other instruments, the closer they can sync with each other.
My FAVORITE Steely Dan jam!!!
Cause, that is just how good Steely Dan is with all of their accompanying artists.
You just made my day!!! Another Steely Dan Reaction!!!
No Steely Dan song is complete without the fadeout guitar solo. Fav band of all time
You guys gotta do some more Steely Dan! Haitian Divorce is a great one to check out, you'll be surprised with the sound. Keep it up ya'll.
HD is crazy good. Just dripping with rum, tears and island gumbo. Maybe my SD fav.
One of my favorite songs. Love steely Dan.
So glad to see you two dig into Steely Dan. Specially this song. I can be put on a desert island with Steely Dan, Eagles, Bonnie Raitt.
You’re right Lex, the reason for that is Steely Dan’s music was all written and recorded by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. They would contribute piano and vocals, but would hire the greatest studio session musicians of the day to play all the other instruments. Many times they would already have a particular musician in mind for specific song or part, especially starting with the drummer, because getting the right feel for a song always starts with the rhythm and timing of it. Often for guitar parts and/or solos they would already have a specific sound and/or style in mind and they would keep auditioning different guitarists until they got exactly what were looking for. There is a lot of variety in their music, yet it is always unmistakably Steely Dan. BTW, interesting fact, the band name comes from a book in reference to a sex toy.
That is one of my favorite Steely Dan songs as well as Peg, and Reeling In the Years
If you were a kid in the late 70's more than likely your parents were blasting this on a Sunday afternoon doing yard work. Then the uncles came over and bar b qued while steely d was still jamming in the background.
ITS ONE COMPLETE BAND, AWESOME
Yes Lex. These musicians are top notch. Very talented.
Fire In The Hole by Steely Dan is one of my favourites. Just incredible and worth a reaction
I grew up on Steely Dan and a lot of these others you're hearing for the first time.
Classic Larry Carlton guitar solos. One of my favorite. I think you'll enjoy listening to him Lex. Impeccable tone and phrasing.
.
Am 63, thank you..I LUVS me Steely Daaaaaan !!!
.
This solo is perfection!!
Gah!! I LOVE this group!!
🔥🥳👏🏽😁
If this doesn't change you, nothing will.🇨🇦❤️
Lex, you are picking up on why this is a musician’s group…this is teamwork on a psychic level
It doesn't strike me a psychic performance, sounds more like players being sensitive to the song and lyrical content giving performances from smart, savvy, session experience. These are players who get paid to make someone else's writing come to fruition. Psychic is the esoteric jazz on the ECM label from the 80s.
The next song should be "Don't Take Me Alive". It also has Larry Carlton on lead guitar. The song opens with a lead guitar solo. It is a masterpiece. Love your reactions.
Congrats to you both.You are now at one with the Dan groove.Enjoy your journey.Peace from the UK.
I'm a sucker for funky Clav. The bass line is pretty lit too.
I would love to see you go down this rabbit hole. I'm a little jealous that you're listening on headphones. This is some of the cleanest, best produced music you'll hear.
So true: “One unified Sound”!
I HAVE LISTENED TO STEELY DAN MORE THAN ANY OTHER BAND INCLUDING MY BELOVED BEATLES.I THINK THEY SET A BENCHMARK FOR EVERY ASPIRING BAND SEEKING GREATNESS TO REACH OR SURPASS.THE ULTIMATE PROFESSIONAL COMBO
You guys have such beautiful and friendly smiles... 😎
This is smooth jazz with lyrics.
Lex is right -- these guys are what you would call "musicians' musicians", deeply talented and knowledgeable musicians.
I would say Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter's guitar on 'Reeling in the Years' put them on the map. And the hits kept rollin' after that.
That was Elliot Randall. I thought it was Denny Dias. >)
@@ddthor Oops !
My face is red.
@@brucemarshall9521 No joke! I thought it was Dias. >)
One of my favorite Steely Dan songs! Great description of a big drug dealer. Do yourself a favor and listen to Don't Take Me Alive! You will dig the hell out of that one! Steely Dan is another one of those classic bands that is a one of a kind and will be listened to for a very long time.
Please do more Steely Dan. They are incredible!
You guys need to do a full album reaction to The Royal Scam. The songs just get BETTER after this. Not a single skip to be found!!
A fantastic album, for me their last album that l truly loved. I know that AJA is also a fantastic album, and regarded by many fans as their best work, but I think it's almost too sophisticated and polished, Gaucho and the last two albums Two Against Nature and Everything Must Go just didn't have the same appeal as their earlier stuff.
Love watching Brad's face at 0:46 when the bit Kanye sampled comes in.
Steely Dan was probably my second-favorite band from the '70s, after Pink Floyd. So many great albums with track after track that was so good. Always with the clever lyrics, the funky-jazzy feel, the distinctive vocals, and catchy melodies. They had a sound, like Cake, so that when you heard a Steely Dan song you knew it was Steely Dan, but some of their songs also had a different feel to them. They mainly used studio musicians, which made it pretty difficult for them to tour, so no live shows. But their albums still sold well because of their sheer excellence.
No LIVE SHOWS??? What? I've literally seen them live in EVERY DECADE 70s,80,90,2000s. They're still touring, even w/o Walter! Do you live under a rock??
@@USGrant-rr2by Pretty much. They don't tour with the same studio musicians they use on their albums, do they?
@@LynnThompsonAuthor Some of the studio musicians join them in tours on and off throughout the tour,(like Micheal McDonald!!!) but yes, some of them did not play on that particular album. But make no mistake. ALL the musicians that do tour with them are TOP NOTCH! ANd..you literally can't tell the difference between them live, or in studio. It's an Awesome experience.
Mind blown. BANG!
that meshing concept is spot on
The middle solo is my favorite guitar solo of all time
Larry Carlton was an amazing guitarist he did the work on the first guitar solo, a lot of people referred to it as the best guitar solo of all time, I kind of prefer the second guitar solo which is Walter Becker one of the founding members of Steely Dan, he is a completely underrated guitar player
For the most part Walter Becker and Donald Fagen are Steely Dan. They are the song creators. They employed many amazing studio musicians to fill in what they didn't do themselves (other instrumentalists like drummers, special guitarists and other singers). Larry Carlton often played guitar on their songs, Bernard Purdy played drums on many of the songs. Initially they did not play live concerts.
I can tell Brad is grooving on this.
Ode to a dope dealer.
You've entered the world of Steely Dan. Don't turn back now.
How very astute Lex, Steely Dan indeed used the best session people around. In this instance, Larry Carlton on lead guitar, Bernard Purdie on drums, and Michael McDonald ( Doobie Brothers ), and Venetta Fields on backing vocals, loved your description, and thanks for the entertainment.
She is a genius .
When someone asks me what's funky music ..steelydan is it!
Lex...right on the money..
Explore this band and how they bleed studio perfection. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker were in another dimension.