I'm still on the GreenLight Schneid?

/rats

The guitar intro and solo in this song are perhaps the tastiest ever to appear in any popular song. Damn.

Wow, I was just listening to Aja! I think the submissions are coming from inside the house!!!

*runs from room screaming*

/not subby

I was just listening to some live Dan form '74 last night.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Becker!

Without a doubt, a great strength of the Dan lies in those sardonic, deeply noir lyrics set to the most innocuous AM Gold you can imagine. This was evidenced the other day at the grocery store. It must have been seniors day, because the place was full of elderly ladies shopping for cornbread mix and grapefruits while some song about feeling old but plying young girls with cocaine and tequila was chirping on the store's PA. I just stood there for a moment and surveyed the whole thing. It was awesome.

I love Walter Becker's sense of humor. Circus Monkey, his most recent all reggae solo album, I am not much of a fan of. 11 Tracks of Whack was interesting to finally hear Walter sing but there are only 3 or 4 "real" tracks on that sucker.

The guy's become a great guitarist. He coined the term "Guitar Aquisition Syndrome". He was involved in a conspiracy that caused me to attend 6 different Steely Dan shows and buy their catalogue 5 times between 1989 and 1995.

What can I say, I'm a fan.

Happy Birthday, guy who will never read this, you rock.

Dude's older than I am, and that's saying something. Have a great day WB.

How Cool. I am now officially off the GreenLight Schneid!

I think there's a good chance Walter will be reading this ...

/subby
//the cuervo gold!

Years ago, back in the early days of teh intratubes, Steely Dan had a tiny site on the old Pathfinder network, basically a GUI for the Metal Peg maillist.

Becker was not long out of the hospital from his injuries so I posted a note to the list saying it was good that his health had been restored and wished him many more good years.

Much to my surprise, Becker responded with an email to me admitting that it was indeed good to be alive and well. And lest I think this cheerful and non-cynical note was written by some PR flack, he ended it with:

"PS - the rats won."

So happy day Mr Becker! And many more to come!

carmody: The guitar intro and solo in this song are perhaps the tastiest ever to appear in any popular song. Damn.

The guitar tone is certainly unparalleled. But the solo is only "good" by Dan standards (meaning "great" by ordinary rock standards).

"Kid Charlemange" is the standard by which Dan guitar solos are measured. In 500 years, musical archeologists will listen to Larry Carlton's solo and wonder how musicians of the late 20th century had access to some of the chords he riffs on in there-- chords that were not otherwise known to be used in music until the 2300s. And then they'll hear the outro and just give up and groove on it.

Uzzah: "Kid Charlemange" is the standard by which Dan guitar solos are measured.

First time I heard it I was astonished when I looked on the credits and saw it was Carlton. Mr Smooth from the Crusaders did that?

OldManDownDRoad: "PS - the rats won."

Very cool.

Happy B-Day, Walt!

OldManDownDRoad: Uzzah: "Kid Charlemange" is the standard by which Dan guitar solos are measured.

First time I heard it I was astonished when I looked on the credits and saw it was Carlton. Mr Smooth from the Crusaders did that?

It's a standard fusion solo for students to learn; it's perfect in every detail.

staycool: cocaine and tequila

I believe it was the "fine Columbian" which, I intrepret as the leafy, smoky stuff.

Uzzah: The guitar tone is certainly unparalleled. But the solo is only "good" by Dan standards (meaning "great" by ordinary rock standards).

I don't know how you can make that comparison. Elliot Randall - a session guy - created and played the solo for Reeling in the Years on the record. My wife even said this rendition (which incidentally, I liked a lot) sounded a little mechanical.

psilocyberguy: staycool: cocaine and tequila

I believe it was the "fine Columbian" which, I intrepret as the leafy, smoky stuff.

The beauty is that it works either way. Though the smoking would probably get him laid faster. On the other hand, the coke might inspire her to do the dishes. It's a win-win.

Stay Cool Babylon: Without a doubt, a great strength of the Dan lies in those sardonic, deeply noir lyrics set to the most innocuous AM Gold you can imagine. This was evidenced the other day at the grocery store. It must have been seniors day, because the place was full of elderly ladies shopping for cornbread mix and grapefruits while some song about feeling old but plying young girls with cocaine and tequila was chirping on the store's PA. I just stood there for a moment and surveyed the whole thing. It was awesome.

this, absolutely.

my favorite lyric is still "haitian divorce," which is so, ahem, dark it hurts.

for more sardonic SD humor, read their hilarious letters to wes anderson and luke wilson here and here.

No one ever got hurt listening to a little Steely Dan.

/I know I love you better

Stay Cool Babylon: The beauty is that it works either way. Though the smoking would probably get him laid faster. On the other hand, the coke might inspire her to do the dishes. It's a win-win.

Indeed!

/FTFV - How about Cosby with the coolness seemingly surrounding himself, cigar and all?

FlashHarry: my favorite lyric is still "haitian divorce," which is so, ahem, dark it hurts.

I LOOOVE Haitian Divorce. That song is farkin' magic to me.

/I really do drink zombies from a coco shell!

nice to see the love here for a great guitar player and band...

i don't really get what people see/hear in Steely Dan.
They're alright i guess.
I have "AJA" it's pretty good in places, meh in others.
and that double LP greatest hits.
some/most of their stuff seems very over produced and over calculated/precisioned and cold.
like perfect music to put over the loudspeaker at a dentist waiting room.

however,
i'm definately NOT denying the awesome chops of the majority of the session men they used.

a little story:
i remember hearing an interview with Mark Knopfler, shortly after he played guitar on the "Goucho" album by S.D.
when Mark was done the session, he asked a tape machine operator guy if he did alright or not.
the tape operator was ecstatic. he said "you did great man, you did great!! I've seen seasoned session men, many years in the buisness, go out on their hands and knees after a session with these guys. You did F***ing great!"

Third_Uncle_Eno: i don't really get what people see/hear in Steely Dan.
They're alright i guess.
I have "AJA" it's pretty good in places, meh in others.
and that double LP greatest hits.
some/most of their stuff seems very over produced and over calculated/precisioned and cold.
like perfect music to put over the loudspeaker at a dentist waiting room.

however,
i'm definately NOT denying the awesome chops of the majority of the session men they used.

a little story:
i remember hearing an interview with Mark Knopfler, shortly after he played guitar on the "Goucho" album by S.D.
when Mark was done the session, he asked a tape machine operator guy if he did alright or not.
the tape operator was ecstatic. he said "you did great man, you did great!! I've seen seasoned session men, many years in the buisness, go out on their hands and knees after a session with these guys. You did F***ing great!"

i felt that way for a long time, until i started listening to the lyrics.

Someone should have told the Midnight Special producer that Skunk would be doing most of the soloing... but Walter did have the spiffy purple pants

Also good to see Al Yankovic before he went weird.

/another vote for Kid Charlemagne

...great song but MAN, no shortage of the fugly in that video right there.

JimSharky 2009-02-20 08:08:26 PM
...great song but MAN, no shortage of the fugly in that video right there.

'JimSnarky' would have been better but you make an good point.

1) Who are/is the drummer and the other vocalist?
2) Denny Diaz kicks it
3)Bodhisattva, Bad Sneakers, Dr. Wu, Chain Lightning, Take me Alive

Just watched the video, read the comments, went back to watch the video again, and its been pulled. Bummer.

The camera work on Midnight Special sure left something to be desired. For almost the whole intro, they're focusing on the wrong player.

The worst was when Chuck Mangione did "Feels So Good" and the guitar player plays the solo note-perfect with enthusiasm, and the camera isn't on him for a friggin second. And not for any reason. they just didn't know where to go, and kept it on Chuck, who does basically nothing at that point.

Anyone else notice the canned applause at the end of each track on the DVDs? I assume that's from the broadcasts? Supposedly the DVDs are remastered, but maybe they couldn't get rid of that overdub. It sounds totally fake, and it's useless anyway.

always loved 'Showbiz Kids'. Back in '80, I worked with a guy who had a pic of Fagen with the caption Fagen Is God.

"Wow, they're cute."

What more need be said?

Love the Dan. They've always been one of my absolute favorite bands. I bought all their stuff on vinyl & then when CDs became affordable, turned around & bought 'em again.

My band covers "Reelin' In The Years". Probably my favorite solo to play.

Christian Bale:


"The worst was when Chuck Mangione did "Feels So Good" and the guitar player plays the solo note-perfect with enthusiasm, and the camera isn't on him for a friggin second."

Chuck's guitarist was the awesome Grant Geissman. Who oddly, also happens to be a comic book expert. But yeah, Grant can sure play a guitar. Very underrated and little known, unfortunately. That solo on "Feels So Good" totally makes the song.

mfaby:
2) Denny Diaz kicks it

i'm pretty sure that's future HOF quarterback dan fouts.

Never got into Steely Dan until about a decade ago. I was always into the punk and metal things. Still am.
But I took a road trip with a buddy who was immersed into the culture that is 'Dan worship. Made me listen to the box set. By the end, I wanted to stop by a "record shop"(or whatever they call them these days) and buy it. Love those guys and the Hi-Fi Jazz Rock party they bring.
Happy birthday, sir. And many more!