Steely Dan

[Em7]

SD is my favorite band. If I heard right, in the doc about the Aja album, some of the chords stretched their hands so far it took 2 players to play the complete chord.

I have heard that assertion as well. However, I have seen Larry Carlton play the chords in Josie. I have been playing guitar off an on for over forty years and the last three chords in the opening riff of Josie make me hate life. However, then again, I am just a lowly rocker and blues-rocker. I love music. I have loved music since I was a small child, but I accept my limitations. I chose a career in engineering instead of music because my father was so critical of a career in music. He worked as an electronics technician in the standards laboratory at the same defense plant where JustRob works; however, it was owned by a different parent company at that point. My father was a product of the Great Depression; therefore, he was a play-it-safe kind of guy. I am 59 years old. I will retire from academia in 3 years. I have a lovely girlfriend who supports my music; however, she comes from a musical family. Her nephew is Tyler Larson (Music is WIN on YouTube).

 

[Alnus Rubra]

This dude has some good chops

 

[iLookLikeElvis]

Love SD - and @Em7's posts here are great!

When I lived in NYC, I had a buddy who lived on the same block as Fagen, and they shared a landlord. He (my buddy) used to see Fagen wandering around the neighborhood and in the delis and stuff. One time he said he approached Fagen and said hello and that he loved his music and all that, and he said Fagen was very surprised to be recognized!

 

[jxe]

how is this metal looking record not metal?

spoiler alert: least metal thing imaginable.

 

[Em7]

That album was the tuning point.

 

[Em7]

This dude has some good chops

That guy is an example of those who get it.

 

[Em7]

I watched a documentary entitled “Hired Guns” last years. For those who have not viewed the documentary, it is about sidemen who play with big name acts. What was interesting beside the amazing amount of talent was Jason Hook’s comment about knowing that one has made it when he/she gets called for a Steely Dan session. The list of studio guitarists alone is amazing. It includes Elliot Randall, Dean Parks, Jay Gradon, Hugh McCracken, Steve Kahn, Hiram Bullock, Rick Derringer, Mark Knopfler, and Larry Carlton in addition to band members Denny Diaz, Skunk Baxter, and Walter Becker and other studio guitarists. The list of musical greats includes drummer extaordinare and Maryland native Bernard Purdie. That guy’s resume is amazing to read. The “Purdie Shuffle” is a staple in drumming. It appears in songs in which it is not initially apparent such as Zepplin’s “Fool in the Rain” and Toto’s “Rosanna” (not to mention “Babylon Sisters”).

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I watched a documentary entitled “Hired Guns” last years. For those who have not viewed the documentary, it is about sidemen who play with big name acts. What was interesting beside the amazing amount of talent was Jason Hook’s comment about knowing that one has made it when he/she gets called for a Steely Dan session. The list of studio guitarists alone is amazing. It includes Elliot Randall, Dean Parks, Jay Gradon, Hugh McCracken, Steve Kahn, Hiram Bullock, Rick Derringer, Mark Knopfler, and Larry Carlton in addition to band members Denny Diaz, Skunk Baxter, and Walter Becker and other studio guitarists. The list of musical greats includes drummer extaordinare and Maryland native Bernard Purdie. That guy’s resume is amazing to read. The “Purdie Shuffle” is a staple in drumming. It appears in songs in which it is not initially apparent such as Zepplin’s “Fool in the Rain” and Toto’s “Rosanna” (not to mention “Babylon Sisters”).

Bernard Purdie featured in a series my son was watching on Sky Arts, Art of Drumming. What a musician.

Dennis Chambers is pretty good too!

 

[Em7]

Dennis Chambers is from Baltimore, Maryland. I grew up in Anne Arundel (Annapolis is the county seat as well as the state capitol). Dennis is two years my senior. He was way ahead of most local drummers back when I was in high school. He got the Parliament gig at age 18. That was a big deal. What a lot of people do not know is that the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. Metro Area had a huge thriving music scene in the seventies and eighties. That scene birthed PRS.

 

[Iceman101]

Love Steely Dan, haven't tried to learn any of their stuff yet, and I really should. One of the UK guitar mags has a Kid Charlemagne transcription, but whether it'll still be there when the stores reopen here is up for debate. The tone on the Reelin' In The Years solo is killer.

Maybe this helps

 

[Deleted member 5962]

how is this metal looking record not metal?

spoiler alert: least metal thing imaginable.

NOT metal. However, what a GREAT album. An all time favorite of mine for sure.