Steely Dan

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Steely Dan is a Grammy-Award winning American rock band centered on core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Steely Dan 's peak of popularity was in the 1970s, when it released six albums that blended together elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop. Steely Dan music is characterized by complex jazz-influenced structures and harmonies, literate but sometimes obscure or ambiguous lyrics filled with dark sarcasm, and their adroit musicianship and studio perfectionism.

Steely Dan toured from 1972 to 1974, but in 1975 became a purely studio-based act. For all intents and purposes, Steely Dan disbanded from 1981 through 1992 after Becker and Fagen parted ways, but Steely Dan have since reunited, first returning with two reunion tours in the summers of 1993 and 1994 and new studio releases in 2000 Two Against Nature and follow-up, 2003's Everything Must Go, with accompanying tours.

Produced by Katz and recorded by Roger Nichols at ABC Studios, Steely Dan's debut album, Can't Buy A Thrill, was released in 1972 and made an immediate impression with the hit singles "Do It Again", the Palmer-sung "Dirty Work" (later covered by Max Merritt), and "Reelin' In The Years." "Do It Again" and "Reelin' In The Years" reached #6 and #11 respectively on the Billboard singles chart. All three tunes soon became staples of FM radio. "Reelin' In The Years" also features an acclaimed guitar solo by Elliott Randall.

Countdown to Ecstasy, released in 1973, had nowhere near the same level of commercial success as the first Steely Dan album (probably to the surprise of few, as it was much more jazz/blues oriented than its predecessor). Becker and Fagen blamed this on having to rush-record the album between tour dates and they weren't entirely happy with some of the performances on the record. The album's singles included "Show-Biz Kids" (curiously chosen to release as a hopeful hit) and "My Old School", both considered "classic" Steely Dan by fans and critics alike, but failing to make a significant entry into the charts. "My Old School" (and to a lesser extent, "Bodhisattva") did become a minor FM Rock staple as years passed, however, and remains so to this day. "Bodhisattva" was also notable as the only readily available live recording of Steely Dan for many years (as the B-side of the 1980 single "Hey Nineteen").

Steely Dan returned to prominence with their third LP Pretzel Logic in early 1974, a diverse set that produced another hit single, "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", a US Top Ten hit (#4 on the Billboard chart) which became yet another enduring FM rock radio staple. It is also notable as the only Steely Dan album to contain a song by another composer—their cover of Duke Ellington's "East St Louis Toodle-oo". This song also holds other importance as the only instrumental ever done by Steely Dan, the only Steely Dan song to feature a banjo, and the only song on which Donald Fagen is credited with playing the saxophone (he also plays the piano solo). Album cuts "Any Major Dude Will Tell You" and the title track would go on to be fan favorites.

The 1975 Steely Dan LP Katy Lied saw the duo using a diverse group of session players, including Porcaro and McDonald, as well as guitarist Elliott Randall, famed jazz saxophonist Phil Woods, equally renowned saxophonist-cum-bass guitarist Wilton Felder, percussionist-vibraphonist Victor Feldman, keyboardist (and later producer) Michael Omartian and guitarist Larry Carlton, with only Dias remaining from the original group. The album went gold on the strength of the songs "Black Friday" and "Bad Sneakers", but Becker and Fagen were so dissatisfied with the sound of the album (caused by a faulty DBX noise reduction system) that they publicly apologized for it, and for years refused to even listen to it in its final form. Often considered a "transitional album," it also included such gems as "Dr Wu" (which also got minor but loyal FM airplay for many years) and "Chain Lightning."


The Royal Scam was released in May 1976 on ABC Records and is considered Steely Dan's most guitar-oriented record, in part due to Carlton's contributions, and it also features legendary session drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. Like Katy Lied, it sold well without the strength of a real hit single, although "Kid Charlemagne" and "The Fez" (in which keyboardist Paul Griffin earned a rare co-writing credit) would become two fan favourites. Also popular in Steely Dan circles as well as at modern Steely Dan shows are the hard rocking "Don't Take Me Alive", the shuffling "Sign in Stranger", and the ethereal "Caves of Altamira." "Haitian Divorce" became a surprise minor hit in the UK. By this time, Becker and Fagen had dropped their musical responsibilities in favour of talented session players. Aside from a few keyboard parts from Fagen and the occasional bass or guitar track from Becker, the duo mainly focused on songwriting and producing from this album through Gaucho.

Steely Dan's sixth LP, the jazz-oriented Aja, saw Becker and Fagen using the services of top-notch jazz, jazz-rock and soul musicians including Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Wayne Shorter, Steve Gadd, and Chuck Rainey. Aja won several awards, shot into the Top Five in the U.S. charts within three weeks of release, and was one of the first American LPs to be certified 'platinum' for sales of over 1 million albums. The first single off the album was "Peg," which featured Michael McDonald's prominent backing vocals and peaked at US #11. Other singles included "Deacon Blues" (#19) and "Josie" (#26). The album cemented the Steely Dan's reputation as songwriters, as well as their legendary reputation for studio perfectionism. The story of the making of the album has been documented in an episode of the popular TV and DVD series, Classic Albums. The album features such jazz and fusion luminaries as saxophonists Wayne Shorter, Pete Christlieb and Tom Scott, drummer Steve Gadd and ex-Cannonball Adderley pianist/vibist Victor Feldman. It also featured Becker's trademark clean, jazzy guitar leads as a prominent solo voice where they had only appeared sporadically in prior releases.

Soon after the success of Aja, Becker and Fagen were asked to contribute the title track for the movie FM. The movie was one of the year's worst box-office disasters but the song was another hit, barely missing out on the Top 20 in the US and was another minor hit in the UK. Steely Dan still performs it today

Becker and Fagen took most of 1978 off before beginning to write songs for the follow-up to Aja. The project would become plagued by technical, legal, and personal problems and ultimately cost them their partnership for many years. Becker and Fagen announced the temporary suspension of their partnership in June 1981. Becker subsequently moved to the Hawaiian island of Maui with his family. The two tried writing together again in the mid-1980s but were unhappy with the results.

1993 saw a Steely Dan reformation, and the mounting of a U.S. tour to support Fagen's album (which sold poorly, even though the concerts were extremely well-reviewed). With Becker now mainly playing lead and rhythm guitar, they put together a band that included an additional keyboard player and lead guitarist, a bassist, three female backing singers, and a four-piece horn section. During this tour, Fagen introduced himself as "Rick Strauss" and Becker as "Frank Poulenc". Steely Dan toured to great acclaim during 1993-96, performing mainly songs from the later Steely Dan albums plus a selection of re-arranged Steely Dan classics.  Steely Dan released a live CD compiled from recordings of several 1993 and 1994 concerts, Alive in America in 1995

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