hardwork said:

There are VERY few things in the world quite as magical as a childhood spent in 1970s America. Thank you Walter Becker.

[Edited 9/5/17 22:08pm]

[Edited 9/5/17 22:09pm]

So true!!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Wow.....Musical Alchemists. They were fucking magicians. Steely Dan, absolute Genius all the way. Thank you so much for making your mark on Musical History

MickyDolenz said:

Love this song, swingingg bluesie rock...and Walter you sang it sooo well on your last performance....blessed to see youu perform this last tour, still bringing smiles allowing direct passage back to my youth I listened to the Dans in highschool over and over memoriszing the lics searching for the meaning. You lit up the seventies and continued to evolve your music. rip..loveUup

I am really saddened by this one. He was a genius and terrific musician. Steely Dan is one of the greatest bands of all time, and Aja one of the great albums in rock history.

Rest peacefully.

2freaky4church1 said:

We should mourn more.

You are damn right we should. This man and his band must never be forgotten.

funkaholic1972 said:

2freaky4church1 said:

We should mourn more.

You are damn right we should. This man and his band must never be forgotten.

They changed the sound of popular music.

namepeace said:

funkaholic1972 said:

You are damn right we should. This man and his band must never be forgotten.

They changed the sound of popular music.

Right, they made songs that were catchy and easy on the ears while they were actually often very complex compositions with lots of interesting chord changes. Plus the way they used the cream of the crop of studio musicians and always paid a lot of attention to the groove and the sound of the recording. They were unique in their perfectionism.

Some probably know this one, but maybe some dont...real cool

.

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AJA, stunned.

2freaky4church1 said:

AJA, stunned.

Album or song? Or both?

That was funny, thanks for posting Mickey!

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Rest in peace, Walter.....

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I knew there had to be some overlap between steely dan fans and prince fans... even though in most ways they could not be more different, I love them both and the Dan are my favourite band. I feel like even though they get such high praise from great musicians theyre so underatted in the general pop sphere. RIP Walt.

dacca said:

I knew there had to be some overlap between steely dan fans and prince fans... even though in most ways they could not be more different, I love them both and the Dan are my favourite band. I feel like even though they get such high praise from great musicians theyre so underatted in the general pop sphere. RIP Walt.

There are some interesting, albeit faint, echoes of Steely Dan in Prince's music. I've suspected Prince lifted from "Deacon Blues" when writing "1999." (I was dreamin' when I wrote this/so sue me if I go too fast is awfully similar to I cried when I wrote this song/sue me if I play too long). "Money Don't Matter 2Night" is quite Dan-esque.

They both had a flair for writing with a dry, absurd wit.

Now I miss them both.

[Edited 9/13/17 8:38am]

namepeace said:

There are some interesting, albeit faint, echoes of Steely Dan in Prince's music. I've suspected Prince lifted from "Deacon Blues" when writing "1999." (I was dreamin' when I wrote this/so sue me if I go too fast is awfully similar to I cried when I wrote this song/sue me if I play too long). "Money Don't Matter 2Night" is quite Dan-esque.

They both had a flair for writing with a dry, absurd wit.

Now I miss them both.

Wow, never noticed the similarity between those lines. And Money Dont matter indeed has something in common

Prince listened to almost everything. He probably appreciated them.

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[img]https://movingtheriv...=630[/img]

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I also loved Walter Becker's production work with China Crisis :

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[Edited 9/13/17 9:34am]

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

hardwork said:

There are VERY few things in the world quite as magical as a childhood spent in 1970s America. Thank you Walter Becker.

[Edited 9/5/17 22:08pm]

[Edited 9/5/17 22:09pm]

So true!!

One of the greatest blessings I've received in this life.

GustavoRibas said:

Prince listened to almost everything. He probably appreciated them.

That's my guess too.

namepeace said:

GustavoRibas said:

Prince listened to almost everything. He probably appreciated them.

That's my guess too.

Of course he did ! Teenagehood in 1970s USA was pretty good too. We got to act it out. Owww!

My favorite memory of Aja was being 20 yrs old in San Francisco, in a bar where that song was playing. Suddenly a total maniac I hadn't even spoken to grabbed a barstool and aimed to hit me over the head with it. He missed, and then we hopped over to the Mine Shaft and danced our azz off.

paligap said:

I also loved Walter Becker's production work with China Crisis :

Hey, this is cool. I didnt know this band.

GustavoRibas said:

paligap said:

I also loved Walter Becker's production work with China Crisis :

Hey, this is cool. I didnt know this band.

...

Ndeed!! Walter produced two of their albums, Flaunt The Imperfection (1985), and Diary of A Hollow Horse (1989). He also produced albums for Rickie Lee Jones (Flying Cowboys), and Michael Franks (Blue Pacific).......

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paligap said:

Ndeed!! Walter produced two of their albums, Flaunt The Imperfection (1985), and Diary of A Hollow Horse (1989). He also produced albums for Rickie Lee Jones (Flying Cowboys), and Michael Franks (Blue Pacific).......

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Thanks for the info. I am checking them out now.

paligap said:

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Rest in peace, Walter.....

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Here is an interesting review about this song:

http://somethingelserevie...h-ii-1975/

"Steely Dan is famously known for performing rock with a heaping dose of jazz elements, but those songs would rarely swing, as jazz does. Here’s a notable exception.

“Your Gold Teeth II”, the obvious followup to “Your Gold Teeth,” is only connected to the earlier version lyrics-wise..some reference to a William S. Burroughs novel, I believe, but musically it’s much different. “II” is up to this point the most sophisticated song they had attempted, and another harbinger of the style they perfected later on with Aja.

Much of that complexity comes from the rhythms: though the base time signature is your standard 3/4 jazz waltz, there are bars in 3/8, 6/8, and 9/8. The intro goes at a quickened pace with an esoteric chord progression that seems to be searching for a portal out to the main melody. The piano and vibes are soon joined by some cheesy synth noodling (the only flaw in the song, but forgivable). It’s only after several listens that you realize that this is the same chord progression slowed down that’s used during the guitar solo part later on in the song.

The opening passage makes way for the jazz waltz and Fagen begins singing prose seemingly taken from classic poetry:

Who are these children
Who scheme and run wild
Who speak with their wings
And the way that they smile
What are the secrets
They trace in the sky
And why do you tremble
Each time they ride by

The chorus is enriched by harmonies that sounds a bit country—on paper strange for a jazzy tune but it sounds just right in practice. However, the best performances are provided by Jeff Porcaro and Denny Dias. Porcaro had to not only pilot through shifting rhythms but had to give it that right feel. On Fagen’s suggestion, he took home and listened to a Charles Mingus record with drummer Dannie Richmond on it to get the particular drumming style Fagen wanted in this song. As a teen, Fagen used to take a bus into NYC to watch Mingus’ band perform, and he was looking for the drum performance he remembered seeing from Richmond back then. Porcaro returned a couple of days later and nailed it, shuffling with the mastery of an Elvin Jones, never mind Richmond.

Dias was incredible on this song, too. Though he often played in the shadow of Jeff Baxter, Denny was the guy Becker and Fagen went to when liquid jazz phrasings and dense note patterns over intricate chord and rhythmic changes were called for. That was one area that Dias excelled in, even over Skunk. That ability is on full display here and ranks as one of the best (and unheralded) of all the great Steely Dan guitar solos.

Steely Dan is a rock band that was capable of doing things most rock band can’t even comprehend, much less carry out. “Your Gold Teeth II,” one of my top two favorite SD cuts overall, is one of those cuts that clearly sets them apart from the pack."

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Finally the full episode. But it probably wont last, because VH1 took down another episode.

I had a music professor in college tell me that there are 2 things that you'll never see. One is a Crosby, Stills & Nash cover band because of the harmonies. The other is a Steely Dan cover band because of the complexities of the music.

RIP Walter

brutusbuckeye32 said:

I had a music professor in college tell me that there are 2 things that you'll never see. One is a Crosby, Stills & Nash cover band because of the harmonies. The other is a Steely Dan cover band because of the complexities of the music.

RIP Walter

This is a pretty amazing Steely Dan cover band:

Things I like about Steely Dan:

• Jazzy and ever evolving (electric) piano chord sequences

• Witty, entertaining lyrics

• Very interesting close harmony (background) vocals

• Lots of songs about losers in a world gone mad

• Outstanding songwriting

• Detailed and very clever arrangements

• Lots of attention to 'the groove'

• The best drummers in the business

• Outstanding guitar solos

• Superb performances by soloists altogether, no matter the instrument

• Incredible production, recording and mixing standards

• Beautiful horn sections playing gorgeous arrangements

• Sounding smooth and accessible, but very complex music in reality

• Donald Fagen's snarky voice

• Walter Becker's great contributions to the lyrics

funkaholic1972 said:

Things I like about Steely Dan:

• Jazzy and ever evolving (electric) piano chord sequences

• Witty, entertaining lyrics

• Very interesting close harmony (background) vocals

• Lots of songs about losers in a world gone mad

• Outstanding songwriting

• Detailed and very clever arrangements

• Lots of attention to 'the groove'

• The best drummers in the business

• Outstanding guitar solos

• Superb performances by soloists altogether, no matter the instrument

• Incredible production, recording and mixing standards

• Beautiful horn sections playing gorgeous arrangements

• Sounding smooth and accessible, but very complex music in reality

• Donald Fagen's snarky voice

• Walter Becker's great contributions to the lyrics

Great list. May I add sly sense of humor? I never knew they named themselves after a dildo.


Fans of Beat Generation literature, Fagen and Becker named the band after "Steely Dan III from Yokohama", an oversized, steam-powered strap-on dildo mentioned in the William S. Burroughs novel Naked Lunch.^[22 Wikipedia

brutusbuckeye32 said:

I had a music professor in college tell me that there are 2 things that you'll never see. One is a Crosby, Stills & Nash cover band because of the harmonies. The other is a Steely Dan cover band because of the complexities of the music.

RIP Walter

I know a Dan cover band, and they're pretty good. It's comprised mainly of sessions musicians in Nashville.

[Edited 9/18/17 8:58am]

WBAI in NYC did a great 2 hour special last saturday...played demos/outtakes and live material...its online probably

here it is:

https://www.wbai.org/archive.ph

morning dew ..sep 17 show

[Edited 9/18/17 11:45am]

[Edited 9/18/17 11:47am]