Whatever happened to Steely Dan?

[SamAdams76]

They were good. Was there ever a Steely Dan song that was bad?

Just heard "Deacon Blues" on the radio. Timeless.

Back in the day, they were derided as a "Fern bar" band. I have no idea what that even means. But back in 1977, upscale men apparently went to these "fern bars" in their leisure suits and picked up women with the dulcet tones of Steely Dan in the background. Maybe a bit of Spyra Gyra and Chuck Mangione as well. But let's not talk about them, shall we. This thread is about Steely Dan.

[Mich Patriot]

“Deacon Blues” is one of those songs that plays in your head over and over. And you don’t mind it.

Really? I think I would jump off a bridge.

[Fiji Hill]

The Deacon Jones that I'm familiar with is by Louis Armstrong & the Tympany Five, from 1944.

[Forgotten Amendments]

All that jazzy crap after Baxter left made me puke.

Jeff “Skunk” Baxter was great.

[jobim]

Aja is one of the top rock albums ever recorded.

[RichInOC]

No, the other Steely Dan.

[servo1969]

Classic Albums: Aja by Steely Dan - 1977 - 1:00:07

"Classic Albums is a documentary style television program that does a fantastic job of showing how some of the best albums in modern music history were produced. If you like the different aspects of record making this program is a great example of the complexities that go into the project. It's frank & forthright nature offer a view into the artist's mind that I've not seen before. Great musicians, great engineers: Classic Albums. -R"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8GwEX7nn6o

[Stegall Tx]

There's a series called “Classic Albums” that includes an episode on The Making of Aja .

[LostInBayport]

“Hey Nineteen” for me. “Babylon Sisters” “My Old School” - jeez, how many hits did Fagan and Becker write? Dozens?

At least! They have a distinctive sound. I guess that's why there have been few covers of their work, at least that I'm aware of.

[Stegall Tx]

It’s always weird when someone else is thinking the exact same thing ...

[dontreadthis]

try the lyrics instead

[SaxxonWoods]

Whatever happened to Steely Dan?

They are on the casino circuit with the rest of the washed up bands.

Great musicians, but that’s no guarantee of anything in the music biz.

[Cboldt]

Studio band, in that they would hire multiple players for different parts, pick the track they liked best. Some of the mixing was done in 0.001ths of a second, they are anal about getting it the way they want it.

Really really good music. I've been hooked for 40 years. Gold Teeth II, piano/guitar solos still give me goosebumps.

Yeah, they can do it live - lots of rehearsal time, and the musicians (and sound crew) are true professionals.

[Cboldt]

IIRC, Steely Dan has more time on MUZAC, store music, than any other recording artist.

[Zeneta]

Whatever happened to Steely Dan?

---

STEELY DAN - GO BACK JACK AND DO IT AGAIN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYtN1TuzEL8

turned into

Sublime - What I Got

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Uc3ZrmhDN4

[tumblindice]

Old man look at my life
I’m a lot like you were.

Really? How many kraut machine gun nests did you assault?

;^)

[Cboldt]

So was Elliott Randall, Larry Carlton (Kid Charlamagne), Denny Dias, etc.

[ConservingFreedom]

Aja is one of the top rock albums ever recorded.

Meh. That's when they got too lite-jazz for my tastes. But every album before that was very good.

[moovova]

I think the people down the hall know who you are.

[SoCal Pubbie]

The Deacon Jones I'm familiar with was part of the Fearsome Foursome.

[dontreadthis]

is there gas in the car?