Steely Dan is a Grammy-Award winning American jazz fusion/Rock band centered on core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Annandale-on-Hudson is a hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, USA, in the Hudson Valley in the Town of Red Hook, across New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums. Fusion or more specifically jazz fusion or jazz rock, is a Musical genre that merges Jazz with elements of other styles of music particularly In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music ABC Records started in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records the record label of Am-Par Record Corporation (a subsidiary of American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres MCA Records was an American -based record company owned by MCA Inc Reprise Records is an American Record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra, which is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948 in Passaic New Jersey) is an American Musician and Songwriter. Walter Becker (born Walter Carl Becker, 20 February 1950, in Queens, New York) is an American musician and record producer Denny Dias (born December 1946 in Philadelphia) is an American Guitarist most known for being a founding member of Steely Dan. Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (born December 13, 1948 in Washington D Jim Hodder ( December 17, 1947 – June 5, 1990) was an American Drummer, best known as the original drummer for Steely Michael McDonald (born February 12, 1952, in St Louis Missouri) is an American R&B / soul Singer and Songwriter David Palmer is an American vocalist and Songwriter, most noted for his lead vocals on the Steely Dan song "Dirty Work" and as lyricist Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro ( April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was a highly regarded session drummer and a founding member of the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Fusion or more specifically jazz fusion or jazz rock, is a Musical genre that merges Jazz with elements of other styles of music particularly Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums. Walter Becker (born Walter Carl Becker, 20 February 1950, in Queens, New York) is an American musician and record producer Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948 in Passaic New Jersey) is an American Musician and Songwriter. The band's peak of popularity was in the 1970s, when it released six albums that blended elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African Funk is an American musical style that originated in the mid- to late-1960s when African American musicians blended Soul music, Soul Pop music as a genre features a noticeable rhythmic element catchy melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and conventional structure Their music is characterized by complex jazz-influenced structures and harmonies, literate and sometimes obscure or ambiguous lyrics filled with dark sarcasm, and their adroit musicianship and studio perfectionism.

The group toured from 1972 to 1974, but in 1975 became a purely studio-based act. A recording studio is a facility for sound recording. Ideally the space is specially designed by an acoustician to achieve the desired acoustic properties (sound They disbanded in 1981, but have since reunited. They had two reunion tours in the summers of 1993 and 1994 and new studio releases in 2000, Two Against Nature, and 2003, Everything Must Go, with accompanying tours. Two Against Nature is an Album by Steely Dan, released in 2000. Everything Must Go is the most recent album by Steely Dan, originally released June 10, 2003. They have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.

History

Early years

Donald Fagen and Walter Becker met at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York^[1] in 1967 and began playing in local groups (one of these, The Bad Rock Group, included future comedy star Chevy Chase on drums). Bard College, founded in 1860 is a small selective four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Annandale-on-Hudson is a hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, USA, in the Hudson Valley in the Town of Red Hook, across Cornelius Crane “Chevy” Chase (born October 8 1943 is an American Emmy Award-winning Comedian, Writer, and television and film At that time, the band was called "The Leather Canary. "

After Fagen graduated in 1969, the two moved to Brooklyn and tried to peddle their tunes in the Brill Building in midtown Manhattan. Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. The Brill Building (built 1931 is an office building located at 1619 Broadway in New York City, just north of Times Square. Kenny Vance, a member of the pop group Jay and the Americans, who had a production office in the building, took an interest in their material that led to work on the soundtrack of the low-budget Richard Pryor film You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat (1971) and jobs with the band's rhythm section. Jay and the Americans were a Pop music group popular in the 1960s Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III ( December 1, 1940 &ndash December 10, 2005) was an American Comedian, Actor You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat is a 1971 comedy - drama Film directed by Peter Locke. A series of demos made (supposedly) between 1968 and 1971 while under contract to Vance have been available on unofficial CDs and on various Steely Dan fan sites for some time. ^[2] This collection features approximately twenty-five tracks, and is unique for two reasons. First, the stripped down production and decidedly "lo-fi" nature of these tracks (many songs are just Fagen and his piano) is completely contrary to known Steely Dan works. Second, although some of these songs (Caves of Altamira, Brooklyn, Barrytown, and a few others) eventually were recorded on a mass-produced album, the majority were never released formally.

Although they had a few notable successes—Barbra Streisand recorded their song "I Mean To Shine" on her 1971 "Barbra Joan Streisand" album—they made little significant headway until one of Vance's cronies, Gary Katz, moved to Los Angeles to become a staff producer for ABC Records. Barbra Streisand (ˈstraɪsænd "STRY-sand" born April 24 1942 is an American Singer, Film and Theatre Actress Gary Katz is an American record producer most famous for his work in that capacity on every Steely Dan album recorded during the first run of their career from Can't ABC Records started in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records the record label of Am-Par Record Corporation (a subsidiary of American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres He hired Becker and Fagen as staff songwriters and they flew to Los Angeles. Katz would produce all their 1970s albums with a collaboration with engineer Roger Nichols. Roger Nichols is a recording engineer best-known for his work with the group Steely Dan.

After realizing their songs were too complex for other ABC artists, at Katz's suggestion they formed their own band with guitarists Denny Dias and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder and singer David Palmer, and Katz signed the band to ABC as recording artists. Denny Dias (born December 1946 in Philadelphia) is an American Guitarist most known for being a founding member of Steely Dan. Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (born December 13, 1948 in Washington D Jim Hodder ( December 17, 1947 – June 5, 1990) was an American Drummer, best known as the original drummer for Steely David Palmer is an American vocalist and Songwriter, most noted for his lead vocals on the Steely Dan song "Dirty Work" and as lyricist Being fans of Beat Generation literature, Fagen and Becker named the band for a dildo in the William Burroughs novel Naked Lunch. A dildo is a Sex toy, often explicitly Phallic in appearance intended for bodily penetration during self-administered Masturbation William Seward Burroughs II ( – ˈbʌroʊz was an American Novelist, Essayist, Social critic, painter and Spoken word Naked Lunch (sometimes referred to as The Naked Lunch) is a novel by William S ^[3][4] The addition of Palmer as a second lead vocalist was due to a combination of Fagen's resistance to singing in front of an audience and the label's feeling that his voice was not "commercial" enough. Fagen lacked confidence in his voice and was known to have suffered from occasional bouts of stage fright.

In 1972, ABC sent out promotional copies of Steely Dan's first single, "Dallas" backed with "Sail the Waterway. " It is unclear if "stock" copies were ever released to the general public, and if they were, the single sold so poorly that promotional copies are more abundant today (whereas the reverse is true for most releases). Neither song has ever been included on a compilation or album of any kind, or re-released in any form, with few exceptions: a 12" European EP titled "Plus Fours" - this 1978 EP features "Dallas," "Sail the Waterway," "Do It Again," and "Haitian Divorce. " "The Probe Family Sampler" - released by Music for Pleasure in the UK - included "Dallas. Music for Pleasure redirects here For the album by The Damned, see Music for Pleasure (album. "

Can't Buy a Thrill and Countdown to Ecstasy

Can't Buy a Thrill

Their 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," and "Reelin' in the Years. Can't Buy a Thrill is the first Album by Steely Dan. Originally released in 1972 (see 1972 in music) the album was a huge success Do It Again is a song by American Jazz-rock group Steely Dan, which was released as a single from their debut 1972 album Can't Buy A Thrill " "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. Elliott Randall (born 1947) is an American Guitarist most known for being a Session musician with popular artists

Because of Fagen's reluctance to sing live, David Palmer handled most of the vocal duties on stage. During the first tour, it became apparent to Katz and Becker that Palmer's interpretation of the material wasn't having the same impact, and eventually convinced Fagen that he was the one who best conveyed the attitude and meaning of the songs. Palmer quietly left the group during the recording of the second album, soon hooking up with Carole King, with whom he wrote the 1974 #2 hit, "Jazzman. Carole King (born February 9, 1942) is an American Singer, Songwriter, and Pianist. "

The lineup of Can't Buy a Thrill and its follow up, Countdown to Ecstasy, were very band oriented. Denny Dias handled the rhythm guitar as well as the famous electric sitar solo on "Do It Again," and Jeff Baxter handled lead guitar duties. Jim Hodder played drums as well as singing on one track, "Midnite Cruiser. " As for Becker and Fagen themselves, Becker played bass and sang some sparse backup vocals while his partner Fagen played all keyboards (piano, electric piano, organ) and sang lead on every track but three.

Countdown to Ecstasy

Countdown to Ecstasy, released in 1973, failed to match the level of commercial success of the first album (probably to the surprise of few, as it was much more jazz/blues oriented than its predecessor). Countdown to Ecstasy was the second album by rock group Steely Dan in July 1973. 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 any significant impact on the charts. Countdown to Ecstasy was the second album by rock group Steely Dan in July 1973. However, "My Old School" (and, to a lesser extent, "Bodhisattva") did become a minor FM Rock staple as years passed, 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").

Pretzel Logic and Katy Lied

Pretzel Logic

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. Pretzel Logic is the third Steely Dan Album, originally released in 1974 " Rikki Don't Lose That Number " is a single released in 1974 by rock/pop/jazz group Steely Dan. It is also notable as the only Steely Dan album to contain a song by another composer—their note-for-note transcription of Duke Ellington's and Bubber Miley's "East St Louis Toodle-oo". Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29 1899 &ndash May 24 1974 was an American Composer, Pianist, and Bandleader. 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.

During the tour for the previous album, the band had added Sonny & Cher's young session drummer Jeff Porcaro (later a member of Toto) and also added singer-keyboardist Michael McDonald for back-up vocals. Sonny & Cher were an American Pop music duo made up of husband and wife team Sonny Bono and Cher in the 1960s and 1970s Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro ( April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was a highly regarded session drummer and a founding member of the Toto was a Grammy Award winning American rock band founded in 1977 by some of the most popular and experienced Session musicians of Michael McDonald (born February 12, 1952, in St Louis Missouri) is an American R&B / soul Singer and Songwriter Both would become prominent on this and future Steely Dan recordings and would illustrate the duo's increasing reliance on session musicians. For example, "Parker's Band" features both Jim Gordon and Jeff Porcaro playing drums, and both styles can easily be distinguished by panning between the left and right stereo channels on the album. This album also marks the first time Walter Becker would play guitar (6 string electric guitar) on a Steely Dan album.

A rift between Becker-Fagen and the other members of the group (particularly Baxter and Hodder) began to develop when the latter two seemed more intent on touring. Becker and Fagen disliked touring and wanted to withdraw from the road to concentrate solely on writing and recording. The other members also felt discouraged by their diminishing roles in the studio and gradually left the group, although Dias stayed on for some Aja tracks and McDonald continued to contribute vocals up to the 1980 Gaucho set (where he figured on "Time Out of Mind"). Gaucho was Steely Dan's last album before the band's 10-year breakup from June 1981 to October 1991 Baxter left to join The Doobie Brothers, where he was later joined by McDonald. The Doobie Brothers are an American rock group. They have sold over 22 million albums in the United States from the 1970s to the present

The 1975 LP Katy Lied saw the duo using a diverse group of session players, including Porcaro and McDonald, as well as guitarist Elliott Randall, jazz saxophonist Phil Woods, 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. Katy Lied is the fourth album by Steely Dan, released in 1975 Elliott Randall (born 1947) is an American Guitarist most known for being a Session musician with popular artists Philip Wells Woods (born November 2 1931 in Springfield, Massachusetts) is an American Jazz Bebop alto Wilton Felder (born August 31 1940, Houston, Texas) is both a Saxophone and bass player and is best known as a founding Victor Stanley Feldman ( April 7, 1934 in Edgware, Middlesex – May 12, 1987, in Los Angeles, California Michael Omartian (born November 26, 1945 in Evanston Illinois) is an Armenian-American songwriter Grammy Award -winning Keyboardist Larry Carlton (born 2 March, 1948) is an American Jazz, pop, and rock Guitarist dividing his recording 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 (on the album's back cover), and for years refused to even listen to it in its final form. ^[5] Often considered a "transitional album," it also included such gems as "Dr Wu" (which also got minor FM airplay for many years) and "Chain Lightning. "

The Royal Scam and Aja

The Royal Scam was released in May 1976 on ABC Records and is the group's most guitar-oriented record, in part due to Carlton's contributions, and it also features session drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. The Royal Scam is an album by Jazz rock group Steely Dan, originally released in 1976 Bernard "Pretty" Purdie (born June 11, 1939) is an American Drummer and Session musician from Elkton Maryland who has worked 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 favorites. " Kid Charlemagne " is a song by the Rock group Steely Dan, which was released as a single from their 1976 album The Royal Scam Also popular in 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.

The cover of Steely Dan's Aja album

Their sixth LP, the jazz-influenced Aja saw Becker and Fagen using the services of top-notch jazz-rock musicians including Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Wayne Shorter and Chuck Rainey. Aja (pronounced) is an album by the rock band Steely Dan. The album was named after the Korean wife of group co-founder Donald Fagen 's friend's brother Larry Carlton (born 2 March, 1948) is an American Jazz, pop, and rock Guitarist dividing his recording Lee Mack "Captain Fingers" Ritenour (born January 11 1952) is an internationally acclaimed guitarist recording artist composer and producer Wayne Shorter (born August 25 1933) is an American Jazz Composer and Saxophonist, commonly regarded as one of the Chuck Rainey, born Charles Walter Rainey III in Cleveland Ohio, is a Bass guitar player best known for playing with Steely Dan, 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. ^[6][7] The first single off the album was "Peg," which featured Michael McDonald's backing vocals and peaked at US #11. Other singles included "Deacon Blues" (#19) and "Josie" (#26). " Deacon Blues " is a song by Steely Dan from their 1977 album Aja. The album cemented the duo's reputation as songwriters, as well as their 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. Classic Albums is a documentary series about pop and rock albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well known band or musician or that exemplify 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. Wayne Shorter (born August 25 1933) is an American Jazz Composer and Saxophonist, commonly regarded as one of the Pete Christlieb (b February 16, 1945) is a Jazz Bebop, West Coast jazz and Hard bop Tenor saxophonist born Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945 in Rochester New York) is an American session and studio drummer notable for Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley ( September 15 1928 – August 8 1975) was a Jazz alto saxophonist of Victor Stanley Feldman ( April 7, 1934 in Edgware, Middlesex – May 12, 1987, in Los Angeles, California 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. FM is a 1978 film directed by John A Alonzo, and starring Michael Brandon, Eileen Brennan, Alex Karras and Cleavon 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. The group still performs it today. ^[8]

Gaucho and breakup

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.

In March 1979, ABC was bought by MCA Records, and for most of the next two years they were caught in contractual problems that prevented them from releasing the album. MCA Records was an American -based record company owned by MCA Inc Becker and Fagen had planned on leaving ABC for Warner Brothers and wanted to release the next album on it, but MCA claimed ownership of the material and blocked Fagen and Becker from putting it out on any other label.

The first track completed for the album was "The Second Arrangement". It was one that Becker and Fagen were very proud of. But one night, Nichols was horrified to discover that all but a small fraction of the song had been accidentally erased by an assistant engineer. Nichols quickly tried to find Katz and eventually found him eating dinner at a restaurant. It was Nichols who also broke the bad news to the band. When Fagen was notified, he simply walked out of the studio without saying a word. Attempting to re-record it proved to be too discouraging, so they abandoned the song.

Becker was also having personal difficulties. His girlfriend at the time, Karen Stanley, was found dead of a drug overdose in their shared Upper West Side Apartment. Becker was hit with a $17 million wrongful death suit, later settled out of court in his favor, but he was hurt by the accusations and the tabloid press coverage that followed. He also had his own substance abuse problems to deal with. Not long after, Becker was hit by a taxi while attempting to cross a Manhattan street, shattering his right leg in several places and forcing him to go about on crutches. His sense of humor was evident in his statement to Rolling Stone magazine that he and the taxi had occupied the same space at the same time. Rolling Stone is a United States -based Magazine devoted to Music, Politics, and Popular culture that is published

Another lawsuit dogged the band, this time regarding the title track for the album. Jazz composer Keith Jarrett claimed that the song had been based on one of his own compositions, entitled "Long As You Know You're Living Yours". Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945 in Allentown Pennsylvania) is an American Pianist and Composer. Fagen later admitted he'd loved the song and was strongly influenced by it. ^[9] Jarrett sued for copyright infringement and eventually won a co-writing credit as well as royalties on future pressings.

Gaucho was finally released in November 1980 and, despite the problems that had gone into recording the album, it was another major success. Gaucho was Steely Dan's last album before the band's 10-year breakup from June 1981 to October 1991 The first single, "Hey Nineteen", peaked at #10 on the pop chart in early 1981, and "Time Out of Mind" (featuring Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits on guitar) became a moderate hit in the spring. " Hey Nineteen " is a song by American jazz rock band Steely Dan, written by members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, and released Mark Knopfler OBE (born August 12 1949 Glasgow, Scotland) is a British Guitarist, Singer, Songwriter, Dire Straits was a British rock band, formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals his brother David Knopfler (guitar The album subsequently received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.

Time off

Fagen's "The Nightfly"

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 Island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at 727 The two tried writing together again in the mid-1980s but were unhappy with the results.

In 1982 Fagen released his solo album The Nightfly, which was favorably compared to his Steely Dan work although it failed to match the wide audience appeal of the two previous Dan albums. The Nightfly is the first solo Album by Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen, released in 1982. It included "Ruby Baby", only the second song in the Steely Dan oeuvre that was not written by Becker and/or Fagen.

Fagen then did no music writing or recording for several years. He occasionally did production work for other artists, as did Becker; one notable credit was British group China Crisis, who were strongly influenced by Steely Dan. China Crisis are an English pop / rock band. They formed in 1979 in Kirkby, near Liverpool, Merseyside with

Reunion

Many fans believe that Fagen and Becker took the first steps toward reconciliation in 1986, when Gary Katz oversaw the production of Zazu, an album by the former model Rosie Vela. Both Becker and Fagen are featured on that album, and it is believed to be the first time they performed together since the breakup.

On October 25, 1991, Becker attended a concert of the New York Rock and Soul Revue, co-founded by Fagen and producer/singer Libby Titus (who was for many years the partner of Levon Helm of The Band and would later become Fagen's wife). The New York Rock and Soul Revue was a musical project which evolved from a series of concerts produced by Libby Titus (future wife of Donald Fagen) that lasted from Libby Titus (born Elizabeth Jurist on July 6, 1947 in Woodstock New York) is a singer songwriter actress and concert producer Mark Lavon Helm (born May 26, 1940) better known as Levon Helm, is an American rock Musician and actor most famous as The Band was a rock group active from 1967 to 1976 and again from 1983 to 1999

1993 saw Becker's production of Fagen's second solo album Kamakiriad. This is a summary of significant events in music in 1993. Events January Kamakiriad is the second solo album by Steely Dan Singer Donald Fagen, released in 1993 (see 1993 in music) Fagen later nominated it as the most satisfying recording experience of his career. Returning the favour, Fagen co-produced Becker's solo album 11 Tracks of Whack in 1994. This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994.

During the same year, MCA released Citizen Steely Dan, a boxed set featuring their entire catalog on 4 CDs, plus 4 extra tracks: "Here at the Western World" (originally released on 1978's "Greatest Hits"), "FM" (1978 single), a 1971 demo of "Everyone's Gone to the Movies" and "Bodhisattva (live)", the latter recorded on a cassette in 1974 and released as a B-side in 1980. Citizen Steely Dan is a four- CD Boxed set by Steely Dan, released in 1993

Alive in America (1993-1994)

These events finally led to a reformation, and the mounting of a U. S. tour in 1993 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". Richard Georg Strauss (11 June 1864 &ndash 8 September 1949 was a German Composer of the late Romantic era and early modern era particularly noted See also, Rhône-Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (fʀɑ̃sis ʒɑ̃ maʀsɛl pulɛ̃k January 7, 1899 – January 30, They toured to great acclaim during 1993-96, performing mainly songs from the later Steely Dan albums plus a selection of re-arranged Dan classics, and they released a live CD compiled from recordings of several 1993 and 1994 concerts, Alive in America in 1995. Alive in America is a live Album by rock group Steely Dan, released in 1995

Two Against Nature (2000)

Two Against Nature

In 2000, they released their first studio album in twenty years, Two Against Nature. Two Against Nature is an Album by Steely Dan, released in 2000. It was not only a return to form but proved to be one of the surprise successes of the year, and in February 2001, it earned them four Grammy Awards. The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards)—or Grammys —are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences They won in the categories for Best Engineered Album - Non-Classical, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Pop Performance by Duo or Group with Vocal ("Cousin Dupree"), and Album of the Year. Their win for Album of the Year came as a shock as they defeated Eminem and his highly controversial album The Marshall Mathers LP. Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17 1972 known as Slim Shady and his primary Stage name Eminem, is an Academy Award -winning The Marshall Mathers LP is the third Studio album released by American Rapper Eminem, released in 2000 In March 2001, Steely Dan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a Museum located on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland Ohio, United States ^[10][11] In the summer of 2000, they took to the road for another US tour followed by an international tour later that year. A DVD was also released under the same title, which is essentially a live-in-the-studio concert performance of popular tunes from throughout Steely Dan's career.

Everything Must Go (2003)

Everything Must Go

In 2003 Steely Dan released another album, Everything Must Go, and toured America thereafter. Everything Must Go is the most recent album by Steely Dan, originally released June 10, 2003. Becker and Fagen went for a looser approach in the studio and attempted to capture a more live feel. Walter Becker contributed his first lead vocal on a Steely Dan studio album on the song "Slang of Ages" (he had sung lead on his own "Book of Liars," on Alive in America). Also, it is the first Steely Dan album since 1973 to feature the same drummer (Keith Carlock) on every track. Jim Hodder was the sole drummer on 1972's Can't Buy a Thrill and 1973's Countdown to Ecstasy. Jim Hodder may refer to Jim Hodder, politician from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada; Jim Hodder (1947—1990 This album also showed a return to form for Becker and Fagen's playing. Becker plays bass and lead guitar on every track while Fagen adds piano, electric piano, organ, synthesizers, and percussion on top of his vocals.

Steelyard "Sugartooth" McDan and The Fab-Originees. com Tour (2006)

The band embarked on a 33-date tour in the summer of 2006, a tour that followed Donald Fagen's tour in spring of 2006 in support of his first solo album in 13 years, Morph the Cat. Morph the Cat is a Grammy Award -winning 2006 album by Donald Fagen, his first since 1993 ^[12] Also featured on the bill was former collaborator Michael McDonald and his band. Michael McDonald (born February 12, 1952, in St Louis Missouri) is an American R&B / soul Singer and Songwriter The name of the tour is an homage to the fictional "inventor of the blues" presumably created by Becker and Fagen. ^[13] The website, Fab-Originees. com, was simply a mirror of SteelyDan. In Computing, a mirror is an exact copy of a Data set On the Internet, a mirror site is an exact copy of another Internet site com.

Heavy Rollers Tour (2007)

The band's Heavy Rollers Tour began May 5, 2007, at the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis, TN. The tour included North America, Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, making it both the largest and most exhaustive Steely Dan tour ever. The tour took its name from lyrics in the song "Gaucho" ("We've got heavy rollers, I think you should know") from the album of the same name. Gaucho was Steely Dan's last album before the band's 10-year breakup from June 1981 to October 1991 ^[14]

Live in 2008

In early March 2008, Steely Dan announced on their website that they will be playing the Montreal Jazz Festival in July. Since that time, a number of further live performances have been announced on their website.

Musical and lyrical style

Steely Dan's enigmatic, sardonically humorous and topical lyrics add to the appeal of the songs. Although Becker and Fagen might have at first owed a certain lyrical debt to Bob Dylan, they rapidly developed a distinctive style and have since become one of the most accomplished and respected songwriting teams of their age. Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman, May 24 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota) is an American singer-songwriter author poet and painter who has been a major

Music

Overall sound

Special attention was given to the individual sound of each instrument. The recording was done with the utmost fidelity and attention to sonic detail, and mixed so that all the instruments are heard and none are given undue priority (a deft and accomplished use of the multi-tracking process). For example, in the song "Parker's Band", two drum kits are used (a technique which was standard in the Big Band era), which gives the song an unexpected drive, without overpowering the sound; it is not even immediately apparent that there are two drum kits on the track. Pretzel Logic is the third Steely Dan Album, originally released in 1974 A big band is a type of Musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late Their albums are also notable for the characteristically 'warm' and 'dry' production sound, and the sparing use of echo and reverberation — effects which were often heavily over-used on other rock recordings of this period. In Audio signal processing and Acoustics, an echo (plural echoes) is a reflection of sound arriving at the listener some time after the direct Reverberation is the persistence of Sound in a particular space after the original sound is removed Long known as perfectionists, they often recorded take after take before selecting the player or performance that made the final cut on their albums. ^[15]

Backing vocals

Becker and Fagen favor a distinctly soul-influenced style of backing vocal, which after the first few albums were almost always performed by a female chorus (although Michael McDonald features prominently on several tracks, including the 1975 song "Black Friday" and the 1977 song "Peg"). Michael McDonald (born February 12, 1952, in St Louis Missouri) is an American R&B / soul Singer and Songwriter " Peg " is a song by Rock group Steely Dan, which was released as a single from their 1977 album Aja. Venetta Fields, Sherlie Matthews and Clydie King were the preferred trio for backing vocals on the group's late 70's albums. Venetta Fields is an American singer best known as session musician for leading rock and pop acts of the 1970s including Pink Floyd, Barbra Streisand, Sherlie Matthews (born 1934 is an American Singer, Songwriter and Record producer, best known as a Backing vocalist for Pop R&B and Rock groups Clydie King (born Clydie May Crittendon August 21, 1943 in Dallas, Texas) is an American singer best known for her session work ^[16]

Horns

Horn arrangements have been used on songs from all Steely Dan albums. They are usually jazz-oriented, and typically feature instruments such as trumpets, trombones and saxophones, although they have also used other instruments such as flutes and clarinets. The horn parts occasionally integrate simple synth lines to alter the tone quality of individual horn lines, for example in "Deacon Blues" this was done to "thicken" one of the saxophone lines. On the earlier albums Steely Dan featured guest arrangers. However, from Kamakiriad and on the arrangement work is credited to Fagen.

Use of unusual harmonies and chord sequences

Steely Dan are famous for their use of chord sequences and harmonies that explore the area of musical tension between traditional pop music sounds and jazz. A chord progression (also chord sequence and harmonic progression or sequence) is a series of chords played in order Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States To conventional rock listeners, this sometimes seemed to be avant-garde music. In particular, they are known for their use of the mu major chord,^[17][18] often simply known to rock musicians as the "Steely Dan chord". A mu major chord (signified by μ) is a somewhat unconventional name for an "add 2" or "add 9" chord Other staples of the Steely Dan "Chord Dictionary" include so-called slash chords, for example B♭/C or E/A. In Popular music a slash chord or slashed chord is a chord whose Bass note or inversion is indicated by the addition of a slash A slash chord shows a triad with or without extensions (shown to the left of the slash) with a different note in the bass (shown to the right of the slash).

Lyrics

Steely Dan's songs cover a wide range of topics, but in their basic approach Becker and Fagen's writing can be compared with the observational, novelesque style of Lou Reed, and with lyricists such as Langston Hughes, who specializes in creating fictional personas that narrate the experience. Lewis Allan Reed (born March 2 1942 is an American rock Singer-songwriter and Guitarist. Langston Hughes (February 1 1902 &ndash May 22 1967 was an American Poet, Novelist Playwright, Short story writer and Columnist A persona, in the word's everyday usage is a social Role or a character played by an Actor. The duo have said that in retrospect, most of their albums have a 'feel' of either Los Angeles or New York, the two main bases where Becker and Fagen lived and operated (see below). Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Characters appear in their songs that evoke these cities. Themes of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll appear, but never in a straightforward manner, neither encouraging or discouraging, and many (if not all) of their songs are tinged with an ironic edge. An organism's sex is defined by the gametes it produces males produce male gametes (spermatozoa or Sperm) while females produce female gametes (ova or Egg cells; individual Recreational drug use is the use of Psychoactive drugs for Recreational purposes rather than for work, medical or spiritual purposes ^[19]

Additionally, many would argue that Steely Dan never wrote a real love song. ^[20] However, some of the demo-era recordings show Fagen and Becker at their most romantic. Such songs include "This Seat's Been Taken", "Oh, Wow, It's You", "Come Back Baby", and "Rikki Don't Lose That Number". Other themes are also present, such as prejudice, aging, failure, poverty and middle-class ennui, but these are typically seen from an ironic and detached perspective. Many of their songs concern love, but none can be classed as straightforward love songs, since there is inevitably an ironic or disturbing twist in the lyrics. One may think the song is about love on first inspection, however, upon deeper analysis the listener realizes that the real story is about rape, prostitution, incest, or some other socially unacceptable subject.

Steely Dan's lyrics contain subtle and encoded references, unusual (and sometimes original) slang expressions, a wide variety of "word games" and intriguing lyrical choices and constructions of considerable depth. The obscure and sometimes teasing lyrics have given rise to considerable efforts by fans to explain the "inner meaning" of certain songs. ^[21][22] Jazz is a recurring theme, with references abounding in their songs, and there are numerous other film, television and literary references and allusions, such as "Home At Last" (from Aja), which was inspired by The Odyssey. The Odyssey ( Greek: Ὀδύσσεια or Odússeia) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer.

Some of their lyrics are notable for their unusual meter patterns; a prime example of this is their 1972 hit "Reelin' In The Years", which crams an unusually large number of words into each line, giving it a highly syncopated quality. In Poetry, the meter or metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse.

"Name-checking" is another Steely Dan lyrical device; references to real places and people abound in their songs. The song "My Old School" is a well-known example, referring to Annandale (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY is the location of Bard College, which both attended and where they met), and the Two Against Nature album (2000) contains numerous references to the duo's original home region, the New York metro area, including the district of Gramercy Park bookstore The Strand and well-known upmarket food business Dean & DeLuca. Annandale-on-Hudson is a hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, USA, in the Hudson Valley in the Town of Red Hook, across Bard College, founded in 1860 is a small selective four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Gramercy Park (sometimes misspelled as Grammercy) is a small fenced-in private park in the Gramercy neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City Dean & DeLuca is a chain of upscale grocery stores The first one was established in New York City 's SoHo district by Joel Dean and Giorgio DeLuca in September

Discography

• 1972: Can't Buy a Thrill
• 1973: Countdown to Ecstasy
• 1974: Pretzel Logic
• 1975: Katy Lied
• 1976: The Royal Scam
• 1977: Aja
• 1980: Gaucho
• 2000: Two Against Nature
• 2003: Everything Must Go

References

External links

• SteelyDan.com — official website
• DonaldFagen.com — official website
• WalterBecker.com — official website