Been a Steely Dan fan since I was a teen in the 1970's. "Everything Must Go" was bittersweet, because at the time, I and my co-workers worked in a corporate department (very small, well paid) that did research on when companies needed to either merge or divest, and we all understood that we were going to be laid off. In fact, we were on the team that planned our own lay-offs, no hard feelings, but ironic. "Everything Must Go" was our theme song as a team as we saw the end coming. Fortunately, everyone survived and thrived. I even returned to the company that laid me off about three years later with a decent increase in salary. But that song sticks with me to this day, and I've been retired for 5 years.

@davidbutterfield7718

3 ай бұрын

Wow... Great comment/story. Left me a little, er, flabbergasted!

This band had amazing musician ship, beautifully crafted music with a mix of blues and jazz and catchy, riffs and lyrics to make it pop. I can’t imagine why anyone would criticize or talk down about their music, the lyrics, or any of their work. I think they’re amazing.

As one that has followed the Dan for fifty years, read most published articles about them, their concerts, collected books about Steely Dan, and loves them, I compliment you on the wonderful overview on the Dan’s body of work. Your narration is excellent, your insights are well supported, and your visuals are interesting. Thank you for your contribution to interpreting the work of Steely Dan.

the older I get the more i like Steely Dan

@robmills7611

4 ай бұрын

Me too! 👍

@steelydanlover1972

2 ай бұрын

Have you listened to the newly uncovered demo songs?

Can anyone name a band with a catalog of more truly stellar songs?

@melvinwagner3989

5 ай бұрын

Pink Floyd

@joesantamaria5874

4 ай бұрын

Beatles

@baneverything5580

3 ай бұрын

Willie Nelson. Stevie Ray Vaughan. Rush. Kansas. Slimbone Witkins. Jimbob Jones. The Partridge Family. Devo.

@martinsundland7614

3 ай бұрын

@@baneverything5580 Seriously?

@johnthornton3863

2 ай бұрын

There have been many great bands in the rock age. SD in the conversation with the greatest.

Excellent breakdown. Beat poetry with 8 bars.

I can’t wait to see the Ladie’s Guide To Steely Dan!!

@M123OCT

29 күн бұрын

What is a Ladie?

They've been my favourite band since about 1976 (when I was 15). I think my first ever hearing of them was 'Hattian 'Divorce' (which was a minor hit here in the U.K.) on either 'Top of the Pops' or BBC Radio 1. I just couldn't get over the tune, the playing, the lyrics, & the way Fagen sang them: I'd never heard anything like it. ps. Relieved to hear about your Dad. 😊

You moved like the "True Artist", matching the speed of the brush stroke with the speed the paint flows from the bristles, speaking at the speed of a story unfolding, thank You.

'Only a fool...' is Fagan's reaction to John Lennon's 'Imagine'. He felt Lennon's view was naive and childish, especially to a regular 9 to 5 guy. Pretty sure 'Home at Last' alludes to the Iliad.

@edwardmurphy5371

Жыл бұрын

'Home at Last' alludes to the Odyssey.

@lorenzodicapo6305

Жыл бұрын

@@edwardmurphy5371 thank you

@old_hippie1969

5 ай бұрын

@@edwardmurphy5371actually I think it’s just a reference, the main theme is being homesick

@witchitawineman

4 ай бұрын

Oh really! Where did you see this?

@DrLuke49

Ай бұрын

I only discovered the B-side lost tracks within the last couple of years: Second Arrangement, Dallas, Sail The Waterway, The Bear etc. Any Steely Dan B-side blows every so-called current Top-40 hit song right out of the water.

I physically cannot stop listening to steely dan, i don’t know what it is. There’s only one band ever that’s sounded like them and crafted their music so meticulously. Every single day i keep coming back to Gaucho and Aja

What a wonderfully presented video..lot of context & meat on the bone here. Thanks. Great work. I have subscribed to your channel to watch other entries.

Gentlemans guide is a good title for this

@curbhopper66

4 ай бұрын

Gentle Boy more apt...terrible review..why they chose to review songs they admit they don't understand is beyond me..

@darklight4815

4 ай бұрын

@@curbhopper66 we'll be waiting on your video to come out so we can tell you how terrible it is

It's so darn refreshing to hear an intellectual discussion on Steely Dan's back record catalog. Thanks Again! Great Work!

Outstanding overview. Thank you.

The art of the thing hides behind such close inspection of the trite - like atoms up close but diamonds in your hand

Funny, your commentary leaves out the joy of the band’s commentary, about the venues in life that they cruise through, without suffering their effects so much as laughing at them. They are not like the boring psychologist who has to be endured; they are the finer things in life juxtaposed to the ridiculously stuck participants in serious engagements that we all know have their downsides, present at the top of their perceptions of them so that the meat of their stories becomes questionable from the outset, and that their deliberations are comical. And the silver wheel turns to golden time out of mind, where they’re coming from.

@BradBolin

5 ай бұрын

Huh?

'f__king eagles'......... the line of the video 😂 I thought I was the only one. On the serious side, very nice work. really enjoyed.

@soundpainter2590

3 ай бұрын

Actually, it's " Turn up the Eagles, The neighbors are listening"

This is well done with interesting insight

I really enjoyed that, Sir. A real labour of love. I may be wrong, but I always understood the song Pretzel Logic to be about time travel. 😊

Fucking fabulous 'band.' End of. Intelligent, clever, meaningful songs, played by some of the best musicians in the world. We even have Steely Dan 'chords' now. That's a legacy in itself. ( oh, Steve Gadd did 2 takes on Aja, I believe. Still pretty impressive. 🤯).

Well done, with good observations.

Has anyone else ever noticed that part of "King of the World" sounds just like the theme music to the old game show "Card Sharks?"

can any major dude tell me where to find the gentleman loser’s guide to the dan?

Great job Captain !

Steely Dan is amazingly funky, fun and a group that people love (they just don't know, they know the songs but not the names) Great video

YOU'RE BACK

Excellent response all around.

Owen Wilson's character - "I'll tell you what drives me nuts. People who think Jethro Tull is just a person in the band" Doctor - "Who is Jethro Tull?" Owen Wilson's character - 😖 kzread.info/dash/bejne/doRoubSRd72xk5M.html Same thing for Steely Dan. For years I thought that was a dude's name. 🤣

@vaughncollins1386

3 ай бұрын

lol I had a girl over the other night and asked if she liked Steely Dan and she said “yeah I love him.” Lol I just moved past it I didn’t wanna be the guy giving some girl a lecture on Steely Dan but yeah lol i thought it was kinda funny.

If their careers had coincided more, they could have written songs for Coen Brothers movies.

Katy Lies You could see it in her eyes

Yacht Rock is awesome. One day I’ll own a yacht and listen to steely Dan

Beautiful short stories about all kinds of losers.

I like SD and normally use their recordings to test hi fi equipment. That said it's basically math rock. Music school students love them as they love jazz. There is a reason they never charted very high.

Great take as a fan from the '70s onward, to see how they hold up, look up Airplay Beats and Just Jammin for current first listen takes on the band, fulfilling. I'll vote Dr. Wu as best song, how the gentleman loser persona continues on to Deacon Blues, where the gentleman loser thought he had it figured out.

A song like Bodhisattva touches on one of the foundations of Fagan and Becker. That of the bemused east coaster observing the southern California culture and all it's shallowness and superficiality. Fagan isn't just a guy singing about being willing to sell his house to jump into the latest spiritual trend, he's Fagan mocking the guys who would say that.So many of their songs were a detached outlook on life and culture as they negotiate life through LA in the 70's. Maybe the rest of your video discusses this, i haven't watched it all yet!

Apparently they're also one of the most sampled bands in hip hop.

The more any kind of music including jazz, approaches fusion, the worse it gets.

On the subject of yacht rock, you can also add Robbie Dupree, Ambrosia, Rupert Holmes, Christopher Cross, Toto to that list.

Love the title, really enjoying what I've heard so far. I'll take it in steps...I want to stay sharp because I think you know your stuff here. You have an intriguing accent, btw....African/slightly South African in origin? That doesn't actually matter, hahaha, I'm just curious Going to listen to the next 15-20 mins now. Watch this space 😂!

You didnt even mention 'Charlie Freak'. From Pretzel Logic.

Steely Dan stole all our hearts

Jean Shepherd at WOR had a huge influence on Donald Fagen's "The Nightfly". "Rose Darling" is likely not about a couple, it's about pleasuring one's self, drugs or otherwise.

I was only a teenager, but I got quite a laugh hearing the band name "Steely Dan" for the first time. I was like "they put THAT on the radio and got away with it?!"

Great video, but i really do mis some references; like the name of Owsley Stanley a.k.a. Bear for 'Kid Charlemagne' and the story of Peg Entwistle for 'Peg'.

only a fool was a dis track towards lennon

I liked the video. Side note. Rose in “rose darling” is not woman, it’s his hand.

@edwhite7475

5 ай бұрын

Oh, man thats funny... Makes perfect sense. Thank you-

At 3:29 a small error. Fagan didn’t sing lead on Do It Again.

Many associate SD with so-called blue-eyed soul or yacht rock. A better comparison is 70s and 80s R&B, like Anita Baker, George Benson, and Al Jarreau. There is a huge crossover in terms of players on those albums: Greg Phillinganes, Bernard Purdie, Chuck Rainey, Tom Barney, Chris Potter, and on and on and on. There are similarities in rhythm, arrangement, instrumention, and chord selections, among other things.

@robmills7611

4 ай бұрын

Musically definitely but not lyrically

@BradBolin

4 ай бұрын

​@@robmills7611 No, not lyrically, at least that I've heard.

Check out “Cold Front” by The Sonic Executive Sessions. It’s the best Steely Dan song they never did.

I must say I completely disagree with your rating of Pretzel Logic. I really enjoyed the variety and nod to Duke. As a matter of fact I think the song Pretzel Logic is one of the bands best songs. I have no disagreements about Aja, just amazing the recording is the best.

Happy birthday Donald! I have every Steely Dan album 💿 on my playlist as well as Donald’s solo stuff. I love it all! I would encourage anyone who love Steely Dan to check out A Gentleman’ guide to Steely Dan.

"only a fool would say that" was written as a response to Imagine by John Lennon

Get “ citizen dan “ and you have a good foundation

Make more videos like this. You’ll blow up.

'Third World Man' is not my favorite track on Gaucho, but with its sense of apocalyptic fatigue, it is a very appropriate ending to their last album.

Sorry but you’re dead wrong on Gaucho. It’s their number 2 album, right behind Aja. You just have to go back and give it a few more listens or you’ll be a third world man.

...unbelievable and addictive chord changes worthy of a Keith Jarret (Koln Concert style) reinterpretation . . . can you even imagine??? I have . . . W O W W O W W O W L O V E

Do I get a Yacht for being a connoisseur of SD?

Mechanical precision? Doesn't that rule out the session musicians interpretation of what Fagan and Becker wanted? Is Steve Gadd's solo on AJA mechanically precise? Interpretation rules out the idea of precision. Putting it simply they listened to what the various musicians played then put the best into the song

Cool narration, thanks! Countdown to Ecstasy is my favorite of their albums, so far.

Wow. I get totally different meanings from the lyrics.

Only a fool is meant to b about John Lennon,Fagans was pissed off wit some interview Lennon gave and wrote the song.

@Glehost

6 ай бұрын

Yeah

No humor in "Only a Fool..."? You need to listen to it again.

When you finally come to terms with the fact, "The Royal Scam" is alive and well in America today. You understand now how Walter Fagan, as resident prophet of The Dan, answered Paul McCartney's," Mondays on the phone to Tuesday, Wednesday's on the phone to me, Oh Yeah!

If I had never heard Steely Dan I would have no idea how good they were from hearing this video. What about the music quality and music?

@izsantiago7135

11 ай бұрын

Then listen to the music nigga

@Golfstar17

7 ай бұрын

Isn’t your opinion the only one that should matter to you? Why do you need someone else to tell you what you already know and feel?

@edwhite7475

5 ай бұрын

I dont think he could play much from the albums, because of copywright issues. And its mainly HIS impressions of the songs. That being said, im not really agreeing with what he says, and its kind of a drag.

Spinal Tap had nothing on Fagan and Becker...

Genius it's Walter Becker not Baker

@dgtlgrfiti5551

6 ай бұрын

The narrator has a foreign accent, hence the mispronounced "Baker."

I’m not a gentleman.

Whoa! Even Nirvana is not Led Zeppelin!

Woman = one female. Women = more then one female

Chris Potter, not Chris Porter

@dgtlgrfiti5551

6 ай бұрын

The narrator has a foreign accent, hence the "Porter" pronunciation.

i prefer gaucho to aja

You can turn on the Alexandria KZMZ 96.9 FM station and hear Dirty Work and the same 8 or 10 songs they play over and over and over again...and an overload of irritating commercials by Pat Cloud. It`s one of the reasons I`m sickened by FM radio now...and of course...all the other skin crawling garbage like Bro Country and the endless beeping of the F-word being censored out 500 times on whatever that horrible noise is on the other stations. It isn`t music. And its popularity signals the complete doom that lies ahead.

Nice video but it's better iif Walter BECKER is not pronounced BAKER !

The is incredible work old boy. You are obviously a fan of the band but you managed to produce the most drab and asinine interpretations of their work. Anyway whatever floats your boat....

Good work, but you don't seem to get the irony inherent in IGY. Far from being optimistic, he's undoubtedly poking fun at all these wishful predictions about a utopian future.

I can’t lie..I don’t like the later Dan stuff. I prefer the early stuff when they were an actual band.

Their first 5 albums are genius. Shame you didn't get them. You absolutely lost me when you acted like Pretzel Logic was a waste if time.

With ALL due respect. You were a toddler, Or , perhaps not even born yet. So, your life experiences are WAY OFF from reality. They WERE Played. HEAVILY On What was then known as "AOR" Album oriented Rock. ANYONE Who played any instrument, Because They LIVE FOR "The Magic" First & foremost. Having met Fagan & BECKER... I CAN tell you, Becker is likely to pull this... ?? ¿¿ From YT. You have Sooo much WRONG.