I share this with all Steely Dan newbies: When real musicians get off work, they listen to Steely Dan.

The Skunk Baxter's lead guitar is insanely good. That outro could go on forever

I'm a percussionist in a Steely Fan tribute band and playing cowbell on this is one of life's great pleasures for me

@jtjojola

3 ай бұрын

More cowbells...more cowbells!!! 🤣🤣

THERE IS NOT A BAD STEELY DAN SONG PERIOD!

@gerhardbraatz6305

Жыл бұрын

Agree totally!

@kualua6612

Жыл бұрын

You are totally wrong. All Steely Dan songs are BAAAAAAD!

@donnadubyak6504

Жыл бұрын

Truth

@waterdonkey

Жыл бұрын

I couldn't agree more. Can't say that about any of my favorite bands.

@Someone-kg8qf

11 ай бұрын

​@@kualua6612 They are so good. Both of my parents hate them but I started hitting the second hand vinyl bins before I was 10 lol I don't know which one I found first.

Jeff "Skunk" Baxter on that lead guitar. Love the pinch harmonics on this. So squeally

@marycomunale1426

Жыл бұрын

One of my all time favorites

@Ibanezed210

Жыл бұрын

He goes heavy with the thumb as it engulfs the pick and creates that thick sound.

@sourisvoleur4854

Жыл бұрын

The squeak is awesome.

@FreeMTrider

Жыл бұрын

So good....it's almost like he invented it.

It’s interesting that as I am much older and retired I have more time to slow down and listen more intently with a new ear and appreciate all these songs even more.

@MilosDaddy

Жыл бұрын

Well said. The same here. Listening to music is a big part of my happy retirement

@jahdonkey

4 ай бұрын

I think you kinda evolve into Steely Dan.

@jeffkuespert

2 ай бұрын

@@jahdonkey100% agree

Steely Dan is probably my favorite group ever. Their music can’t be beat. My favorite Steely Dan song is Black Cow from the Aja album.

@TheCornishCockney

Жыл бұрын

Drink your big black cow and get outta here. WHAT an album.

@brucemarshall9521

Жыл бұрын

One of a kind band.

@MrDuneedon

Жыл бұрын

The production -- impeccable.

@Wordsmyth8

Жыл бұрын

@@MrDuneedon Absolutely!

@MrDuneedon

Жыл бұрын

@@stevecontini5386 Ah, yes. My favorite Dan album!

That's Jeff Baxter on guitar. He also played with The Doobie Brothers.

One of the best horn songs ever performed in pop/rock music IMO, glad you all liked it 🙂

@chrisbarlow2131

Жыл бұрын

Spot on Frank!!

@williamcabell142

Жыл бұрын

Pop/Rock....🤨 It’s jazz/Rock fusion! I have to ask, can you find your ass with both hands🤷🏻‍♂️

I was a senior in HS and this came on the radio, I had never heard anything like it. It turned me on to Steely Dan, which turned me onto Jazz, and it changed my life.

I absolutely love when you guys hear one of Steely Dan’s songs for the first time 😎❤️🔥

They typically closed their live show with this song and the energy of the crowd was bananas! No matter how many times I hear their catalog I always hear something new and I remain utterly impressed by their genius. Timeless perfection.

Talk about an OUTRO........ This track has it all. Horns, guitars and great background vocals.

Reggie Bush loved this track. In high school, our English teacher was a big Steely Dan fan, played tracks between classes. Reggie walks in one day, My Old School is playing, and Reggie says "what is THIS? Damn, those HORNS are HOT!"

For me, this is one of my favorite Dan tunes. The funk is off the charts, and those horns in the middle just carry this tune to the nether regions of amazing and beyond. The guitar on the outro is one of my favorite guitar solos of all time. To me, this song is a 10 ++++. Greatness realized.

@stevecontini5386

3 ай бұрын

Yea its a top 5 for me with with kid charlemagne we jammed this one a lot cruisin n boozin in my 69 buick skylark good ole days ! 🤘🎹🎸🎷🎺🎧🎶🕪

Can't wait until you hit FM and Black Cow. Talk about a groove!

@79BlackRose

Жыл бұрын

And "Babylon Sisters"!

@ohfour-seven6228

Жыл бұрын

@@79BlackRose I love Babylon Sisters too!

This is my fave Steely Dan. A desert island song for me. And I believe it's based on a (mostly) true story.

Google has the short story: “The song's lyrics tell the story of a May 1969 drug bust at Bard College, referred to in the lyrics by its location, Annandale. The incident happened while both Donald Fagen and Walter Becker were students there, and the song mentions how a female acquaintance had betrayed them to "Daddy Gee" (G. Gordon Liddy), then the local prosecutor. “ That would be Gordon Liddy of Watergate fame.

I think you guys would love the guitar opener by the talented Larry Carlton in Don't Take Me Alive. 😉 SD is most definitely my "desert island" band. The breadth and depth of their catalog is mind boggling!

@chrisbarlow2131

Жыл бұрын

Mate, they've covered it. Loved it!!

@ingridstrickland8768

Жыл бұрын

I saw Larry Carlton with Steely Dan the first concert they played after Walter passed in Citi Field….2017. Missed seeing Walter but Larry? Awesome!

The marriage of horns and guitar has never been finer, phenomenal!

As a Brit with tons of choice from my own country,SD are my favourite band among many many favourites. Musical perfection. Wait til you get to the album Gaucho!

Steely Dan is a great American rock band founded in 1971. They had a lot of great hits such as "Do It Again", "Reelin' In The Years", "Dirty Work", "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", "Hey Nineteen", "Peg", "Josie", "Deacon Blues", "Show Biz Kids", "FM", "Babylon Sisters" etc.

And those lyrics…..”Oh no, William and Mary won’t do, now”. I love it!

That baritone sax holds it all down!

@laurel4853

Жыл бұрын

My favorite part!

Yes it does grow on you. The thing about this song is they used it for the encore song both times I've seen them ( in the last 10 years ) and everyone was on their feet very enthusiasticly singing at the top of their lungs "I'm never going BACK to my old school!" best encore song ever.

@jacksonmorganfroghin4815

Жыл бұрын

That's how I feel. My graduating class had a number of class reunions. I never went to any of them. I like to move forward not backward. Nostalgia is not for me at all. That's one of the Steely Dan's best but you could say that about every single song they did. West of Hollywood is my current favorite. Next month it could be Black Cow again or Dr Wu, Boston Rag or Gaslighting Abby.

Skunk Baxter related a story in his interview with the Musicians Hall of Fame. Fagen &Becker were notorious for doing multiple takes while recording but according to Skunk, they had an understanding with the musicians that, if he felt he had given his best, they would move on. That's exactly what happened with his first take of the guitar solo in My Old School. Fagen wanted to do another take. Skunk said, nope, that's it. And that's the take you hear.

Always good to hear Steely Dan

Oleander, growing outside her door………. I LOVE this. Pot was demonized……. I’ve been in a raid 1977….. we were all scared as shit! Cops came busting into the party and confiscated everyone’s stash. Then, they left……. What a bring down and then …..we all cracked up in the end and no one got arrested 😎🤪

For me, the genius of "My Old School" has always been the way Jeff "Skunk" Baxter's lead guitar plays off of Jimmie Haskell's brilliant horn arrangement. Love the moment when "California ... tumbles into the sea" to the bleat of a baritone sax. This was released as a single in late 1973, and only went to #63, but over the years has become every Steely Dan tribute band's set closer.

This might be Steely Dan’s best album. Every song on it should be hit.

Steely Dan's AJA Album was a monster hit on the Michigan State University campus in the Spring of 1979. I still love the album and the Band 45 years later!!

@bluelionvintage8134

Жыл бұрын

One of the few albums of all time where EVERY dang song on it is a 10!!

"they make you come to them..." that was a great take, and I never realized but you are so correct....who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? 😄 Steely Dan is a deep dive for sure, but So worth it...never boring, at times make you wonder, What?? lol Great react!

Guys, Steely Dan is beyond awesome (as are you)!!! They're group that was played on so many formats--Album Oriented Rock, Top 40, Adult Contemporary, Alternative, Jazz, et al. They are every man's band.

So, what I'm hearing is that you eeed to, and are contemplating more Steely Dan songs. The next one you hear will be your favorite... until you hear another. I like seeing your Initial reactions to Steely Dan! Keep them coming brothers.

I listen to Steely Dan today as much as I listened to them in High School. Timeless and Perfection.

You never know what you’re going to get, but you can bet IT will be awesome! We’ve seen Steely Dan live at least 7-8 times. Love love love them.

One of my favorite bands. So many great songs.

One of their greatest songs, no doubt about it!

The guitar work in this song is so fire!

Ah, the theme song of my Alma Mater, Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. The members of Steely Dan met there, and there are many many references to Bard in the song.

Each song has a special surprise in it like when you were a kid diggin in the cereal box. All the tracks on Aja will blow your mind 🔥

Every Steely Dan song is a celebration!

Steely Dan songs always tell an interesting story on top of the music masterpiece. Sometimes, they are also just FUN. This is one of them. "Bad Sneakers" is another that will have you humming the tune afterward.

From 1988-1993 I was in the Air Force down in Tampa, FL. There was a sort of biker bar called the South End Saloon Bar & Grill that started having local cover bands around '92-'93. One of them used to bust out Steely Dan's "My Old School" and "Kid Charlemagne" during their sets. Great songs, but not the ones I'd expect a cover band to play. I was pleasantly surprised. Those were good times.

This one and "Hey Nineteen " are my favorite Steely Dan songs. - along with "Black Cow".

@donnadubyak6504

Жыл бұрын

Me too

Always love you guys. Great chemistry and you're all real music lovers. And Steely Dan. My fav band growing up and still today.

Thanks for the reaction. I'm a Bard grad and the band actually did go back to Bard at one point for graduation ceremonies; this song was blasting out of all the windows of student dorms. It was so odd! I love that such a funky song is about my alma mater.

Black Cow, Josie, Babylon Sisters, Pretzel Logic, Deacon Blues, FM. Don't Take Me Alive, Dr Wu...enjoy your Steely Dan journey!

@Wordsmyth8

Жыл бұрын

Black Cow and Pretzel Logic are such great tunes.

Great SD tune - great take guys. I think you're ready for some of their most ambitious material... one in particular is the title track from their "Royal Scam" album. So moving and deep, in a concert from a few years ago they expanded RS into a 20 minute opus - slowly dropping musicians out until only a percussionist remained. People were weeping. You'll hear it in the studio release. Keep up the entertaining takes.

@TheCornishCockney

Жыл бұрын

There is no such thing as a favourite Dan album,I love them all and cannot separate them,but gun to head,The Royal Scam just ahead. Will be totally different next week though!

@lukekiefer5964

Жыл бұрын

@@TheCornishCockney You encapsulated my feelings- Impossible to pick a best album, and at times I think it’s Two Against Nature, Gaucho, Aja, or the Royal Scam. Depends on how I’m feeling that day lol

@briangray00

Жыл бұрын

I'd dearly like to find a 20 minute Royal Scam; I might weep too.

One thing you can be sure of with steely Dan: the song will be good 😊

the core members of Toto -- David Paich, Jeff Porcaro, Steve Lukather and David Hungate worked with Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs and Michael Jackson. These guys played on literally hundreds of records before and even after they formed Toto. They formed Toto after running into each other so many times at sessions and deciding they should start their own band. Plus, several of the guys all grew up together and went to the same high school in Van Nuys.

This confirms it... I definitely grew up with the best music ever! 🙂

@keithjones7390

Жыл бұрын

Agree absolutely, a phenomenal time for fantastic music!

@acooksla

11 ай бұрын

We did

The thing with SD is that the songs are so complex that you have to listen to them multiple times to appreciate. Donald Fagen is one of the great songwriters of his generation. Yes I loved Walter Becker as well. So many great songs. Enjoy your reactions to music I grew up with.

It's magic just watching your faces light up in smiles at the wonderful music that is Steely Dan. They never did self pity or depressive music. Even if the subject matter leaned that way, their music was always joyous. You're in for a ball. Enjoy the ride guys. It just gets better and better.

My favorite instrumental break in all of rock, especially those rolling saxophones and Jeff Baxter's awesome lead guitar. Second place - "School" by Supertramp. Yeah, I know, both titles contain "School." It's just coincidence.

I suspect the music of Steely Dan is going to survive until the end of the Universe...

@gerardodoherty9178

Жыл бұрын

@KI Tan at least !

Check out “Reelin’ In the Years”, “Peg” and “Kid Charlemagne”.

@lesleyd2448

Жыл бұрын

Yes pls

Please consider "The Gaucho" when you're finished doing the bigger hits from Steely Dan. I know Ryan will love the sax riff and you will all love the instrumentation. The lyrics will stun you and then you'll be off to the internet to find out their meaning and see the three really prominent theories on the lyrics yet you'll be no better off because any of them work. Great video guys!

Toto were the session musicians for Steely Dan and Boz Scaggs.

You need to do black cow and Kid Charlemagne too. Awesome songs.

This song is an amazing experience in the SD live performamaces .

Absolutely, ❤ Steely Dan, others Peg, hey 19, reelin in the years, Babylon Sisters, FM, Home at Last and more. Great reaction thanks guys!

Highly Recommended - Deep, deep, deep Dive: FM, Kid Charlemagne, Your Gold Teeth, Your Gold Teeth II, Time Out of Mind, Peg, Jack of Speed, Lunch with Gina, Doctor Wu, Razor Boy. Pretzel Logic, Black Friday, Haitian Divorce, Black Cow, Home at Last, Babylon Sisters, Hey 19 (you may have heard this), Janie Runaway, West of Hollywood, Everything Must Go, Third World Man, There is also Donald Fagen solo material: IGY, New Frontier, Tomorrow's Girls, Florida Room, The Nightfly, Goodbye Look,, Good Stuff, Slinky Thing, I'm Not the Same Without You, The Night Belongs to Mona, Countermoon, Great Pagoda of Funn... Walter Becker: Paging Audrey, Downtown Canon, Book of Liars...

Hi 502! We love Steely Dan you should wait no longer and review “Hey 19” you will love the instrumental and story…..by the way, there is an awesome live extended version of “year of the Cat” you have to hear!!!

"Daddy G" was the local prosecutor G. Gordon Liddy who arrested 44 Bard students 1969, and in 1972 a jury found him guilty, and served 5 years in federal prison for his involvement in Watergate, called "The Whitehouse Plumbers". From the same album song "The Boston Rag" about a student from Bard College.

Just as how many people love Steely Dan and their musicianship, variety of sounds and production values, that's how I feel about - and well beyond that - my favourite band of all time, Supertramp. Supertramp's sound is never dull with a massively deep catalogue between 1974-84 combining great keyboards and sax/woodwinds, engaging alternating lead singers and absolutely superior socially conscious, sometimes cynical and sometimes hopeful, spiritual lyrics. Do yourself and your viewers a favour and get into their amazing, timeless music.

@keithjones7390

Жыл бұрын

Steely Dan and Supertramp are two of my favourite bands ever. They both take pride of place in my record collection, their best albums for me were recorded in the early to mid 70's. If l had to narrow it down to two favourite albums from each it would be Pretzel Logic and The Royal Scam from SD and Crime of the Century and Breakfast in America from Supertramp.

@timwhitnell7145

Жыл бұрын

@@keithjones7390 Hi, Keith. Always nice to speak to a fellow Supertramp fan. I am still shocked, frustrated and even a little angry that after all these years they are still not in the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. A complete joke and travesty.

It's great to watch you hear this for the first time. I've known this song since it came out and watching you guys react sort of gives it a refresh, sort of a, "oh, yeah, this song DOES kick ass."

Definitely a lyrics song... A message that Don and Walter needed to get off their chest How many know Daddy G is G. Gordon Liddy of Nixon/Water gate infamy???? 😮

@leonardshevlin7260

Жыл бұрын

My father and Liddy became friends at Fordham and then served together.

@jacksonmorganfroghin4815

Жыл бұрын

Yes. And they didn't mention Chevy Chase who also attended Bard and actually played drums with Don and Walter for awhile.

@dirkchristensen6143

Жыл бұрын

@@leonardshevlin7260 don't know whether to say "cool" or not!

@craigplatel813

Жыл бұрын

I do.

@dirkchristensen6143

Жыл бұрын

@@craigplatel813 I'll bite. Which? Cool or not cool?

Steely Dan dont have a single bad song, you guys could pick any from their catalogue ansd it will be fire

Nine studio and 2 brilliant Fagen-solo albums later, this duo has more creative musicality in one average song than you'll find in any TEN albums from your contemporary "artists." Getting better with repeat listens. . . . . you guys nailed that comment. And you'll discover the amazing pains Fagen/Becker always took in their hiring/choosing instrumental soloists. This duo is still unequaled in their 30 year+ history of songwriting and production.

Ohhhh here we go!!!!! Thee baddest duo/band hands down!!!! Yalll gotta react to: Do it Again, Third World Man, Babylon Sisters, The Fez, Kids Charlamagne, Peg, Home At Last!!!!!

Imagine, if you will, or can, growing up with this? Like Led Zep, and a few other bands, you never knew what's next! But you knew it was going to be Awesome...

@acooksla

11 ай бұрын

Yup, we had countless bands, hundreds, all amazing, god, we were lucky

Steely Dan do not miss. Facts! 💯

Night by Night from Pretzel Logic is pretty damn funky. You just can't go wrong with SD. My favorite all time band.

Black Cow, Josie, Babylon Sisters, Hey Nineteen, Peg....just a few of my favorites 😍

This is my personal favorite Steely Dan album; if you want dirty guitar, it's all over this album. You're not going to get a lot of suggestions for "The Boston Rag", but trust me, it is a classic slow burn tale.

@collinmc3079

Жыл бұрын

You took the words I was going to write, my favourite Steely album and love the Boston Rag.

Glad to see you guys enjoying MOS. It is my favorite song of all time, regardless of musical genre. It's a wonderful song that grooves it way into your height and soul. Thanks.

Chevy Chase was at Bard College with Becker and Fagen and played drums in a group they had. "You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It (Or You'll Lose That Groove)"

I like the saying; my favorite Steely Dan song is one I'm playing. Don't forget about Donald Fagen's solo albums. Nightfly is a classic.

"When you put me on the Wolverine up to Annandale..." The Wolverine was an Amtrak train that ran from NYC up the Hudson Valley then to Chicago via Buffalo and Detroit. Bard College is in the Hudson Valley town of Annandale-on-Hudson

Welcome to the world of Dan! Skunk Baxter rippin' the guitar solos. My favorite all-time song.

Happy to listen in for a moment as you friends experience -- and comment on -- "older" art. Boz, as well. We really didn't know what we were witnessing. Some of us, at least.

Great to watch! Kid Charlemagne is an absolute must for you guys

Many, many great cuts from SD. Their Magnum Opus, however, is 'Deacon Blues'. A must... Appreciate your channel and reactions, guys. Keep it up! Honorable mention - 'Skunk' Baxter on lead guitar, My Old School. Smokin! Also lead guitar for Doobie Brothers; who, if you've never done a reaction to, well it's a must!

Awesome song! Happy Easter 🐰🐇 😊

The whole idea about SD , is replay value. The more you listen the more you like. Music so good, but more important, you don't know what to expect.

The best Jazz/Rock Fusion ever made! MONSTERS! 😎🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

YAY MY FAVORITE BAND!!!

The best pinched note guitar solo ever recorded!

@79BlackRose

Жыл бұрын

La Grange, ZZ Top?

@chrisbarlow2131

Жыл бұрын

@@79BlackRose Very close second !

There is no bad Steely Dan.

You were giggling because the music spoke without words.Unique.

Steely Dan has a lot of good songs, I think this is not our last meeting with this group.

I love the laughing reaction. Like oh my god what are you playing? It's too good.

Gotta do "Josie" Gentleman ❤️ Honestly I'm surprised that it hasn't been sampled yet, to my knowledge.

Jeff "Skunk" Baxter left his musical career (he was one of the top recording studio musicians at the time he left) to become a self-taught missile defense consultant for the government. He even became the chair of the Congressional Advisory Board on missile defense at one point. Fascinating guy!

I love all their songs but this somehow stands out because it's so damn fun to listen to. And if you see them in concert they always play this as their final Encore and the crowd is up and singing along with it and it's just phenomenal

Steely Dan was the next band after Creedence Clearwater to sound like none of their peers at the time of their success.

But more than ever... Donnie Iris - Ah Leah! must do!!!

I've seen them live countless times and used to end with this song and everyone on their feet screaming the lyrics. EPIC

My dear friend Jeffrey Young also played on their albums and on tour with them, he comped us tickets. Ore than once. We met the members of the band after, they said it was the best gig ever, top of their game type of gig.