I'll make it this time / I'm ready to cross that fine line
September 3, 2017 8:19 AM Subscribe
Steely Dan’s Walter Becker Dead at 67 | Becker was born Feb. 20, 1950 in Queens, N.Y., and was raised in the borough community. Initially a saxophonist, he took up the guitar as a teen. He encountered his future partner Donald Fagen as a student at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, while playing a gig at the local club the Red Balloon.
Becker and Fagen rose to fame in the 70's with an inventive approach to rock that incorporated elements of jazz. Hit singles like “Dirty Work,” “Reelin’ in the Years,” and “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” carried their popularity through the decade, but a series of personal trials and professional exhaustion caused their breakup in 1981. They eventually got back together in 1993, and have been touring ever since.
Fagen posted a heartfelt message, closing with, "I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band."
Becker and Fagen rose to fame in the 70's with an inventive approach to rock that incorporated elements of jazz. Hit singles like “Dirty Work,” “Reelin’ in the Years,” and “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” carried their popularity through the decade, but a series of personal trials and professional exhaustion caused their breakup in 1981. They eventually got back together in 1993, and have been touring ever since.
Fagen posted a heartfelt message, closing with, "I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band."
He learned to work the saxophone, and he certainly did play just what he felt. RIP, Deacon.
posted by Zonker at 8:26 AM on September 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by Zonker at 8:26 AM on September 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
Oh goodness! I don't know if he was Steely or Dan, but the world of music is less rich with his passing.
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posted by hippybear at 8:30 AM on September 3, 2017
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posted by hippybear at 8:30 AM on September 3, 2017
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posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 8:31 AM on September 3, 2017
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 8:31 AM on September 3, 2017
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posted by young_simba at 8:34 AM on September 3, 2017
posted by young_simba at 8:34 AM on September 3, 2017
Oh damn. I've loved them forever; as a kid growing up in the '70s in New Jersey, Steely Dan was the image of the magical Oz that I thought California was.
I got a chance to see them in ~'92 and that's still one of my favorite shows.
posted by octothorpe at 8:36 AM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
I got a chance to see them in ~'92 and that's still one of my favorite shows.
posted by octothorpe at 8:36 AM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Aw man . I saw them a few years ago and he was great. Huge loss.
posted by freecellwizard at 8:36 AM on September 3, 2017
posted by freecellwizard at 8:36 AM on September 3, 2017
Total bummer. Steely Dan has always been so fine. Great performers.
posted by strelitzia at 8:40 AM on September 3, 2017
posted by strelitzia at 8:40 AM on September 3, 2017
Saw them three years ago, and Walter was still as weird and awesome as ever. RIP.
posted by briank at 8:40 AM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by briank at 8:40 AM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
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I just really started getting into Steely Dan. I don't know why it took me so long—instrumental virtuosity without descending into masturbation, clever lyrical conceits, and a sardonic sense of humor. Should tick all my boxes. Better late than never, I guess.
And then, I wake up to this. RIP.
posted by SansPoint at 8:45 AM on September 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
I just really started getting into Steely Dan. I don't know why it took me so long—instrumental virtuosity without descending into masturbation, clever lyrical conceits, and a sardonic sense of humor. Should tick all my boxes. Better late than never, I guess.
And then, I wake up to this. RIP.
posted by SansPoint at 8:45 AM on September 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
One of my favorite bands. Some of the finest lyrics, music and production of its kind.
"Drive west on Sunset to the sea..." never fails to evoke a mood and time.
Thank you, Mr. B.
aav.
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posted by the sobsister at 8:46 AM on September 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
"Drive west on Sunset to the sea..." never fails to evoke a mood and time.
Thank you, Mr. B.
aav.
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posted by the sobsister at 8:46 AM on September 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
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(The band's name has more surprising origins than many might imagine)
posted by rongorongo at 8:50 AM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
(The band's name has more surprising origins than many might imagine)
posted by rongorongo at 8:50 AM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Did you realize that you were a champion in their eyes?
posted by STFUDonnie at 8:50 AM on September 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by STFUDonnie at 8:50 AM on September 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Fuuuuuuuck
posted by nevercalm at 8:50 AM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by nevercalm at 8:50 AM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
...and yet Chevy Chase still survives.
posted by leotrotsky at 8:54 AM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 8:54 AM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
In the age before the internets (and knowing nothing about college sports), I could never decipher the lyric:
They got a name for the winners in the worldposted by octothorpe at 8:55 AM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
I want a name when I lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blues…
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posted by Mister Bijou at 8:57 AM on September 3, 2017
posted by Mister Bijou at 8:57 AM on September 3, 2017
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posted by heurtebise at 9:09 AM on September 3, 2017
posted by heurtebise at 9:09 AM on September 3, 2017
μ
posted by pracowity at 9:10 AM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by pracowity at 9:10 AM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
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posted by Silverstone at 9:10 AM on September 3, 2017
posted by Silverstone at 9:10 AM on September 3, 2017
I like Radiohead, Eminem, and Beck well enough, but Steely Dan totally deserved that Album of the Year Grammy in 2001. Two Against Nature is kickass.
posted by riruro at 9:12 AM on September 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by riruro at 9:12 AM on September 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
Damn, I loved that band. My brother told me he hated "Rikki Don't Lose that Number," and I said it's not representative and told him to try "Doctor Wu." What a loss.
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posted by languagehat at 9:16 AM on September 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
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posted by languagehat at 9:16 AM on September 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
One of the worst musical losses of my lifetime. This hits hard. Very hard.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 9:16 AM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 9:16 AM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Yeah, for the last X years I managed to just miss their concerts, vowing to catch them "next time around."
I don't regret much of anything in life, but still wish I would have seen them in concert.
Here's an interview with Donald Fagan from a month ago, which included words about Becker's health.
posted by SteveInMaine at 9:26 AM on September 3, 2017
I don't regret much of anything in life, but still wish I would have seen them in concert.
Here's an interview with Donald Fagan from a month ago, which included words about Becker's health.
posted by SteveInMaine at 9:26 AM on September 3, 2017
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posted by porn in the woods at 9:26 AM on September 3, 2017
posted by porn in the woods at 9:26 AM on September 3, 2017
I'm trying to think of an apt Dan lyric for this but there are just too many good ones. I'll just spend the day listening. So long Walter. You were a big part of my musical life.
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posted by jabo at 9:34 AM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
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posted by jabo at 9:34 AM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Devastating news. As a 70s kid who was deep into hard rock/prog, Steely Dan still hit such a sweet spot with me. The combination of brilliant lyrics, sophisticated music that never lacked in hooks, and so freaking many awesome guitar solos, several of which were Walter's (Josie, Black Friday, Gaucho, Bad Sneakers, The Fez, Home At Last and Haitian Divorce to name a few). I still play a lot of SD and still find details I missed back in the day. RIP you sardonic glorious bastard.
posted by Ber at 9:36 AM on September 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by Ber at 9:36 AM on September 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
Despite musical tastes that run more to the low-fi punk end of the spectrum, I love Steely Dan, as I love very few other bands. The songs are just entirely too compelling. The never really grow stale from overexposure in the way that too much other classic rock did for me a long, long time ago.
And I'm always finding new reasons to listen. Recently, Jon Bois' "17776" included a few references to Steely Dan, and specifically the song "The Caves of Altamira", which is maybe the perfect song to invoke in a narrative that's at least partially about how we relate to vast periods of time. And lately I've been thinking that in an era of rabid anti-immigrant sentiment, the title track from "The Royal Scam" captures more of the national character than anyone would like to admit, even three and a half decades on.
He's leaving behind a wealth of painfully frank, maddeningly oblique, resonant music. Thanks, Walter, and .
posted by Ipsifendus at 9:56 AM on September 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
And I'm always finding new reasons to listen. Recently, Jon Bois' "17776" included a few references to Steely Dan, and specifically the song "The Caves of Altamira", which is maybe the perfect song to invoke in a narrative that's at least partially about how we relate to vast periods of time. And lately I've been thinking that in an era of rabid anti-immigrant sentiment, the title track from "The Royal Scam" captures more of the national character than anyone would like to admit, even three and a half decades on.
He's leaving behind a wealth of painfully frank, maddeningly oblique, resonant music. Thanks, Walter, and .
posted by Ipsifendus at 9:56 AM on September 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
My favorite band as a teen was Steely Dan. Criminally underrated. If they aren't in the R&R HoF, they sure as hell need to be.
posted by Beholder at 10:01 AM on September 3, 2017
posted by Beholder at 10:01 AM on September 3, 2017
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posted by mikelieman at 10:03 AM on September 3, 2017
posted by mikelieman at 10:03 AM on September 3, 2017
I'm never going back to my old school.
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posted by Halloween Jack at 10:07 AM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
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posted by Halloween Jack at 10:07 AM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Back around 1999-2000, the company I was working for loaned me out to a company in Boston they were partnering with for a couple of months. They put me up in a corporate apartment, and it was the first time in a few years I'd slept alone (Hi, Mrs. Example), much less in a strange place for an extended period.
The only way I could manage to get to sleep was by very softly playing the one Steely Dan CD I'd brought with me. Many was the night I drifted off listening to "Deacon Blues".
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posted by Mr. Bad Example at 10:09 AM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
The only way I could manage to get to sleep was by very softly playing the one Steely Dan CD I'd brought with me. Many was the night I drifted off listening to "Deacon Blues".
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posted by Mr. Bad Example at 10:09 AM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Steely Dan's music seems to have such a timeless quality to it. I find, if I'm not sure what I want to listen to, one of their albums will certainly fit the bill.
Plus, what other band could write a song about Homer's Odyssey, get Bernard Purdie to play the drums on it, and have it be a hit.
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posted by penguinicity at 10:10 AM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Plus, what other band could write a song about Homer's Odyssey, get Bernard Purdie to play the drums on it, and have it be a hit.
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posted by penguinicity at 10:10 AM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Aja is always in my van, waiting for a road trip. I can't count the times, driving out in the middle of nowhere, I am singing at the top of my lungs, I'll learn the work the saxophone, and I'll play just what I feel...
posted by Oyéah at 10:13 AM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 10:13 AM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
I started getting into them about 15 years ago. Music was in a shit place in 02 so I started working my way back in time instead. What began as an ironic affection for cheese ended up giving way to the realization that these guys were actually flat out brilliant and perhaps even stealthily so. There's millions of words written already about Fagen's dark sarcastic wit but I posit that there are parallels between his ability to lace a happy melody with something more sinister and Bob Mould's hiding sweet pop melodies deep in walls of hardcore feedback in Husker Du, the latter just given more of a hip-cred seal of approval.
There's a tired cliche that you only get into Steely Dan as a result of getting older.
And while that is somewhat true it's more accurate to say you get into Steely Dan as the result of getting better at listening to music.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 10:17 AM on September 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
There's a tired cliche that you only get into Steely Dan as a result of getting older.
And while that is somewhat true it's more accurate to say you get into Steely Dan as the result of getting better at listening to music.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 10:17 AM on September 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
Steely Dan is pretty much my favorite band. I'm fortunate to have been able to see them live several times. For a band that supposedly wasn't a fan of touring, they put on a great show. One of my favorite memories of the last show of theirs that I saw was Becker doing this really long, hilarious, raunchy talk-up in the middle of "Hey Nineteen" leading into the "Cuervo Gold" line. He also sang lead on "Gaucho" during this tour (not sure if this was a regular thing) which made me hear the song in an entirely different way. See your favorites while you can!
posted by The Gooch at 10:20 AM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by The Gooch at 10:20 AM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
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(My BIL, also a livelong musician and a saxophonist, died suddenly this week at 66. What the fuck is up with the sudden loss of saxophonists?)
posted by suelac at 10:27 AM on September 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
(My BIL, also a livelong musician and a saxophonist, died suddenly this week at 66. What the fuck is up with the sudden loss of saxophonists?)
posted by suelac at 10:27 AM on September 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
I never had to decide whether or not to like them because they were all around in the 70s and 80s -- like asking if you like air.
RIP to another bit of the sound of my yourh.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:30 AM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
RIP to another bit of the sound of my yourh.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:30 AM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
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For one more time, let your madness run with mine.
posted by mogget at 10:31 AM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
For one more time, let your madness run with mine.
posted by mogget at 10:31 AM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Before the fall when they wrote it on the wall
When there wasn't even any Hollywood
They heard the call
And they wrote it on the wall
For you and me we understood
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posted by MrBadExample at 10:31 AM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
When there wasn't even any Hollywood
They heard the call
And they wrote it on the wall
For you and me we understood
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posted by MrBadExample at 10:31 AM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
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posted by jim in austin at 10:33 AM on September 3, 2017
posted by jim in austin at 10:33 AM on September 3, 2017
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I suspect I've gone on at length hereabouts about what I don't particularly like about Steely Dan's stuff ... but they changed everything forever anyway, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that first album.
posted by philip-random at 10:36 AM on September 3, 2017
I suspect I've gone on at length hereabouts about what I don't particularly like about Steely Dan's stuff ... but they changed everything forever anyway, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that first album.
posted by philip-random at 10:36 AM on September 3, 2017
Octothorpe - The University of Alabama sports program, most notably its football team, is known as the Crimson Tide.
Tonight I shall toast him with Cuervo Gold and fine Columbian.
posted by carmicha at 10:41 AM on September 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
Tonight I shall toast him with Cuervo Gold and fine Columbian.
posted by carmicha at 10:41 AM on September 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
I once tried to learn the guitar to "Josie" but those mu chords are beyond my primitive mortal understanding.
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posted by RobotVoodooPower at 10:44 AM on September 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by RobotVoodooPower at 10:44 AM on September 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
How the times are getting hard
And that fearsome excavation
On Magnolia Boulevard
Yes I'm going insane
And I'm laughing at the frozen rain
Written a decade before there really was a "fearsome excavation on Magnolia Boulevard" where they put the first leg of L.A.'s Red Line subway... I sang that every time I drove past it.
In the musical 'class' of "Yacht Rock", the Dan was the Class of the Class. I loved every album. I must admit I preferred Fagan's solo efforts to Becker's, but this is still a serious loss to the world of Serious Pop Music.
. 🎼 🎵
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:45 AM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
And that fearsome excavation
On Magnolia Boulevard
Yes I'm going insane
And I'm laughing at the frozen rain
Written a decade before there really was a "fearsome excavation on Magnolia Boulevard" where they put the first leg of L.A.'s Red Line subway... I sang that every time I drove past it.
In the musical 'class' of "Yacht Rock", the Dan was the Class of the Class. I loved every album. I must admit I preferred Fagan's solo efforts to Becker's, but this is still a serious loss to the world of Serious Pop Music.
. 🎼 🎵
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:45 AM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
My kid turned 19 last week and I posted "Hey Nineteen" on his timeline, which threw me into a rabbit hole of Steely Dan. "I want a name when I lose" can make me teary every time.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 10:45 AM on September 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 10:45 AM on September 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
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posted by heatvision at 10:55 AM on September 3, 2017
posted by heatvision at 10:55 AM on September 3, 2017
And I do occasionally sing "I want a name when I oops / They call Alabama the Crimson Tide / Call me One Swell Foop".
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:55 AM on September 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:55 AM on September 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
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posted by doctor_negative at 10:57 AM on September 3, 2017
posted by doctor_negative at 10:57 AM on September 3, 2017
I saw Donald Fagan a couple of weeks ago in Montgomery Alabama. That "crimson tide" line was a major hit with the audience -- I think the band might have repeated the chorus a couple of extra times more than usual.
It did seem that a lot of the crowd was kind of on the "geriatric" side (my own self included). I joked with my friends that the next time he played here, the civic center would need to make accommodations for all of the audience members in wheelchairs with O2 tanks.
It was a damn fine show, though.
Oh, and .
posted by TwoToneRow at 11:13 AM on September 3, 2017
It did seem that a lot of the crowd was kind of on the "geriatric" side (my own self included). I joked with my friends that the next time he played here, the civic center would need to make accommodations for all of the audience members in wheelchairs with O2 tanks.
It was a damn fine show, though.
Oh, and .
posted by TwoToneRow at 11:13 AM on September 3, 2017
The point above about how well the 70s output of Steely Dan stands up bears repetition. They had it figured out and dialed in to perfection.
posted by MattD at 11:30 AM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by MattD at 11:30 AM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
I have no words. Totally devastated.
Steely Dan was my first favorite band, and they will always be my favorite band, through it all.
Walter Becker shaped - defined, even - my ability to listen to and appreciate music, to listen between the lines. Eternally grateful. Wish I had had a chance to tell him.
posted by Dr. Wu at 11:33 AM on September 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
Steely Dan was my first favorite band, and they will always be my favorite band, through it all.
Walter Becker shaped - defined, even - my ability to listen to and appreciate music, to listen between the lines. Eternally grateful. Wish I had had a chance to tell him.
posted by Dr. Wu at 11:33 AM on September 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
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posted by Joey Michaels at 11:34 AM on September 3, 2017
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:34 AM on September 3, 2017
Add me to the list of Steely Dan fans greatly saddened by this. Hanging out with Kid Charlemagne now, I guess
posted by TedW at 11:47 AM on September 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by TedW at 11:47 AM on September 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Steely Dan helped carry us through the musical desert of the late 70's.
posted by tommyD at 12:08 PM on September 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by tommyD at 12:08 PM on September 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
My wife is a much bigger Steely Dan fan than me and says part of the reason for all the guest musicians is that Fagen and Becker were constantly dreaming up musical ideas that were too complicated for them to personally handle. They were masters at bringing together talent to make great, timeless songs with some seriously great playing.
The Kid Charlemagne solo by Larry Carlton ... just wowzers. Super atonal and somehow melodic at once.
posted by freecellwizard at 12:12 PM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
The Kid Charlemagne solo by Larry Carlton ... just wowzers. Super atonal and somehow melodic at once.
posted by freecellwizard at 12:12 PM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
I wish I had seen them in the 90's....they were a little more sedate when I did finally see them, 2 years ago, than they seemed to be on the "Alive In America" release from, I think '95
posted by thelonius at 12:19 PM on September 3, 2017
posted by thelonius at 12:19 PM on September 3, 2017
Super atonal
nah it's just got diminished scale licks and stuff, it's not atonal
posted by thelonius at 12:20 PM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
nah it's just got diminished scale licks and stuff, it's not atonal
posted by thelonius at 12:20 PM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
My kid turned 19 last week and I posted "Hey Nineteen" on his timeline
lol - has he figured it out yet? ("Where the hell am I?") A thirty y.o. guy in a strip club: "Please take me along when you slide on down."
A truly brilliant song that I love.
posted by lathrop at 12:24 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
lol - has he figured it out yet? ("Where the hell am I?") A thirty y.o. guy in a strip club: "Please take me along when you slide on down."
A truly brilliant song that I love.
posted by lathrop at 12:24 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Steely Dan were part of the lineup for the Classics West concert earlier this summer. The concert had a dose of a "memorial" feeling to it, what with the passing of Glenn Frey last year (the Eagles were one of the headlining acts at the concert). When my family were debating on buying tickets, we definitely thought, "Let's go, because it may very well be the last time we can go see these bands!" Sadly, Becker wasn't there because of illness.
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posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 12:25 PM on September 3, 2017
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posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 12:25 PM on September 3, 2017
Many years ago I chose to go to Maui with a person I didn't particularly enjoy as a travel companion SPECIFICALLY because said person claimed to have knowledge of where Walter Becker lived on the island. I was hoping to, like, run into him at KMart or something. To have a chance to tell him how I KNEW that his was the deliciously sour sensibility running through Steely Adan's lyrics, that I loved the way he helped their work coalesce around a darkly acidic heart. He was an under appreciated guitar player, a gifted author of hilarious screeds from the road when SD resumed touring in the early aughts. I saw them live every chance I got but it was never enough.
I hope his passing was peaceful, I will truly mourn his loss. I'm not religious but I hope he's somehow found his home at last.
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posted by little mouth at 12:29 PM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
I hope his passing was peaceful, I will truly mourn his loss. I'm not religious but I hope he's somehow found his home at last.
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posted by little mouth at 12:29 PM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Any Major Dude has helped me get through many bad nights and times. Any World I'm Welcome To has done more to right my mind than any number of therapists.
And Aja is just butter. Creamy smooth and so delicious.
I've loved SD for decades. As a child of the 70s, they formed the soundtrack to my life and one of the very few bands that I have bought music on vinyl, cassette, CD, and MP3. A truly great band, and this loss is devastating.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 1:01 PM on September 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
And Aja is just butter. Creamy smooth and so delicious.
I've loved SD for decades. As a child of the 70s, they formed the soundtrack to my life and one of the very few bands that I have bought music on vinyl, cassette, CD, and MP3. A truly great band, and this loss is devastating.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 1:01 PM on September 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
This news is making me rewatch Oh Hello on Broadway for the 40th time
posted by Senor Cardgage at 1:03 PM on September 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Senor Cardgage at 1:03 PM on September 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
(Also, here's Becker laughing at Fagen saying 'Uptown baby, uptown baby.')
posted by box at 1:06 PM on September 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by box at 1:06 PM on September 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
It's interesting looking at the coverage and memorialization of Walter Becker on Pitchfork today, esepcially considering the dismissive tone of their only Steely Dan album review.
posted by SansPoint at 1:33 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by SansPoint at 1:33 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
I was just a little lad when I heard Steely Dan on the radio, standing out among the regular AM top 40 playlists of the time. And again a few years later when "Rikki" hit the airwaves. These songs had a quality that struck me even as a dumb little guy. At the ripe old age of about 12, I scavenged my pennies to buy Aja, their new release... a record I still have in regular circulation. It's never lost it's brilliance.
A few years ago, I saw them play at the Hollywood Bowl with my kids. How many acts can get someone like Elvis Costello to open for them? The crowd, largely older than me, my couple of millennials, all seemed to know all those songs by heart. What an amazing legacy. And what an amazing degree of staying power those tunes have. Worldy, sarcastic, yet sweetly and deceptively melodic, clearly rooted in jazz, but not jazz.
Becker and Fagan made me feel like I had a connection that my peers never understood. This passing makes me more sad than I would have expected. For one more time, let your madness run with mine...
posted by 2N2222 at 1:35 PM on September 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
A few years ago, I saw them play at the Hollywood Bowl with my kids. How many acts can get someone like Elvis Costello to open for them? The crowd, largely older than me, my couple of millennials, all seemed to know all those songs by heart. What an amazing legacy. And what an amazing degree of staying power those tunes have. Worldy, sarcastic, yet sweetly and deceptively melodic, clearly rooted in jazz, but not jazz.
Becker and Fagan made me feel like I had a connection that my peers never understood. This passing makes me more sad than I would have expected. For one more time, let your madness run with mine...
posted by 2N2222 at 1:35 PM on September 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
Steely Dan was the soundtrack of my childhood, seemingly always being on in the background of one of numerous parties my parents and their friends threw back in the 70's.
Walter Becker was a Major Dude.
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posted by KingEdRa at 1:54 PM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Walter Becker was a Major Dude.
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posted by KingEdRa at 1:54 PM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Who are these strangers
Who pass through the door
Who cover your action
And go you one more
If you're feeling lucky
You best not refuse
It's your game the rules
Are your own win or lose
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posted by eclectist at 1:58 PM on September 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
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Got into Steely Dan through my wife, who was mostly into punk and funk and who had little time for prog rock noodling or the over produced flatulence of seventies stadium rock. Steely Dan though was different, more jazz influenced, occassionally funky even and got her approval.
That got me interested enough to play more of their music than just the few hits I'd downloaded here or there and made me a fan as well.
Deacon Blues was always a favourite; Aja the favourite album.
posted by MartinWisse at 2:04 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Got into Steely Dan through my wife, who was mostly into punk and funk and who had little time for prog rock noodling or the over produced flatulence of seventies stadium rock. Steely Dan though was different, more jazz influenced, occassionally funky even and got her approval.
That got me interested enough to play more of their music than just the few hits I'd downloaded here or there and made me a fan as well.
Deacon Blues was always a favourite; Aja the favourite album.
posted by MartinWisse at 2:04 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
I now remember the Aja album came out the year I worked as sidekick/assistant for the Wacky Radio Morning Guy and one of my assigned tasks was to ride herd over his record choices. Between his long monologues, bits and phone calls, he rarely played more than 3 songs an hour and I had to make sure he didn't play the same songs the same time every day. The first single off he Aja album was "Peg" (It will come back to you), which he grew weary of so I got the station's Music Director to give the the LP so he could play the not-yet-released-as-a-single "Josie" (When Josie comes back). After I recorded it on a tape cartridge, I took the album home... of all the record freebies I got that year, that was my all-time fave. When I left that job I warned him, and my replacement, that the next expected single was "Deacon Blues", which on album ran over 8 minutes, far longer than he wanted to be off-mic (the single version clocked in just under 6 minutes, which I'm sure he wasn't all that happy with).
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:22 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:22 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
I rarely get emotional about the death of people I don't personally know. But feeling quite sad about this one, it goes deep.
Steely Dan have been a massive part of my life, including helping me through some rough times. Bought my first album in the mid 80s, and since then have always owned every one of their albums, including the solo work. They are one of my musical and personal touchstones, and I still listen to them frequently. (Had Kamakiriad on just yesterday, one of the most under-rated albums of all time, IMHO).
Not only did these guys produce one of the greatest first albums ever, they kept that standard and variety up for seven straight albums, and the two that came much later after the long break are fine efforts too. Basically a 100% success rate. There may be others who have achieved something similar in the recording era of music, but I do not know of them.
Kinda of appropriate that the last SD song ever by track listing is Everything Must Go.
Thanks for your central role in all that, Walter.
Long live Steely Dan
posted by Pouteria at 2:29 PM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Steely Dan have been a massive part of my life, including helping me through some rough times. Bought my first album in the mid 80s, and since then have always owned every one of their albums, including the solo work. They are one of my musical and personal touchstones, and I still listen to them frequently. (Had Kamakiriad on just yesterday, one of the most under-rated albums of all time, IMHO).
Not only did these guys produce one of the greatest first albums ever, they kept that standard and variety up for seven straight albums, and the two that came much later after the long break are fine efforts too. Basically a 100% success rate. There may be others who have achieved something similar in the recording era of music, but I do not know of them.
Kinda of appropriate that the last SD song ever by track listing is Everything Must Go.
Thanks for your central role in all that, Walter.
Long live Steely Dan
posted by Pouteria at 2:29 PM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Who are these strangers
Who pass through the door
Who cover your action
And go you one more
If you're feeling lucky
You best not refuse
It's your game the rules
Are your own win or lose
The guitar solo on that song (Your Gold Teeth II) is one of the best I have ever heard. Just superb mastery of the instrument and style. It was Denny Dias playing, I think.
Apparently blew Fagen's mind too.
posted by Pouteria at 2:37 PM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Who pass through the door
Who cover your action
And go you one more
If you're feeling lucky
You best not refuse
It's your game the rules
Are your own win or lose
The guitar solo on that song (Your Gold Teeth II) is one of the best I have ever heard. Just superb mastery of the instrument and style. It was Denny Dias playing, I think.
Apparently blew Fagen's mind too.
posted by Pouteria at 2:37 PM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
I have this dumb daydream more frequently than I should where George Lucas uses his first big Star Wars check in late summer 77 to buy the most kickass stereo he can find and a copy of Aja
posted by Senor Cardgage at 2:38 PM on September 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Senor Cardgage at 2:38 PM on September 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
My wife is going to pissed at me, but tonight is weed, hard liquor, and lots of old favorites on repeat.
It's the least a major dude can do.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:38 PM on September 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
It's the least a major dude can do.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:38 PM on September 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
MetaFilter: tonight is weed, hard liquor, and lots of old favorites
posted by hippybear at 2:42 PM on September 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 2:42 PM on September 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
I have this dumb daydream more frequently than I should where George Lucas uses his first big Star Wars check in late summer 77 to buy the most kickass stereo he can find and a copy of Aja
Before I went off to grad school, I went down to Canal Street in NYC to some gray market stereo outlet that I want to say was called "Meshugenah Steve's" but I may be inventing competition for Crazy Eddie's. I picked up my first Walkman, extracted it from its box, tore off the plastic on the cassette of Aja that I'd bought at J&R Records earlier that afternoon, and walked east on Canal, hearing, even over the traffic noise, parts of the opening track that I'd never heard playing the album on my department-store all-in-one that'd seen me through college.
posted by the sobsister at 2:46 PM on September 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
Before I went off to grad school, I went down to Canal Street in NYC to some gray market stereo outlet that I want to say was called "Meshugenah Steve's" but I may be inventing competition for Crazy Eddie's. I picked up my first Walkman, extracted it from its box, tore off the plastic on the cassette of Aja that I'd bought at J&R Records earlier that afternoon, and walked east on Canal, hearing, even over the traffic noise, parts of the opening track that I'd never heard playing the album on my department-store all-in-one that'd seen me through college.
posted by the sobsister at 2:46 PM on September 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
.
posted by rhiannonstone at 2:54 PM on September 3, 2017
posted by rhiannonstone at 2:54 PM on September 3, 2017
This just makes me so incredibly tired. Tired of all my heroes dying, tired of watching the inevitable collapse of all the things I hold near to me. I've probably spent 1000 hours of my life deciphering Steely Dan songs by ear, & know maybe 1/4 of their catalog... the richness, diversity & originality of their musical ideas will be forever unparalleled. Genius is a word that gets bandied about too frquently and has lost currency due to some sort of linguistic inflation, so genius is no longer sufficient to describe their music, their sense of humor, the quality of their work.
Like Bowie & Cohen before him, this forever shuts another huge door in my soul. Thanks for all you created, Mr. Becker.
posted by Devils Rancher at 2:56 PM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Like Bowie & Cohen before him, this forever shuts another huge door in my soul. Thanks for all you created, Mr. Becker.
posted by Devils Rancher at 2:56 PM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
He had the best, most accurate high school yearbook graduation description under his senior picture in probably the history of all mankind: "The best damn guitar player you ever heard".
posted by Chitownfats at 3:02 PM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Chitownfats at 3:02 PM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Sad news.
Even though i wasn't alive in the 70s Steely Dan have a special place in my music collection.
.
posted by ST!NG at 3:06 PM on September 3, 2017
Even though i wasn't alive in the 70s Steely Dan have a special place in my music collection.
.
posted by ST!NG at 3:06 PM on September 3, 2017
.
posted by the Real Dan at 3:31 PM on September 3, 2017
posted by the Real Dan at 3:31 PM on September 3, 2017
.
So many wonderful songs to quote. Their music always stood out, and still does. So clean and precise, with remarkable lyrics like "Agents of the law, Luckless pedestrian, I know you're out there, with rage in your eyes and your megaphones, saying all is forgiven, Mad Dog surrender..."
Or my favorite chorus: "Bad sneakers and a Pina Colada, my friend, stompin' on the avenue by Radio City with a transistor and a large sum of money to spend..."
This just makes me so incredibly tired.
Great musicians like Becker are going to keep disappearing from our world, and we're all going to end up, sooner or later, laughing at the frozen rain.
p.s. This video posted today on YouTube, Josie from 1995, shows Walter's playing off to good effect.
posted by LeLiLo at 3:40 PM on September 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
So many wonderful songs to quote. Their music always stood out, and still does. So clean and precise, with remarkable lyrics like "Agents of the law, Luckless pedestrian, I know you're out there, with rage in your eyes and your megaphones, saying all is forgiven, Mad Dog surrender..."
Or my favorite chorus: "Bad sneakers and a Pina Colada, my friend, stompin' on the avenue by Radio City with a transistor and a large sum of money to spend..."
This just makes me so incredibly tired.
Great musicians like Becker are going to keep disappearing from our world, and we're all going to end up, sooner or later, laughing at the frozen rain.
p.s. This video posted today on YouTube, Josie from 1995, shows Walter's playing off to good effect.
posted by LeLiLo at 3:40 PM on September 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Every note these guys ever recorded & released was pure gold...I don't think I ever favorited as many comments in a single thread, as here...
.
posted by littlejohnnyjewel at 3:53 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
.
posted by littlejohnnyjewel at 3:53 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
A band I have listened to for nearly my entire life. While working on a big project at work just last week, I was listening to Katy Lied. The speakers weren't on very loud, but one of the summer interns came in and asked, "Who is this?" She showed me later that she'd downloaded the album, and I had that momentary weird mix of jealousy/pleasure, where you envy the person hearing the sonic depth of Steely Dan or the first time.
They were, and are, an amazing band.
.
posted by B_Pithy at 4:04 PM on September 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
They were, and are, an amazing band.
.
posted by B_Pithy at 4:04 PM on September 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
1978 – hanging out and helping out with my friends' garage band, rehearsing "Josie," "My Old School" and "Do It Again," over and over, working damned hard to get difficult music down halfway right, then playing for frat boys who react badly, saying they didn't like disco music. It was all worth it.
posted by tommyD at 4:07 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by tommyD at 4:07 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
And I'm never going back
To my old school.
RIP Walter Becker.
posted by grimjeer at 4:09 PM on September 3, 2017
To my old school.
RIP Walter Becker.
posted by grimjeer at 4:09 PM on September 3, 2017
Walt and Don write to Luke Wilson about Owen Wilson's role in You, Me, and Dupree
posted by hwyengr at 4:12 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by hwyengr at 4:12 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
I just finished writing my comment on the death of Walter Becker: "And I'm never going back to my old school." I then read the post about the death of John Ashberry. Imagine my moment of frisson when I realized that Ashberry taught at that old school, Bard College at Annandale-upon-Hudson, the "William and Mary of the Hudson."
posted by grimjeer at 4:19 PM on September 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by grimjeer at 4:19 PM on September 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
I found Reeling in the Years about the worst sort of lite-rock dreck growing up, what I rebelled against when I was also rebelleing against the flashy, worthless hair-metal abyss and cheap-ass synth pop in High School. I could never understand why the Classic Rock station that just came on the air, and was the soundtrack of my adolescence, had this band from my mom's Soft Rock station playlist in rotation. Then I listened closely out of irritation to one of their softly crooned songs to deliberately enrage myself with their mawkish lyrics...
With a case of dynamite...
I could hold out here all night!
Well. Then. I have a new favorite band to listen to on the classic rock station. As I got more into jazz and the emergence of things like Jane's Addiction and RHCP, I really appreciated them more and more.
.
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:24 PM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
With a case of dynamite...
I could hold out here all night!
Well. Then. I have a new favorite band to listen to on the classic rock station. As I got more into jazz and the emergence of things like Jane's Addiction and RHCP, I really appreciated them more and more.
.
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:24 PM on September 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
While overshadowed by Steely Dan, some of Becker's solo output was extraordinary in its own way, and I don't think there's a better example today than Surf and/or Die, his poetic, droning tale of sudden death in Hawaii, couched in Buddhist chant.
posted by bassomatic at 4:27 PM on September 3, 2017
posted by bassomatic at 4:27 PM on September 3, 2017
As one of my best friends says, "Theirs is the perfect music."
Cya Walter
.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 5:10 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Cya Walter
.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 5:10 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Very sad news indeed. Like many here, I grew up with their music which never ages. Just so tight and clean. Katy Lied was my favourite album and I am listening to now as I type these words. Becker was less than a handful of years older than me so, yeah, the world we knew and grew up in is beginning to fade.
I only saw them play once, a few years ago, here in Wellington. It was a great concert but didn't really move me as I had hoped. My twenty-something year old son, wise beyond his years, said to me afterward, "It's hard to pack a lifetime of being a fan into a couple of hours". So true.
All night long
We would sing that stupid song
And every word we sang
I knew was true.
.
posted by vac2003 at 5:26 PM on September 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
I only saw them play once, a few years ago, here in Wellington. It was a great concert but didn't really move me as I had hoped. My twenty-something year old son, wise beyond his years, said to me afterward, "It's hard to pack a lifetime of being a fan into a couple of hours". So true.
All night long
We would sing that stupid song
And every word we sang
I knew was true.
.
posted by vac2003 at 5:26 PM on September 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
I liked them as a teenager, borrowed my aunt's Steely Dan records and listened to all the material that hadn't made it to my awareness previously. I didn't realize how much the band grooved, or how fantastic they were, until a girl took me to see them play.
.
posted by Radiophonic Oddity at 6:35 PM on September 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
.
posted by Radiophonic Oddity at 6:35 PM on September 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
MetaFilter has waxed paeanic to Steely Dan many a time, in ways that made me feel it was more than just pop, it was zeitgeist. Becker was smart, musically and intellectually, and it will always show in the music. He was at least 50% of the core duo that created a particular, unique expression in pop music.
Previously
Previously
Previously
.
...
posted by Miko at 7:42 PM on September 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Previously
Previously
Previously
.
...
posted by Miko at 7:42 PM on September 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
.
posted by mygothlaundry at 8:10 PM on September 3, 2017
posted by mygothlaundry at 8:10 PM on September 3, 2017
I got into Steely Dan after Becker produced Rickie Lee Jones. Not sure it's the best Jones album, but she loved him.
posted by goofyfoot at 8:16 PM on September 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by goofyfoot at 8:16 PM on September 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Wait, the dot is not really enough. I just found out tonight via a YouTube lyrics video that the line I have always heard as "are you weary, Dr. Wu?" is actually "are you with me, Dr. Wu?" and I'm sorry, but I'm sticking with weary. Because it rhymes better with can you hear me, doctor? and because it's just a better question. Steely Dan, as a rule, asked the better questions.
I found Katy Lied in a goodwill bin on Greenmount Ave in Baltimore towards the end of the 80s and asked my musician friend, half disdainfully, because I knew AJA and liked them ok but knew they were popular and was part of the subculture who didn't listen to anything popular (because gods forbid) if it was worth $2. I got schooled that afternoon about musicians' musicians.
I still have that album. So I ordered a shot of Cuervo tonight for Walter Becker. The bar didn't have Cuervo - because it's popular, I suppose, or maybe it really is shitty as the disdainful bartender said, I don't drink enough tequila to know, honestly - and I had well instead and thought about that $2 copy of Katy Lied. Are you weary, Doctor?
posted by mygothlaundry at 8:23 PM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
I found Katy Lied in a goodwill bin on Greenmount Ave in Baltimore towards the end of the 80s and asked my musician friend, half disdainfully, because I knew AJA and liked them ok but knew they were popular and was part of the subculture who didn't listen to anything popular (because gods forbid) if it was worth $2. I got schooled that afternoon about musicians' musicians.
I still have that album. So I ordered a shot of Cuervo tonight for Walter Becker. The bar didn't have Cuervo - because it's popular, I suppose, or maybe it really is shitty as the disdainful bartender said, I don't drink enough tequila to know, honestly - and I had well instead and thought about that $2 copy of Katy Lied. Are you weary, Doctor?
posted by mygothlaundry at 8:23 PM on September 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Beholder: My favorite band as a teen was Steely Dan. Criminally underrated. If they aren't in the R&R HoF, they sure as hell need to be.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame doesn't deserve them.
.
posted by tzikeh at 8:40 PM on September 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame doesn't deserve them.
.
posted by tzikeh at 8:40 PM on September 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
It's interesting to me to read a lot of write-ups out there predominantly about SD's "smooth sound" (using many different phrasings to that effect) and "mellow jazz-inspired pop", and—yeah, I guess so. But as a musician who knows just enough to be dangerous, one of the main draws of their music is the bewildering underlying complexity that ties together the most improbable of melodic lines in such a seamless, pitch-perfect way. The "smooth" observation buries the lede. That they bring such a sound through such complexity is the signature of their genius.
I've been a live music guy my whole life, but I've never cared overly much whether I'd see Steely Dan live. The brilliance of their studio work was one of the early drivers to me becoming an audiophile. Sitting in front of just the right speakers, in just the right position, in just the right room—I could listen to Steely Dan albums for hours. I'm sure they were great live. But they gave me such cozy pleasure at home, I never ventured to find out for myself.
Ah, farewell Walter Becker. You will remain inspirational and aspirational to me, long beyond your years.
posted by Brak at 9:27 PM on September 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
I've been a live music guy my whole life, but I've never cared overly much whether I'd see Steely Dan live. The brilliance of their studio work was one of the early drivers to me becoming an audiophile. Sitting in front of just the right speakers, in just the right position, in just the right room—I could listen to Steely Dan albums for hours. I'm sure they were great live. But they gave me such cozy pleasure at home, I never ventured to find out for myself.
Ah, farewell Walter Becker. You will remain inspirational and aspirational to me, long beyond your years.
posted by Brak at 9:27 PM on September 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
Not much I can add here. Just happy to recall that every one of those albums through Aja managed to get a song or two on AM radio back then.
posted by morspin at 9:53 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by morspin at 9:53 PM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Somehow I completely missed this news today. Shit.
In 1984, I desperately wanted a CD player, but as they were new and still quite expensive, I couldn't get myself to pull the trigger. Finally, I decided I would buy a CD, because then I'd HAVE to buy a player.
There wasn't actually a lot of music available on CD's yet, and a lot of what was available was 80's one hit wonders, but I did manage to find something I thought was worthy - Steely Dan's Greatest Hits.
It was pure aural bliss.
.
posted by MexicanYenta at 10:33 PM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
In 1984, I desperately wanted a CD player, but as they were new and still quite expensive, I couldn't get myself to pull the trigger. Finally, I decided I would buy a CD, because then I'd HAVE to buy a player.
There wasn't actually a lot of music available on CD's yet, and a lot of what was available was 80's one hit wonders, but I did manage to find something I thought was worthy - Steely Dan's Greatest Hits.
It was pure aural bliss.
.
posted by MexicanYenta at 10:33 PM on September 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
The obscure Steely Dan lyric I have most been able to relate to:
"Tonight when I chase the dragon,
the water may change to cherry wine,
and the silver will turn to gold,
time out of mind."
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:42 PM on September 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
"Tonight when I chase the dragon,
the water may change to cherry wine,
and the silver will turn to gold,
time out of mind."
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:42 PM on September 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Oh no. I heard the news late last night, and my first thought was - poor Donald. Who will he get to hang out and be sardonic with now? If ever a band sounded like an enduring, beautiful, deeply dysfunctional marriage, it was Don and Walt.
So I got into Steely Dan through Magic Smile by one-hit wonder Rosie Vela, of all things. It was the mid-eighties, the band were on hiatus and the album Zazu was a reunion of sorts. It's a little treasure if you've never heard it. Then they got back together and around ten years ago I saw them play a full set at North Sea Jazz. They were tight, Always, so tight. And funny. At the end of the gig, Donald thanked Walter, Walter thanked Donald and the rest of the band were ignored.
I thought I'd start with Aja this morning, but I just surprised myself and reached for Can't Buy a Thrill instead. Guess I'm working through the catalogue today.
Walt: thanks for all of it. You'll be missed, but you'll not be forgotten. Don: I'm so, so sorry for your loss.
.
posted by Elizabeth the Thirteenth at 1:41 AM on September 4, 2017 [5 favorites]
So I got into Steely Dan through Magic Smile by one-hit wonder Rosie Vela, of all things. It was the mid-eighties, the band were on hiatus and the album Zazu was a reunion of sorts. It's a little treasure if you've never heard it. Then they got back together and around ten years ago I saw them play a full set at North Sea Jazz. They were tight, Always, so tight. And funny. At the end of the gig, Donald thanked Walter, Walter thanked Donald and the rest of the band were ignored.
I thought I'd start with Aja this morning, but I just surprised myself and reached for Can't Buy a Thrill instead. Guess I'm working through the catalogue today.
Walt: thanks for all of it. You'll be missed, but you'll not be forgotten. Don: I'm so, so sorry for your loss.
.
posted by Elizabeth the Thirteenth at 1:41 AM on September 4, 2017 [5 favorites]
I found Katy Lied in a goodwill bin on Greenmount Ave in Baltimore towards the end of the 80s
Your $2 also bought you - not only the splendour "Everyone's Gone to the Movies" but also a cover featuring an insect that it known, appropriately as a Katydid - and the story that Beck and Fagan refused to listen to the completed album because they were so upset about some aspect of the noise reduction equipment used in the studio. Pretty great value.
posted by rongorongo at 2:48 AM on September 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
Your $2 also bought you - not only the splendour "Everyone's Gone to the Movies" but also a cover featuring an insect that it known, appropriately as a Katydid - and the story that Beck and Fagan refused to listen to the completed album because they were so upset about some aspect of the noise reduction equipment used in the studio. Pretty great value.
posted by rongorongo at 2:48 AM on September 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
Rickie Lee Jones' Poignant Tribute to Steely Dan's Walter Becker
posted by hippybear at 4:26 AM on September 4, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 4:26 AM on September 4, 2017 [6 favorites]
Steely Dan on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz
posted by TedW at 4:45 AM on September 4, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by TedW at 4:45 AM on September 4, 2017 [4 favorites]
When I was in High School, I was part of the 'Dance Band', who had two concerts every year, the spring concert and the annual 'Dinner Dance', which was a fund raiser for the marching band. (Everyone in the band was in the marching band, but you had to try out for the dance band - except, as I was a saxophonist, and there were only 4 in the band, I was automatically in. I even managed to stay on the alto sax, instead of going to the tenor or baritone.)
One of the first songs we worked on my first year was "Peg". I had no idea what this song was or who they were, but "Peg" is of the two songs from that period I still remember fondly instead of wincing when I hear it. (The other is, perhaps predictably from what you read above, is "Harlem Nocturne".)
Later, a college friend lent me "Best of Steely Dan" on CD, and I finally heard "Peg" the original way, and was blown away. And then I heard "Deacon Blues". And I got it immediately - I was, at that time, the triple-L Loser, the guy who went back to the dorm room alone after no slow-dances at the weekly party and was about the only one to do so; the one who got pranked; the one who tended to be awake at 2 AM because he no longer cared about anything except a walk to Wawa for chips, dip and Jolt at 2 AM because how little it felt like anyone really cared about how sad I was. That song got me through my Sophomore year of college because, goddamn, someone understood what that was like.
I'll always appreciate Steely Dan, because of those two songs. They had a lot - a LOT - more, but those two meant a lot to me at the time.
posted by mephron at 6:08 AM on September 4, 2017 [4 favorites]
One of the first songs we worked on my first year was "Peg". I had no idea what this song was or who they were, but "Peg" is of the two songs from that period I still remember fondly instead of wincing when I hear it. (The other is, perhaps predictably from what you read above, is "Harlem Nocturne".)
Later, a college friend lent me "Best of Steely Dan" on CD, and I finally heard "Peg" the original way, and was blown away. And then I heard "Deacon Blues". And I got it immediately - I was, at that time, the triple-L Loser, the guy who went back to the dorm room alone after no slow-dances at the weekly party and was about the only one to do so; the one who got pranked; the one who tended to be awake at 2 AM because he no longer cared about anything except a walk to Wawa for chips, dip and Jolt at 2 AM because how little it felt like anyone really cared about how sad I was. That song got me through my Sophomore year of college because, goddamn, someone understood what that was like.
I'll always appreciate Steely Dan, because of those two songs. They had a lot - a LOT - more, but those two meant a lot to me at the time.
posted by mephron at 6:08 AM on September 4, 2017 [4 favorites]
♪
posted by Gelatin at 6:44 AM on September 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Gelatin at 6:44 AM on September 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
Steely Dan had a big impact on me during the years I was learning to play drums & percussion. The music sounds deceptively simple at first... it's difficult to play a laid back groove that well with feeling and precision. But like Brak mentioned, the music wasn't really simple at all, which becomes obvious the first time you try to play it or transcribe a part from a song. In the '80s, every teenage rock drummer wanted to sound like Neil Peart (including me, tbh), but the various drummers of Steely Dan were more my personal musical heroes, in particular: Jeff Porcaro, Rick Marotta, Steve Gadd, Paul Humphrey and Jim Keltner. They always had the best studio musicians playing for them after their early days, which is how drummers like Gadd and Keltner ended up with them, but that original band with Porcaro was still something else.
But it's not Steely Dan without Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. I'm glad Fagen's still around and touring, but, man, Becker's a musician's musician, and the industry has changed so much... He leaves us with so much music, but such an absence. I was hoping for one more tour as I never got to see them live, but they were infamously reluctant to tour anyway ... I'll always be grateful for the music, and for a drum teacher who frequently sent me home with, e.g., Jim Keltner's or Jeff Porcaro's transcribed drum charts from a Steely Dan song as part of my lessons for the week.
posted by krinklyfig at 7:15 AM on September 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
But it's not Steely Dan without Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. I'm glad Fagen's still around and touring, but, man, Becker's a musician's musician, and the industry has changed so much... He leaves us with so much music, but such an absence. I was hoping for one more tour as I never got to see them live, but they were infamously reluctant to tour anyway ... I'll always be grateful for the music, and for a drum teacher who frequently sent me home with, e.g., Jim Keltner's or Jeff Porcaro's transcribed drum charts from a Steely Dan song as part of my lessons for the week.
posted by krinklyfig at 7:15 AM on September 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
.
♪ Ain't gonna do it without the fez on ♪
Rest peacefully Mr. Becker.
posted by gen at 7:40 AM on September 4, 2017
♪ Ain't gonna do it without the fez on ♪
Rest peacefully Mr. Becker.
posted by gen at 7:40 AM on September 4, 2017
krinklyfig - you forgot Bernard Purdie!!!
posted by gen at 7:42 AM on September 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by gen at 7:42 AM on September 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
Oh... I just remembered. I once had a 24K gold CD of Aja. You know, the CDs manufactured with gold coating instead of aluminum, because aluminum degrades over time (true, but it's not like the gold helped it sound better). It was the only 24K disc in my collection, because what am I, an archivist? But I don't regret 24K Aja, cause it got played quite a bit at the time, and tbh it was fun showing it off. Like, it made no difference to the music itself, but it seemed like it deserved to be on something better than plastic and aluminum anyway.
posted by krinklyfig at 7:43 AM on September 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by krinklyfig at 7:43 AM on September 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
gen: "krinklyfig - you forgot Bernard Purdie!!!"
Fair point. I didn't pick up on him until my 20s, which was mostly because certain drummers appeared over and over on music I played with my teacher in my teens, and he wasn't one of them. But he was amazing and defined the Purdie Shuffle, which is such a natural fit with Steely Dan. I mean they had so many great drummers, but Purdie was a legend, definitely one of my favorite funk drummers.
posted by krinklyfig at 8:05 AM on September 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
Fair point. I didn't pick up on him until my 20s, which was mostly because certain drummers appeared over and over on music I played with my teacher in my teens, and he wasn't one of them. But he was amazing and defined the Purdie Shuffle, which is such a natural fit with Steely Dan. I mean they had so many great drummers, but Purdie was a legend, definitely one of my favorite funk drummers.
posted by krinklyfig at 8:05 AM on September 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
I got into Steely Dan 20 years ago via my late husband. When I had money I bought the catalog and shuffled through 5 albums at once thanks to the CD player I had at the time. They became my favorites, next to Devo and The Doors. We got to listen to Two Against Nature before it came out thanks to a friend who was at WB at the time. That's what we called ourselves when we eloped later that year--two against nature.
Everything Must Go came out as we were moving from urban to rural. Very fitting. Losing Becker felt like losing a little bit of my husband again. But it felt that way with Keith Emerson too.
My BFF loved the mix CD I made him that had Steely Dan on it. We saw them twice, in '09 to see Aja performed live, and last year. Great times.
Thanks, Walter. Don, the world mourns with you...
posted by luckynerd at 8:49 AM on September 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
Everything Must Go came out as we were moving from urban to rural. Very fitting. Losing Becker felt like losing a little bit of my husband again. But it felt that way with Keith Emerson too.
My BFF loved the mix CD I made him that had Steely Dan on it. We saw them twice, in '09 to see Aja performed live, and last year. Great times.
Thanks, Walter. Don, the world mourns with you...
posted by luckynerd at 8:49 AM on September 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
Santa Claus came in late last night
Drunk on Christmas wine
Fell down hard in the driveway
Hung his bag out on the laundry line
There's a cobra gunship for his golden boy
And there's a Hello Kitty for his pride and joy
And a silver star in the Book of Liars by your name
posted by The Gooch at 7:08 PM on September 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
The sad news and the flood of videos that accompanied it is a reminder not only of the ubiquity of much SD music but also the deeply curious fact that guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter* – a Steely Dan member from the "Reelin' in the Years" era – works to this day as a session musician and producer and also as a defense consultant and the chair of a Congressional Advisory Board on missile defense. Huh.
*If you are unfamiliar with Skunk Baxter, look in the videos for the dude with the droopy moustache that only he and Sam Elliott can wear with panache.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:18 PM on September 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
*If you are unfamiliar with Skunk Baxter, look in the videos for the dude with the droopy moustache that only he and Sam Elliott can wear with panache.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:18 PM on September 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
krinklyfig - you forgot Bernard Purdie!!!
I was surprised to see that in the video just linked by The Gooch Peter Erskine is the drummer. Also on various albums they used Hal Blaine, Dennis Chambers, and Vinnie Colaiuta – legends all. In fact, if you look at personnel on the (relatively few) Steely Dan albums, you get almost an A to Z roster of some of the biggest (and best) names in the business: Michael and Randy Brecker, Ray Brown, Larry Carlton, Rick Derringer, Victor Feldman, Jim Horn, Anthony Jackson, John Klemmer, Mark Knopfler, Will Lee, Ralph McDonald, Elliott Randall, Lee Ritenour, Joe Sample, David Sanborn, Tom Scott, Wayne Shorter, Ernie Watts, Phil Woods, and Snooky Young.
posted by LeLiLo at 8:34 PM on September 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
I was surprised to see that in the video just linked by The Gooch Peter Erskine is the drummer. Also on various albums they used Hal Blaine, Dennis Chambers, and Vinnie Colaiuta – legends all. In fact, if you look at personnel on the (relatively few) Steely Dan albums, you get almost an A to Z roster of some of the biggest (and best) names in the business: Michael and Randy Brecker, Ray Brown, Larry Carlton, Rick Derringer, Victor Feldman, Jim Horn, Anthony Jackson, John Klemmer, Mark Knopfler, Will Lee, Ralph McDonald, Elliott Randall, Lee Ritenour, Joe Sample, David Sanborn, Tom Scott, Wayne Shorter, Ernie Watts, Phil Woods, and Snooky Young.
posted by LeLiLo at 8:34 PM on September 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
1996 live version of Jack of Speed (later released in a slightly different form on "Two Against Nature" in 2000) with Walter Becker on lead vocals
posted by The Gooch at 8:45 PM on September 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by The Gooch at 8:45 PM on September 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
"Nothin' but blues and Elvis and somebody else's favorite song... FM no static at all"
posted by DJZouke at 6:31 AM on September 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by DJZouke at 6:31 AM on September 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
Classic Albums: Aja. SD and some of the original musicians look back at the recording songs like "Josie" & "Black Cow".
Nerdwriter: "How Steely Dan Constructs A Song". What is a "Mu Major" chord, and why do audiophiles like to test drive new speakers w SD albums?
Xalte ere pash. _/|\_
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 9:21 AM on September 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Nerdwriter: "How Steely Dan Constructs A Song". What is a "Mu Major" chord, and why do audiophiles like to test drive new speakers w SD albums?
Xalte ere pash. _/|\_
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 9:21 AM on September 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Fagen and Becker are/were both dual musical and lyrical geniuses, and it seems like there was very little observable distance between them as a duo. But for me it seems like Becker was a humanizing force — compare the hilarious, ironic, and sometimes poignant, but still aloof lyrics on New Frontier or the title track on The Nightfly with the raw emotion of Down In the Bottom or Book of Liars.
Fagen remained out in front and Walter's contributions became less obvious as they turned to session players to achieve what they wanted, but without Becker, it wouldn't have been Steely Dan. It would be hard for me to overstate how much their music means to me.
.
posted by mubba at 9:21 AM on September 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
Fagen remained out in front and Walter's contributions became less obvious as they turned to session players to achieve what they wanted, but without Becker, it wouldn't have been Steely Dan. It would be hard for me to overstate how much their music means to me.
.
posted by mubba at 9:21 AM on September 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
In the height of the Viet Nam war,
You met up with Fagan at Bard.
Show us all what stereo was for,
Turn us on to Mu major chords.
Thanks Walt, for what you gave the world.
Godspeed Steely guitar dude.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 4:32 PM on September 5, 2017 [7 favorites]
You met up with Fagan at Bard.
Show us all what stereo was for,
Turn us on to Mu major chords.
Thanks Walt, for what you gave the world.
Godspeed Steely guitar dude.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 4:32 PM on September 5, 2017 [7 favorites]
.
posted by On the Corner at 1:02 AM on September 8, 2017
posted by On the Corner at 1:02 AM on September 8, 2017
What is a "Mu Major" chord
Interestingly, I discovered that the "Ticket To Ride" guitar riff is an arpeggiated mu major chord.I was fingering it on guitar up in the 7th position and, hey, strum x-x-7-6-0-0 and it's a Steely Dan song now. (It's a "mu major" because there's a second, (not a ninth!), voiced right next to the major 3rd - compare to Aadd9, x-x-7-6-5-7)
posted by thelonius at 2:29 AM on September 8, 2017 [2 favorites]
Interestingly, I discovered that the "Ticket To Ride" guitar riff is an arpeggiated mu major chord.I was fingering it on guitar up in the 7th position and, hey, strum x-x-7-6-0-0 and it's a Steely Dan song now. (It's a "mu major" because there's a second, (not a ninth!), voiced right next to the major 3rd - compare to Aadd9, x-x-7-6-5-7)
posted by thelonius at 2:29 AM on September 8, 2017 [2 favorites]
Shit. I can't believe I just now found out.
Only a couple of songs get me squack in the feels everytime - Brian Wilson's "Don't Worry Baby" for example - but "Dr. Wu" is one of them. That chorus progression is so sad and beautiful and beautifully arranged.
Mostly because of their fierce refusal to tell (actual) stories of their work, I always imagined that was Fagen singing at Becker. "Hey man, you sure you're ok? Are you in there?" Of course he got well and they did great, which is not normal. Not that they ever were.
.
posted by petebest at 2:57 PM on September 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Only a couple of songs get me squack in the feels everytime - Brian Wilson's "Don't Worry Baby" for example - but "Dr. Wu" is one of them. That chorus progression is so sad and beautiful and beautifully arranged.
Mostly because of their fierce refusal to tell (actual) stories of their work, I always imagined that was Fagen singing at Becker. "Hey man, you sure you're ok? Are you in there?" Of course he got well and they did great, which is not normal. Not that they ever were.
.
posted by petebest at 2:57 PM on September 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Walter Becker's rig rundown from the 2011 tour. Very interesting if you're into that kind of stuff.
posted by petebest at 7:29 AM on September 18, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by petebest at 7:29 AM on September 18, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by wallabear at 8:25 AM on September 3, 2017