Steely Dan: A Deep Dive focuses on the music of Steely Dan: consisting of Donald Fagen, Walter Becker and anyone else they wish to play with. From Can't Buy A Thrill through Everything Must Go, join me for a trip through every Steely Dan album, as I break down the wit, wisdom and wizardry of Steely Dan!

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Can't Buy A Thrill: the album that started it all. Many Steely Dan fansand Fagan and Becker themselvesfelt the band hadn't hit their stride yet on this LP, as they would on later Steely Dan albums. But I still marvel at the songwriting, which repeatedly rises above its execution:
https://amzn.to/3AjdsVa

Katy Lied is currently my favorite Steely Dan album (my fave changes week to week!):
https://amzn.to/3vCq5vl

Countdown To Ecstasy was NO sophomore slump. In fact, it's got several of my alltime favorite Steely Dan songs such as Bodhisattva, The Boston Rag and... well, ALL of side two!:
https://amzn.to/35LVzo2

Pretzel Logic cemented Steely Dan's reputation as ingenious purveyors of thinkingperson's pop music, and it's hard to find a better collection of songs on one album in 1974:
https://amzn.to/35HNS2e

Where did I get my awesome Tshirt inspired by the title track of Donald Fagen's The Nightfly?
https://dave.threadless.com/designs/w...

Submitted for your bemusement, here's Donny and Marie massacring Reelin' in the Years. Don't say I didn't warn you:
   • Video  

Check out the opening to Horace Silver's Song for my Father, and tell me that you don't want to launch into the lyrics to Rikki Don't Lose That Number:
   • Horace Silver  Song for My Father (O...  

Here's the soundtrack to You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It (Or You'll Lose That Beat), featuring some great early Becker/Fagen songs:
   • Video  

Here's the earliest Steely Dan release, the single Dallas:
   • steely dan  dallas (best quality)  

Dallas was covered by the band Poco, and the song fit them like a glove:
   • Poco  Dallas (1975)  

Here's the Bside to Dallas, Sail the Waterway:
   • Steely Dan  Sail the Waterway (Bette...  

Here's Denny Doherty (of the Mamas and the Papas) covering Sail the Waterway. Denny recorded this demo (along with another Becker/Fagen song, Giles of the River) in the hopes of receiving a solo record deal. He didn't get one at the time, but Denny did a fine job:
   • Sail The Waterway  

You tell me... Doesn't this synth solo sound like it could blend perfectly into the old "In Search Of" theme?
   • King Of The World  

And here is the "In Search Of" theme:
   • In Search Of... (Opening and Closing ...  

Finally, here's the ending to the Bad Brains song that I have always suspected was "inspired" by the very end of Bodhisattva. You've gotta want to hear it, but I think it's there:
   • I  

Jump to your favorite album:
00:00 Intro
02:20 You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It (Or You'll Lose That Beat)
03:22 Dallas/Sail The Waterway
04:06 Can't Buy A Thrill
12:09 Countdown To Ecstasy
16:33 Pretzel Logic
23:48 Katy Lied
28:51 Outro




#SteelyDan #DonaldFagen #WalterBecker