> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** We all like to think that Steely Dan’s music is distinguished by sly lyrics, complex harmonies, elite musicianship and sharp production. While those attributes might be found in nearly every Steely Dan song, the most instantly recognizable feature is not any of thoseRead More
For only the second — and last — time in this series, we’re discussing a cover song. When Fagen decided to theme an album on “certain fantasies that might have been entertained by a young man growing up in the remote suburbs of a northeastern city during the late ’50sRead More
“Green Flower Street” always reminds me of the similarly titled “Green Dolphin Street,” a song from the 1947 Lana Turner movie of the same name that Miles Davis turned in into a jazz standard when he first recorded it in the late 50s. You May Also Like: Red Garland Trio,Read More
Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen’s first solo album is what I like to call his “George Harrison” moment.
> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** On June 21, 1981, Steely Dan had announced they were going on an indefinite hiatus, a culmination of the headaches and tragedies that coincided with the making of Gaucho. You May Also Like: Walter Becker, “Hard Up Case (Live at Slim’s 1995)” (2024):Read More
The last song of the “classic” Steely Dan period ends ‘Gaucho’ on a solemn note.
No movie where Steely Dan was commissioned to contribute a song for that movie’s soundtrack ever did well, not You’ve Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You’ll Lose That Beat, not FM, and not even a movie directed by the great John Huston, Phobia. You May AlsoRead More
Walter Becker and Donald Fagen dug “Sultans Of Swing” like the rest of us did when this first Dire Straits hit was making hay on the radio in 1979. It was beginning with this song where Mark Knopfler made fancy fingerpicking — by way of Chet Atkins — cool againRead More
They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and Steely Dan discovered just how true that was.
Two things became apparent to me when first hearing “Glamour Profession” on Steely Dan’s ‘Gaucho.’
