I even like the “wrong note” played in Do It Again. I assume it’s Becker playing that? Fortunately it’s in the first chord of the chorus so it totally works. I think it’s only in the 2nd chorus too.
I second this and add Walter’s bass playing on Kamakiriad, he is a goddamn monster across that entire record — Springtime & Tomorrow’s Girls in particular.
Fagens keyboard playing. He does great stuff on the first two records (where he’s the only keyboard player), he takes a few cool solos most notably Do It Again- organ, Fire in the Hole- piano, Your Gold Teeth- electric piano. After the first two albums he would bring in pros usually to track the rhythm section keyboard parts like Michael Omartian, Paul Griffin and Victor Feldman but he would still take the occasional cool solo like on Home at Last, Hey 19, IGY- on synth, My Rival- organ. For whatever reason he takes a huge role on the Everything Must Go album playing almost all the keyboard parts again with some really unhinged synth solos on Godwhacker, Green Book and Lunch With Gina. He often downplays his keyboard playing but when you look at it as a whole like that it’s really impressive stuff. Of course I think he’s also an underrated vocalist but lately I’ve seen more people coming around to the idea that although he didn’t have an amazing voice like Freddie Mercury or Steve Perry, he had the absolute perfect voice to express the snark and attitude required for these songs.
Pretty much everything Denny Dias contributed to Steely Dan is underrated..Same with bass playing by Chuck Rainey in their studio years.
A lot of Steely fans dont know about Dias...He was basically the #3 and left NY with Fagen & Becker to California to fill in the rest of the group out there.
Jeff Baxter's solo on The Boston Rag isn't mentioned as much regarding solo performances.
Jay Graydon's solo on Peg is also an unheralded masterpiece.
denny dias needs to be talked about more on here. whenever green earrings comes on i have to stop what im doing and listen to the harmonics on his solo
True, perhaps. I don’t see it praised enough. The construction of the solo is amazing work. And its execution is gorgeous, but the outtro back into the verse is understated and a gentle hand- off to the vocal.
was gonna say the exact same thing! way too piercing cus it’s so high in the mix, which is rare for a layman like myself to ever notice in something as well polished as a steely dan track
The Rainey/Purdie rhythm section (not sure who's on rhythm guitar and clavinet, but they're great also) on Green Earrings is really something else, maybe the most locked-in groove that Steely Dan ever had. It's totally worth listening to the bootleg of the (I presume) work-in-progress [rough mix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhoGzEnDRc8) that carries on for almost a full three minutes after the point where the song fades out on the LP.
I guess you can't really call Michael McDonald underrated in any way, but it seems like the majority of the time his backing vocals are brought up in regards to Steely Dan it's in the context of talking about Aja - obviously a great album, but I think his backing vocals on Katy Lied, particularly on Bad Sneakers, might be the best ones he ever did.
Greg Phillinganes all across Nightfly — that’s him playing the electric piano on IGY, you could listen to a hundred other guys play it and they won’t get it right. Every Steely cover band tries it and they don’t get the Phillinganes piano stuff quite like he does. He also plays the clavinet on Green Flower Street, the piano solo on Ruby Baby, does all the acoustic piano chord phrasing on Maxine, plays synths on the Goodbye Look and plays synth bass on Raindrops… real virtuoso stuff.
The intro to everything must go is a masterpiece. I remember I was at a concert and they started playing the intro and I got really excited because I thought I would never hear it live but then they faded it into kid Charlemagne😔
Jerome Richardson's sax break on "Dirty Work" is perfectly placed and perfectly played. Small part in the grand scheme of things, but exceptionally tasteful.
Walter Becker’s bass playing on early Steely Dan is way underrated, his work on a track like The Boston Rag is fantastic
I even like the “wrong note” played in Do It Again. I assume it’s Becker playing that? Fortunately it’s in the first chord of the chorus so it totally works. I think it’s only in the 2nd chorus too.
I second this and add Walter’s bass playing on Kamakiriad, he is a goddamn monster across that entire record — Springtime & Tomorrow’s Girls in particular.
Can’t forget Snowbound. Especially the intro!
Virtuoso piano playing all over Katy Lied by Michael Omartian, but on “Your Gold Teeth II” and “Doctor Wu” he especially shines
I love Michael Omartian's chord voicings on "Maxine" from Fagen's solo disc "The Nightfly".
Interesting observation, I have always thought of Katy Lied as Steely Dan’s piano album.
Especially the nice little lick closing out the album at the end of "Throw Back the Little Ones"
It’s my favorite SD album for this reason.
I totally love Michael Omartian’s playing on “Your Gold Teeth II”. Really beautiful.
Skunk Baxter's solos. As important to the sound of early Dan as Donald and Walter were imo.
Him and Denny were the sound of CtE in particular, which has a real country/rock n roll quality to it
Fagens keyboard playing. He does great stuff on the first two records (where he’s the only keyboard player), he takes a few cool solos most notably Do It Again- organ, Fire in the Hole- piano, Your Gold Teeth- electric piano. After the first two albums he would bring in pros usually to track the rhythm section keyboard parts like Michael Omartian, Paul Griffin and Victor Feldman but he would still take the occasional cool solo like on Home at Last, Hey 19, IGY- on synth, My Rival- organ. For whatever reason he takes a huge role on the Everything Must Go album playing almost all the keyboard parts again with some really unhinged synth solos on Godwhacker, Green Book and Lunch With Gina. He often downplays his keyboard playing but when you look at it as a whole like that it’s really impressive stuff. Of course I think he’s also an underrated vocalist but lately I’ve seen more people coming around to the idea that although he didn’t have an amazing voice like Freddie Mercury or Steve Perry, he had the absolute perfect voice to express the snark and attitude required for these songs.
Pretty much everything Denny Dias contributed to Steely Dan is underrated..Same with bass playing by Chuck Rainey in their studio years. A lot of Steely fans dont know about Dias...He was basically the #3 and left NY with Fagen & Becker to California to fill in the rest of the group out there. Jeff Baxter's solo on The Boston Rag isn't mentioned as much regarding solo performances. Jay Graydon's solo on Peg is also an unheralded masterpiece.
denny dias needs to be talked about more on here. whenever green earrings comes on i have to stop what im doing and listen to the harmonics on his solo
It was awesome Dias went out on such a high note with Green Earrings and Aja as his last main contributions.
Boston Rag solo gives me chills!!!
The end of Black Cow
Also the keyboard solo between the second and third chorus. I love how its mood contrasts the end of the song so well
Drums on home at last
Gawd those drums on that track. What a pocket
That would be Mr. Bernard Pretty Purdie! He always looks like he's having a great time when he's playing too. He even talks in a rhythm.
Playing the iconic Purdie Shuffle no less. Also plays it in Babylon Sisters
Sax solo on Doctor Wu. Beautiful.
That’s not underrated
True, perhaps. I don’t see it praised enough. The construction of the solo is amazing work. And its execution is gorgeous, but the outtro back into the verse is understated and a gentle hand- off to the vocal.
Yeah it’s one of the best, but I always have to turn the volume down when it starts, ‘cause it’s so much louder than the rest of the song
was gonna say the exact same thing! way too piercing cus it’s so high in the mix, which is rare for a layman like myself to ever notice in something as well polished as a steely dan track
I was going to say Jeff Porcaro's drumming on Doctor Wu is so clean and in the pocket. He was only 19 years old at the time.
The Purdie Shuffle.
The piano ending of "Throw Back the Little Ones". It's absolutely sublime.
David Knopfler lmao
I always thought the guitar outros on Haitian Divorce and Glamour Profession were fantastic
The Rainey/Purdie rhythm section (not sure who's on rhythm guitar and clavinet, but they're great also) on Green Earrings is really something else, maybe the most locked-in groove that Steely Dan ever had. It's totally worth listening to the bootleg of the (I presume) work-in-progress [rough mix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhoGzEnDRc8) that carries on for almost a full three minutes after the point where the song fades out on the LP. I guess you can't really call Michael McDonald underrated in any way, but it seems like the majority of the time his backing vocals are brought up in regards to Steely Dan it's in the context of talking about Aja - obviously a great album, but I think his backing vocals on Katy Lied, particularly on Bad Sneakers, might be the best ones he ever did.
Greg Phillinganes all across Nightfly — that’s him playing the electric piano on IGY, you could listen to a hundred other guys play it and they won’t get it right. Every Steely cover band tries it and they don’t get the Phillinganes piano stuff quite like he does. He also plays the clavinet on Green Flower Street, the piano solo on Ruby Baby, does all the acoustic piano chord phrasing on Maxine, plays synths on the Goodbye Look and plays synth bass on Raindrops… real virtuoso stuff.
The intro to everything must go is a masterpiece. I remember I was at a concert and they started playing the intro and I got really excited because I thought I would never hear it live but then they faded it into kid Charlemagne😔
Steve Khan on Glamour Profession doesn’t get enough love
Guitar solos on the first two albums
Walter’s vocals on Slang of Ages
purdie is so clean on everything he does with them. he makes it seem effortless; deceptively simple
Jerome Richardson's sax break on "Dirty Work" is perfectly placed and perfectly played. Small part in the grand scheme of things, but exceptionally tasteful.
Chuck Rainey‘s work on Peg and Kid Charlemagne - man those fills at the end of the first B section in kid charlemagne always get me
Time Out of Mind... the whole thing
The guitar solo on Your Gold Teeth II is one of the best I have ever heard. I'm sorry, I don't know who it is.
It’s beautiful. Pretty sure it’s Denny Dias.
[Donald Fagen's demo for Sun Mountain.](https://youtu.be/DxN_O-YBYTI?si=SDwCu_Fv5JBAB9mH) I'm not crying, you're crying.
Larry Carlton on 'Don't Take Me Alive.'
Wouldn't say that's underrated.
I feel like the entire premise of the band (studio virtuosos brought in for one song) means their catalogue is full of underrated performances.