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FM by Steely Dan
Posted on 5/26/15 at 9:04 am
Posted on 5/26/15 at 9:04 am
I heard this yesterday and the guitar solo toward the end has a distinctive Pink Floydish sound to it.
Anyone else ever notice/think this? It would make sense if you ever saw the movie.
Anyone else ever notice/think this? It would make sense if you ever saw the movie.
4
Posted on 5/26/15 at 9:28 am to Tigertown in ATL
quote:
I heard this yesterday and the guitar solo toward the end has a distinctive Pink Floydish sound to it.
Walter Becker was primarily a bass player - at that point he and Fagen were down to the two of them (and Jeff Porcaro on drums) for the most part, - that was their first single for MCA. Even on Gaucho, for example, Becker only played guitar on Hey Nineteen - and a solo on Time Out of Mind - people lined up to work with them, though (much like the Alan Parson Project, Steely Dan was more of an "idea" and a collaborative group built around Fagen and Becker, than a conventional jazz/rock/blues/fusion band) - with guys like Mark Knopler and Larry Carlton (among others) filling in the rest.
But, this was pure Becker guitar/bass along with Fagen on the keys - on some days, FM is my favorite Steely Dan song. I agree with you it has a Floyd, kind of funky, gritty, dirty blues vibe to the solos.
(And I enjoyed the film as well.)
Oh - more trivia about this particular track - the background singers constitued 3/5 of the Eagles line up from Hotel California ("...stab it with their Steely knives...") - Schmit, Henley and Frey.
This post was edited on 5/26/15 at 9:29 am
Posted on 5/26/15 at 9:54 am to Tigertown in ATL
Never thought about it before, but, yes.
Posted on 5/26/15 at 12:15 pm to Ace Midnight
quote:
Ace Midnight
Good post. As usual.
Posted on 5/26/15 at 12:47 pm to Tigertown in ATL
quote:
Ace Midnight
Good post. As usual.
Posted on 5/26/15 at 8:15 pm to Tigertown in ATL
gaucho go hard fam
Posted on 5/26/15 at 9:22 pm to Ace Midnight
You can say Becker was even less and less of a factor as the albums went along...Would anyone even disagree if we called it Donald Fagen and a bunch of studio musicians?
Posted on 5/26/15 at 10:41 pm to Ace Midnight
I love the work Diaz did for Steely on guitar
Posted on 5/26/15 at 10:50 pm to Ace Midnight
Wow - that's interesting - I love Steely Dan. Never knew anything about "the band". Glad to know. Thanks!
Posted on 5/26/15 at 11:05 pm to HaveMercy
No static at all...
Posted on 5/27/15 at 7:04 am to Marco Esquandolas
quote:
No static at all..
Youngsters will have no concept of this.
Posted on 5/27/15 at 8:06 am to Tiger in Texas
quote:
Would anyone even disagree if we called it Donald Fagen and a bunch of studio musicians
I would take somewhat of an issue - your interpretation isn't without support - Fagen was the "senior" partner, without question, but Becker's playing is the soul of Steely Dan, IMHO - both his bass and guitar playing permeate the signature songs.
(ETA: And he co-wrote virtually every Steely Dan song)
On the other hand, Fagen's solo work does sound a lot like Steely Dan, so there's that.
More band trivia - Chevy Chase was the drummer for Fagen's college band - had he been just a little better drummer, he might have ended up as the drummer for Steely Dan, rather than Clark Griswold and Fletch.
This post was edited on 5/27/15 at 8:16 am
Posted on 5/27/15 at 8:26 am to Ace Midnight
quote:I.G.Y was a Steely Dan song in my mind for so long. Time Out of Mind was a Fagan song for a while. Not sure why I got that so confused.
Fagen's solo work does sound a lot like Steely Dan, so there's that.
Posted on 5/27/15 at 8:39 am to Ace Midnight
quote:
at that point he and Fagen were down to the two of them (and Jeff Porcaro on drums) for the most part
Porcaro did play on several tracks over the years and if I recall correctly all of Katy Lied but he was never a "member" of the group original or otherwise. Just another studio guy. Not sure if that's what you meant but your statement sort of implied that.
Katy Lied was Porcaro on drums with a bunch of other studio guys. Royal Scam was Bernard Purdie on drums (except for Don't Take Me Alive). Aja and Gaucho featured different combinations of players from song to song.
It's easy to assume Fagen is the brainchild because he was the primary voice but Becker was heavily involved songwriter and producer. I think Fagen even had Becker produce Kamakiriad.
Posted on 5/27/15 at 8:44 am to nm1230
How many albums did McDonald participate in?
Posted on 5/27/15 at 9:04 am to nm1230
quote:
Porcaro did play on several tracks over the years and if I recall correctly all of Katy Lied but he was never a "member" of the group original or otherwise. Just another studio guy. Not sure if that's what you meant but your statement sort of implied that.
That's what I meant - Porcaro was, more or less, their default drummer after Jim Hodder departed, but so many session guys came through, particularly guitarists and drummers, it is difficult to keep up with them. Porcaro played most of the drums on Pretzel Logic, Katy Lied - has no credits on The Royal Scam or Aja, then is back for some tracks on Gaucho.
FM was about the time Porcaro formed Toto with his brothers, Lukather, and David Paich. (That cat played a lot of drums during a short 38-year life, too, BTW).
This post was edited on 5/27/15 at 9:09 am
Posted on 5/27/15 at 9:41 am to Ace Midnight
quote:
Porcaro played most of the drums on Pretzel Logic, Katy Lied - has no credits on The Royal Scam or Aja, then is back for some tracks on Gaucho.
Yeah, it's possible he cut tracks for some of those records but his takes never made the records. I honestly don't know the answer to that. I know he's on a track or two off of "The Nightfly".
I knew a guy once (who was pretty connected in the music industry) that claimed he had heard a whole cassette of the album Aja with alternate takes that Steve Gadd had played on. The only take that made the actual record was of course "Aja". The Classic Albums episode on the making of Aja gives a lot of insight on how they worked by that point. It's on youtube I think.
Porcaro was a freak of nature and was playing on master sessions in LA when he was 17 years old. He was the alpha in a very, very musically talented family.
This post was edited on 5/27/15 at 9:42 am
Posted on 5/27/15 at 10:07 am to nm1230
quote:
Porcaro was a freak of nature and was playing on master sessions in LA when he was 17 years old.
It is argued that he is the most influential pop/rock drummer of the 70s and 80s - and I find it hard to argue with that.
Started drumming at 7, was playing with seasoned musicians at 17, as you say, and by 20 was in great demand - played on "hundreds" of albums and you can pretty much name a big name who used session musicians at all in the 70s and 80s, and Porcaro sat down for them at least once.
I will occasionally dig around and find Jeff Porcaro somewhere - like on Pink Floyd's "Mother" - from The Wall - I've heard that song dozens of times. I often thought, "Nick's timing was tight on this" - then when I figured out it was Porcaro - I thought "NOW it makes sense!"
This post was edited on 5/27/15 at 12:08 pm
Posted on 5/27/15 at 8:05 pm to AlxTgr
I am not sure but
The girls don't seem to care....tonight
As long as the mood is right
The girls don't seem to care....tonight
As long as the mood is right
Posted on 5/27/15 at 8:28 pm to Tigertown in ATL
Here's an hour long documentary on the making of the Steely Dan album "Aja" which lets the viewer get somewhat of an insight into the Becker/Fagen collaborative relationship.
YouTube Link
YouTube Link
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