The Steel Guitar Forum

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VZs4pK-aBuE

Awesome!

Great player! Thanks JP

This is a very interesting track, hearing each of these solos out of the context of original songs. And what great players.... From memory, Larry Carlton the first 2. Was Denny Dias the next, and then Jay Graydon of course with Peg. Then Walter Becker. Walter is such a imaginative player, always with such unusual note choices. It is interesting that they employed so many session players despite Becker's obvious talent but I am so glad they did.
An amazing body of work between the first album in 1971(?)and Gaucho (79), though I would include Nightfly (1980) by Fagen and with some more great Carlton solos.

Amazing! Pretty clever, but I think you have to be a real guitar-geek to appreciate it. It reminds me how much I enjoyed those Steely Dan guitar solos.

I always thought Carlton's solo on Kid Charlemagne was one the best "rock" solos I ever heard. Darn tasty, wonderful tone, neat licks, and it just seemed to fit the song sooooooo well.

Larry Carlton's guitar playing was a main reason why I bought my Gibson ES 335dot, way back in 1983.

although I was and still am a big Steely fan and a Larry fan...( saw Larry in Nville May of this year) I bought my first ES335 in 1967, I never even heard of Larry Carlton at the time!

It was a red guitar with the Bigsby tail piece, I sold it to my friend who still has it but it was severely damaged then repaired and has minimal value now.

Here is the LC335 by the Gibson Custom Shop. The orange label inside the guitar with the serial number also is hand signed by Larry Carlton himself!

The BEST guitar I have ever had my hands on in over 32 years of playing. The Gibson Custom Shop has done a superb job. The instrument is absolutely flawless in every way.

24 3/4" scale, Graphite Nut, Neck width 1 9/16", Titanium Nashville bridge, Schaller M6 tuners, 57 Classic HB pickups, 1 piece mahogany neck...(1968 was last yr for one piece mahogany, however, NOS was used on the '69 model of Larry's)

The neck is from an exact mold of Larry's 1969 ES335.



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Reminds me why I have all of the 'Dan record (still) after all these years.

Guy Cundell wrote: Walter is such a imaginative player, always with such unusual note choices. It is interesting that they employed so many session players despite Becker's obvious talent but I am so glad they did.

Two reasons (apart from the monster talent they hired to play the tracks):

1) Becker & Fagen were perfectionists; they had a reputation for telling the hired guns what to play...they also tended to beleive their live shows sucked! (typical musicians...)

2) Becker was always a bit of an introvert... it wasn't until Aja you actually heard him solo much (see 1)

Becker and Fagen are both great players. But I think they wanted to be the Duke Ellington Orchestra of rock'n'roll, with lots of hired guns that they truly admired.

Becker took two solos on the 'Katy Lied' album (Black Friday and Bad Sneakers) and I always thought the solo on "Monkey In Your Soul" from Pretzel Logic was Walter too.

still need to check out his new solo album 'Circus Money'...

Thanks for the great link. Some of the finest rock (jazz-rock?) guitar recorded in the 70's, or any other decade, for that matter.
Becker's a cool player, but I don't think he had the chops or range to come up with the stuff that Skunk, Denny, Larry,Elliot et al did... but check out Two Against Nature if you need more Walter.
I'm glad they hired the guitarists they did, and for me at least, their music stands the test of time far better than most of the other stuff of that era.
CR.

Don't forget about Jay Graydon. He was the soloist on "Peg".

Jay is a great session player.

I love Steely Dan - I don't think any popular music has stood the test of time quite so well. It's hard to pick a favourite, but "Gaucho" still brings a tear to my eye.

As for "Nightfly", I can't leave home without it - even now!!!!!

Great music, all of it.

Much has been said here regarding the superb and mind blowing work of Carlton, etc. Let's not leave out the very exceptional work of Plaz Johnson on sax. A good pal of mine (drummer) was gigging with Plaz in the 80's. Plaz had Ron Eschete in the guitar chair. Plaz had some great stories of the studio sessions he did with the Dan boys...some of it was..well..spooky.

"My Old School" gets me going... if I'm driving I really have to watch my speed. After the line ...California/ Tumbles into the sea... there's a sax fill that nearly makes me drive off the road. Yeah, still, after 30-some years and Heaven knows how many listens...Is that Plas, anybody?Is he still with us?
CR.

I don't think Plas came on board until Pretzel Logic. I know he's on Aja. He's still out there playing as far as I know. I could be way wrong, however I think the sax break you are driving off the road to was done by Ernie Watts.

Over Christmas, I was listening to Mingus's "The Clown" LP and was surprised to hear a couple harmonic devices Becker & Fagan had "borrowed." When I say "borrowed" I mean to say Becker & Fagan are super hip when it comes to their sources. As monumental as the "Aja" LP is, I think "Gaucho" is their masterpiece.

Hank Easton is the guitarist in a legendary local San Diego tribute band "Steely Damned". They nail every nuance, snarling vocalist and all, and I hear that they're "Fagen Approved".

BTW, you know our own forum pal Dean Parks has himself played on one or twenty Steely Dan sessions.

pianist Keith Jarrett sued and won co-writing credit on the song "Gaucho", which has an almost identical piano riff as his tune "As Long As You Know You're Living Yours."

"Rikki Don't Lose That Number" has an identical riff as Horace Silver's "Song For My Father" but I guess Horace didn't mind so much.

I think both were done as a nod of recognition, as opposed to blatant plagiarism. Maybe Jarrett was more miffed by the subject matter of the song "Gaucho", which details a gay lover's quarrel.

I've been playing with Reeling in the Years lately. It noticed that the bridge reminded me a lot of Celtic music and found it seamlesly segues into Banish Misfortune. Those add2 chords are used a lot in SD's music. Fantastic writing, playing and arranging throughout their whole catalog/

Excellent Tim! Thanks for the link!