America’s most important rock and roll band

Filed under: Steely Dan - 31 May 2010  | Spread the word !

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Steely Dan is one of Americas most important rock and roll bands. You will find that many other rock bands, both from America and internationally have stated that the works of Steely Dan have inspired them. As an inspiration for up and coming rock and roll bands Steely Dan are big achievers. Their music has been described as being a blend of jazz, rock, pop, funk and rhythm and blues.

The core members for the band Steely Dan are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band had its biggest successes during the 1970′s, but their music has lasted the test of time and their sounds have been the inspiration for many bands since then. Fagen and Becker toured with Steely Dan from 1972 to 1974. In 1975 Steely Dan became a studio based band. Their appeal waned during the late 1970′s on the charts, but they did develop a cult following. This cult following kept the Steely Dan name alive and helped to secure it’s return in the 1990′s. In 1993 Steely Dan resumed live concerts. They released two studio albums not long after recommencing their return to the music industry. The first of these two albums earning them a Grammy Award for the Album of the Year. This was seen by many to be a just reward for their efforts.

Becker and Fagen prefer a soul influenced style of backing vocal. The first few albums had almost always used a female chorus. Venetta Fields, Sherlie Matthews and Clydie King were the preferred trio of voices for backing singers on the Steely Dan albums of the late seventies. Steely Dan is also well known for their use of chord sequences and harmonies. This is used to develop the musical tension that can be created using traditional rock music and jazz style music.

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Steely Dan – rocking out with real rock and roll legends

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Steely Dan released their debut album, Can’t Buy a Thrill in 1972. This album made an immediate impression on the United States album charts. The hit singles Do It Again and Reelin’ In the Years made it to the number six and number eleven positions on the American Billboard singles chart. These songs have become a part of classic rock history and you will still hear them played on the classic rock and roll radio stations all over the world.

Steely Dan member Fagen was always reluctant to sing live. David Palmer was the one who performed most of the vocals while on stage. Unfortunately Palmer did not have the same impact with his versions and the other band members had to convince Fagen that it was his singing that the fans wanted to hear. The band was able to explain to Fagen that he was the one who could convey the attitudes and meaning of the songs to the fans. It was not long before Palmer left Steely Dan while they were recording their second album. Palmer joined with Carole King and they had great success with Jazzman.

The next album, Countdown to Ecstasy was very much a band oriented project. Denny Dias was the rhythm guitarist and has a famous electric sitar solo in the song Do It Again. Jeff Baxter was the lead guitarist and Jim Hodder played drums and provided singing for the track Midnite Cruiser. Becker played the bass and sang backup vocals. Fagen played the keyboards, including piano, organ and electric piano. Fagen sang the lead vocals on all the tracks except for three.

Countdown to Ecstasy was released in 1973. It never matched the commercial successes of Can’t Buy a Thrill. Becker and Fagen felt that they had had to rush the recording of the album between touring dates. They were not entirely satisfied with the performances on the album. A couple of classic singles from the Countdown to Ecstasy album include Show Biz Kids and My Old School. These singles are considered to be classics by fans and critics alike, but they never made an impression on the American charts. My Old School and another song from the album, Bodhisattva became popular classic rock songs in later years.

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