Steely Dan
studio-perfectionistsjazz-rocksession-musiciansyacht-rockfagen-becker
Walter Becker and Donald Fagen formed Steely Dan in New York in 1972, eventually relocating to Los Angeles and abandoning live performance entirely to focus on studio perfection. Their albums — particularly Aja (1977) and Gaucho (1980) — represent the apex of studio craft in rock history. They hired the best session musicians in Los Angeles, sometimes recording dozens of takes of a single solo before finding the one they wanted. Larry Carlton, Jay Graydon, and Steve Gadd appear throughout their catalog. Aja won the Grammy for Best Engineered Recording in 1978. Peg, Deacon Blues, and Hey Nineteen are among the most harmonically sophisticated pop songs ever written.
Subgenres
Classic Rock
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Key Albums
Countdown to Ecstasy1973 · ABC
Aja1977 · ABC
Gaucho1980 · MCA
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From the Sonic City Editorial
Steely Dan Is Yacht Rock. Deal With It.Donald Fagen told the yacht rock documentary director to go fuck himself. Then he licensed the songs anyway. That contradiction is the whole argument.Yacht Rock: The Most Technically Accomplished Music Nobody Will Admit They LoveSteely Dan, Toto, and the Los Angeles session elite built the most sonically perfect records of the 1970s. The embarrassment was always undeserved.