Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Initially the band had a stable lineup, but in 1974 Becker and Fagen retired from live performances to become a studio-only band, opting to record with a revolving cast of session musicians. Rolling Stone has called them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the seventies".
Pretzel Logic is the third studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released by ABC Records on February 20, 1974. It was recorded at the Village Recorder in West Los Angeles, California, with producer Gary Katz. The album was Steely Dan's last to be made and released while the group was still an active touring band, as well as the final album to feature the band's full quintet-lineup of Becker, Fagen, Denny Dias, Jim Hodder, and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, though it also features significant contributions from many prominent Los Angeles-based studio musicians.
Donald Jay Fagen is an American musician best known as the co-founder, lead singer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist of the band Steely Dan, formed in the early 1970s with musical partner Walter Becker. In addition to his work with Steely Dan, Fagen has released four solo albums, beginning with The Nightfly in 1982, which was nominated for seven Grammys. In 2001, Fagen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Steely Dan. Following Becker's death in 2017, Fagen continued to tour under the Steely Dan name.
Aja is the sixth studio album by the American jazz rock band Steely Dan, released by ABC Records on September 23, 1977. On the album, band leaders Donald Fagen and Walter Becker pushed Steely Dan further into experimenting with different combinations of session players, enlisting the services of nearly 40 musicians, while pursuing longer, more sophisticated compositions and arrangements.
Katy Lied is the fourth studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released by ABC Records in March 1975; reissues have been released by MCA Records since ABC Records was acquired by MCA in 1979. It was the first album the group made after they stopped touring, as well as their first to feature backing vocals by Michael McDonald.
The Royal Scam is the fifth studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released by ABC Records in 1976; reissues have been released by MCA Records since ABC Records was acquired by MCA in 1979. It was produced by Gary Katz. In the United States, the album peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart, and it has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Everything Must Go is the ninth studio album by American rock group Steely Dan. It was released on June 10, 2003, by Reprise Records, and was the band's second album following their 20-year studio hiatus spanning 1980 through 2000, when they released Two Against Nature. Everything Must Go is the band's most recent studio album and their last with founding member Walter Becker before his death in 2017.
Two Against Nature is the eighth studio album by American rock band Steely Dan. Their first studio album in 20 years, it was recorded from 1997 to 1999 and released on February 29, 2000, by Giant Records.
Kamakiriad is the second solo album by Steely Dan artist Donald Fagen, released in 1993. It was his first collaboration with Steely Dan partner Walter Becker since 1986, on Rosie Vela's album Zazu. Becker played guitar and bass and produced the album. The album is a futuristic, optimistic eight-song cycle about the journey of the narrator in his high-tech car, the Kamakiri. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year 1994.
11 Tracks of Whack is the first solo album by Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker, released in 1994. It was his third collaboration since 1980 with Steely Dan partner Donald Fagen, who produced the album, after Becker produced Fagen's Kamakiriad (1993), and Becker and Fagen played on Rosie Vela's debut album Zazu (1986).
The New York Rock and Soul Revue was a musical project that evolved out of a series of concerts produced and promoted by singer-songwriter Libby Titus at the Lone Star Roadhouse, the Spectrum and other Northeast concert venues, eventually coalescing around unofficial "band leader" Donald Fagen from 1989–1993. Fagen, the frontman and co-founder of Steely Dan, had largely focused on songwriting during that group's near decade-long hiatus in the 80s, and would go on to credit the unique blend of veteran talent Titus had assembled with reigniting his passion for performing live. It featured various musicians including Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs and Phoebe Snow.
"Deacon Blues" is a song written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen in 1976 and recorded by their group Steely Dan on their 1977 album Aja. It peaked at number 19 on the Billboard charts and number 17 on the U.S. Cash Box Top 100 in June 1978. It also reached #40 on the Easy Listening chart. In Canada, it peaked at #14, a position it occupied for two weeks, and #20 Adult Contemporary. In 2021, it was listed at No. 214 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
A Decade of Steely Dan is a compilation album by Steely Dan, released in 1985. It was the band's first compilation specifically for the compact disc market, and was certified a gold record by the RIAA.
"Pretzel Logic" is a song written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, released as a single by Steely Dan from their album Pretzel Logic, originally in 1974 by ABC Records. It reached number 57 in the Billboard charts.
The New York Rock and Soul Revue: Live at the Beacon is a live album which documented the New York Rock and Soul Revue. It was recorded on March 1 and 2, 1991 at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, a favorite venue of organizer Donald Fagen. The performances featured Fagen and included Phoebe Snow, Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs, Eddie Brigati, David Brigati and Charles Brown. Selections on the album included a number of songs which were originally written and recorded by members of the revue, as well as other songs. The album was released by Giant Records.
"FM (No Static at All)" is a song by American jazz-rock band Steely Dan, the title theme for the 1978 film FM. It made the US Top 40 that year when released as a single, a success relative to the film. Musically, it is a complex jazz-rock composition driven by its bass, guitar and piano parts, typical of the band's sound from this period; its lyrics look askance at the album-oriented rock format of many FM radio stations at that time, in contrast to the film's celebration of that medium.
Sunken Condos is the fourth and most recent solo album from Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen, released in October 2012 through Reprise Records. It contains eight new songs and a cover of Isaac Hayes' "Out of the Ghetto". Fagen began recording the album in 2010 and described it as having a lighter feel than his earlier work, rather than being a continuation of his Nightfly trilogy.
"Slinky Thing" is a song by Donald Fagen, appearing as the first track from his album, Sunken Condos. Telling the story of an older man seeking the affection and companionship of a significantly younger woman, the song details the events surrounding the two as they spend time together and endure comments made by others, who advise the narrator to "hold on to that slinky thing." The narrator himself thinks about if "she needs somebody who's closer to her own age."
Drew Zingg is an American rock, blues, soul and jazz guitarist, best known for his performing with Steely Dan and Boz Scaggs.
