Most rock & roll bands are a tightly wound unit that developed their music through years of playing in garages and clubs around their hometown.
Steely Dan never subscribed to that aesthetic. As the vehicle for the songwriting of
Walter Becker and
Donald Fagen,
Steely Dan defied all rock & roll conventions.
Becker and
Fagen never truly enjoyed rock -- with their ironic humor and cryptic lyrics, their eclectic body of work shows some debt to
Bob Dylan -- preferring jazz, traditional pop, blues, and R&B.
Steely Dan created a sophisticated, distinctive sound with accessible melodic hooks, complex harmonies and time signatures, and a devotion to the recording studio. With producer
Gary Katz,
Becker and
Fagen gradually changed
Steely Dan from a performing band to a studio project, hiring professional musicians to record their compositions. Though the band didn't perform live between 1974 and 1993,
Steely Dan's popularity continued to grow throughout the '70s as their albums became critical favorites and their singles became staples of AOR and pop radio stations. Even after the group disbanded in the early '80s, their records retained a cult following, as proven by the massive success of their unlikely return to the stage in the early '90s.
Walter Becker (bass) and
Donald Fagen (vocals, keyboards) were the core members of
Steely Dan throughout its various incarnations. The two met at Bard College in New York in 1967 and began playing in bands together shortly afterward. The duo played in a number of groups -- including the Bad Rock Group, which featured future comedic actor
Chevy Chase on drums -- which ranged from jazz to progressive rock. Eventually,
Becker and
Fagen began composing songs together, hoping to become professional songwriters in the tradition of the Brill Building. In 1970, the pair joined
Jay & the Americans' backing band, performing under pseudonyms;
Becker chose
Gustav Mahler, while
Fagen used Tristan Fabriani. They stayed with
Jay & the Americans until halfway through 1971, when they recorded the soundtrack for the low-budget film You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It, which was produced by
the Americans'
Kenny Vance. Following the recording of the soundtrack,
Becker and
Fagen attempted to start a band with
Denny Dias, but the venture was unsuccessful.
Barbra Streisand recorded the
Fagen/
Becker composition "I Mean to Shine" on her album
Barbra Joan Streisand, released in August 1971, and the duo met producer
Gary Katz, who hired them as staff songwriters for ABC/Dunhill in Los Angeles, where he had just become a staff producer.
Katz suggested that
Becker and
Fagen form a band as a way to record their songs, and
Steely Dan -- who took their name from a dildo in
William Burroughs' Naked Lunch -- were formed shortly afterward.
Recruiting guitarists
Denny Dias and
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, drummer
Jim Hodder, and keyboardist/vocalist
David Palmer,
Becker and
Fagen officially formed
Steely Dan in 1972, releasing their debut,
Can't Buy a Thrill, shortly afterward.
Palmer and
Fagen shared lead vocals on the album, but the record's two hit singles -- the Top Ten "Do It Again" and "Reeling in the Years" -- were sung by
Fagen.
Can't Buy a Thrill was a critical and commercial success, but its supporting tour was a disaster, hampered by an under-rehearsed band and unappreciative audiences.
Palmer left the band following the tour.
Countdown to Ecstasy, released in 1973, was a critical hit, but it failed to generate a hit single, even though the band supported it with a tour.
Steely Dan replaced
Hodder with
Jeff Porcaro and added keyboardist/backup vocalist
Michael McDonald prior to recording their third album,
Pretzel Logic. Released in the spring of 1974,
Pretzel Logic returned
Steely Dan to the Top Ten on the strength of the single "Rikki Don't Lose That Number." After completing the supporting tour for
Pretzel Logic,
Becker and
Fagen decided to retire from live performances and make
Steely Dan a studio-based band. For their next album, 1975's
Katy Lied, the duo hired a variety of studio musicians -- including
Dias,
Porcaro, guitarist
Elliot Randall, saxophonists
Phil Woods, bassist
Wilton Felder, percussionist
Victor Feldman, keyboardist
Michael Omartian, and guitarist
Larry Carlton -- as supporting musicians.
Katy Lied was another hit, as was 1976's
The Royal Scam, which continued in the vein of its predecessor. On 1977's
Aja,
Steely Dan's sound became more polished and jazzy, as they hired jazz fusion artists like
Wayne Shorter,
Lee Ritenour, and
the Crusaders as support.
Aja became their biggest hit, reaching the Top Five within three weeks of release and becoming one of the first albums to be certified platinum.
Aja also gained the respect of many jazz musicians, as evidenced by
Woody Herman recording an album of
Becker/
Fagen songs in 1978.
Following the release of
Aja, ABC was bought out by
MCA Records, resulting in a contractual dispute with the label that delayed until 1980 the release of their follow-up album. During the interim, the group had a hit with the theme song for the film FM in 1978.
Steely Dan finally released
Gaucho, the follow-up to
Aja, in late 1980, and it became another Top Ten hit for the group. During the summer of 1981,
Becker and
Fagen announced that they were parting ways. The following year,
Fagen released his solo debut,
The Nightfly, which became a critical and commercial hit.
Fagen didn't record another album until 1993, when he reunited with
Becker, who produced
Kamakiriad. The album was promoted by the first
Steely Dan tour in nearly 20 years, and while the record failed to sell, the concerts were very popular. In 1994,
Becker released his solo debut,
11 Tracks of Whack, which was produced by
Fagen. The following year,
Steely Dan mounted another reunion tour, and in early 2000 the duo issued
Two Against Nature, their first new studio album in two decades. It won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
Steely Dan followed it in 2003 with
Everything Must Go.
Fagen's solo album
Morph the Cat was released in 2006, and
Becker released
Circus Money in 2008 as
Steely Dan embarked on another tour. In September 2017, it was announced that
Becker had died in Maui, Hawaii. He was 67-years-old.
Fagen carried on with
Steely Dan after
Becker's passing, often calling the group "the Steely Dan Band." This new lineup was showcased on a pair of live albums released in September 2021:
Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live and
Donald Fagen's The Nightfly Live, both recorded between 2018 and 2019. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine