Steely Dan - The Making of "Peg"

[tone_temple]

Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, collectively known as Steely Dan were known to spend hours, day in and day out perfecting just one song.  Here's a glimpse into the creative process of one of the most anal-retentive bands in music....

[frogfunk]

Unbelievable! And I thought Frank Zappa was anal about his music. (In a good way, though.) 

[Jaco D]

Yeah, kung sa Pilipinas pa yan nabangkarote na yung mga recording companies sa kanila.  I have a copy of that DVD and after viewing it for the first time years ago, it became clear to me why even if all the big guns in the industry sessioned for them (Jeff Porcaro, Bernard Purdie, Rick Moratta, Chuck Rainey, etc.) SD was a revolving door for top notch talent.  Apparently everyone was a specialized talent, the specific talent combination of which made that particular SD song unique and special (at least to them).

Those Mike MacDonald harmonies were something else.  With each part minutely different from the rest, you really have to give it to Mike for being such a perfectionist as well and give his all to each part.  For artists made of weaker stuff, baka na-burat na ang mga iyon sa walang katapusang "Peeeegggggg".

[frogfunk]

Sure enough, dude! Like with Frank Zappa, if I had the chance I'd work with them because I believe in their vision. Never mind if my part didn't make the cut but there's the privilege. 

[psychic_sushi]

i got a copy of the vcd, c/o boddhisatva 

amazing stuff!!!

[Boddhisattva]

More amazing is producer Gary Katz' pocket and his commitment to the group's music (with all their eccentricities)..

[Jim Ayson]

I've been looking for that DVD for years --- in Metrowalk. No luck! But I did find Joni Mitchell's "Shadows and Light" so there's still hope.

[Jaco D]

In 1997 David Garfield came out with an album called "Tribute to Jeff:  David Garfield and Freinds Play Tribute to Jeff Porcaro".  Five years after the late great Toto drummer passed away, Garfield gathered a who's who of the 70s and 80s rock/jazz world to celebrate the life and times of probably the  consummate drummer of the era (OT:  This is a personal favorite.  Loved all the cuts specially "Twenty-one Drum Salute" and "Let's Stay Together" - itong pangalawa, walang binatbat ang "We Are The World" in terms of the vocal talent quality on that cut).  As I was reading the liner notes to get a glimpse of who played on the album, I realised "'Tang Ina, this not only is a tribute to Jeff but is a Steely Dan sideman/alumni homecoming".  Here's a short list of the album's "SD session guys masquerading as Jeff's Friends" (of course, Jeff was an SD session guy himself):  Larry Carlton, Denny Dias, Steve Gadd, Jay Graydon, David Hungate, Jim Keltner, Steve Lukather, Michael McDonald, David Paich, Bernard Purdie, etc. etc.).  Sayang, the Katzenjammer Twins couldn't be there but "Babylon Sisters" is included in the CD, and that somehow makes up for Fagen and Becker's absence.  Some of the other musicians on that CD may not have sat in on an SD recording session, but would have fit in nicely had SD been more prolific music-wise.

Mukhang getting an invite to a Steely Dan studio session and having that cut pressed to vinyl was a rite of passage for top drawer musicians of the era.

[Jaco D]

Haha!  Found these two ditties on YouTube:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6AECrj-bujw

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Nf0UpkCOhO4

Of course, this was before SD became a duo and before they hated touring/performing in public.  Denny Dias is his usual cool self.  Skunk Baxter is one wild cowboy.  Hard to believe that he's now a top security expert that the Pentagon seeks advice from.  God help us.

[Jim Ayson]

There was also a bunch of studio musicians who grouped together as the "Hoops McCann Band" and played Steely Dan tunes, rearranged as jazz instrumentals. I remember seeing the print ad in issues of Downbeat (or was it Jazziz?) but never heard the album. This was back during the Dan's long hiatus between "Gaucho" and "Alive in America" where it was considered safe to come up with a "tribute" album.

Hoops McCann was of course the drug runner in "The Glamour Profession," for you trivia buffs.

[Jim Ayson]

Of course, this was before SD became a duo and before they hated touring/performing in public.  Denny Dias is his usual cool self.  Skunk Baxter is one wild cowboy.  Hard to believe that he's now a top security expert that the Pentagon seeks advice from.  God help us.

I wonder if any of you were there when Jeff "Skunk" Baxter showed up to jam at a Bistro RJ a few years back. Heard he was here in his guise as a defense consultant.

[Jim Ayson]

And then there's the making of "Josie" -

NR=1

[dref40cc]

  are you reelin in the years stowin away the time .....

[Boddhisattva]

I wonder if any of you were there when Jeff "Skunk" Baxter showed up to jam at a Bistro RJ a few years back. Heard he was here in his guise as a defense consultant.

Whooa! If only we knew.  I admired his playing with Doobie Brothers. A studio video of the Doobies playing Taking it to the Streets has The Skunk playing solo instead of the album's sax solo and it was great!!!

BTW, I also consider the Tribute to Jeff a favorite. Because of this album, I looked for other David Garfield initiatives and found Los Lobotomys.

[Jaco D]

Yeah, The Dan and The Doobies were operating in parallel universes:

If I'm not mistaken, Mike MacDonald was doing backing vocals for SD, where he was tipped by a then SD sideman named Jeff Porcaro that the Doobie Brothers needed a vocalist/keyboard player.  The rest is history.

Skunk played for both groups.  Lucky bastard.

The late Cornelius Bumpus was a major sax presence for both bands, and was a staple of the Dan touring band when he passed on (you see him a lot in the SD "Two Against Nature" DVD and a couple of old DB DVDs).  I might be wrong but he could be that big black dude you see in the old Doobie vinyl covers (I hope ermats didn't throw them away).  Very unassuming guy -  I heard that even when he was already a first-call session player, he played in the NY subway stations during his free time, not that he needed the money but to find inspiration and ideas.  What a guy.

There probably are more "zero-degrees of separation" facts between the two groups but these three are at the top of my head at the moment.

[nancy brew]

I love two against nature really, and the harmonies and lyrics are veeeery SD, though am looking forward to another ala Gadd propelled stuff...

AJA!!!!!!!!! Ano kaya ung pumasok sa utak ni Gadd ba't nag double time sa huli?

[Boddhisattva]

Yeah Cornelius (RIP) was a great musician, playing session with a lot of people - a singer, keyboardist and sax player. He's the fat man with the beard. Joined the Doobies in the latter years (last 2 albums?) after Minute by Minute.