By Joe Williams St. Louis Post-Dispatch ST. LOUIS — If it weren’t for Steely Dan, the term “jazz rock” would be as oxymoronic as “country funk” or “folk rap.” More than 45 years ago, Bard College classmates Donald Fagen and Walter Becker found the fabled key to connecting jazzy solos with rock rhythms. After a […]
Q&A: Steely Dan Aims to Reel in Audience
By Kevin Coffey World-Herald OMAHA — Steely Dan, known for songs such as “Reelin’ in the Years” and “Hey Nineteen,” will perform at the Orpheum Theater. Before the band made its way to Omaha, we talked to band leaders Donald Fagen and Walter Becker about their songwriting style. The World-Herald: A lot of the stuff […]
The (Botched) Interview of a Lifetime
Tim Woodward hoped this stylish license plate purse could help him score a personal interview with Steely Dan. This Idaho journalist is 0 for 3 when it comes to meeting his musical heroes. By Tim Woodward Idaho Statesman My original plan for today’s column was to interview Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan, […]
Becker, Fagen Display Their ‘Mood Swings’
By Kevin C. Johnson The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ST. LOUIS — Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen and Walter Becker took a break from rehearsals last month for a free-wheeling conversation with the media via teleconference. The guys were promoting “Mood Swings: 8 Miles to Pancake Day Tour,” which comes to the Peabody Opera House on Monday. […]
Steely Dan Sells Out Red Butte, But Try Getting a Straight Answer
By David Burger The Salt Lake Tribune SALT LAKE CITY — Steely Dan is bringing its “Mood Swings: 8 Miles to Pancake Day” tour to Red Butte Garden Saturday, and the name of the tour sounds apt for a band that takes it name from a dildo. While the jazz-rock tandem of Walter Becker and Donald […]
Steely Dan @ The Riverside Theater
By Thomas Michalski Express Milwaukee MILWAUKEE — Recently there’s been a resurgence of appreciation for a variety of the soft-rock super sounds of the ’70s. In addition to Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan has probably benefitted the most from the trend, perhaps because they’ve always been rather hard to pin down, more complex than most of their […]
Steely Dan Digs Deep at Fox Theatre Show
By Gary Graff The Oakland Press DETROIT — In Steely Dan’s world, one guy makes a big difference. In fact, it’s what allows the group to BE Steely Dan. Last year the entire group that was on stage Saturday night, July 27, at the Fox Theatre performed at the DTE Energy Music Theatre as the […]
Steely Dan Delivers Sparkling Show at Louisville Palace
By Jeffrey Lee Puckett The Courier-Journal LOUISVILLE — Steely Dan is a band famed for its painstaking attention to detail when making records. Every note is in place, sometimes to a fault, although no one can question the dedication to craft of songwriters Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. That same attention to detail was in […]
Steely Dan Swinging Some Good Mood on Tour
By Gary Graff The Oakland Press Mood Swings 2013: 8 Miles To Pancake Day is not a conventional name for a tour. So, as you might imagine, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan don’t have a conventional answer for how it came to be. “Mood Swings, that was the easy part,” says Fagen, […]
Steely Dan Goes Its Own Way, As Usual
By Steve Knopper Special to the Tribune CHICAGO — Steely Dan once spewed out impeccably crafted albums at an absurdly consistent rate — once a year, from “Can’t Buy a Thrill” in 1972 through “Aja” in 1977 — but it was the road that killed the band. “We were in our 20s. We weren’t going […]
