The Steely Dan Iceberg Explained: Part 1

[@petefogel2133]

"Becker and Fagen destroyed the Second Arrangement on purpose." Your videos just lost all credibility

[@DingusTheKid]

Thanks Pete Fogel

[@SkeevyDaniel]

Thank you Pete Fogel

[@liquidjett]

Why are you so humorless, Fogel? Maybe smoking too much weed, or not enough?

[@plan9fromouterspace]

Thanks Peter Foggle

[@MrEvan-xw6nn]

Thank you pete fogel

[@Phan211]

I can tell you why they kept going on Green Earrings for 7 minutes. They were having fun and just wanted to keep jamming. Happens all the time.

[@maximilianodelrio]

The song is an absolute jam

[@petefogel2133]

One of the reasons they open up the show with that song most of the time is so they could stretch out and play. Making their first song of the night more of an extended sound check.

[@BrianBurke06]

Call that the Grateful Dan

[@sardonicus76]

Seven minutes? I don’t mind. I don’t mind.

[@vinylvannah]

“You done it, you done hired the hit maker” is one of my favorite steely dan moments

[@bradleyamor8854]

the Purdy shuffle

[@BrianBurke06]

Normies: “Reelin in the Years is my favorite Steely Dan song” “Intellectuals:” “I like deep cuts like deacon blues.” Gentleman Losers: “Turn that heartbeat over again is the best Steely Dan song.”

[@BoxingFanaticNumero1]

And TRUE intellectuals find their cup of tea in Do It Again

[@TheTurkishKebabExperience]

@@BoxingFanaticNumero1 it's such an amazing song, no matter how much i listen to it, I still find myself coming back to it the most.

[@BoxingFanaticNumero1]

@@TheTurkishKebabExperience it is literally the same for me 🤝

[@Starfurexxed]

hrrrnngg Don't take me alive hits different

[@NoLaNpR8]

donald singing deja vu gets me everytime

[@spactick]

There is no band that remotely compares to the sophistication of Fagen & Beckers compositions. They produce a musical product up there with Duke Ellington or Weather Report or any of Miles Davis's groups from the mid 1950's on.

[@sodox007]

You rightfully heaped praise on the Skunk Baxter guitar solos on many of the early Dan albums, yet you didn't even mention what may be the best guitar solo in the history of popular music, which is Larry Carlton playing on Kid Charlemagne. It's ponderous.

[@hadronoftheseus8829]

Ponderous man, f*ckin ponderous.

[@Tea8chSea]

yeah, kanye thought so too.

[@justmeeagainn]

He mentioned Larry Carlton. Maybe you missed it.

[@lopedeaguirre1]

Actually Donald Fagen has said he talked with Walter Becker about making another Steely Dan album after Everything Must Go but Walter just wasn't interested as he was suffering from his health problems so much

[@DingusTheKid]

Thanks for the correction. I'll be sure to mention it in part 2.

[@MrEvan-xw6nn]

Was about to say this

[@jml-rj5re]

Yes, Becker's health was a major factor in the lack of another SD album. Becker had also lost patience with Fagen's fastidiousness. Everything Must Go was more organic compared with Two Against Nature, but Becker preferred more live tracking. Circus Money more organic still. Ever Fagen loosened up on Morph the Cat and especially Sunken Condos, opting for a more rapid recording and overdub process.

[@bugsunplugged]

@@MrEvan-xw6nn Thumbs up for the avatar name. Very cool reference perfectly in keeping w/ this topic.

[@jaybrecker]

I'm a committed SD freak and musician. From my perspective, this video covers quite a bit of ground and is just about 100% on point. Nice work.

[@teagrrlll1749]

SD is one of my all time favorite bands. I have all their albums (lol dating myself there). But, yeah, been following their career & listening to their music since the 70's. Their music is the soundtrack to my life. I really enjoyed this video & your presentation. I was amazed with some of the things you discussed that I didn't know. I thought I basically knew everything about them. It was fun hearing factoids that I didn't know before. Great video, thanks! Looking forward to part 2 💙

[@varsityathlete9927]

having all their albums doesn't date you. plenty of young people have the albums too, who were born after they originally split

[@tnami09]

If you’re dating yourself then I’m rating you as A+ aged to perfection and only getting sweeter with time tea girl.

[@harddonuts4488]

So, do you believe everything this artard said here? He read it in rolling stone magazing so, it must be true.

[@harddonuts4488]

@@varsityathlete9927 "Plenty of young people have their albums." Like, 100 or so?" P.S. They never split up. They simply stopped touring and didn't put out an album for 17 years. When they did decide to tour again, they had three albums (and much more) of material already recorded.

[@varsityathlete9927]

@@harddonuts4488 eh. a 100 of so? what you on dude. i can never get enough steely dan in stock. esp the last two. constantly out of stock. i see who is paying for them too. base your opinion on whatever I guess, I sell this stuff physically. We have currently zero dan records in stock, as usual. in fact often young people are more inventive in what they buy, as they are not stuck with notions of what music they like and don't like. for a young person its an endless ocean of new things. older people, very often stuck in their mindset of what they like and don't like. idea that young people don't like dan is completely wrong.

[@Mistertbones]

Steely Dan is one of the greatest groups of all time! I'm amazed there's an iceberg.

[@EddieG1888]

19:10, "And of course, Peg's infamous seven guitar solos" The funny thing about this part of the Classic Albums programme is, Fagen is sitting ripping this mystery soloist while Becker sits and says very little, and I strongly suspect this is because the soloist IS Becker; Brian Sweet's book says that "Becker himself tried the solo twice", and if Becker was the last guy to try it before Jay Graydon came in, which seems likely (as Becker was known for preferring other musicians before himself) I doubt they'd have wiped those from the multitrack tape. Also, I doubt they'd have let any player come in to record the solo, and print the envelope filter on the guitar right on to the multitrack for all time (they didn't do that for East St.Louis Toodle-Oo, or the talkbox guitar on Haitian Divorce; both effects were applied once the guitar part had been recorded) Lastly, the phrasing of both solos sounds very similar to me, and very similar to the style and phrasing of Walter Becker's playing. I also think that Rick Marotta is just entering into the B/F sense of humour on the TOOM tracking date, you can tell the way he changes the accent on the "take a fuckin' bite" comment. And, he ended up the drummer on the album, so he must have carried on tracking drums after that. You can hear Gary Katz laughing after Rick says "go fuck yourself".

[@iliumboy]

There is also the story of Rick Derringer. He came in and recorded the solo. They thanked him and told him he was great. Right after he left, Walter turned to the engineer and said "Erase it".

[@JRoJamz]

Another lifelong SD fan chiming in here. I did know a lot of this, do have some of the obscure releases you covered here. But you did get some newer stuff in there that was new to me. Kuddos on that, on to part two.

[@nyennestils5339]

1st - As far as lyrics, delivery, sophistication, melody, mastering and instrumentation go, Steely Dan reigns supreme. 2nd- Fagen had 4 solo albums, he forgot to name Sunken Condo from 2012. 3rd- this is a beautiful overview, thank you.

[@b_stewy121]

You don’t even know happy I am that you made this video, I absolutely love Steely Dan

[@untexan]

29:50 You edited out the part that second yelp was responding to - it was Jeff Porcaro’s outrageous drum fill in between the two halves of Denny Dias’s solo.

[@bugsunplugged]

I applaud your work here. VERY WELL done. One minor nit (Please don't let it detract from the praise you rightly deserve for your impressive efforts): Since September 3, 2017 - it is just not possible for there to be "a new Steely Dan record".

[@dangrahamdrums]

And yet there has been.

[@crusheverything4449]

@@dangrahamdrums - Live albums don’t count. It’s obvious bugsunplugged was referring to a new studio album.

[@dangrahamdrums]

@@crusheverything4449 so obvious. Thanks

[@crusheverything4449]

NP

[@dennisangeloni2990]

Enjoyed the video - nice job and there's always more info to learn about the Dan. I don't know what the music world would be without them.

[@NLDspotter]

I remember i copied a cd of Gaucho on a Sony metal casette tape once and was amazed bij the clarity of the sound.

[@marksmod]

Ah good, I'm glad I searched for this on the YT. Been listening to Steely Dan and Fangen's Music since 2013 and a bunch of the underground stuff I've not been aware of, shit really makes me want to dig a bit deeper. Thanks a bundle person on the internet for making this lengthy and passionate video.

[@PhilUKNet]

High fidelity with the exception of Katy Lied, the recording of which suffered from a major equipment malfunction. Just a very brief mention of Roger Nicholls in the video, and nothing about how he was an integral part of the SD sound. How he invented Wendel and how he acquired the 'Immortal' nickname. Mark Knopfler's experience playing on 'Time Out Of Mind'? Just a few suggestions for Part 2. Anyway, an enjoyable video and I hadn't heard quite a few of those unreleased tracks before.

[@stephenbirks6458]

I love Sunken Condos - Great album Slinky thing 1st track - We visit the mature guy & the younger lady yet gain in this amazing song ! -It has a wonderfu l Amp Fiddler feel to it ? - Donalds lyrics mentions they stroll down by the REPTILE CAGE - His humour shining through as uusual ! haha ! - in his song ! - I just love it ! The whole album is full of these wiitty gems !

[@Tristanrgreene11]

Creepin at a reptiles pace…. 😅 hold on to that slinky thing…. Love those lyrics

[@Zjayc777]

Cringe worthy award ceremony scene? Don’t underestimate Walters sense of humor, he just trolled you man.

[@Shifty519]

That was pretty funny, wonder if they had discussed it prior

[@codyfarkas7673]

He is simply a cringemaker 😎

[@Spartanm333]

@@windsurfer_LA Yep, no doubt trying to bang them on a freebie :)

[@tripprogers4814]

@@windsurfer_LA did you see how quickly his eyes started blinking when she says "..are you reelin in the sheaves"

[@reversefulfillment9189]

I always enjoy scuba diving, especially around icebergs. Looking from below is like a prism effect you can get no other way.

[@jennieohk6911]

I got way too excited when I saw the title to this video!!!! I haven't watched it yet and already liked and subscribed..lol. a Yes iceberg... and a Rush iceberg would be cool! See what I did there?

[@christopherroman9555]

Great content, however I think Becker, and Fagan would both agree you need to adjust your sound and turn that mic up:)

[@mrgeorgejetson]

Good video! Just two things: First, the way you say Becker "killed his girlfriend" (leaving it up to the viewer to read the screenshot for clarifying details) makes it sound like he murdered her, which is a bit much! Second: thanks for clarifying the pronunciation of Denny Dias' family name! I'd been saying it the Spanish way for the past twenty years...

[@MrOctober44]

Yeah I noticed that too regarding his girlfriend. She died from an overdose.

[@ceddyharris6340]

Fagen pronounces it the Spanish way in several interviews over the years, which has left me confused.

[@mrgeorgejetson]

@@ceddyharris6340 Well, that is confusing. Seems to me that it's got to be a Spanish or Portuguese name, but I guess Denny didn't feel the need to pronounce it that way.

[@ceddyharris6340]

@@mrgeorgejetson Fagen is an odd duck so it's hard to tell. The only reason this stands out to me is because I was just listening to a recent interview with Paul Shaffer and he definitely said "Dee-az." But I'm pretty sure I've heard him say "Dy-as" as well. I also noticed that Fagen has developed a hard lisp, which I've never noticed before.

[@mrgeorgejetson]

@@ceddyharris6340 Well, like I said it's almost certainly a Spanish name, in which case it would be pronounced "DEE" not "DIE," as Shaffer does, probably from having encountered it before. But I guess it doesn't really matter, and I'm a bit hung up on correct name pronunciation since all of my life people have been pronouncing my own family name incorrectly--and yes, that includes Rosie Perez and Perez Hilton, both of whom know damn well how the name is supposed to be pronounced but have clearly just figured that constantly correcting people makes one seem a bit crazy. The emphasis should be on the first syllable, in case anybody cares: "PE-res," not "puh-REZ." Alas, the cross I bear! Hahaha

[@M123OCT]

It's a pity that a number of people seem only to be looking for something (anything!) you might have gotten wrong. I'd just like to say thank you for such an interesting video on the best band ever. The work that goes into such a video is hard to understand, and it's free for everyone to enjoy! Nice one, man. 👍

[@andrewsorenson6750]

That "Happy Dance" is probably a reenactment from Woody Allen's "Sleepers"

[@yoshikagescrapper6650]

A iceberg based on one of my favorite bands of all time! Awesome

[@KiraPlaysGuitar]

"Deacon Blues/Peg" "There really isn't that much to say here so..." Okay, you're losing me.

[@KiraPlaysGuitar]

@Jason Bishop (Same like a few seconds later)

[@tripprogers4814]

I'm on the back cover of "Alive in America".. I guess you saved that tidbit for part 2.

[@bminusconstruction4212]

A Steely Dan will melt any Iceberg to a Smile 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@andrewhudson3723]

This is a brilliant documentary piece! I love this music and just discovered so much more to listen to. Excellent.

[@bassmickeyd]

Great video. ... I only did one pass through but I'll be back, so much to take in. ... I enjoyed the Rick Marotta quote, "I jerk off enough at home". ... It would be nice to be a fly on the wall when, after 20-takes, Donald asks for more. ... When Donald asked Rick, 'through someone else', you can hear in his voice he's walking on thin ice and might need an escort to his car. ... We've all read the stories of Phil woods and Wayne Shorter walking in and nailing the first pass, but the painstaking 20th take stories might be highly entertaining. ... We all know Skunk was pissed when he left and Denny stayed in touch with the boys but those tales may be interesting? ... There was many tooth's pulled on the Dan recordings. ... Walter's bass playing up to the time he passed it on to Chuck is really amazing and I've read Walter's guitar solos always pleased Donald but Walter wasn't content with his earlier solos and passed them off. ... Plus you don't mention The Nightfly album which I heard really took a toll on Donald. He's said he's never listened to the album since. ... Thanks.

[@allysonann2105]

Really great video! I’m a huge fan of Steely Dan so it’s amazing to hear more about them.

[@willdaddario]

did not expect this at all quality asf tho, waiting for part two 👍👍

[@celestelongway7315]

Dude Dingus that was AWESOME! Old schooler Michael T Wyman here. In LA./Del Rey California. Guitarist and Dan Fan. Saw Steely Dan at L.A. Forum around 2017 with Doobie Brothers. Great gig! Got a T-shirt. Wear it proudly.

[@michellelyman7092]

You have no idea how happy you have made me!

[@CRStudios]

I honestly couldn't believe you could make on steely dan, Great job!

[@philt4346]

Since you asked, only your assertion that the Dan's sound was achieved with the exclusion of Reverb. Where appropriate this is one of the few treatments that they would in fact use, I can think of some use of Vibrato also, and of course Distortion. What you maybe meant to say was they excluded EQ treatment, instead employing the dark arts of Roger Nicholls to work the studio like an instrument, getting the sounds they wanted without post processing. Liked, Subbed, yadda yadda.

[@alexe8375]

Really, there’s so much to it. The absolute best spaces and equipment, the best ears in the game, two perfectionists with studio time budgets to spend, great arrangements and performances that don’t need much, pristine mic placement, and as often doesn’t get mentioned - a visionary sense of what it *should* sound like. People like to imagine some perfect piece of gear or process, but really I suspect it comes down to skill, time, vision, and perseverance.

[@philt4346]

@@alexe8375 Reading your insights, alex, I wonder what the particular role of Gary Katz brought and how (I presume) it evolved during the decade.

[@crusheverything4449]

@@alexe8375 - Absolutely spot on, man!

[@crusheverything4449]

@Phil T - Maybe he said it on accident.

[@quixodian]

Thought I knew a fair bit about SD but learned a lot of quirky facts from this production.

[@ericanderson8606]

a dan geek must see howard wright's steely dan tab page. VERY accurate.

[@danfan4707]

1:57 Thanks for the namecheck!

[@williamrodenbeck1196]

Thanks for making this, I love some good KZbin steely Dan content

[@johnmitchelljr]

Great video. Thanks for all your work. Well done.

[@R3TR0R4V3]

Man, I would LOVE to hear all these outtakes! Huge Dan fan, but didn't know that stuff really existed.. Is there anywhere where all this material is consolidated?

[@ceddyharris6340]

On the hard drives in my safe 😆

[@Darrenowsley]

Dude this is just great work Thanks for this channel loved it!

[@Rick-zw7zv]

Donald's creative talents went down a few notches after he received psychotherapy in the 80's, it makes you wonder if his talent was the fruit of some psychological complex.

[@jml-rj5re]

Fagen's leaned more R&B and percussive for Kamakiriad after an aborted 2nd solo album and SD album in the 80s, but the tune were more melodic on Everything Must Go, Morph the Cat and Sunken Condos. Having said that 80s penned songs like Century's End, Big Noise New York are classics, not too mention Lazy Nina (Greg Philliganes) and Diana Ross' Love Will Make it Right. A few of the SD and Kamakiriad were left overs from 80s attempts. So think of an mid 80s Fagen solo album with Big Noise New York, Snowbound, Lazy Nina, Century's End, On the Dunes, Confide in Me, Love Will Make it Right, West of Hollywood. That's a damn good album. I'd argue that his STYLE of songwriting changed, with complex rhythms and more complex chords and harmonies...with more melodic song structure returning from Two Against NAture to Sunken Condos. JMO.

[@jazztime7186]

Most songwriters not named Irving Berlin or Paul McCartney have a relatively limited number of years where they are really on fire. The well also dried up for Jimmy Page, Burt Bacharach, Carole King, Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder, and many other giants of Fagen's era. Some of them kept releasing albums full of mediocre songs, and some basically retired from songwriting.

[@SamElliottsStache]

This explains why Two Against Nature and Everything Must Go sucked.

[@tomcoryell]

Sunken Condos is a great album! Everyone should listen to it.

[@tessfairfield6435]

I also love sunken Condos with my favorite song being Miss Marlene, it’s sooooo smooth

[@jameskirchner2655]

I'm 67YRS old and I appreciate Steely Dan it was a 8 track can't buy a cheap thrill

[@Cpayne30]

We now know that the masters did not burn in the Universal fire, thank god!-It does seem the master tapes for Aja and Gaucho are missing though (judging by what Chad Kassem and co. say) which is hard to believe in a sense.

[@KDonhoops]

awesome man looking forward to PT II

[@lopedeaguirre1]

I think the reason why Kulee Baba was scrapped is that it plagiarizes a weather report song and they feared a lawsuit

[@franciscocontreras2139]

Which song ?

[@lopedeaguirre1]

@@franciscocontreras2139 compare the outtake with Teen Town by Weather Report

[@johnk6598]

Only the song’s intro. Hardly seems like enough but who knows

[@mikef7672]

Good stuff. There is a line about Steely Dan in one of the Buddy Rich Tapes from what I remember.

[@barrywerdell2614]

I had a bootleg live recording of Steely Dan, pre-Pretzel. It was crude, with just a white cover and a piece of paper scotch-taped to it saying Steely Dan Live. One saving grace was it contained an instrumental that later became the beginning of the song "Your Gold Teeth II"

[@SkeevyDaniel]

Was it the Record Plant 74 show? That was the first Dan bootleg to my knowledge.

[@ai-man212]

Obscurity is genius. Love what you did here.

[@Jup1terr]

Liked for the clip of Walter Becker trying to shake Stevie Wonder's hand

[@crlyhdedfnck]

these icebergs are getting REALLY specific to my liking now.

[@mynewtaxguy]

Thanks so much, that was terrific, very informative, I am now going to dig deeper

[@SteelyF]

Hi. What version of the Second Arrangement did you play in the outro?? Sounds like John Paddicks version he played on Totally Wired Radio at 1:58:16. Possible friend of your uncles? ;)

[@DingusTheKid]

It is the one from Paddick's worktape, specifically this leak. kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2nFl6OvaZWmnKs

[@andrewmcphee8965]

Major SD fan. Stuff here I didn’t know about. Kudos Sir!

[@hdofu]

Stand by the Seawall v1, a nice Aja Outtake

[@sortega27]

Wasn't Chevy Chase Steely's original drummer when they where Leather Canary?

[@mikesnowden1]

YES. They all attended Bard College in Annandale-on hudson, NY

[@simonbone]

6:56 That's Desperate Dan (from the UK comic book the Dandy) in the poster. Never seen that one before.

[@logandetwiler4483]

Hey, do you have the script for this iceberg? If so, I want to take a look at it

[@carlossantos689]

Great video! I really love Steely Dan and it was cool to hear mr. Fagen saying the f word haha. Greetings from Brazil

[@jbarnes2288]

I thought I knew a considerable amount. Not so. Great wealth of interesting information here!!

[@hannanathan564]

Great video. Really enjoyed this!

[@tnami09]

Fagan cussin out that dude going to the bathroom🔥🤣😂

[@brandonharris9160]

These albums are so good its unreal

[@jameshanmer4418]

Re: famous guest players….No mention of Mark Knopfler as guest on “Gaucho” - “Time Out of Mind”

[@TheLochs]

Nightfly is a great album. Awesome

[@yourmaninlondoncollecting5749]

like your style. I'm subscribing :-)

[@kaustik185]

oh sweet jesus. why am i finding this just now?

[@craigfazekas3923]

Becker & Fagan originally wanted Howard Kaylan (The Turtles, Zappa & The Mothers, Flo & Eddie...) to join as vocalist, prior to David Palmer. Kaylan would only join with his performing partner in all things harmonic, Mark Volman. Becker & Fagan only wanted Kaylan, Kaylan wouldn't part with Volman, so it went flat. However, Flo & Eddie (Volman & Kaylan) did a demo with The Dan in, "Everyone's Gone to The Movies".... This info comes from Kaylan's autobiography- Shell Shocked. 🚬😎

[@jml-rj5re]

Kulee Baba would have been the best song on Gaucho.

[@alexe8375]

Next to possibly only Kid Charlemagne and Deacon Blues, it’s my favorite thing they’ve ever done. That smooth but really out-there chord progression is something else. That’s all not even to mention that amazing groove.

[@volodymyrbilyk555]

For sure, incredible song

[@chrisrobbins18]

A thousand times yes

[@steelyman08]

$600 reward for those two tracks?? That's pretty cheap even for 1999. Hmmm

[@pdd60absorbed12]

Steely Dan, America's Beatles.

[@rotano]

Excellent research and video

[@somemajordude]

Another thing to talk about is the quadraphonic take of Reeling in the Years had another guitar part added in

[@philbreen7152]

Vocal Fry Alert!

[@theivory1]

The song Good Stuff off of Sunken Condos is in my opinion Fagen's best song from his solo catalog.

[@marlonbrando2698]

You sassy son of a gun, I fudging love Steely Dan. Thank you for this.

[@jameshayden3952]

Great moment at the Grammys when the Dan won 2 Against Nature: M&M said Steely Who? Camera on Mathers in crowd seat when guy comes down from ceiling on wire and ziplines his crotch into his face...instant karma!

[@pablograssdestroyerofass6965]

damn somebody actually made an iceburg video!! i know too much about steely dan

[@crusheverything4449]

@pablo grass - Your username speaks to your obvious virginity.

[@pksneeze6579]

FUCKING FINALLY STEELY DAN ON MY FEEED

[@MaxPower-js1sk]

Thanks baby. Great job. 👍

[@jkelley2091]

Thank you I love history videos so much work thank you

[@VallinSFAS]

I am the Titanic-undersea Krakatoa-Cthulu of Steely Dan. DO NOT get me started!

[@PlateOshrimp499]

I believe the 'unintelligible' comment at 28:57 is "but it's sore!"

[@NickRatto]

Your seem to be well informed upon Steely Dan , does any other collection of music interest you , dig up the 70’s band CityBoy I’d like know more lll

[@DonFredricks]

I love "Sunken Condos".

[@SvenElven]

Platinum Gaucho mic on a floppy disc? You couldn’t fit any real digital mix on a floppy. They were a couple of megabytes at best and this was long before Mp3 compression.

[@harddonuts4488]

"You wanna know what a Steely Dan is?" I showed your Mom, and that's who told you.

[@mikematthews8573]

Mary shut the Garden Door!.....

[@saberserpent1134]

Bad Sneakers & a Piña Colada, my friend.

[@gabrielhunt1797]

Everyone should check out the new David Crosby track “Rodriguez for a night” penned by Donald Fagen for his latest album

[@pettersolholm]

Of course You forgot the best guitar player they had..... OMG.. JAY GRAYDON!!