Sweet Jesus, That's Smooth! The 1970s Guitarists of Steely Dan (Part 2)

Welcome to Part 2 of this brisk jaunt through the guitar world of those smart-alecs of the 70s rock scene, Steely Dan. We take up the story in 1975.

This track, with fine guitar work from Walter Becker himself, is the opening gambit from Katy Lied, the album where Becker and Fagen really began to utilise the talents of session players from the L.A. studio scene. Most of the these musicians appeared on many of the classic albums of the period. These players brought with them a level of professionalism and musical expertise favoured by the priggish pair of songwriters, capable of producing the goods take after take. In Becker and Fagen's eyes, these instrumentalists could also inject each tune with his or her own personality, thereby giving the songs a distinctive identity and making for a varied album overall.Let's have a look at some of those great players that showed up on the albums Katy Lied, The Royal Scam, Aja and Gaucho. First up, Denny Dias' return to the fold after the dissolve of the touring Steely Dan lineup. On Katy Lied, he provided this eye-watering little number.

As I mentioned before in a previous post, Dias is more than capable of injecting a dollop of bebop-influenced lines over the sometime complex chord runs constructed by Becker and Fagen. It is in this role that Dias would be deployed in future. Any tricky chord changes that needed a solo over them, Denny was the man. Here is his cameo from Aja.

Another man who would return to the fray to provide some storming guitar work was Elliot Randall. Randall was the soloist on the band's first hit single, Reelin' In The Years and would be ask to contribute to the Katy Lied and Royal Scam sessions.

Randall's playing style on these albums is characterised by wild fuzztone, chancey licks and fearless soloing. His guitar work seems to combine rock-solid blues phrasing with off-the-wall flights of fusion-esque riffery. Here is one of my favourite Randall-assisted tracks, taken from The Royal Scam.  
 

Studio man Dean Parks has featured on some of the most celebrated albums of the last 40 years. Thriller, Innervisions, Songs In The Key Of Life and Let's Get It On all bear traces of his versatile playing. He was another early addition to Steely Dan sessions, first featured on Pretzel Logic, playing acoustic guitar on many of the tracks, as well as talk-box guitar on the band's cover of Duke Ellington's 'East St. Louis Toodle-Oo'. He returned to the scene on Katy Lied, adding a solo to Rose Darling. Parks would feature prominently on Aja, playing rhythm guitar on Deacon Blues and Josie. However, it was on The Royal Scam that he made his most celebrated contribution.

One new player on the scene who would go on to make a huge mark on the Dan's future guitar sound was one Larry Carlton. Carlton had been on the LA. studio radar since the early 1970s, getting his big break after providing simmering guitar work to Joni Mitchell's 1974 commercial highpoint, Court and Spark. His first appearance on a Steely Dan album was as featured soloist on the Katy Lied tune Daddy Don't Live In That New York City No More. Carlton peppers this tune with slinky blues licks and a gritty tone, a combination that would reappear in a larger capacity on the subsequent album, The Royal Scam.

It was Carlton who provided one of the most memorable and awe-inspiring guitar highlights in the Steely Dan catalogue. I am, of course, talking about The Royal Scam's opener, Kid Charlemagne. With his trusty '69 Gibson ES 335 plugged into a tiny 1950s Fender Champ amplifier set to crunch, Larry ripped into the instrumental section, only needing one take to produce the snaky, lyrical solo and funky outro heard on the finished product. Kid Charlemagne continues to feature highly whenever the subject of great rock 'n' roll solos come up in musos' conversation. This is probably down to the fact that the solo largely steers clear of the pentatonic cliches normally favoured by the rock guitar fraternity, as well as for the high singable nature of the passage. It also showcases how the Dan injected a good dose of jazz into the contemporary rock scene without ever slapping people around the head with it. It was just another flavour to add to their multi-faceted songs. Alright, enough waffle.

Carlton's fingerprints are all over The Royal Scam and successive albums. Larry recorded some great solos on tracks like Don't Take Me Alive, I Got The News and Third World Man, as well as laying down rhythm parts on most of the Aja and Gaucho albums. He even acted as Becker and Fagen's musical director on sessions, filling in the other musicians as to what was expected of them. All in all, Carlton became an important part of the latter day Steely Dan sound. Larry is one of those perfect session players that seems to constantly produce just the right part to suit the song, only drawing attention to himself with his breath-taking flights of jazz-infused bluesy soloing. Here is a final Carlton special, from The Royal Scam.

Walter Becker, himself, began to contribute guitar more and more to these Dan albums. His trademark style is a jazzy take on blues rock. Here is a fine example of Becker's guitar work.

A glut of other great players graced the grooves of late 70s Steely Dan long players. Here is a few worth mentioning.

Rick Derringer, most famous for his Johnny Winter's assisted rock 'n' boogie hit 'Rock 'n' Roll Hoochie Koo', as well as for writing WWF superstar Hulk Hogan's entrance music, first showed up on Countdown To Ecstasy, adding dirty slide guitar to Show Biz Kids. He also played lead on this Katy Lied cut.

 

Jay Graydon's only appearance on a Dan track was this next one. Becker and Fagen had employed half of L.A.'s guitar-wielding population in an effort to get the perfect solo for the track, only cracking it when Graydon adding his wild shred to to the song. Here it is in all it's pop perfection.

Other axemen that featured on these Dan albums include future Billy Joel rhythm player Hugh McCracken (Katy Lied), jazzers Steve Khan (Aja and Gaucho) and 'Captain Fingers' Lee Ritenour (Aja), even Dire Straits leader Mark Knopler on this Gaucho highlight.

 
Thus conclude this overview of Steely Dan's many guitar high-spots. Now, away with you and purchase the back catalogue, 'tis pretty, pretty good.

Recommended Listening: The Royal Scam
http://allmusic.com/album/the-royal-scam-r18951
Some Great Dan Guitar Moments: Josie (Aja), Haitian Divorce (The Royal Scam), Throw Back The Little Ones (Katy Lied)