Edendude Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 We're adding Steely Dan's 'Cousin Dupree' to our setlist. I just worked out the bass parts. It has a really whacky bridge, that's so much fun to play. Anyone else have this tune in their rep? My Last Band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
way2fat Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 No, but I would like to learn "Show Biz Kids". www.ethertonswitch.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tatudbassman Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Is that Chuck's stuff? raineybass@aol.com (if help is needed) Don't tell on me! Vince "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." ~ Pablo Picasso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcr Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 I transcribed that song a few months back; it's fun. Bass on that song, for any who are wondering, is Walter Becker. He's playing a Sadowsky, I believe, which I'd swear must have a bridge mute on it; he gets a very old-school, thumpy kind of sound on his tracks on that album ("Two Against Nature"). Another VERY fun bass line to play from that album is "What a Shame About Me," which is also Becker. If you haven't already, check it out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abaguer Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Nope, Cousin Dupree is Tom Barney. It's a cool feel. I really enjoy playing Josie and Peg which have all those Chuck Rainey-isms all over them. Great grooves. It also shows how old I am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abaguer Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 DCR, you're absolutely right. I was remembering the DVD and not the CD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenLoy Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 tatudbassman, you just introduced Chuck to a world of spam. "Spambot" software searches webpages looking for email addresses to send spam to. Don't put chuck's email address on a discussion board for everyone to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveC Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 I love Steely Dan stuff - no matter who's playing. I play it and transcribe it often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcr Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Right--Tom Barney plays everything on the DVD. (And that cat can PLAY!!!) Isn't it amazing that he can pretty much cop Walter Becker's feel & tone on tunes like "Cousin Dupree," playing the same instrument on which he does all his own greasy/funky stuff? Dude's got hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kad Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 I'm a Steely Dan FREAK! Chuck Rainey is da man!! Some of my favorite Rainey bass tracks with Steely Dan are "Glamour Profession" (Gaucho), "Peg" (Aja) and "Everyone's Gone to the Movies" (Katie Lied). Two Against Nature (2VN) is a great album. Stylistically, it fits somewhere around the Royal Scam era, IMO, although it sort of has its own unique vibe as well. My favorite track on 2VN is "Almost Gothic", but I really like just about everything on it. Check out Chris Potter's amazing blowing at the end of "West of Hollywood". I never get tired of talking about Steely Dan! Kirk Reality is like the sun - you can block it out for a time but it ain't goin' away... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edendude Posted December 16, 2004 Author Share Posted December 16, 2004 Self-confessed Dan fan here, too... I had it all on vinyl back in the day, and have most of it on CD now. I've got... Can't Buy A Thrill Pretzel Logic Katy Lied The Royal Scam Aja Gaucho The Nightfly (D.F. solo) Two Against Nature If it wasn't for The Dan and Frank Zappa, I don't know how I would have made it through the late seventies and early eighties. And those recordings hold up sooooooo well, even by today's standards. Long live The Dan! My Last Band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
way2fat Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 My teenaged daughter has discovered "Countdown to Ecstasy" and plays it all the time. Still my favorite Dan. www.ethertonswitch.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Tom Barney and Ricky Lawson are fabulous on the title track, Two Against Nature. Even though two of us in a five piece band are Steely Dan freaks, we don't play any of their material live. We have found that audiences rarely respond to Steely Dan songs. But what do they know, anyway? We're talking about audiences that go crazy when we play YMCA. Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcr Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Jeremy said, "We have found that audiences rarely respond to Steely Dan songs." Now that is just sick and wrong. What is the world coming to? Seriously, the very thought of a band busting out with a tight version of "Black Cow" or "Kid Charlemagne," and being received with indifference, makes me want to move to another planet. (BTW, I believe that Tom Barney plays on the tracks "Gaslighting Abbie," "Negative Girl," and "West of Hollywood" on the Two Against Nature CD, Walter Becker playing on the remaining tracks.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 When I get home, I'll look at the cd. Even if it's not Tom Barney, I still love Ricky Lawson's drum part. Tell me if you know any other drummer that would come up with that kind of killer drum beat for a six/eight tune. Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcr Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 It doesn't really matter, of course, except that I really admire Walter Becker, & I don't think he gets his due recognition. Post of the day to the first person who can name the one track Becker plays bass on on the Aja album, without checking first! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kad Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Originally posted by dcr: Post of the day to the first person who can name the one track Becker plays bass on on the Aja album, without checking first!Hmmm - interesting! I always thought the only tune on Aja Chuck Rainey didn't play bass on was "Deacon Blues", which I'm pretty sure is not Walter Becker... By elimination, I'm going to guess "I've Got The News"??? Reality is like the sun - you can block it out for a time but it ain't goin' away... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
way2fat Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 Jeremy- I would think that the kind of crowd that liked YMCA (or any other crowd for that matter) would like "My Old School" if not "Show Biz Kids" or "Bodhisattva"; like I mentioned above, my teenaged daughter and her friends love that album, although it took a few plays. www.ethertonswitch.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DONUT Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 We do what we can get away with. We play The Fez,Home at Last,Pretzel Logic,and Black Friday. Those are some of my favorites of the night. I really wanna do Kid Charlemagne. We only have two guitars,two voices,bass,and drums,though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 If anything, this thread has got me listening to Aja right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groovyjazzyfunky Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 Originally posted by jeremy c: Even if it's not Tom Barney, I still love Ricky Lawson's drum part. Tell me if you know any other drummer that would come up with that kind of killer drum beat for a six/eight tune.Ditto on the supreme drum part, but how do you know the drummer came up with it? Becker and/or Fagan are such control freaks with their songs, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they knew the exact beat they wanted there. "Jack of Speed" is another great tune off of that album. I love the horns part. So simple, so laid back, yet so funky. All your bass are belong to us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edendude Posted December 17, 2004 Author Share Posted December 17, 2004 I have a confession... I know most people seem to feel 'Aja' is The Dan's 'White Album', and it is truly great. I especially like Steve Gadd's work on the title track. And the songs and arrangements are amazing. But there's just something about 'The Royal Scam' that makes it my favorite Dan album. I'm not even sure why. But it's the Steely Dan album I most often like to play from start to finish. As for the average audience diggin' Dan songs in a big way... I think Steely Dan is just too sophisticated for the masses. They are like what fine cuisine is to MacDonalds. Not everyone has the sophistication of taste to prefer Lobster in Philo Pastry over a Big Mac. Just think about how mediocre most mainstream music for the past 30 years has been, compared to Steely Dan. My Last Band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
way2fat Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 I wouldn't put all the blame on the unwashed masses, although thats certainly a factor. What about bands? How many bands can do justice to Steely Dan's stuff? Not their version of a Dan song, but the song itself, "like it was wrote". Hell, if I could play that stuff right, I would probably be a studio pro in NY or LA. www.ethertonswitch.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveC Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 When our band was playing, we did Josie and My Old School and they were definately my favorite songs of the night. Audiences seemed to really like them, too. Anything is better than Mustang Sally...again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edendude Posted December 17, 2004 Author Share Posted December 17, 2004 I'll be sure to follow up and let you know how the 'unwashed masses' at The G-Spot react to 'Cousin Dupree'. I think it may just go over quite well down there. It's the kind of joint where our sax player had the most fans. Man I miss that guy's wailing tenor solos. My Last Band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveC Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 Originally posted by Edendude: Just think about how mediocre most mainstream music for the past 30 years has been, compared to Steely Dan.Well said...and how sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Hoffman Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 There's a band out here on LI that does all Steely Dan, they really REALLY pull it off, musically and vocally! They call themselves Pocket Rocket and I went to see them one night, as my drummer knows the bandleader. Really nice guys and insanely talented, all about 45 or over but hey what is age anyway. I never heard Dan material live but I was blown away. You wanna talk about feel? Oh man. Totally different type of feel. In fact, I think I'll listen to some Dan right now. "The world will still be turning when you've gone." - Black Sabbath Band site: www.finespunmusic.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edendude Posted December 17, 2004 Author Share Posted December 17, 2004 Okay, okay... So which one of you guys has the missing Goucho masters stashed away in his basement, anyhow?! P.S... Thought I'd add this excellent FAQ and brief history of the band from the official Steely Dan website... http://www.steelydan.com/faq.html My Last Band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc_dup1 Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 Just think about how mediocre most mainstream music for the past 30 years has been, compared to Steely Dan.Yes, but I'm not sure we get very far by using great artists as a stick to beat lesser ones with. If that's the criteria, who among us shall 'scape whipping? I have a confession... I know most people seem to feel 'Aja' is The Dan's 'White Album', and it is truly great. I'm a long time Dan fan but I've just never got Aja. Deacon Blue is the only track on it I unreservedly like. I'd bracket it with "Can't Buy A Thrill" as the SD album I least like. For many years I never even listened to Gaucho because it had a reputation of being "like Aja but not so good". When I eventually heard it just a year or so ago I was surprised how much I liked it. I massively prefer it to Aja. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edendude Posted December 17, 2004 Author Share Posted December 17, 2004 I see the greatness of Steely Dan as more of a creative summit for us all to aspire to reaching, than I do a stick to beat anyone with. And at least now I don't feel so bad about The Royal Scam being my fav Dan album. Here's another great Steely Dan link. It's the Steely Dan dictionary. A very interesting way to explore the often enigmatic terms used within the lyrical content of many Steely Dan songs... http://members.aol.com/danomalley/steelydan/ My Last Band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.