“The American Beatles”: Five musicians who absolutely loved Steely Dan
Being named after a marital aid from a William S. Burroughs book, once sporting Chevy Chase as your drummer, and developing an avocado addiction are all signs of a band with a fairly unique constitution. It is perhaps the case that Steely Dan are unlike any other band because they’re not really a band; they’re just two stoned dudes poking fun at things and ruthlessly orchestrating a brand of white college jazz. This is why many bands and artists love them.
That’s not to say punters don’t love them as well. They have sold over 40 million albums worldwide, and that figure is only growing as they hit a second wind in the social media age. While one half of the core duo, Walter Becker, might not be around to see it after he passed away in 2017 at the age of 67, Donald Fagen thankfully is, and the whole thing positively nonpluses him.
Becker and Fagen were nonplussed by most things. For one, they dubbed rock ‘n’ roll a fascist pursuit. When you make lofty statements like that, you have to be able to back it up. That’s one thing that artists have always loved about them: they don’t just focus on their own unique art, but in the process, they can back every sardonic remark up with a sound that waltzes to its own tune.
With that in mind, we have gathered the thoughts of a few legends who love Steely Dan below. There are many others who adore them, from emerging stars like Sam Fender to a reserved sense of appreciation from Bob Dylan (despite his notable snub), but the admirers we have chosen seem to share a kinship of note with the singular joking jazz masqueraders too.
Five musicians who love Steely Dan:
David Crosby
David Crosby didn’t just like Steely Dan; the man credits the track ‘Deacon Blue’ with keeping him “alive”. Indebted to their seamless inventiveness and the thrill it gave him, he continued to worship the band throughout his life. When things were going haywire, and he was yielding a pistol while high on PCP in the late 1970s, they kept him just about sane, and in his later years, he never forgot that, relaxing into the silken nature of their ever-comfortable discography.
While hailing Aja as a masterpiece that ranks highly amid his all-time favourites, Crosby said, “Stunning writing. Stunning production, stunning singing, outstanding playing, but songs. Unbelievable goddamn songs. It’s too good. They’re all fantastic”. He made a similar point about Gaucho, too, stating, “Best goddamn writing anybody was doing or has done. Nobody’s topped it”. And in 2020, the folk legend finally proclaimed, “Steely Dan is my favourite band in the world, period”.
Joni Mitchell
When the folk songstress Joni Mitchell was listing off her favourite songs of all time, she took a pause to ponder the premiere discography of Steely Dan. “I never understood why Gaucho didn’t receive the critical acclaim of Aja,“ she mused. “I’m convinced that if Gaucho had come first and then Aja, the same thing would have happened in reverse.“ As an artist from a more conventional field who eventually segued towards jazz with her own albums like Hejira, it is understandable why Mitchell would be so concerned with the finer details of Dan fandom.
Her glowing praise continues, “To maintain this high standard of musicality and storytelling through two projects is most praiseworthy.“ As a highlight, she went on to pick out ‘Third World Man’ as the finest track of the bunch. This admiration would prove to be mutual when Steely Dan performed a cover of Mitchell’s track ‘Carey’, signifying deep respect between two of North America’s finest modern artists.
Frank Zappa
The sardonic spirit of Frank Zappa is something that he shares with Steely Dan. Both acts were happy to sit outside of the industry’s clutches and poke fun at it from afar. “They’re one of my favourite groups,” Zappa proudly told Rolling Stone in 1974 in a brief break from playing with the media. Their attitude and similar musical ability to bring the tenets of another genre – in Zappa’s case classical, and in the Dan’s case jazz – into the realm of rock ‘n’ roll.
So, it’s no surprise that his eulogy continued, “I like their modality, their melodicism. Their lyrics aren’t bad in that vein they’re working, that downer surrealism,” which, in truth, is close enough to a mere inversion of Zappa’s own subversive absurdity. The moustachioed rocker concluded: “As relaxing listening music, I’d give it a 98. One person in our band, Ruth Underwood, would give them about a 120. She really fetishes them. She’s usually got their cassette rammed into her ear.”
Aimee Mann
Despite being dropped from a spot supporting Steely Dan on their 2022, Aimee Mann has never lost an ounce of love for her favourite band. In fact, she afforded them the loftiest praise of all, informing Uncut, “They’re the American Beatles because they coined a musical genre that hadn’t existed before.” This first hit home to her with Can’t Buy a Thrill, an album she describes as ”perfect” and felt inspired to make her own music thanks to its footloose feel and lack of pretence.
Today, Steely Dan are ass pertinent as anyone. Their resurgence unveils a hidden prescience in their work. Lyrically, the wry satire still stands up, and musically, they were ahead of the curve when it comes to conglomerating styles. As Mann explains, ”It’s sort of a mixture of rock and jazz, but the way in which those two elements were combined was completely unique to them. To have the musical facility to put beautiful melodies on top of unlikely chord changes, with such well-written lyrics about really broken, sad subjects, and to create a whole new sound with a really idiosyncratic vocal – that’s the whole package! They invented a new thing.” One way they did that was by being ruthless with the musicians they brought into their oeuvre, so she wasn’t too fussed about being given the short shrift.
Steve Jones
As a band, Steely Dan have never been unaware of the fact that they don’t quite meet you halfway. In your younger years, it’s easy to dismiss their smarmy sound as a wine bar and suede elbow patch sensation, dismissing them before the depth in the melodic lyrics reveals itself and the complexity of the sound takes hold. However, their dawning charm is exemplified by the former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones‘ take on the band. “I never really listen to the Pistols’ music anymore,” he told The Telegraph. “I’m fucking tired of it, to be honest with you. I’d rather listen to Steely Dan.”
In some ways, this typifies why they are continually gathering esteem in a society steadily growing more mature and less susceptible to the cheap thrill of shock. “I don’t particularly listen to punk rock anymore,” Jones said. “My musical tastes have changed a lot over the years, you know, and I’m 66 years old. I’m not a kid anymore. I think it would be a bit silly if I was still flying that flag… I like Steely Dan. Is that bad?” Not at all, and the fact that Jones continually spins some of the Dan’s finest records on his radio show, heaping praise upon them in the process, spread the word in the most welcome fashion.
