The genre Steely Dan were bored to death of: “The limited chord structure”
Compared to the music that most other bands were making in the 1970s, Steely Dan were a largely atypical take on the classic rock norms that were being established at the time. They had a much softer edge than the likes of Led Zeppelin, they weren’t as indebted to folk and country as the Eagles, and they didn’t write 20-minute prog epics like King Crimson. Steely Dan were firmly in their own lane, and that made it tricky for people to pigeonhole them into a certain scene.
What they did have that was comparable to the rest of their contemporaries was accomplished musicianship. With Donald Fagen and Walter Becker at the helm of the band throughout their existence and inviting a revolving cast of virtuoso session players to accompany them in the studio and for live performances, it was clear that Steely Dan was up to the same standard as the other popular rock groups of the era—they just weren’t a rock band.
With that, the flimsy terminology of ‘yacht rock’ was applied to the group, and while this doesn’t do much except suggest that they made music for people with refined tastes and a disposition for drinking cocktails by the sea, Steely Dan were regarded as the forefathers for this almost mythical genre. Whether you see it as a blessing or a curse for the band, as far as being taken seriously goes, the tag is stuck, and they’ll forever be associated with it.
What the term actually stood for was a blend of soft rock and jazz influences, and Fagen and Becker made it explicitly clear that they weren’t in the business of being compared to any of the aforementioned contemporaneous groups. As stated, Steely Dan was an entirely different prospect, and the duo revelled in the fact that they were creating something separate from the rest of the crowd.
When Becker passed away in 2017, many people thought that would spell the end for Steely Dan, but Fagen has continued to tour with a large ensemble under the band name, and in a 2021 interview with Tablet Magazine, he was asked about what it was that drew him and Becker to their sound in the first place. While the interviewer brought up their incorporation of elaborate guitar solos and compared them to the jazz musicians of the 1940s, such as Charlie Parker, Fagen immediately gave his thoughts on the matter.
“I guess because Walter and I were jazz fans we were bored by most rock guitar solos,” he explained. Elaborating further on his distaste for rock music and all of its sister genres, he said: “We were bored by the limited chord structure, although I think by the time rock ’n’ roll became the country’s dance music, and because of rhythm and blues, the guitar was already there.”
While Steely Dan’s records undeniably contain some elements of rock music, it’s incredibly clear that jazz was more of a driving force behind their choice of direction. While this might have alienated many potential fans from truly embracing the band’s style, it’s hard to argue that they were a thrillingly fresh take on rock and jazz that allowed them to develop a cultish fanbase.
