Steely Dan - Reelin’ In The Years (REACTION) #steelydan #reaction #trending

"You've been telling me you're a genius since you were seventeen In all the time I've known you I still don't know what you mean" this may be the best lyric in rock

Another classic Dan tune! Jimmy Page has said that the guitar solo by Elliot Randall is his favorite rock solo. Elliot Randall did some other killer solos for Steely Dan (and other artists) over the years. I had done a Facebook friend request to Elliot Randall a few years ago without realizing he was at the maximum number of friends. Instead of simply ignoring the request from the dummy who couldn't read numbers, he sent me a personal message apologizing that he couldn't accept the request because he was already at the max # of friends, but that he was starting a fan page where an unlimited amount of people could join....that seemed pretty down-to-earth and nice to me.

Ok, I'm going to give you guys a little advice, if you don't mind. Instead of doing Gaucho next, hold off on that for a while and do their 2nd album, Countdown to Ecstasy, released in 1973. The reason I make this suggestion is that as a musician, (I made my living playing for many years) and as yourself, producers, it is really fun and interesting, especially if you are new to the Dan, to listen to their albums in chronological order rather than jumping around with them. By listening to them in order you really get to see and hear the progression and the growth in the maturity of their songwriting and arrangements as they progress from on album to the next. It's almost like a master-class in the growth of a songwriter and arranger from one album to another in their career. I know I'm just one voice, but I hope you do give this approach consideration. I promise you will not regret the journey. Thanks for letting an old guitar player share his opinion with you. ... by the way, you guys are doing a fantastic job!

Yeah, I heard this on WQAM in Miami in '72, when i was 10, and the Guitar Blew My Mind. This song is why I started playing Guitar, and Steve Howe, from YES, is why I never gave up.

It's an altered blues shuffle. Jim Hodder was the drummer on the first two Steely Dan albums. Jim Gordon and Jeff Porcaro on Pretzel Logic. Jeff Porcaro on Katy Lied. Purdie and Rick Marotta on Royal Scam. Multiple drummers on Aja, Gaucho, Two Against Nature. Keith Carlock on Everything Must Go. The singles: Do it Again, Reelin' in the Years, Dirty Work.

This song was an FM radio hit when new, played in "heavy rotation". Working night stock at Kroger, we put the radio on the store's speakers LOUD! This song played about once every hour. Never got old. Thanks

Supertramp is another remarkable band with many incredible tracks...!!!

Hey guys from Ned in Spain again. An incredible song with a finger bustin solo, Jimmy Page's favorite BTW by hired gun Elliott Randall. The SD guitarists took a whack at a solo but couldn't quite make the magic. Randall came in and blew this out in ONE TAKE. That killin bass is by the awesome tasty Walter Becker, RIP. Jim Hodder was the original drummer and sang some too. For a 1st album this had some big singles, Do It Again, Reelin in the Years, Dirty Work, Midnight Cruiser were all over the radio when I was a kid in 1972

This is the Jam! Can't wait for y'all to cover Katy Lied and Pretzel Logic as I'm interested in how you'd vibe to those Lp's.

This was their first big radio hit. All over AM radio in 1973, and played ever since. A more straight ahead guitar rock song, with that iconic guitar solo. Remember this was the original real 6 man band. Jim Hodder on drums, although the iconic guitar solos were done by a session player, Elliott Randall. I for years thought it was Jeff Skunk Baxter. Hit #11 on Billboard 100 in 1973. Do it Again, the lead off song was the other big hit, Dirty Work a minor hit. This album obviously not as jazzy or horn driven as what would come. They started out more as a traditional rock band, then slowly moved toward jazz and funk. But they always had those witty sardonic lyrics from Fagen and Becker as you noted, which immediately set them apart. I think there is a YT video with them playing Reelin live on Midnight Special, you guys would get a kick out of that. When they started playing live again in 1993, they jazzed up and slowed down this song a bit. Obviously to hear this live after 2 decades was very nostalgic for those of us who were now 30 somethings!! The 2nd album, COUNTDOWN TO ECSTASY, is a significant step forward imo, after Gaucho, PLEASE do the WHOLE Countdown album in order. Its a gem.

Happy to see you two enjoying Steely Dan. Don’t miss their album Pretzel Logic, more great stuff. I would suggest Night By Night.

Great band, great guitar solo. 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎶🎶🎶🎶👍

Amazing to think that this is their debut album. Just getting started! 🔥

I heard this one a lot growing up and I always loved how catchy it was and of course the guitar work in it is fantastic. I don't know how he does it but he perfectly blends jazz and rock and country for a unique Steely Dan sound and it's wonderful. The lyrics are written as a one-sided dialogue and it feels so real and the writing is just so damn good. Just in case you haven't heard this before, I remember on the playground as a kid and Steely Dan would come up and people would always say that the band was named after a dildo. I'm not sure I really believed that until I got older and it turns out that is exactly the case, laugh.

Again if you listen to Fagen's interview with Paul Schaeffer, he explains the early stuff was written for mass appeal, not necessarily the music he and Walter had in their pocket and wanted to do, but you do what you gotta do to get it going. You can see their progression with the release of their music through the years as they gained more control and say

I was twelve when this played on the radio. It’s still such a great song, I still remember all the words. 😁

I remember buying this album in 1973 right after it first came out and thought wow this is different but in the best way and I still have the album to this day if I’m not mistaken Do It Again and Reeling In The Years were the singles released on both AM and FM radio but I also remember the song Dirty Work got a lot of radio play but mostly on FM radio or maybe just FM it’s always amazed how their music evolved over the years the genius of Fagan and Becker is nothing short of a work of art

Recorded in 1973, this is a stunning recording that still stands up in 2023. Other single was "Do It Again".

The only singles were Reelin' in the Years (#11) and Do It Again (a B-side that went to #6). But other songs were hugely popular on AOR (album-oriented radio) stations, and have sold a ton over the years (like Dirty Work).

Classic song