Steely Dan - King of the World

[Dan R]

One of my favorite Steely Dan tunes. The basic chords are easy, but the song is difficult to pull off. I used to play this all the time with some old friends. The lyrics are of a post nuclear war nature. Something that seems distant today.

Anyway, masterfully done with incredible guitars parts. Everything is pretty much superb on this one.

 

[StrangerNY]

That whole album was pretty great. This one's my favorite, with Denny Dias going all psycho-jazz-rockabilly.



- D

 

[tarheelbob]

Nice deep track gem. Thanks for the flashback!

- Bob

 

[Deathray]

Steely Dan is my favorite “band” of all time, if you can call them that. Becker, Fagan, and whatever excellent musicians they surrounded themselves with, at any given time, more or less.
I saw them live 3 times, and even though they weren’t a big touring band, they always sounded amazing. Full horn section, 3 backup singers- musical bliss.
RIP, Walter.

My favorite SD track:

 

[maxvintage]

I had every album up through Gaucho, and the Fagen solo albums. Denny Dias was a really fine player, with serious jazz chops. He really gets cooking by the fadeout!

SD alway had really interesting things going on in the fadeouts

 

[Endless Mike]

One of my favorite Steely Dan tunes. The basic chords are easy, but the song is difficult to pull off. I used to play this all the time with some old friends. The lyrics are of a post nuclear war nature. Something that seems distant today.

Anyway, masterfully done with incredible guitars parts. Everything is pretty much superb on this one.

My favorite Steely Dan tune. Really clever guitar part there.

 

[Pasta Player]

Bodhisattva? (Gonna sell my house in town.) Just count the nods contained within, to various other genres. Nice build, stretch and flex. My all-time favorite… tied of course - with Pretzel Logic.

Ya, I’ve got my Steely Dan T-shirt. (And a nod to William Burroughs.)

Where did you get those shoes?

 

[Random1643]

Fagen and some folks called Steely Dan will be in my neighborhood in Sept 2019. Worth catching?

My fav cut on that album:

 

[Greggorios]

Right there with ya...but trying to pick a favorite Steely Dan record's like trying to pick a favorite child. They're all special in their own way. But yeah...I'm kinda partial to both Countdown and Pretzel Logic...but then again Can't Buy A Trill...never mind.

 

[Bassman8]

My older sister got me Countdown for my 14th birthday. Bodhisattva was getting airplay (WMMR Philly) and it was knocking me out but I didn't really know about Steely Dan. So cool how one album or even a 45 can make such a lifelong positive impact. King of the World was the icing on the cake. Thanks sis wherever you are.

 

[Deathray]

Fagen and some folks called Steely Dan will be in my neighborhood in Sept 2019. Worth catching?

My fav cut on that album:

I feel very sad that Donald Fagan is touring with a version of SD. It feels wrong to me. I am a fan of his solo work, and I think it stands on its own. I understand him wanting to play SD’s huge catalogue, but I feel like it should be “Donald Fagan & friends, playing the great songs of Steely Dan, or something like that. Maybe I’m being silly, but there’s no Beatles without all 4 members, so.....

That being said, probably an awesome show.

 

[bftfender]

 

[brookdalebill]

IMO, the Dan was the smartest of the smart bands.
They weren’t pretentious, they had very sly/wry/dry humor, and ridiculous chops/skill.
The writing and production was sterling.
I followed them up till Gaucho, then I bailed.
I loved Fagan’s Nightfly.
Crazy good guitar and bass stuff.
Brilliant arranging.
Sorry, total Dan fanboy here!

 

[Chiogtr4x]

I have a 6-disc CD changer in my car and I drive A LOT! ( gigs, Uber driver)

CD spot #4 is always for Steely Dan, and Can't Buy a Thrill and Countdown to Ecstasy get played the most by far- that Denny Dias/ Jeff Baxter guitar combo is just amazing, never get tired of it.

Denny Dias slurred, but NEVER bent his strings, and Jeff was the perfect wack-job, ' out of control' ( not really) foil.

 

[kLyon]

Great band, great records, great playing, great lyrics, great singing.
Everything is good, but nobody has mentioned the guitar solo on My Old School: Skunk at his best, a classic.
His steel playing on Fire in the Hole is great, too (as is Fagen's piano solo).
Skunk is an interesting guitar player and an interesting guy.

 

[dogmeat]

all of the above. fabulous musicians in every permutation.

 

[Random1643]

I spent some time reading reviews of their recent (2019) UK/Ireland tour. Nothing but praise for Fagen and the band, including guitarist, Jon Herrington. I decided to catch em in Sept here in Minnesota. Tickets are pricey - or "spendy" as they say around here, but I gotta go.

Am getting nostalgic thinking about SD. In May '72 I graduated high school. Got a job driving a delivery truck. Spent some shekels on a Fender Rhodes elec piano figuring that + my Tele + harmony vocal chops would get me into a working bar/dance band. Started playing with a gigging group that summer. In the fall, same year, Steely Dan released Can't Buy a Thrill* and our group latched onto Dirty Work. Loved playing the Rhodes, singing 2nd harmony on the chorus. We didn't have a sax for the break But nice memories.

*That's the 2nd line from Dylan's song, It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry.

 

[sockgtr]

A couple of my favorites from the last album:

 

[CV Jee Beez]

 

[L.A. Mike]

This video is great
RIP Walter