The great Bernard “Pretty” Purdie on the drums, laying down his signature Purdie Shuffle. Laid back and grooving at the same time ... perfection.

You are my favorite guy as a reactor to steely dan. You recognize their greatness in real time! I'm an old guy. l was originally dismissive of their music BECAUSE of the high quality of the production (in my defense, there was an enormous amount of great music coming out at the time). I considered it 'over produced'. Somewhere in the late '80s I started to notice that they were a thing: oh my god, I became a believer! Now, the Beatles, Steely Dan and Pink Floyd (there are others, of course-lots of them) stand above the music of the times.

That filthy rythmn section! That horn arrangement! Those keys! That guitar! Donald Fagen's vocals! Steely Dan is, always has been, and will continue to be, Musical Perfection!!!!!!! 💯👍

Every other reaction channel is sleeping on steely dan. You heard them once and said shit I gotta hear this every week. That’s the proper way to react to steely dan. Love it

Steely Dan is just fucking sick. You could put on a stack of their music, and listen to it all day. Next level stuff. Thanks Tre.

Those guys were perfectionists and it showed. The world is a sadder place without them!

Steely Dan ALWAYS brings a smile to your face Tre.

Nope. No bad songs. They ARE that good. This song is one of my underrated favorites by them.

I have been fortunate enough to see Steely Dan 3 times live in concert in my lifetime

I love when tre says exactly what I'm thinking, the bass player is bringing the soul in this one.

Amen Brother! They don't make bad songs. Steely Dan Brothers were perfectionist pains in the ass and basically played musical chairs with the best sessions cats. With Bernard Purdie on the drums with his signature shuffle. Pretty much NOTHING ina Steely Dan album is an accident. That's why their albums, ALL OF THEM have such a dope sound.

In a career of completely fucking ridiculously groovesome music, this might be the best, it's certainly my favourite song of theirs. It's Ulysses with snakey hips and a healthy dose of the low down funk. Bernard Purdie, for so long the musician's musician was given a groove that that his talents deserve. I'm sitting down and dancing at the same time...how can you not?

I’ve been smoothed out by them since 1972. Thank you for spreading the knowledge of great music.

This might mark the final song from Aja that you've reacted to. The great Bernard Purdie on drums!

so so good. so relaxed .... just kinda shuffles along. drummer killin it.

this is one of their masterpieces

The Dan of Steel, it's like they could do no wrong.

The legendary Bernard "Pretty" Purdie on the kit (throwin' down the syncopation and groove!)! and the, JUST as legendary, Chuck Rainey on dat bass. [NOT to mention, Walter Becker soloing over Larry Carlton on the guitar lines; melodies and grooves. 🤘🤘 -That "outro" solo??: Not to be fucked-wit'! 🧡🧡💜💜💜💜 -🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥⚡⚡🤘🤘🤘🤘]

To sit in on a Steely Dan recording session with all those elite musicians jamming must be a fucking dream.

they don't miss...truer words never spoken!

The extraordinary gentlemen of the eternal groove

Thanks for an honest and perceptive posting

YEAH YOU GOT THE DAN NEVER BORING always KILLIN

One of a kind band.....

You've got to do Donald Fagen's Night Fly album.

Definition of groove here .

The Shuffle always feels good, especially when it's Steely Dan.

Steely is the best ! So Smooth !! Awesome 👍

If you haven't already, I'd love to see your reaction to the "Caves of Altamira". It's one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard as well as one of The Dan's best. Peace.

How were they able to be so good? Steely Dan is really just two members, Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagan (keyboards and lead vocals). The rest are guest/session musicians and singers of which Michael McDonald is probably the most well known contributor. What they used to do is give several different drummers, horn players etc. the same track to play along with. They just picked, who they thought was the best for that particular track. The result is each album produced hsd a host of different musicians. Apart from writing the tunes themselves the real skill was the ability to choose the right musician for each track.

The GOATS.

Are you saying the Dan is like ... the Larry Bird of the groove? Is that what I’m hearing? ‘They don’t miss!’ I love it, man. GG below said it about other reactors be sleeping on the Dan. I am so glad I found you cuz I can see right off ... you get it. You get them and it shows. Nice to meet you!

You're right man. Those piano chords stab ya heart like a mugger.

Thank you, this is my fave alltime from the Dan! You have done deacon blues as well now the trifecta check out the song "The Royal Scam" again thank you I have touted this song for quite a long time, now you know why.Peace!

yo tre' RIP walter becker bro thanks for doing this grove

Love your reaction. Genius music.

Donald Fagan what a voice.so unmistakable.

My favorite off the album, followed by I GOT THE NEWS.

You really need to do "don't take me alive".

Tre you could drive 4 lanes of traffic through that groove!

Lovin' you some Chuck Rainey on bass. You've got good taste. Chuck played with some of the greats. From Joe Walsh to Roberta Flack and Quincy Jones. Love your reactions. Spot on. Steely created the genre or Yacht Rock. Super sophisticated rock with high end jazz influence. The engineering blew the minds of some of the many many players called in to work on songs. Super clear. You can almost hear sweat fall slightly left or right.

so good,so fine. Steely Dan fans since Cant Buy a Thrill are a special breed and blessed by the musical Gods.

When you said you were going to do album reviews of bands you have reviewed a lot, I thought Steely Dan would be one. I do recommend that starting now. Lots of great deep tracks.

Chuck Rainey laying it down on bass. Beast.

Love Steely Dan! For more awesome horns, also check out Tower Of Power (from my hometown) from their album East Bay Grease ; try You're Still A Young Man and Sparkling In The Sand. Thanks, Tre!

The great Chuck Rainey on the bass 🔥🔥

This is what happens when you spend months on one tune. They'd use the best of the best musicians. Over and over, maybe 5 or 6 different guitar players doing a bunch of tracks. Good tracks but not exactly what the song wanted. They drove some producers crazy with the amount of time and players til they felt it was right. I'm damn glad they were the musical snobs they were because we get this.

When you listen to the Dan.. really listen.. you feel it. Obviously you feel it :)

The Perdie Shuffle, featuring the one and only, the great Bernard "the hit maker" Purdie on drums.

The "Purdie" shuffle!!! Look it up lol!!!

Drums and bass sick.

Boss groove deluxe...complex and familiar....they gave righteous chops to the greats who blazed before them, to Monk and Bird....they blew off the shackles of a jaded industry just so they could live forever in the pantheon majestic with their heroes.

That bass is Chuck Rainey along with the inimitable shuffle of Bernard Purdie. Legends, both. Fagen and Becker always had a great sense of harmony. This time, they had a *budget* . You gotta do Kid Charlemagne.

Still got to do Caves of Altamira, Haitian Divorce, Royal Scam, Sign In Stranger, Everything You Did, and Green Earrings I think.From the Royal Scam album.

Fagan and Becker worked hard and long in the studio (especially Fagan) mixing, editing, listening to each instrument and after the first several albums they hired top musicians and vocalists. The time in studio using top equipment, hiring top musicians not finishing a song until they were satisfied is how their music became high quality. To help understand their commitment, their 3rd album, "Pretzel Logic" was the album Becker and Fagan was disappointed with. They refused to even listen to it. Steely Dan at the time was with ABC Records. There was a problem with some of ABC Record's equipment destroying the music. Eventually the music was recovered and album released. Fagan and Becker didn't like the recovered product and refused to listen to it. They wanted as close to perfection as their music could be. To commit to long studio hours, using top qauality studio equipment, hiring top musicians would cost boo koo dollars in these times. Not many musicians, vocalists or bands could create enough profits to pay their record company and expenses, then have a successful financial endeavor. A Beyonce or someone like Taylor Swiift who have a very large loyal base and wealth could absorb extra expenses. Their investments could be recovered from reputations and fan loyalty. Steely Dan created their own sound, their own genre. They were Masters of fusioning Classic Rock( guitar solos mostly), Jazz, Funk, some Rhythm and Blues, Blues and even a little Pop. Not many have fused so many genres of music together to produce music that is so good it can change an anxious mood into a chill mood. The song "Only a Fool Would Say That" on their 1st album "Can't Buy a Thrill". is strictly about John Lennon.

Almost frightening, how good the Dan is.

First, they never missed because they could write great songs. Second, they employed some of the most incredible session/Jazz/rock players ever...If you get a chance check out Ric Beato's channel doing a breakdown on Steve Gadd's (My favorite Drummer of all time) work on the song Aja off of this album...Shear perfection!..They were always pros.

I think the 1st 2 big hits I heard off the same album were Do It Again and Reelin' in the years.

This is fire

Sort of the lost song on an amazing album

Steely Dan - Night By Night, Hey Nineteen,

Funky, jazzy and delicious

Denny Dias Telecaster makes Aja. He came back for the album and it hits heavy with that guitar.

In the day, we couldn't wait for a new Steely Dan to hit FM. Of course that was when TH was real radio unlike NOW. Back then stations would play an entire album after minight. That won't happen these days of formulaic radio programs and prerecorded playlists that repeat all week. We didn't know what we had when we had it.

I made a loop of that Purdie shuffle. It's on my channel. PS : SD are the best. Cheers from France !

NOBODY does what The Dan does. Groove Master General

Chuck Rainey is on bass. He's one of the baddest ever

the Purdie shuffle

That shuffle is nastay.

I dont think you've done FM No Static at All yet. Give that a listen to.

I could be wrong but it sounds like THE legend Steve Gadd on the drums....they used many different drummers

The SD streak stays intact.....they are all great. You haven't covered King Of the World. You would like that. Another subject: I wish you could go over some of your old reactions like "Stay" by David Bowie that are so classic.

Shuffle by Perdue is classic!

Still can't believe you haven't done any Donald Fagen solo stuff. It's so similar, yet not identical.

Chuck Rainey on bass.

Steely Dan is Michael and LeBron in 3 point land for 20 years

Hello?...."Any Major Dude Will Tell You" and "Don't Take Me Alive".

Think Donald Byrd,might be part of the band on this track.

Laying it down Purdie Phat.

Dude you have to listen to black midi theyre amazing

get yourself an anthology of Dans best known songs AND the deep cuts for the car. You'll have it on a loop. Then delve into the albums.

in a way they really weren't a band.... more like an art project 😎👍

Yep. They have never made a bad song.

I havent detected a bad song on Aja for sure or really any Steely album.

How they do it? They’re possessed

That's that shit bruh. #PurdieShuffle

Bodhisatva is one you should check out.

Please give a listen to Black Cow by Steely Dan!

Why the Dan wasn't ten times bigger than they were is a mystery to me. Epic done wrong

You do Caves of Altamira yet?

Tre,there is NO SUCH THING as a bad Steely Dan song.

Take a listen to I got the news off the Aja album

still waiting for Doctor Wu. PLEASE???????

How can you say they have no bad songs? What about....well actually that one was great, but there's always.... No that one is phenomenal, not just merely great. I concede. This band might have some tunes that aren't to somebody's liking for some reason, but I can't find a loser amongst their entire catalog. Dr. Wu. From the Katie lied album. Spin it for us, please? Thx C

more like gods of groove. small g of course. GOD made the musical notes. men discover them.

Not overly keen on their comeback albums from 2000 onward-certainly not at the 1972-1980 level stuff, but even so I cannot remember any songs I didn't like even on those.

Hey Tre, check out AWB Average White Band WHITE ALBUM & CUT THE CAKE album, guaranteed.

Walter Becker didn't necessarily credit Donald Fagan as being a great singer. He said and I quote "great singers don't necessarily fall into your lap ."

Pick any Steely Dan song..... coolest white boys ever

This is the shit