Steely Dan's "Do it Again" dissected.

[Noney]

Originally Posted by WolfeMacleod

If anyone wants it, I have the entire multi-track recording.

https://mega.co.nz/#!R4gnlBLY!KgEcHQ6ECxWWvWqHb9SUMiNB2KhsP9uctaMATTd 6sgw

Open it with an open source recording program called Audacity

Holy crap!! Thank you, Wolfe!

What a cool,cool musical experience. I spent 2 hours going over every single track and it's just incredible hearing parts that I've been listening to for 30 years and realizing I've never actually HEARD them. They say that mixing music is like killing your children, but how they buried Skunk's track that far down in the mix is beyond me.

Again Wolfe, a very heartfelt Thank You.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Gogar

That radio clip is super fun but it's really frustrating to hear all the detail terminology misused.

Finally got to listen to the piece. Love isolated tracks but best to ignore the commentary and just listen to the parts. Skunk's work on that track is pretty crazy and the nice thing about the isolated track is you can hear some of the comping and figures that are adding the spice to the tune.

I think every drummer should listen to Hodder's drum track, then the final mix, then the isolated drum track again. Simple and clean wins. Also it is always interesting to hear an isolated bass track which often sounds somewhat ugly alone but sits perfectly in a mix.

[Rtrorkt]

Thanks for that link. Absolutely fabulous. Been a Dan Fan since the beginning. Saw one of their last shows in DC in '72. Wow

[sammyg2]

LOL, airhead bimbo in background feeling left out because no one is paying attention to her: "it's so ominous".

Shaddup!

[rcooled]

Just finished Donald Fagan's book, Eminent Hipsters. Interesting read for those wanting some insight into his quite eccentric personality. He talks about growing up in New Jersey and the influences that shaped his musical style. Not much about SD, though he does share a lot of stories about being on tour with Michael McDonald & Boz Scaggs in their band, 'The Dukes of September'.

Originally Posted by 911dean

I need to dig further into their music

Try these two albums for starters...from '74 & '75:

[Cajundaddy]

Hey that's my radio station! Cool tracks, thanks for sharing.

I've been a Steely Dan fan forever and we have covered several of their tunes over the years. We saw them live a couple of times in the 90s and the band was great except the hired-gun LA lead guitarist who just overplayed terribly.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Cajundaddy

Hey that's my radio station! Cool tracks, thanks for sharing.

I've been a Steely Dan fan forever and we have covered several of their tunes over the years. We saw them live a couple of times in the 90s and the band was great except the hired-gun LA lead guitarist who just overplayed terribly.

'93 was Drew Zingg, '94 was Georg Wadenius (both are on the "Alive in America" album). For '96, Wayne Krantz was on guitar. Jon Herrington joined in '00 and has been on guitar ever since.

For drummers, Peter Erskine was '93, Dennis Chambers was '94. For '96 it was Ricky Lawson (RIP), and he toured in '00 as well, with Keith Carlock taking over since '03.

Zingg and Wadenius were fairly busy players and Krantz has his own thing going on. Herrington really has nailed the role where he honors the spirit of the original solos while doing his own thing.

[Cajundaddy]

Wayne. Gobs of technical skill but missed the whole groove of the Dan IMO. I hate to call out another guitarist because we all miss the mark sometimes but sheesh, buy a theme and let that axe breathe a little bit! I've seen him in other settings where he fit it really well but sadly this was not his night.

I agree that Herrington shines playing live with these guys. Always a respectful hat-tip to the original solo while tastefully adding his own touch.

[nostatic]

fwiw I didn't really dig any of the guys playing live until Herrington, and even then it took him a few tours to really get inside the tunes. Starting in '03 he came into his own with the band.

Oddly enough, when Larry Carlton sat in for the "Royal Scam" night in 2009, I though Herrington seriously outplayed him. Herrington was totally at ease with the tunes while Carlton was half-reading and just not particularly inspired.

[Cajundaddy]

Originally Posted by nostatic

fwiw I didn't really dig any of the guys playing live until Herrington, and even then it took him a few tours to really get inside the tunes. Starting in '03 he came into his own with the band.

Oddly enough, when Larry Carlton sat in for the "Royal Scam" night in 2009, I though Herrington seriously outplayed him. Herrington was totally at ease with the tunes while Carlton was half-reading and just not particularly inspired.

I am a big Carlton fan as well but he can sometimes be hot and cold live. There are nights he just owns the room from the downbeat, and other nights he never really settles in. I suffer this as well sometimes. I need to get in touch with the room and if the sound is off or I can't hear myself I can't just relax and play. Those nights are like all work.

[M.D. Holloway]

Wow! Very cool! Like seeing an engine built from the foundry up. I would like to hear more dissections of songs. Very cool. Thank you for posting this.

[KevinTodd]

Love them and have for many, many years.

I've seen them every chance I could since they started touring again in earnest in the early 90's. I have tickets already for an August show.

They're certainly not showmen on stage, but the music is the thing, anyway. I don't go to see them dance.

It has always fascinated me that while their songs sound fairly innocuous to most folks, they almost always talk about the underside of humanity---truly sex, drugs and rock and roll.

[Noney]

Originally Posted by M.D. Holloway

I would like to hear more dissections of songs.

Hells yeah!!!! Wolfe, you have any more of those multitracks you want to share?

[jyl]

I remember when Aja came out. I was living in the UC Berkeley dorms. Every guy had a killer stereo in his room, or as killer as a college student could afford. We all bought the "master" pressing of the album, or rented it, recorded it on our very best chrome tape, then listened to the tape while reserving our LP for special occasions. On really special occasions, we'd connect the oscilloscope to the pre-amp and work on chemically assisted mind expansion. Some of us actually managed to graduate.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by M.D. Holloway

Wow! Very cool! Like seeing an engine built from the foundry up. I would like to hear more dissections of songs. Very cool. Thank you for posting this.

I think the new biopic of the beach boys will recreate a lot of the studio stuff from the '60's. I'm not their biggest fan, but that should be fun to see.

And here's just the strings from Eleanor Rigby...

[Tobra]

I would not mind seeing some of the really intense Beach Boys stuff broken down like this, you know, Pet Sounds.

[MBAtarga]

Originally Posted by M.D. Holloway

Wow! Very cool! Like seeing an engine built from the foundry up. I would like to hear more dissections of songs. Very cool. Thank you for posting this.

I noticed there are links at the bottom of the original site that has 8 pages of other station recording segments - some are dissections of other songs.
Here's one :
Dissecting Queen, Beatles, Marvin Gaye and The Stones - 100.3 The Sound