The Guitarists of Steely Dan

[mikeguy53]

Where to begin. Some of the best solos in rock guitar history are probably on here. I'll start; Larry Carlton, Rick Derringer, Wayne Krantz, Walter Becker (yeah, I'd include him). I remember Jimmy Page saying he thought the best recorded rock guitar solo ever was on " Reeling in the Years".

 

[IGuitUpIGuitDown]

Denny Diaz - the original "Bodhisattva."

 

[John Vasco]

I remember Jimmy Page saying he thought the best recorded rock guitar solo ever was on " Reeling in the Years".

...played by Elliot Randall.

 

[EL 34 X2]

I think that Denny Diaz was/is one of the unsung guitarists in Steely Dan. Even though he was doing a lot of the early iconic solos, I think most people thought Skunk Baxter was the featured guy. That was certainly the case with me, before I finally wised up.

Did Denny record any after leaving the band? I'm not aware of anything he did other than SD.

 

[zestystrat]

Little love for Skunk.... The guy played with The Dan AND Hendrix.

My friggin' hero.

 

[xjojox]

I walked by Elliot in a deli in NY a few years back. I just said "nice solo" as I passed. He smiled. He still insists he did it all with the neck hummer of his strat thru a dimed SVT.

The solo on "Black Friday" was Walter ( many thought it was Rick Derringer because he's credited on the album but it doesn't say what he did).

There are so many great guitar moments on SD albums it's hard to rank them or even remember them all.

Let's not forget "Mr." Steve Khan on the early/mid stuff, , and of course Jay "Jake the Rake" Graydon's one-pass solo on Peg after a handful of solid players bolo'd it.

 

[guitarjazz]

Denny Diaz - the original "Bodhisattva."

He was a student of Billy Bauer, who recorded with Lenny Tristano.

 

[rongtr1]

My favorite Steely Dan album is Royal Scam (Asia is a close second), mainly because of the great Larry Carlton solos on there, especially Kid Charlemagne (of course) and Don't Take Me Alive.

 

[davebc]

At the time when guitar gods ruled the world, you knew before even listening to a Steely Dan you were about to hear guitar work that would easily rival the best ever recorded.

And from guys you'd never even heard of. It was a given.

I'd listen to this incredible guitar work over these beautiful changes and insane grooves and say to myself that's as good or better than any Jeff Beck, Clapton solo I've ever heard. Is that possible??

But the cool thing was it never sounded "schooled" or too technical. It always retained an organic purity steeped blues and rock, the tone, the feel. It was a f***ing gumbo at its best!

 

[trishoot]

Dean Parks was another fantastic SD alumni who always added tasteful guitar parts.

 

[GuitarsFromMars]

Steely has been a wonderful lesson in superior musicianship throughout my life. The guitar chair has always been looked after by a monster, whether on an album, or live.

 

[thewalkingboss]

I have only seen them live a couple of times in the past 10 years or so, where the other guitar chair has been held by Jon Herrington. There has been a ton of talk on here about him and his role in Steely Dan so I will not reinvent the wheel and will only say this. His live rhythm guitar tone on Josie absolutely floored me. It is memorable to me as the most perfect guitar tone I have ever heard. Guytron must have been doing something right.

 

[ethereal cereal]

One of my favorite Dan tunes with the great Drew Zingg totally delivering the goods. I remember seeing their return tour (93-94?) at the Omni in Atlanta and Drew brought the house down each time he stepped up to solo, definitely one of the best displays of tasteful guitar playing I've ever witnessed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nejAZqdhBts

How about Mark Knopfler on Time out of Mind?

 

[TNJ]

One of my favorite Dan tunes with the great Drew Zingg totally delivering the goods. I remember seeing their return tour (93-94?) at the Omni in Atlanta and Drew brought the house down each time he stepped up to solo, definitely one of the best displays of tasteful guitar playing I've ever witnessed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nejAZqdhBts

How about Mark Knopfler on Time out of Mind?

How about Steve Khan on 'Glamour Profession'!!!!!!



S.
j


ps
you need to get Drew's self titled solo CD. It's totally killin'!!!

 

[ethereal cereal]

Got it....and loving it!

 

[ethereal cereal]

+1 on Steve Khan, another favorite.

 

[GA19RVT]

Where to begin. Some of the best solos in rock guitar history are probably on here. I'll start; Larry Carlton, Rick Derringer, Wayne Krantz, Walter Becker (yeah, I'd include him). I remember Jimmy Page saying he thought the best recorded rock guitar solo ever was on " Reeling in the Years".

I tend to agree with Jimmy.

 

[toocommercial]

Dean Parks was another fantastic SD alumni who always added tasteful guitar parts.

That's Dean featured on "Haitian Divorce" (that crazy auto-wah was added afterward, BTW) and "Rose Darling," among others. Throughout the Dan, he played a lot of rhythm parts and background stuff, but on these two tunes in particular he was right out front.

I know Dean personally, and while he's a really nice guy, it's not easy to get Dan stories out of him.

 

[GasMask]

I was surprised when I learned that Lee Ritenour played with 'em. I didn't know that. So many greats- what a fantastic band! One of my all time favorites for sure. Really hoping I get the chance to see them play live someday.

 

[vintage66]

Cool thread, is there a chart somewhere of who played on what? I guess this thread's doing it little by little.