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Chuck Rainey & Bernard Perdie


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Fabulous stuff.

A full three minutes more to hear than on the final/edited album version.

As much as Becker and Fagen were/are sticklers for charts and the like I can't believe that a lot of what we hear is not coming from the players, esp. on the outro.

Great guitar playing too...

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[quote name='Old Man Riva' timestamp='1495964904' post='3307761']
Fabulous stuff.

A full three minutes more to hear than on the final/edited album version.

As much as Becker and Fagen were/are sticklers for charts and the like I can't believe that a lot of what we hear is not coming from the players, esp. on the outro.

Great guitar playing too...
[/quote]

Interesting, we've had this discussion in my old band. Weren't they using quite a lot of recreational drugs at the time and did literally hundreds of takes of some tracks? I think Fagen said they sometime struggled to remember who was playing on what track. Not sure how much of that is true, of course...

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[quote name='Burns-bass' timestamp='1495969362' post='3307805']
Interesting, we've had this discussion in my old band. Weren't they using quite a lot of recreational drugs at the time and did literally hundreds of takes of some tracks? I think Fagen said they sometime struggled to remember who was playing on what track. Not sure how much of that is true, of course...
[/quote]
There was a good article in a recent edition of Classic Rock regarding the making of Pretzel Logic (the album that preceded The Royal Scam); a couple of quotes lifted are: "They strived for perfection, and both paid attention to every note and breath" (Timothy B Schmit), and "Working with Steely Dan could hardly be considered 'fun', but it was rewarding" (Michael Omartian).

A friend of mine had the good fortune to work with Gary Katz many moons ago and he told a few stories that gave a good insight into how Becker and Fagen work - multiple takes, charts presented to every player, no deviation allowed etc.

As I say, I struggle to believe that what Chuck Rainey and Bernard Perdie played on the take we heard was just them replicating what they'd been told to do!

And if it was, then my admiration for Walter and Donald has increased, which I didn't think was possible!

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[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1495979004' post='3307880']
Bernard Purdie? Was he the drummer who swears blind that it was him not Ringo on all The Beatles recordings?? :huh:
[/quote]

All? No. On one of the YT clips under his name he says something about a particular multi tracking studio, yes. He reckoned he was getting death threats for twenty years after accidentally letting the cat out of the bag.

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[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1495959711' post='3307714']
As always, incredible playing, from both.

Also listen to them on Aretha Franklin's Young, Gifted and Black.
[/quote]

My kind of bass playing.

This new stuff which is more like guitar playing to me, doesn't do it for me.

Blue

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[quote name='blue' timestamp='1496017540' post='3308169']
My kind of bass playing.

This new stuff which is more like guitar playing to me, doesn't do it for me.

Blue
[/quote]

I agree. The only good thing I could say about this new-fangled extended-range bass malarkey is that you need only one stringed instrument and a drum machine to go solo. Then again, it's all been done before;

[attachment=246177:OneManBand.png]

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I just love raineys control and the tone he carries around with him at the ends of those long flat fingers.

Just wish I had his hands... (grin) AND his talent. Seems like a lovely guy too from watching vids of him doing tutorials on line
Just listen to his sublime tone on the standing in the shadows of motown recordings. I only had the floppy actate and the cassettes but lordy lord what a tone!

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Agreed. It's such a lovely way to play. I've got a few recordings where he's accompanying jazz soloists I the 70s. Funk as hell and absolutely on the money. Guess that's what happens when you've played on thousands of recording dates.

Would love to see some of those original Steely Dan charts. Did some work years ago with a producer called John Burns. He showed us some of the recording notes for 70s Genesis recordings he did. Fascinating stuff.

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