Concert Review: Steely Dan Makes Beacon Theatre Home
Thursday July 17, 2008
Donald Fagen has been called one of America's greatest living composers.
Walter Becker invented a guitar chord so distinctive that is generally referred to by other musicians as "the Steely Dan chord."
Guitarist extraordinaire Steve Lukather (ex-Toto) dedicated one of the tracks on his new solo album to Becker and Fagen.
By now you should be getting the idea that when Steely Dan takes the stage for a live performance, expectations are high.
We take you now to our reviewer, Rich Saracino, for a report on whether those expectations were met at a recent Steely Dan concert at New York City's Beacon Theatre.
Photo by Scott Gries / Getty Images
Comments
Hi Dave,
We Dave’s often like Steely Dan very much, I think! But saying that Walter invented a chord is a little strong.
The root-5-9-3-5 voicing from bottom to top is very nice, and does pervade much of their work, but certainly has been around for ages. It’s a little bit hard to reach on guitar (easier on piano), and Steely certainly uses it a lot, so I would say that they popularized it and became associated with it. Of course, it’s a better story to say they invented it.