Steely Dan

In 1967 Donald Fagen went into a New York café when he heard someone inside playing electric guitar. There he met the guitarist Walter Becker and discovered they shared similar musical tastes in rock and jazz. They formed a songwriting team and worked together in local bands, notably Jay and The Americans, before relocating to California where they became staff songwriters at ABC and formed their own band Steely Dan with guitarists Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter and Denny Dias, drummer Jim Hodder and singer David Palmer.

Their 1972 debut album 'Can't Buy a Thrill' produced the hit singles 'Do It Again' and 'Reelin' in The Years' and, famed for their attention to detail, they struck gold with the AM rock radio classic 'Rikki Don't Lose That Number' from their third album 'Pretzel Logic'. The other band members left as Fagen and Becker spent more time in the studio producing the classic jazz textures on the 'Aja' album in 1977. Legal disputes led to their split following the release of 'Gaucho' in 1981, but they toured again over a decade later and returned to the studio for the 'Two Against Nature' album in 2000 and 'Everything Must Go' three years later.

Touring occasionally as Steely Dan with Becker, Fagen also continued his solo work wishing to complete his unfinished 'Nightfly' trilogy. He released 'Morph the Cat' in 2006 followed two years later by a solo offering from Becker in the form of 'Circus Money'. Fagen released 'Sunken Condos' in 2012 but kept in with Becker and Steely Dan, touring the band in 2013. In early 2017 they played a residency in Las Vegas but for the last few shows Becker was absent due to illness. On 3rd September 2017 Becker passed away at the age of 67.