Hear a Rare Recording of Steely Dan Covering Joni Mitchell’s “Carey”

A Steely Dan cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Carey” has been unearthed just in time for Summer. The soft rock rendition was reportedly cut for a 2007 Mitchell tribute album but was ultimately shelved.

On the cover, the duo makes the Blue track their own, turning the jazz dial all the way up. They even swap gender and use the word “mama” instead of “daddy” to describe the titular character. Mitchell released the song in 1966, inspired by an encounter with a chef in Crete. Listen to the cover below.

Steely Dan is currently undergoing a national tour, that will pick back up on July 13 in Franklin, Tennessee before winding down on August 13 in Port Chester, New York.

Mitchell recently made a rare public appearance at the Grammys as she was named MusiCares Person of the Year. In January, she followed Neil Young and pulled her music from Spotify in light of claims from Young that the platform promoted vaccine misinformation. Since 2020, she’s been slowly rolling out her archive series, with Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967) and Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968 To 1971) already released.