Glance at the credits of any Steely Dan album, and you’ll see the names of some of the best musicians of the last six decades. You’ll also see numerous musicians who became famous outside of their work with Steely Dan, like Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler, Rick Derringer, Toto’s Jeff Porcaro and David Paich, Eagles’ Timothy B. Schmit, and Patti Austin, just to name a few. With so many talented guest musicians populating the Dan’s nine studio albums, it would be easy to come up with at least 40 or 50 of their performances that are especially noteworthy.
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We’re going to cut straight to the best of the best and count down the six most notable guest performances from Steely Dan’s catalog. Probably to no one’s surprise, the list is heavy on tracks from Aja, which represented not only the pinnacle of Steely Dan’s commercial success, but also the power of their gravitational pull in the galaxy of top-shelf musicians.
6. Bernard Purdie on “Home at Last”
Purdie’s beat on this Aja track is not only essential to the song’s casual loping feel, but it’s possibly the most influential part played on any Steely Dan track. The drum pattern, which has come to be known as the “Purdie half-time shuffle,” has been interpreted by numerous other drummers, most famously by John Bonham on Led Zeppelin’s “Fool in the Rain” and Porcaro on Toto’s “Rosanna.” Not only does Purdie’s shuffle give “Home at Last” just the right level of energy, but his fills give this mellow tune a little pizzazz.
5. Chris Potter on “West of Hollywood”
The last four minutes of the final track on Two Against Nature—Steely Dan’s comeback album from 2000—belong to saxophonist Potter. Less than four-and-a-half minutes into “West of Hollywood,” Donald Fagen is done telling his story of a romance that, for reasons that are unclear, had to end before the protagonist wanted it to. When Potter picks up the melody from Fagen, his playing mirrors the energy of Fagen’s subject, who is gamely trying to move forward with his life, but there are also strong hints of frustration and sadness. Potter’s solo is so melodic and compelling that it could be its own song.
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4. Jay Graydon on “Peg”
Like most things on a Steely Dan track, the guitar solo for Aja’s lead single did not come quickly or easily. The first version recorded was actually by the Dan’s Walter Becker and not by a studio musician, but he didn’t like his take. Robben Ford, Elliott Randall (who played the solo on “Reelin’ in the Years”), and Derringer all tried their hands at the solo but didn’t record anything to Becker’s and Fagen’s satisfaction. Graydon’s version, which took several hours to record, was good enough, which in other words, meant it was sensational. Though Becker asked for a blues solo, what Graydon delivered is hard to categorize. It propels the song with several galloping runs but also leaves enough space for the groove laid down by guitarist Steve Khan, keyboardist Paul Griffin, bassist Chuck Rainey, and drummer Rick Marotta to shine through.
3. Michael McDonald on “Peg”
“Peg” is so good that it merits a second mention on this list. It’s no secret that McDonald’s harmonized backing vocals on this track are a masterpiece. As of this writing, more than 44 million people have viewed a YouTube video that is just the isolated vocals from McDonald’s performance. Whether on their own or included in the track as a whole, listening to McDonald’s vocals is addictive. The way he can toggle between the high, soaring notes of “Peeeeegggg” and the dulcet tones of his “back to you” is something we mere mortals can only imagine doing. All of his harmonies on the song are nothing short of perfection.
2. Steve Gadd on “Aja”
Through the first four-and-a-half minutes of Aja’s title track, Gadd’s drumming is tasteful but not flashy. But once Wayne Shorter starts soloing, it’s game-on. The sax solo is just the first taste we get of Gadd’s firepower, and he unleashes it again over the song’s minute-long outro. If Gadd simply treated us to the series of high-speed tom fills, punctuated by snare hits and hi-hat splashes, throughout the outro, that would be satisfying enough. But then he tacks on the samba-on-steroids ride cymbal pattern to the mix, and it’s absolutely mesmerizing.
1. Larry Carlton on “Kid Charlemagne”
Carlton’s 50-second-long showcase in the middle of this song from The Royal Scam is probably his best-known solo, not to mention one of the most celebrated guitar solos in rock history. And that’s just part of his contribution to “Kid Charlemagne,” as he also plays an outro solo and all of the lead parts in the song. By the time Carlton begins his first solo more than two minutes into “Kid Charlemagne,” the bar has been set high, with Griffin (on clavinet), Rainey, and Purdie creating an irresistible groove. Yet Carlton takes the song to another level, starting his solo off slowly and working up to a breezy series of runs that zig just when you expect them to zag. It ends just as tastefully as it starts, holding a few discordant notes just long enough to wring every last drop of sourness out of them.
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