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The documentary "Steely Dan : The Making of Aja" (available on YouTube[0]; some assembly required) has fascinating segments on how the performances were assembl
by DrScump 9y ago
The documentary "Steely Dan : The Making of Aja" (available on YouTube[0]; some assembly required) has fascinating segments on how the performances were assembled.
Quoting from the Wikipedia page on the title cut[1]:
"According to (Historian) Sweet, Gadd's playing was so visually appealing to watch that some of the other players became distracted and had to rerecord portions of their parts later."
[0] https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=steely+dan+aja+documentary https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=steely+dan+aja+... (also has one of Gadd explaining/demonstrating his performance)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aja_(song) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aja_(song)
- SwellJoe 9y agoSteely Dan records, Aja in particular, are what happens when you get the best session players in the world in a studio with a huge budget and guided by a couple of guys whose egos didn't get in the way. They often let the players play whatever they felt was right for the song. They understood that when you've got somebody of the caliber of Purdie at the drums, you don't really need to tell him what to play, you just get out of the way. I've always really appreciated the quality of the recording of Aja, but as an adult I've grown to love the music, too. And, yeah, I also recommend that documentary. Several of the Classic Albums series are really good. Dark Side of the Moon and Rumours come to mind. They also happen to be studio masterpieces, often listed alongside Aja as being pinnacles of recording quality. (Interesting how they're all from the same era. That sort of big album industry was a fleeting thing.)