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RE: Steely Dan's Walter Becker has passed away at 67; RIP nt

I love the Dan and their music - all the way up to Aja. After that Walter made what I consider to be a huge mistake - he thought he could play guitar as well as anybody else in the world. No longer did they use Baxter, Dias, or one of a dozen crack studio players to get the guitar solos "just right". Instead it was Becker's solos and IMO he simply did not have the imagination or talent of any of the previous players.

As a guitar player, the insanely amazing solos were always one of the strengths of the songs. With Becker on guitar, this aspect was completely lost - IMO.

Obviously this is all just opinion, there are no facts. But take a look at the video linked below and tell me if you think Walter Becker could have ever come up with something the equal of Jay Graydon's work on "Peg" - which they only achieved after trying a half-dozen other players. The first rejected solo sounds like Larry Carlton to me, but the second rejected one is probably some studio player I've never heard of (like Jay Graydon).

RIP, thanks for everything (and please let someone else take the guitar solo - after all, Fagen usually let someone like Michael O'Martian take the main keyboard part).


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