Denny has never, in his recorded history, ever done anything but "beast mode," Which leads me to believe that he is simply (and so uniquely) a TOTAL BEAST.
@@pangeaproxima3681 In this particular case it’s true I know it’s so overused as a term but honestly ask 100 people who love Hendrix page beck Blackmore whoever I guarantee you 98 wouldn’t have heard of him . He really is underrated
I always find it odd that Larry Carlton and Skunk Baxter get all the kudos for the solos on Steely Dan records. It was Denny Dias’ solo on Bodhisattva that totally knocked me sideways as a teenage rock fan in the 70’s. Astonishing stuff, the like of which I’d never heard before. Love Larry and Skunk too!
How Denny weaves his way through the chord changes in the bridge of Your Gold Teeth 2 so seemingly effortlessly is a thing of wonder. Possibly the best guitar solo in the whole of the Steely Dan catalogue.
He thinks like a horn player--the virtuoso bebop sax phrasing is so intriguing and surprising. He's from another planet. The quirky Do It Again solo remains my favorite Dan guitar solo.
His wife occasionally posts to the Steely Dan FaceBook group I belong to. She’s an awesome lady, and keeps us all advised on some of Denny’s comings and goings…
@@twoblacklabs904 thanks for mentioning me♥️ Andy Bergsten has actually played with Denny at the iridium among other places and they have performed some of Denny ‘s original music.
@dennydias-id5jh Well Denny you and Jeff made the SD sound back in the day, music that will never grow old, and I've got to say your playing on Your Gold Teeth 2 is just amazing, a standout solo, absolutely sublime. Guys like me who play in R'n'R bands can only dream of playing like that. Thankyou for the great music and guitar playing !!
Denny Dias had me at Do it Again, I needed more. Truly a virtuoso. I had the pleasure of meeting him, overalls and all, and Steely Dan in 1974. I heard them play for a few nights, what a band! Porcaro on drums with Hodder! Michael Mcdonald! Denny, Skunk, B&F. Holy shit!
I think it’s actually awesome that even as Walter and Donald were transitioning Steely Dan from band to concept, they still thought highly enough of Denny’s playing that he still made contributions to almost every SD album in the classic era (save for Gaucho).
Denny is a master of phrasing and totally understood what Donald and Walter were on about. His fusion of jazz with the rock backings made them so incredible and jazz more accessible.
These are literally my favorite Steely Dan solos. When I think of killer Steely Dan guitar parts, these are always the first ones that come to my mind. I had no idea they were all played by the same person.
I have been playing guitar for over 50 years and I would have been willing to mow your grass every week for those 50 years if I could just have1/2 of the talent he has in his little finger. What a monster!
I play in a Dan tribute band… and much as I like Skunks rock attitude, Dias’s solos are largely much harder to nail and ultimately satisfying when one does, he really nails changes perfectly with some serious bebop lines. For anyone nerdy enough, notice how he hardly ever bends a note on the earlier albums…. and he was actually the founder of the band wasn’t he?
Denny Dias is the hardest Dan guitarist to transcribe for me. I've been working on Bodhisattva for months. He nailed all those changes perfectly like a master be-bopper.
I'm 64. Been a Dan Fan since the 7th grade. Amazing what a collection of great music these guys put out over the years. And as a high-end audio geek, all I can say is thanks, guys! Your obsession with your music paid off. RIP Walter. Wait- Denny Dias replied to me? I'm gobsmacked. I have WORN my SD LP's OUT. Especially the first decade. When I audition new speakers or components, I always bring SD to the shop. Sir, If I ever saw you in a restaurant or bar, I'd pick up your tab instantly. You've put a million smiles between my ears!
@dennydias-id5jhI have finally stopped going to see the Dan live. I've been to so many great performances. But i would fly to anywhere in the world to see you guest star with the Donald. THANK YOU
Denny Dias is so awesome. Totally in tune with the harmonic changes of the song, and if there is not a bended note in sight, you know it must be him lol
It's been one of my favorites since I was a teenager in the 80s. But I found out just today (from another video) that it's Dias! All this time, I thought it was Skunk Baxter, LOL.
@@sgringo this video is great in that if you put all the solos together like this, you can hear the common thread, and while Skunk is great too, Denny has a thing that no one else touches.
The great, but rarely recognized Denny Dias, adding perfectly inspired musicality to great music, whose best playing ranks among the best guitar playing of all times!
Denny was a great and distinctive soloist and improviser, he had this unique, half-point style between Jazz and Rock and it suited theses Becker and Fagen compositions beautifully. I would also like to mention the solo on 'Your Gold Teeth' from 1973's 'Countdown to Ecstasy'. It's a slow burn one but also really great IMO.
I’ve been wanting to make a video like this for Denny Dias for years, showcasing his fantastic Steely Dan guitar solos. He’s got such an astounding style! Thanks for putting this together. It’s just what the doctor ordered!
They definitely were! According to Wikipedia, the first solo on that song is Denny and the second is Skunk, but Skunk might come in towards the end of the first solo section when the guitar is playing with the woodwinds, so sorry if I got it wrong!
Skunk did have a big role. Firstly in the duo playing at the start and in the middle with Denny. Also from the 4 Minutes 10sec mark ,Skunk takes over the lead pretty well to the songs completion.
Denny Dias is the great unsung heroe of the Steely Dan story! Even if i'm a great Larry Carlton fan, i can't understand why there's so few comments about Denny's work that is fantastic...Great lines and great sound! (But the fantastic solo in the intro of Parker's Band is missing!).
i have some cassettes of him playing with the Hampton Hawes Quartet in,i think, 1974.He sounds like a real legit jazz guitarist on them.Nice quirky player in the tradition of his teacher Billy Bauer.
I’m old and I’ve been playing since I was 12. Denny has something that no one else has. All the famous names they brought in were good but they didn’t have the fire he brought. He’ll always be my #1. Dude was even smart enough to get out of the music biz and into computers
The Green Earrings solo is so evocative and emotional: definitely one of my favorites from the Steely Dan catalogue and of all time. So glad to now know the musician behind it
Denny's solo voice somehow defines the Steely Dan guitar landscape for me... Always the hippest solos on the record.. it's the enigmatic, tricky but uber-hip Bird-meets-Chet Atkins meets-Steve Howe unique vibe... While I could get say Larry's solo on Kid Charlemagne, Denny's lines were almost impenetrable like they were communicated to him by a more advanced civilisation ... almost like Monk on guitar..
@numberoneradio339 my mind just went to him... cool man... i guess being a 'jazz rock' guitarist in the 70''s required highly individual and motivated people - like Holdsworth too...
I started working on the tab for the Do It Again solo, and thinking If i put in a couple of hours a day I could get it in a few weeks. I got about 4 bars in, took me about a month, and realize i am too old for either muscle memory, or brain memory or both to take hold like it used to (being in my 60s now) and if I spent the rest of my life working on it I would never get it, so now I just listen to it. But even knowing the first few bars has widened my rhythms a bit. He alters those syncopations so naturally. Its not just that its fast, its just jumpin' with unexpected rhythmic feel.
Wow, that's pretty wild! l don't even play guitar, so even though I knew it was impressive, its interesting to hear just how advanced this stuff really is! I guess all we can do is just keep on listening and doing what we can
You can do it. Get one of the new apps that can separate the tracks, mute everything but the solo, slow it down and listen to and work on short phrases one at a time before stringing them together like a pearl necklace. I’m 63 and got it down in the last year!
Have to agree with other comments regarding how under appreciated he may be I know what I like and this man dazzles with his sheer virtuosity In my view he is up there with the best
You can go through your memory catalogue of every great guitar solo during the golden era and love them all. Denny Dias's electric guitar/sitar lead in Do It Again stands alone in rock history. It is an ecstatic celebration.
Actually, DD was the founding member of Steely D. He met DF and WB in NYC after they responded to his ad for musicians. They played together, then moved west and picked up JSB along the way. It is a point of dispute who the founder was.
@@johnj5985 To be fair Denny was the founder of Steely Dan, but after Donald and Walter joined it was a matter of time until they drove the other members away with their perfection. But afterwards they made sure Denny stuck around for more albums
❤50 years later and young guitarist across the world still go to the classics they just hit differently with more heart and a lot of soul ♥ no tricks no gimmicks just plain ole good musicianship 😊
My friends and I used to listen for the perfect imperfections on the magnificent “King of the World” solo, those goofs where he accidentally hit a neighboring string :) “He’s human!” LOL
You know, what makes me hate shredding so much is not so much the moronic thinking that 'lots of notes = quality', that is part of it though. But it seems that most rock shredders can't or won't play through chord changes. They just do this modal masturbation and it's freakin' boring and unmusical. Most rock players are in either one of two categories....1. Shredders or 2. Non-shredders. But what both groups have in common is the limitation of most always playing boring modal solos, avoiding soloing over chord changes and most always being a slave to the pentatonic scale. What makes me love guitar playing like Larry Carlton's solo on Kid Charlemagne is the same thing that makes me hate boring, one-dimensional, one-chord shredding. Give me phrasing, harmonic and melodic sophistication any day over mindless shredding. Especially when you thrown in all the affectations like overdone whammy bars, pinch harmonics and all the other lame cliches that are out there. However, I must say, that I do like a lot of rock guitar players. I guess I just find the genre to be kind of lame for the most part.
I wish that solo at the end of King of the World didn’t fade. There’s a sense he was just getting started. One of my favourite solos of all time but too short.
It's pretty sophisticated playing, though. Lots of jazz chops, be-boppy stuff. Not that I'm taking anything away from Carlton, though. Just two wonderful players.
Two things is for sure, I didn't hear the two solos that they said was included at the end of King of the World, that all Denny Dias. Also that's not Walter Becker on the second take for the Aja solo, that's all Denny Dias. Great video!
Denny has never, in his recorded history, ever done anything but "beast mode," Which leads me to believe that he is simply (and so uniquely) a TOTAL BEAST.
I agree!
Me too! Amazing!
I think this is his complete recorded history
Dudes timing phrasing and note choices were just out of this world. Add that to stellar technique and yes I agree he was a total BEAST😄✌️
I agree! Always beast mode 👌
Denny was criminally under-rated, but I think he wanted it that way.
_Underrated?_ By whom?
I would agree. Unless you're in the know, you never hear Denny's name being mentioned. Tragic as that is.
@@pangeaproxima3681
In this particular case it’s true I know it’s so overused as a term but honestly ask 100 people who love Hendrix page beck Blackmore whoever I guarantee you 98 wouldn’t have heard of him . He really is underrated
Rick Beato needs to do a video on Denny Dias.
🎯🫵
Or even better, with him
He has and one of Baxter and one of Carlton and gadd
@@kennethpeller7411 I can't find the video Rick did on Denny Dias. Can you give us the link?
I always find it odd that Larry Carlton and Skunk Baxter get all the kudos for the solos on Steely Dan records. It was Denny Dias’ solo on Bodhisattva that totally knocked me sideways as a teenage rock fan in the 70’s. Astonishing stuff, the like of which I’d never heard before. Love Larry and Skunk too!
How Denny weaves his way through the chord changes in the bridge of Your Gold Teeth 2 so seemingly effortlessly is a thing of wonder. Possibly the best guitar solo in the whole of the Steely Dan catalogue.
@dennydias-id5jh Hello there. Did it take a while to make that solo? Did you have to play it a few times to get Walter and Donald's approval?
I know “greatest guitarist” lists are both subjective and absolute piles of dog shit but Denny Dias is criminally underappreciated.
Agreed on all counts!
Denny’s solos are exquisite. His phrasing and timing are perfection
He thinks like a horn player--the virtuoso bebop sax phrasing is so intriguing and surprising. He's from another planet. The quirky Do It Again solo remains my favorite Dan guitar solo.
yes!
Holdsworth esque
i think this is one of the 5 greatest solos in rock history....
The most incredible thing on Denny is that he don’t bend and his playing is so fluid.
Absolutely love Denny Dias One of those underrated quiet achievers.
Nothing beats Bodhisattva in my books. One of my all-time favorites.
it swings which is hard to do by soloing imho
This guy was the perfect duo to Baxter ! Together they had it all, the fuzzy blues and the spell bound jazz !
He to me was the guitarist of the Dan, love his playing, Gold Teeth 2 is to die for, cheers.
I agree
Yes I agree Gold Teeth 2
It was fun seeing this site. Denny is a great guy and I'm thrilled to see his stuff posted . I've been playing with him off and on for over 20 years.
Wow, that’s unbelievable! I can’t imagine what that’s like 🤯
His wife occasionally posts to the Steely Dan FaceBook group I belong to. She’s an awesome lady, and keeps us all advised on some of Denny’s comings and goings…
That’s really cool to know, thank you!
Great info. I would love to hear it.
@@twoblacklabs904 thanks for mentioning me♥️ Andy Bergsten has actually played with Denny at the iridium among other places and they have performed some of Denny ‘s original music.
More credit needs to go to this fabulous guitarist!
One of the great unsung guitarists, man he just blows it away, go Denny go !!
@dennydias-id5jh Well Denny you and Jeff made the SD sound back in the day, music that will never grow old, and I've got to say your playing on Your Gold Teeth 2 is just amazing, a standout solo, absolutely sublime. Guys like me who play in R'n'R bands can only dream of playing like that. Thankyou for the great music and guitar playing !!
I've never heard another guitar incorporate sliding into and out of notes like this man. And his Teli one is just wild good
Sound track to the best years of my life. If I ever need to center myself, I return to Steely Dan.
Same here!
Me too, Jay. me too.
His work is truly underrated
By whom? Not by Walter and Donald anyway.
Those parts in Bodhisattva break my mind (in a most excellent way)
That was skunk
Denny Dias had me at Do it Again, I needed more. Truly a virtuoso.
I had the pleasure of meeting him, overalls and all, and Steely Dan in 1974. I heard them play for a few nights, what a band! Porcaro on drums with Hodder! Michael Mcdonald! Denny, Skunk, B&F. Holy shit!
I think it’s actually awesome that even as Walter and Donald were transitioning Steely Dan from band to concept, they still thought highly enough of Denny’s playing that he still made contributions to almost every SD album in the classic era (save for Gaucho).
Definitely, it's great that they could keep creating together!
That fact is a key, if often understated, part of the whole 'SD sound' story, you know? Dias is a monster player.
Denny is a master of phrasing and totally understood what Donald and Walter were on about. His fusion of jazz with the rock backings made them so incredible and jazz more accessible.
Absolutely, well put!
I think most bebop is in 4/4 time with a lot of 8th notes denny would've felt right at home for a bebop guitarist imo
These are literally my favorite Steely Dan solos. When I think of killer Steely Dan guitar parts, these are always the first ones that come to my mind. I had no idea they were all played by the same person.
I have been playing guitar for over 50 years and I would have been willing to mow your grass every week for those 50 years if I could just have1/2 of the talent he has in his little finger. What a monster!
Haha, I understand the sentiment!
I play in a Dan tribute band… and much as I like Skunks rock attitude, Dias’s solos are largely much harder to nail and ultimately satisfying when one does, he really nails changes perfectly with some serious bebop lines. For anyone nerdy enough, notice how he hardly ever bends a note on the earlier albums…. and he was actually the founder of the band wasn’t he?
yes - he was looking for 2 players with jazz chops who were not jerks ... hmm
Denny Dias is the hardest Dan guitarist to transcribe for me. I've been working on Bodhisattva for months. He nailed all those changes perfectly like a master be-bopper.
@dennydias-id5jh My pleasure Denny! Your Do It Again solo is also a challenge to transcribe!
@dennydias-id5jh If you are really Denny... who was the first drummer for Steely Dan and what are the chords in the outro to Bodhisattva?
@dennydias-id5jh Apologies Denny. We unfortunately live in a world with bad actors attempting evil things. I just wanted to confirm.
@dennydias-id5jh True enuf Denny. I certainly don't. Just wanted to confirm.
Melodic jazz solos on Gold Teeth and Aja by Denny-two that I really like.
This guy is really one of the greats
One of the most underrated guitarists of all time.
I think the most underrated.
Your Gold Teeth II - love that solo
Denny does stuff without bending strings like most of the other people I love to hear. He is a super fast sliding master of the instrument.
Well said!
He plays the guitar like it's a piano
He also weaves some crazy fucking notes together!
One of the tastiest guitarists out there. It was that incredible touch that hooked me on SD all those decades ago.
I'm 64. Been a Dan Fan since the 7th grade. Amazing what a collection of great music these guys put out over the years. And as a high-end audio geek, all I can say is thanks, guys! Your obsession with your music paid off. RIP Walter.
Wait- Denny Dias replied to me? I'm gobsmacked. I have WORN my SD LP's OUT. Especially the first decade. When I audition new speakers or components, I always bring SD to the shop. Sir, If I ever saw you in a restaurant or bar, I'd pick up your tab instantly. You've put a million smiles between my ears!
@dennydias-id5jhYou are a legend!!! Thank you 🎉🎉
@dennydias-id5jhI have finally stopped going to see the Dan live. I've been to so many great performances. But i would fly to anywhere in the world to see you guest star with the Donald. THANK YOU
King of the World is one of my absolute favorites.
They're all my favorite from every album including the new one two against nature
That rarest of things, the ability to make songs that are already great even better.
So many great guitar licks. Wow.
A truly amazing guitarist. Underrated
Denny Dias is so awesome. Totally in tune with the harmonic changes of the song, and if there is not a bended note in sight, you know it must be him lol
That Bhodisaatva solo is the greatest solo I've ever heard. Period.
Can’t really argue with that!
It's been one of my favorites since I was a teenager in the 80s. But I found out just today (from another video) that it's Dias! All this time, I thought it was Skunk Baxter, LOL.
@@sgringoMe too! The second solo on the song is Skunk, so until recently I just assumed the first was too
@@sgringo this video is great in that if you put all the solos together like this, you can hear the common thread, and while Skunk is great too, Denny has a thing that no one else touches.
@@sgringo Baxter actually comes in at 2:11, everything before that is Dias
The great, but rarely recognized Denny Dias, adding perfectly inspired musicality to great music, whose best playing ranks among the best guitar playing of all times!
@dennydias-id5jhIt's my pleasure and honor!
Dias is one of a kind. His siren-like guitar musings are instinctual and reach a visceral part of me, giving me pleasure every time.
Denny was a great and distinctive soloist and improviser, he had this unique, half-point style between Jazz and Rock and it suited theses Becker and Fagen compositions beautifully. I would also like to mention the solo on 'Your Gold Teeth' from 1973's 'Countdown to Ecstasy'. It's a slow burn one but also really great IMO.
Thank you, for some reason I don't think I was aware of that one when I made this video but it's definitely an awesome one, should have been in here!
For SURE!
Such an amazing guitarist.
Absolutely!
I’ve been wanting to make a video like this for Denny Dias for years, showcasing his fantastic Steely Dan guitar solos. He’s got such an astounding style! Thanks for putting this together. It’s just what the doctor ordered!
Thank you very much! Denny is a monster and making stuff like this is definitely fun
Thank you for this. Some of my absolute favorite SD music. He is a major part of their unique sound.
Thank you!
I always assumed Baxter did bodhisattva. They were both mad geniuses.
They definitely were! According to Wikipedia, the first solo on that song is Denny and the second is Skunk, but Skunk might come in towards the end of the first solo section when the guitar is playing with the woodwinds, so sorry if I got it wrong!
Skunk did have a big role. Firstly in the duo playing at the start and in the middle with Denny. Also from the 4 Minutes 10sec mark ,Skunk takes over the lead pretty well to the songs completion.
Denny, Skunk and Larry are ALL Gold
and Elliot Randall... my favorite.
Gold Teeth II. Brilliant one-take!
To this day, Denny's solo sometimes still brings tears to my eyes its so beautiful with feeling.
@@mikeloomis687 It's jaw dropping. It's always been my favorite Denny Dias solo.
Seriously, it does make my eyes watery …
Bothisatfa is my favorite solo from Denny Dias
Love love love Denny Dias's playing.
Agreed!
Denny Dias is the great unsung heroe of the Steely Dan story! Even if i'm a great Larry Carlton fan, i can't understand why there's so few comments about Denny's work that is fantastic...Great lines and great sound! (But the fantastic solo in the intro of Parker's Band is missing!).
Amen, this guy is killer! And I think they found him through an ad asking for jazz chops, which he obviously has.
@@coreycooper2261Denny placed the ad. Fagen and Becker responded to it.
i d like someone to ask him about that@@c-bonus9092
i have some cassettes of him playing with the Hampton Hawes Quartet in,i think, 1974.He sounds like a real legit jazz guitarist on them.Nice quirky player in the tradition of his teacher Billy Bauer.
Would you like to share it? I would be really glad
Great choice of solo's by Denny!! I've played with him for 20 years and he always amazes me . Check out some of the stuff from the Iridium .
Woah, I definitely will! Unbelievable to hear from someone who's played with Denny, thank you so much!
I’m old and I’ve been playing since I was 12. Denny has something that no one else has. All the famous names they brought in were good but they didn’t have the fire he brought. He’ll always be my #1. Dude was even smart enough to get out of the music biz and into computers
The Green Earrings solo is so evocative and emotional: definitely one of my favorites from the Steely Dan catalogue and of all time. So glad to now know the musician behind it
That's awesome! Definitely an amazing performance
Green earrings was Larry Carlton
I’m so glad green earrings was included. I don’t what it is about that solo, but it’s up there with my favorites as far as steely dan solos go.
Total bad ass!… a very underrated musician, and from the inception, a vital element that help create the most classiest rock band of all time 😎🤘🏼
I'll nominate the opening solo in Parker's Band for #7--that's Dias, isn't it?
Totally right! I was about to write the same comment... 🙂
Denny's solo voice somehow defines the Steely Dan guitar landscape for me... Always the hippest solos on the record.. it's the enigmatic, tricky but uber-hip Bird-meets-Chet Atkins meets-Steve Howe unique vibe... While I could get say Larry's solo on Kid Charlemagne, Denny's lines were almost impenetrable like they were communicated to him by a more advanced civilisation ... almost like Monk on guitar..
@numberoneradio339 my mind just went to him... cool man... i guess being a 'jazz rock' guitarist in the 70''s required highly individual and motivated people - like Holdsworth too...
They are all great players in SD, but Denny has a wonderful ear for melody and phrasing. Bebop me to the stars and beyond! Cheers Brian
Agreed, thanks!
Definitely a lot of Bebop in his playing style. No one else comes close.
My absolute favorite guitarist.
A player who could bridge Rock with Jazz in a manner that Miles would have appreciated.
I started working on the tab for the Do It Again solo, and thinking If i put in a couple of hours a day I could get it in a few weeks. I got about 4 bars in, took me about a month, and realize i am too old for either muscle memory, or brain memory or both to take hold like it used to (being in my 60s now) and if I spent the rest of my life working on it I would never get it, so now I just listen to it. But even knowing the first few bars has widened my rhythms a bit. He alters those syncopations so naturally. Its not just that its fast, its just jumpin' with unexpected rhythmic feel.
Wow, that's pretty wild! l don't even play guitar, so even though I knew it was impressive, its interesting to hear just how advanced this stuff really is! I guess all we can do is just keep on listening and doing what we can
...for me it’s brain memory...and arthritis..
I can relate.
You can do it. Get one of the new apps that can separate the tracks, mute everything but the solo, slow it down and listen to and work on short phrases one at a time before stringing them together like a pearl necklace. I’m 63 and got it down in the last year!
This is what it looks like when you have the gift.
How is it you dont hear his name mentioned often as a great guitarist?
He's in Becker and Fagen's shadow
One of most underrated and unknown guitarists in rock history! Thanks for this xlnt audio of Denny Diaz!
I always wondered who played on Gold Teeth 2. They really didn't have a list of musicians on those early records
His AjA solos loved them
Listen really closely to the outro of reelin in the years, he does this crazy arpeggio lick during the fade out
Thanks, I will!
Have to agree with other comments regarding how under appreciated he may be
I know what I like and this man dazzles with his sheer virtuosity
In my view he is up there with the best
Seeing these in context is great. He definitely has a unique style. Thanks for putting these together in one video.
Absolutely, thank you very much!
that damn solo on Your Gold Teeth II... dios mio
Haha!
This.
Oops...always thought Green Earrings bit was Dean Parks. Absolutely love that solo.
Yes I was under that impression too… Dias solo and licks throughout the rest of the tune but that bit was Parks (ANOTHER brilliant Dan guitarist).
You can go through your memory catalogue of every great guitar solo during the golden era and love them all. Denny Dias's electric guitar/sitar lead in Do It Again stands alone in rock history. It is an ecstatic celebration.
He is the BEAST........ Monster
Denny Dias fretwork is spell binding.
The most soulful of Dan's guitarists 💯🎶🎵 Honorable mention - Elliott Randall on Green Earrings.
Incredible. The Dan sound I grew up with. Sick!
Love this. Don’t understand why Denny wasn’t full time member of band.
Me too!
At least they got him to play up until the Aja album
Actually, DD was the founding member of Steely D. He met DF and WB in NYC after they responded to his ad for musicians. They played together, then moved west and picked up JSB along the way. It is a point of dispute who the founder was.
@@johnj5985 To be fair Denny was the founder of Steely Dan, but after Donald and Walter joined it was a matter of time until they drove the other members away with their perfection. But afterwards they made sure Denny stuck around for more albums
@@johnj5985 True, good point
❤50 years later and young guitarist across the world still go to the classics they just hit differently with more heart and a lot of soul ♥ no tricks no gimmicks just plain ole good musicianship 😊
His solos are absolutely filthy!
Without a doubt!
Keep it grimy.
I'm a bit ashamed to say that I never knew that SO MANY of those solos were Denny's.
Great stuff. Great player.
No shame, I was surprised when I found out too!
He is a great player and shared his talents with us. ☮️🎸
Same here, 50 odd years of being a Steely Dan man and the guitar work I never accredited to Denny. My bad.
My friends and I used to listen for the perfect imperfections on the magnificent “King of the World” solo, those goofs where he accidentally hit a neighboring string :) “He’s human!” LOL
Haha, since I don't play guitar I hadn't even noticed those! Thanks for mentioning it, that makes it even cooler
Wicked!
Name a song that compares to "King of the World" I dare you!
@@maxwellsolak I won’t even try :) Such a fantastic solo, Denny is so underrated.
Shredding is for those who can't do this.
Denny knew exactly where to put the notes and leave enough space for those notes to melt into your mind. The best!
You know, what makes me hate shredding so much is not so much the moronic thinking that 'lots of notes = quality', that is part of it though. But it seems that most rock shredders can't or won't play through chord changes. They just do this modal masturbation and it's freakin' boring and unmusical. Most rock players are in either one of two categories....1. Shredders or 2. Non-shredders. But what both groups have in common is the limitation of most always playing boring modal solos, avoiding soloing over chord changes and most always being a slave to the pentatonic scale. What makes me love guitar playing like Larry Carlton's solo on Kid Charlemagne is the same thing that makes me hate boring, one-dimensional, one-chord shredding. Give me phrasing, harmonic and melodic sophistication any day over mindless shredding. Especially when you thrown in all the affectations like overdone whammy bars, pinch harmonics and all the other lame cliches that are out there. However, I must say, that I do like a lot of rock guitar players. I guess I just find the genre to be kind of lame for the most part.
Always loved the Green Earrings solo, that first note is soo high, haven't ever heard something like that ever
Larry Carlton
@@kennethpeller7411 Nope it was Dias
I wish that solo at the end of King of the World didn’t fade. There’s a sense he was just getting started. One of my favourite solos of all time but too short.
Idk man I think it’s just the right amount in a way but yeah that’s prob the best juice he ever served. He almost doesn’t sound human on that track
Dias is truly a phenomenal player. Exquisite.
Steely Dan. The streets won't forget
Incredible rhythm. .
Absolutely!
Jazz chops supreme
Jazz guy who rocked
Phenomenal!
Thanks for putting these solos together; great listen,and a great lesson!
Thank you!
Doesn't have the sophistication of say..Larry Carlton, but he makes the technique he has work to the max. Great musician.
It's pretty sophisticated playing, though. Lots of jazz chops, be-boppy stuff. Not that I'm taking anything away from Carlton, though. Just two wonderful players.
Two things is for sure, I didn't hear the two solos that they said was included at the end of King of the World, that all Denny Dias. Also that's not Walter Becker on the second take for the Aja solo, that's all Denny Dias. Great video!
I thought the King of the World ending solo was Skunk.
Learned something new today 👍🏻 🎸
I love these early Dan albums and now I know why!
ok, ok...
Denny and Skunk were born 2 years and one day apart.
Thanks for this. It's so interesting to us Dan maniacs. Dias is so great and unique, you wanna know more about him.
Thanks for posting, I didnt know Green Earrings was one of his. Should have done because it's unmistakable. Denny was a fantastic guitarist
Thank you! That’s why I love Wikipedia, without it I would have no idea who’s playing what!
Larry Carlton did solo from green earrings
WHat first sounds like hiccups turn out to be the most elegant rhythmic plays.
They shouldve kept these guys closer. Even Danny
Very true!
Do It Again is one of my favorite solos ever across all genres. 👍
(Me too)👍