75 years ago today, the late Walter Becker, co-founder/conspirator of Steely Dan, was born (2/20/50). Becker, along with Bard college buddy Donald Fagen, co-wrote one of rock’s most ambitious and polished catalogs, where studio perfection and jazz-rock experiments were perfected with help from several session aces along the way; albums like Aja, Gauch,o and Pretzel Logic have since become revered. Becker and Fargen enjoyed a resurgence post-1993 following a return to touring, as Steely Dan would tour regularly up to Becker’s death on 9/3/17. Check out Steely Dan’s live performance of”Slang of Ages” off 2003’s Everything Must Go, with Becker taking one of his once-show turns on lead vocals.
