"A Steely Dan Bedtime Story" Once upon a time, there was a king, named Richard, who ruled Mizar. He fell madly in love with his darling, Rose. After a short engagement, they were married by a Deacon in a blue suit. They honeymooned near the caves of Altamira and did it again quite frequently without a fez. Night by night, it was a countdown to ecstasy. Soon, they were home at last, and in the months and years to follow, would have a castle full of show biz kids. Their first kid, a boy, was named Charlemagne. Later, daughters, Josie and Peg, would beautify the castle with their French twists. Rikki, their youngest, was a mathematics prodigy who never lost track of her numbers. The parents were strict with their daughters, but the girls didn't seem to care. The family would vacation by carriage to the sea and when the children got too loud, King Richard would say, "keep it down, just until we get out of town." During their holiday, the family would sit under a banyan tree and watch the sun go down on the crimson tide. They let the children play up on the hill near the black cows. The king, however, had a mistress at this seaside Eldorado resort. When confronted by Rose, Katy lied and said there was nothing to it. Katy was only nineteen at the time. Rose knew the fix was in. Later, Rose told King Richard that she knew of the affair and was planning on a trip to Haiti for a divorce. She said, "I can't cry anymore while you run around." Upon hearing this news, King Richard summoned his therapist, Dr. Wu. After a lengthy discussion about the king's infidelity, Dr. Wu responded, "the things you think are useless I can't understand." Rose, still reelin' from this news demanded, "I want to know everything you did." King Richard confessed to an affair with Katy's sister, Pearl. He defended himself by saying, "it was just a fling with a couple of skinny girls." King Richard hastily had his family return to Castle Bravo, coincidentally, at the changing of the guard. He met with his generals to discuss the expansion of his kingdom to new frontiers. He told them he wanted to be king of the world. Rose, however, took a gift from the king, a pair of green earrings, and threw them in the moat. She realized that she had been royally scammed. King Richard went to Rose's bedroom and told her it would never happen again, but she replied, "after what you've done, only a fool would say that." She gave him the goodbye look before she lit the candle and put a lock upon the door. King Richard, in a rage, threatened harm to their children by drowning them in the moat when he said, "I'll throw back the little ones." At that very moment, there was fire in the hole as the castle came under ambush by battle apples! King Richard became suicidal and thought about taking his life with a gun. His last words were, "Don't Take Me Alive!" The day after the king's demise, Rose had lunch with Gina, her best friend. They drank kirschwasser from a shell. Gina advised Rose to sell her home and move to a place called the Custerdome. The next day, Rose put a sign in front of the castle that read: Everything Must Go.
Steely Dan songs like this aren't too hard to play with. But to make them sound right like you do here there takes experience and taste and more experience, no way to fake it. So much subtlety, well done.
Whoa, completely nailed it! This is my favourite Steely Dan groove (even better than Home At Last, Aja etc for me) and you've done a great job capturing the subtleties of it.
Tate, loving your work. How about having a go at Your Gold Teeth II. That and Gaucho were the 2 tracks that broke my heart and ultimately made me understand what it takes to be at the top level. Jeff was like Maradona ! Give it a go.
This is the only correctly played cover of this tune that I have seen on YT. Nice job! Porcaro was so great. I always loved his delicate playing on this tune. Gadd and Carlton are also very sublime on Third World Man. And of course Purdie. I studied with him back in the day. What a groove (and a character).
@@petercontarino646 He was close. Tate did say he played his interpretation. Your response would mean he copped Porcaro's performance which he didn't .
Well my friend, what can I say, other than that you're very professional, at ease, tight and groovy. Respect sir ;^) ♪ Gaucho was my second tutorial, (so difficult at guitar, well it doesn't help to try to emulate the piano that has non-stop quick chords changes) ♪ That whole Gaucho album is my favorite within their 9, but if you include Donald Fagen's solo career in the mix, *The Nightfly* would probably be my favorite.♪ Peace, always ;^) ♪ .
What a fabulous song this is and the drum groove really was fantastic......Watching you play it and perfectly is great....The song just flows so perfectly and man Porcaro was such a great talent.....
Rich, thanks so much. A lot of credit is also due to the engineers for this record/tune as well. Not sure how much you are into the history of this song's construction, but it is a very interesting story! Without going too much into it, basically: the session they did with Jeff for this tune lasted from noon til like 2-3am, and all they ended with (after Fagen and Becker left in frustration, leaving Gary Katz and the band to attempt to finish) was multiple drum takes that were cut together to create Jeff's perfect drum track. As you said, Porcaro was such a great talent, and the fact that there were multiple takes cuts together and you'd never tell (due to his solid feel and dynamics) proves that!
Great job! This is a hard tune to get to feel as good as Jeff Porcaro but I dig your sound and touch. You accurately reproduced many of the fills as well. Very nice!
Dude you did a great job! I heard on this album they spent an incredible time and session mucisians just to lay down the drum track. This song sounds easy to play to a non drummer, but wow a hard track to play this is!
Thanks Mitchell! I read somewhere that they put over 40 takes together to get the perfect drum track for this tune. This album was also the first to feature the newly developed drum machine that producer Roger Nichols built for Fagen and Becker. I'm not sure if it was used on this tune specifically, but I know it was used on others including Hey Nineteen.
I have been listening to this track over and over for the last couple of weeks having finished reading the book "It's About Time" the life of Jeff Porcaro. So sad that such an amazing musician has been lost to the world so young. This track is one of my favourites Jeff's and you played it with such a great groove. Thanks heaps Tate. How about play Night Time in The Switching Yard by Warren Zevon. Another great Jeff track.
Dick! I just finished reading that book back in January! Some amazing stories in there, and yes, a very tragic and early ending to Jeff's life. Another one (in addition to the Zevon tracks) I've been into since reading that book has been the Jackson Browne material he played on! Thanks!
Really good job man! Is there a drumless version of this song out somewhere? If not how did you lower the drum level here? Maybe it's because you nailed it so good is why!!
Thanks Bill! I just played along with the studio recording for this video (and most of my other covers as well). I know there are programs that can take drums out of songs if you'd want, but playing along with the original recordings has always worked out fine for me!
How would Fagen and Becker want the track to be played ? They both expected discipline from a take . Porcaro took a while to track Gaucho because of this. Sonny Emory is an incredible drummer and they had him play nothing but a rhythm track on West Hollywood. Your groove is nice but think discipline in your approach to the structure of the song.
Junior, I appreciate the feedback. Although I do not disagree with your comments, as I feel my performance in this cover is not perfect, I do feel the need to defend myself. With this cover (and almost all my other covers), I try to emulate what the drummers have played, and not necessarily replicate what they've played note for note. I learn the music, and play what I feel in respect of what the drummer played. This song was recorded through a very long night during the week that they had Jeff Porcaro in for the Gaucho album. Steve Khan recalled that they continued to record take after take even when Fagen and Becker had already left for the night (www.stevekhan.com/gaucho_steelydan_reflections.htm). If everything I've read is correct, the final drum part on the album that they got from that night consisted of many different takes that were sliced together for the "perfect track" that Fagen and Becker insisted on having (Not sure if they also used "Wendel" the drum machine on this song or not). If I had chosen to do the same here, I could've easily put together multiple takes and learned things note for note. My cover performances are done all in a single takes without cuts. I did multiple takes of this tune after charting it out and really learning it for a couple of weeks, and this was the best one I got.
@@tate_berkey Your feel is great. What I heard was Fagen wasn't sure what he wanted. That's why they took multiple takes and edited later, with the computer they called Wendel to quantize. You did a greeeaat job . Listen to the track again because it's a great lesson for drummers to be aware of extreme discipline in the studio, and you're almost there.
@@jracerichards They didn't quantize with Wendel for this song, they just comped like we do today. They just took 10 seconds of playing from this take, 2 seconds from another take, and 46 seconds from a third, etc and physically spliced together the different tape parts they wanted. Wendel wasn't involved with this track :)
"A Steely Dan Bedtime Story"
Once upon a time, there was a king, named Richard, who ruled Mizar. He fell madly in love with his darling, Rose. After a short engagement, they were married by a Deacon in a blue suit. They honeymooned near the caves of Altamira and did it again quite frequently without a fez. Night by night, it was a countdown to ecstasy. Soon, they were home at last, and in the months and years to follow, would have a castle full of show biz kids. Their first kid, a boy, was named Charlemagne. Later, daughters, Josie and Peg, would beautify the castle with their French twists. Rikki, their youngest, was a mathematics prodigy who never lost track of her numbers. The parents were strict with their daughters, but the girls didn't seem to care. The family would vacation by carriage to the sea and when the children got too loud, King Richard would say, "keep it down, just until we get out of town." During their holiday, the family would sit under a banyan tree and watch the sun go down on the crimson tide. They let the children play up on the hill near the black cows. The king, however, had a mistress at this seaside Eldorado resort. When confronted by Rose, Katy lied and said there was nothing to it. Katy was only nineteen at the time. Rose knew the fix was in. Later, Rose told King Richard that she knew of the affair and was planning on a trip to Haiti for a divorce. She said, "I can't cry anymore while you run around." Upon hearing this news, King Richard summoned his therapist, Dr. Wu. After a lengthy discussion about the king's infidelity, Dr. Wu responded, "the things you think are useless I can't understand." Rose, still reelin' from this news demanded, "I want to know everything you did." King Richard confessed to an affair with Katy's sister, Pearl. He defended himself by saying, "it was just a fling with a couple of skinny girls." King Richard hastily had his family return to Castle Bravo, coincidentally, at the changing of the guard. He met with his generals to discuss the expansion of his kingdom to new frontiers. He told them he wanted to be king of the world. Rose, however, took a gift from the king, a pair of green earrings, and threw them in the moat. She realized that she had been royally scammed. King Richard went to Rose's bedroom and told her it would never happen again, but she replied, "after what you've done, only a fool would say that." She gave him the goodbye look before she lit the candle and put a lock upon the door. King Richard, in a rage, threatened harm to their children by drowning them in the moat when he said, "I'll throw back the little ones." At that very moment, there was fire in the hole as the castle came under ambush by battle apples! King Richard became suicidal and thought about taking his life with a gun. His last words were, "Don't Take Me Alive!" The day after the king's demise, Rose had lunch with Gina, her best friend. They drank kirschwasser from a shell. Gina advised Rose to sell her home and move to a place called the Custerdome. The next day, Rose put a sign in front of the castle that read: Everything Must Go.
Steely Dan songs like this aren't too hard to play with. But to make them sound right like you do here there takes experience and taste and more experience, no way to fake it. So much subtlety, well done.
Thanks so much!
I love coming back here. So good.
Whoa, completely nailed it! This is my favourite Steely Dan groove (even better than Home At Last, Aja etc for me) and you've done a great job capturing the subtleties of it.
Thanks Mark!
Nice and Smooth, Great Drum Sound!
Thanks Shawn!
Fantastic! I think you are ready for a Steely Dan Tour!
I don't know about that! Thanks Wes!
Beautiful work! Nailed the tone and feel. One of Jeff's most arduous recording sessions, for sure! He was "the guy" from my neighborhood...
Thanks Stephen!
Fantastic work! Really nailed the feel of this difficult groove and subtle fill work. Thumbs up.
Appreciate it!
Man! My top 3 drummers:
Jeff Porcaro
Billy Berg (Flim & the BB’s)
Chad Smith
You are now my 4th favorite!
Thanks for including me on your list! Wow!
Dude 🖤🖤🖤👍👍 we pretty much have the same taste in drummers and music. Great job!!!
Tate, loving your work. How about having a go at Your Gold Teeth II. That and Gaucho were the 2 tracks that broke my heart and ultimately made me understand what it takes to be at the top level. Jeff was like Maradona ! Give it a go.
Thanks Shorty! Will get it on my list!
This is the only correctly played cover of this tune that I have seen on YT. Nice job! Porcaro was so great. I always loved his delicate playing on this tune. Gadd and Carlton are also very sublime on Third World Man. And of course Purdie. I studied with him back in the day. What a groove (and a character).
Thanks Peter! All the players on the Gaucho album are great! Hoping to do a cover of Third World Man at some point...
He was close . Needs more discipline . Go back and listen to what Porcaro did.
@@jracerichards he captured it regardless.
@@tate_berkey Tate I am playing again. Go to my page and check out home at last.
@@petercontarino646 He was close. Tate did say he played his interpretation. Your response would mean he copped Porcaro's performance which he didn't .
Well my friend, what can I say, other than that you're very professional, at ease, tight and groovy. Respect sir ;^) ♪
Gaucho was my second tutorial,
(so difficult at guitar, well it doesn't help to try to emulate the piano that has non-stop quick chords changes) ♪
That whole Gaucho album is my favorite within their 9,
but if you include Donald Fagen's solo career in the mix, *The Nightfly* would probably be my favorite.♪
Peace, always ;^) ♪
.
What a fabulous song this is and the drum groove really was fantastic......Watching you play it and perfectly is great....The song just flows so perfectly and man Porcaro was such a great talent.....
Rich, thanks so much. A lot of credit is also due to the engineers for this record/tune as well. Not sure how much you are into the history of this song's construction, but it is a very interesting story! Without going too much into it, basically: the session they did with Jeff for this tune lasted from noon til like 2-3am, and all they ended with (after Fagen and Becker left in frustration, leaving Gary Katz and the band to attempt to finish) was multiple drum takes that were cut together to create Jeff's perfect drum track. As you said, Porcaro was such a great talent, and the fact that there were multiple takes cuts together and you'd never tell (due to his solid feel and dynamics) proves that!
My favorite song of all time...and you did it some serious justice!! BRAVO!!!
Thanks Adisa!
Awesome Work Tate! Jeff Porcaro would love this Drum Cover! Your Drum Sound & Feel is incredible brother! I also loved your Ghost Notes on the Snare!😎
Thanks Nathan! Appreciate it!
Truly slugging right behind the beat just as Jeff did. Bravo sir!
Thanks!
Great job! This is a hard tune to get to feel as good as Jeff Porcaro but I dig your sound and touch. You accurately reproduced many of the fills as well. Very nice!
Thanks! Appreciate it!
The timing bro 😩👌 what a groove
great playing mate
the recording engineer on Rick Beato said that they pieced the drum track together from multiple takes .
That is correct from what what I've researched as well. Amazing!
Well done Sir, properly nailed.
Thank you!
Another fine performance.
So awesome. Nice.
Thanks Walter!
Dude you did a great job! I heard on this album they spent an incredible time and session mucisians just to lay down the drum track. This song sounds easy to play to a non drummer, but wow a hard track to play this is!
Thanks Mitchell! I read somewhere that they put over 40 takes together to get the perfect drum track for this tune. This album was also the first to feature the newly developed drum machine that producer Roger Nichols built for Fagen and Becker. I'm not sure if it was used on this tune specifically, but I know it was used on others including Hey Nineteen.
Man that was really great!
Thanks Ben!
I have been listening to this track over and over for the last couple of weeks having finished reading the book "It's About Time" the life of Jeff Porcaro. So sad that such an amazing musician has been lost to the world so young. This track is one of my favourites Jeff's and you played it with such a great groove. Thanks heaps Tate. How about play Night Time in The Switching Yard by Warren Zevon. Another great Jeff track.
Dick! I just finished reading that book back in January! Some amazing stories in there, and yes, a very tragic and early ending to Jeff's life. Another one (in addition to the Zevon tracks) I've been into since reading that book has been the Jackson Browne material he played on! Thanks!
Beautiful job man.
Thanks!
Excellent job sir ,bravo
Thanks Babis!
Nice, Nice sound! TKS from Brazil 🙏
That was fantastic. Thank you.
Thanks Dave!
Execução brilhante! Saudações do Brasil!
Excellent!!! Sounds great!
Thanks Nicholas!
Super tasteful stuff man! Sounds killer!
Thanks Jens!
Top man.
On point!
love it ! respect
Appreciate it!
Never reaching, - always #RITP(right in the pocket) - one of the finest drummers of our time - Tate Berky
Thanks as always Marlo!
Really good job man! Is there a drumless version of this song out somewhere? If not how did you lower the drum level here? Maybe it's because you nailed it so good is why!!
Thanks Bill! I just played along with the studio recording for this video (and most of my other covers as well). I know there are programs that can take drums out of songs if you'd want, but playing along with the original recordings has always worked out fine for me!
So good. I really enjoy your work.
Thank you!
excelent!!!!🤙
Thanks Tony!
Pretty good job, mate!
Thanks Julio!
👏👏
Hey, nice shoes 👞
WELL DONE !
PRECISE & DETAILED AS ORIGINAL !
Thanks Harry!
How would Fagen and Becker want the track to be played ? They both expected discipline from a take . Porcaro took a while to track Gaucho because of this. Sonny Emory is an incredible drummer and they had him play nothing but a rhythm track on West Hollywood. Your groove is nice but think discipline in your approach to the structure of the song.
Junior, I appreciate the feedback. Although I do not disagree with your comments, as I feel my performance in this cover is not perfect, I do feel the need to defend myself. With this cover (and almost all my other covers), I try to emulate what the drummers have played, and not necessarily replicate what they've played note for note. I learn the music, and play what I feel in respect of what the drummer played. This song was recorded through a very long night during the week that they had Jeff Porcaro in for the Gaucho album. Steve Khan recalled that they continued to record take after take even when Fagen and Becker had already left for the night (www.stevekhan.com/gaucho_steelydan_reflections.htm). If everything I've read is correct, the final drum part on the album that they got from that night consisted of many different takes that were sliced together for the "perfect track" that Fagen and Becker insisted on having (Not sure if they also used "Wendel" the drum machine on this song or not). If I had chosen to do the same here, I could've easily put together multiple takes and learned things note for note. My cover performances are done all in a single takes without cuts. I did multiple takes of this tune after charting it out and really learning it for a couple of weeks, and this was the best one I got.
@@tate_berkey Your feel is great. What I heard was Fagen wasn't sure what he wanted. That's why they took multiple takes and edited later, with the computer they called Wendel to quantize. You did a greeeaat job . Listen to the track again because it's a great lesson for drummers to be aware of extreme discipline in the studio, and you're almost there.
@@jracerichards They didn't quantize with Wendel for this song, they just comped like we do today. They just took 10 seconds of playing from this take, 2 seconds from another take, and 46 seconds from a third, etc and physically spliced together the different tape parts they wanted. Wendel wasn't involved with this track :)
@@michaelcaplin8969 Wow , great info
@@jracerichards Thanks, I've nerded away many an hour on Gaucho drum details.
Really great. Kudos!