Epic *American* Rock guitarists.....

[NNadir]

171. Well, the first album wasn't my favorite, perhaps because I met Denny Diaz.

We said, um, "Hi, nice to meet you," and that was pretty much it.

He was a good friend of a one time casual friend of mine, Mark Leon, who actually was involved (unhappily) in the early days of Steely Dan. My girlfriend at the time was renting a room in Mark's mother's house and Mark threw a huge party for Diaz, at which Diaz stayed for maybe twenty minutes.

I actually heard the album before it was publicly released. Mark had an advance copy. I thought it was pretty good, but I had no idea what it would become.

It was before they were real famous; I saw them live; they were playing as the back up band for Cheech and Chong when I saw them; it was at Westbury Music Fair on Long Island.

Diaz was kind of cold to his old friend. Years later, on the internet, I learned the back story, but I didn't know it then.

It seems like centuries ago.

I love Steely Dan music though, but I just think that when Becker started playing guitar instead of bass, well, his guitar playing is extremely clean, extremely tasteful. I think what he plays today easily outstrips anything on the first album. But for me, somehow the first album doesn't really do it for me.

And then there's Jeff Baxter. As Fagen sang many, many years later... "That right wing hooey sure stunk up the joint..."