Recorded audition on guitar for Steely Dan tribute

[JapanAxe]

Following a casual enquiry about a FB ad, I now find myself spending serious guitar practice time trying to play Kid Charlemagne and Rikki Don’t Lose That Number. Yes, that’s right, Kid Charlemagne, the song with the jaw-dropping Larry Carlton solo.

I have been sent backing tracks with no guitar, and I have to record whatever lead and/or rhythm parts I choose and then send it back. I am getting there, having combined an old Guitarist mag transcription of the solo, my own transcription of the rest, and Rick Beato’s very useful walk-through on YouTube.

 I am going to record my parts in as few takes as possible, and fess up to comping the best bits. If I can pull this off I will raise my guitar-playing game a good couple of notches - about time really, I should be a lot better than I am after nearly 40 years of playing!

So wish me luck. Any top tips about nailing the Dan thing gratefully accepted...

[Norm]

Ooft! Good luck fella, that will be a cool gig to get 

[ianrendall]

Steely Dan are known for being absolute perfectionists in the studio, so heaven knows how many takes it took before Larry nailed it, or how many different takes were spliced together for the album version. 

I’d suggest listening to as many live versions of the song as possible. 

 

[songofthewind]

This is a subject dear to my heart!

Tom Quayle has done a Steely Dan how to DVD, which is very good if you want to learn the version of Kid Charlemagne on The Royal Scam. I’ve been trying to learn that since it came out. I think I cracked it once.

He’s very good with Reelin’ In The Years, too.

Jon Herrington (SD guitar honcho) doesn’t try to play any of that stuff note for note live, but more “in the style of”, which I think works very well. Even he is a bit “stiff” to my ears.

I think all guitar players who attempt this stuff are really psyched out by all the talk about SD’s recording process!

There is a truly great live at Sony Studios movie (prolly on YouTube now), where you can see SD live under under studio conditions. You can see what Herrington does, against the background of an awesome rhythm section.

Hope this helps!

[songofthewind]

I just remembered, there is also the Dukes of September DVD, which is the SD band backing Fagen, Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald. Great playing all round.

[songofthewind]

Larry Carlton talked about how he makes solos from interval jumps to create melodies.

This means, say over the Am chord in Kid Charlemagne, playing C on the G string then jumping to to B on the top E. Nice dissonance I think.

[JapanAxe]

9 hours ago, ianrendall said:

Steely Dan are known for being absolute perfectionists in the studio, so heaven knows how many takes it took before Larry nailed it, or how many different takes were spliced together for the album version. 

I’d suggest listening to as many live versions of the song as possible. 

 

Thanks I have this on CD.

45 minutes ago, songofthewind said:

This is a subject dear to my heart!

Tom Quayle has done a Steely Dan how to DVD, which is very good if you want to learn the version of Kid Charlemagne on The Royal Scam. I’ve been trying to learn that since it came out. I think I cracked it once.

He’s very good with Reelin’ In The Years, too.

Jon Herrington (SD guitar honcho) doesn’t try to play any of that stuff note for note live, but more “in the style of”, which I think works very well. Even he is a bit “stiff” to my ears.

I think all guitar players who attempt this stuff are really psyched out by all the talk about SD’s recording process!

There is a truly great live at Sony Studios movie (prolly on YouTube now), where you can see SD live under under studio conditions. You can see what Herrington does, against the background of an awesome rhythm section.

Hope this helps!

Cheers, will look for that.

40 minutes ago, songofthewind said:

Larry Carlton talked about how he makes solos from interval jumps to create melodies.

This means, say over the Am chord in Kid Charlemagne, playing C on the G string then jumping to to B on the top E. Nice dissonance I think.

This really helped me: 

 

[FuNkShUi]

13 hours ago, ianrendall said:

Steely Dan are known for being absolute perfectionists in the studio, so heaven knows how many takes it took before Larry nailed it, or how many different takes were spliced together for the album version. 

I’d suggest listening to as many live versions of the song as possible. 

 

Never really listened to Steely Dan before. 
Liked that though. Very cool

[ianrendall]

My favourite Jon Herington solo is from Brite Nightgown. Around the 2:45 mark he plays what would sound like a really off note to the layperson, but it really makes the hairs on my arms stand up. Superb.