From our long riffing series

The hardrocking staff has been on a bit of a Steely Dan jag lately, during which we came across a couple of live sets you splendid readers might enjoy.

Turns out 1974 was a very good year for the band, starting with this live performance at the University of California in March.

Set list: Do It Again, Rikki Don’t Lose That Number, Any Major Dude Will Tell You, King Of The World, Barrytown, My Old School, Pretzel Logic.

Check out especially Jeff Baxter’s pedal steel guitar on Any Major Dude (at 12:52) and the whole schmear in Barrytown (22:00).

Two months later the Dan was live at the Rainbow Theatre in London and man, that was something.

The set list:

The set:

Of particular note at 21:30 is Brooklyn, whose lyrics we’ve never understood, and at 52:29 there’s a noodling nod to Your Gold Teeth II, whose lyrics, well,  ditto – never mind who the hell knows what the original Your Gold Teeth from Countdown to Ecstasy means.

Regardless, Steely Dan is a sandbox that’s always fun to play in, no?