Editing Steely Dan (section)

===Formative and early years (1967–1972)===
[[Walter Becker]] and [[Donald Fagen]] met in 1967 at [[Bard College]], in [[Annandale-on-Hudson, New York]]. As Fagen passed by The Red Balloon café, he heard Becker practicing the electric guitar.<ref name="ew">{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/2006/03/17/origins-steely-dan/ |title=Back to Annadale: The Origins of Steely Dan|last=Brunner |first=Rob |date=March 17, 2006 |access-date=June 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070119193919/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1174152_2,00.html |archive-date=January 19, 2007 |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly|EW.com]] |url-status=live}}</ref> In an interview, Fagen recounted the experience: "I hear this guy practicing, and it sounded very professional and contemporary. It sounded like, you know, like a black person, really."<ref name="ew" /> He introduced himself to Becker and asked, "Do you want to be in a band?"<ref name="ew" /> Discovering that they enjoyed similar music, the two began writing songs together.

Becker and Fagen began playing in local groups. One such group—known as the Don Fagen Jazz Trio, the Bad Rock Group and later the Leather Canary—included future comedy star [[Chevy Chase]] on drums. They played covers of songs by [[The Rolling Stones]] ("[[Dandelion (Rolling Stones song)|Dandelion]]"), [[Moby Grape]] ("Hey Grandma"), and [[Willie Dixon]] ("[[Spoonful]]"), as well as some original compositions.<ref name="ew" /> [[Terence Boylan]], another Bard musician, remembered that Fagen took readily to the [[beatnik]] life while attending college: "They never came out of their room, they stayed up all night. They looked like ghosts—black [[turtleneck]]s and skin so white that it looked like yogurt. Absolutely no activity, chain-smoking [[Lucky Strikes]] and [[cannabis (drug)|dope]]."<ref name="ew" />

After Fagen graduated in 1969, the two moved to [[Brooklyn]] and tried to peddle their tunes in the [[Brill Building]] in [[midtown Manhattan]]. [[Kenny Vance]] (of [[Jay and the Americans]]), who had a production office in the building, took an interest in their music, which led to work on the soundtrack of the low-budget film (featuring [[Richard Pryor]] and [[Robert Downey Sr.]]) ''[[You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat]]''. Becker later said bluntly, "We did it for the money."<ref name=metalleg2>Metal Leg [https://web.archive.org/web/20001026235525/http://www.granatino.com/sdresource/2radio.htm Issue #2].</ref> A series of demos from 1968 to 1971 are available in multiple different releases, not authorized by Becker and Fagen.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.steelydan.com/furry.html|title=For a Change|last=Becker|first=Walter|website=www.steelydan.com|access-date=August 18, 2018|date=January 19, 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061111204753/http://www.steelydan.com/furry.html|archive-date=November 11, 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref> This collection features approximately 25 tracks and is notable for its sparse arrangements (Fagen plays solo piano on many songs) and [[lo-fi]] production, a contrast with Steely Dan's later work. Although some of these songs ("Caves of Altamira", "Brooklyn", "Barrytown") were re-recorded for Steely Dan albums, most were never officially released.<ref name="VH1" /> 

In 1970, [[Gary Katz]] produced an album by singer Linda Hoover, ''I Mean to Shine'', featuring Fagen, Becker, and [[Jeff Baxter|Jeff "Skunk" Baxter]], and including five Becker/Fagen songs. The album was shelved over songwriting licensing issues, but was finally released 52 years later, in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Peter |date=July 7, 2022 |title='I was on the high of highs, and suddenly it was over': Linda Hoover on her great lost LP with Steely Dan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jul/07/linda-hoover-on-her-great-lost-lp-with-steely-dan-i-mean-to-shine |access-date=August 4, 2022 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref> Becker and Fagen later joined the touring band of [[Jay and the Americans]] for about a year and a half.<ref name=metalleg1>Metal Leg: [http://www.granatino.com/sdresource/1radio.htm Issue #1] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828101138/http://www.granatino.com/sdresource/1radio.htm |date=August 28, 2008 }}.</ref> They were at first paid $100 per show, but partway through their tenure the band's [[tour manager]] cut their salaries in half.<ref name=metalleg1 /> The group's lead singer, [[Jay Black]], dubbed Becker and Fagen "the Manson and Starkweather of rock 'n' roll", referring to cult leader [[Charles Manson]] and [[spree killer]] [[Charles Starkweather]].<ref name=metalleg1 />

They had little success after moving to Brooklyn, although [[Barbra Streisand]] recorded their song "I Mean to Shine" on her 1971 ''[[Barbra Joan Streisand (album)|Barbra Joan Streisand]]'' album. Their fortunes changed when one of Vance's associates, Katz, moved to [[Los Angeles]] to become a staff producer for [[ABC Records]]. He hired Becker and Fagen as staff songwriters; they flew to California. Katz would produce all their 1970s albums in collaboration with engineer [[Roger Nichols (recording engineer)|Roger Nichols]]. Nichols would win six Grammy Awards for his work with the band from the 1970s to 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.videosymphony.com/working.php?pg=instructor_rogernichols|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130225504/http://videosymphony.com/working.php?pg=instructor_rogernichols|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 30, 2010|title=Roger Nichols|access-date=September 3, 2010}}</ref>

Realizing that ABC artists could not handle the complexity of their songs, Becker and Fagen (at Katz's suggestion) formed their own band with guitarists [[Denny Dias]] and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, drummer [[Jim Hodder (musician)|Jim Hodder]] and singer [[David Palmer (vocalist)|David Palmer]], and Katz signed them to ABC as recording artists. Fans of [[Beat Generation]] literature, Fagen and Becker named the band after a "revolutionary" steam-powered [[dildo]] mentioned in the [[William S. Burroughs]] novel ''[[Naked Lunch]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.steelydan.com/mojo.html|title= The Return of Steely Dan|access-date=December 15, 2006|work= [[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo Magazine]]|date=October 1995}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.steelydan.com/faq.html|title= Official Steely Dan FAQ|access-date= January 18, 2007|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111227080833/http://steelydan.com/faq.html|archive-date= December 27, 2011|url-status= dead|df= mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Burroughs|first1=Williams S.|title=Naked Lunch|url=https://archive.org/details/nakedluh00burr|url-access=registration|date=1962|publisher=Grove Press|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/nakedluh00burr/page/91/mode/1up 91]|edition=1991 reprint}}</ref> Palmer joined as a second lead vocalist because of Fagen's occasional [[stage fright]], his reluctance to sing in front of an audience, and because the label believed that his voice was not "commercial" enough.

In 1972, ABC issued Steely Dan's first single, "[[Dallas (Steely Dan song)|Dallas]]", backed with "Sail the Waterway". Distribution of "stock" copies available to the general public was apparently extremely limited;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/abc11323|title=45cat – Steely Dan – Dallas / Sail The Waterway – ABC – USA – ABC-11323|access-date=March 10, 2015}}</ref> the single sold so poorly that promotional copies are much more readily available than stock copies in today's collectors market. As of 2025, "Dallas" and "Sail the Waterway" are the only officially released Steely Dan tracks that have not been reissued on [[Compact Cassette|cassette]] or compact disc. In a 1995 interview, Becker and Fagen called the songs "stinko".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.granatino.com/sdresource/cis.htm |title=Steely Dan interview with CompuServe members |website=Granatino.com |date=October 20, 1995 |access-date=October 15, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927085657/http://www.granatino.com/sdresource/cis.htm |archive-date=September 27, 2011 }}</ref>   "Dallas" was later covered by [[Poco (band)|Poco]] on their ''[[Head Over Heels (Poco album)|Head Over Heels]]'' album.