Covers of Steely Dan Songs

Actually it was Me, Myself, and Irene

Here's when everyone mentions the Minutemen.

not as many as I would've expected to see listed here:
http://www.coversproject.com/artist/steely%20dan

Norman Connors and Ahmad Jamal did versions of "Black Cow."

I had heard that The Roots did "Black Cow" live.

Deodato - "Do It Again"

Also, one time I saw Clint Black on Austin City Limits, and his band (w/Clint on drums and another guy singing) did a faithful cover of "Josie".

yeah, apart from that Minuteman cover I can't think of one Dan cover. I'd say uncoverable, in general, but then maybe someone's done something like "Any Major Dude" or "My Old School," which are such amazing songs. Anyway, one that's not exactly a Dan cover but a Becker/Fagen song is Thomas Jefferson Kaye's "American Lovers," on Kaye's '74 Dunhill LP, which ought to see the light of day on CD.

Another non-Steely Dan Becker/Fagan song: "I Mean To Shine" by Barbra Streisand on the album Barbra Joan Steisand

BTW, didn't Fagan do some session work with and also contribute material to a country-rock band (Poco, or Pure Praire League?) in the late 70s?

Probably lots of jazz covers.

I haven't heard all of the Me, Myself, and Irene soundtrack, but Ben Folds Five does a pretty good "Barrytown" (which my girlfriend introduced me to, not knowing it was a cover).

There's that Hoops McCann Band thing, Dan alumni doing covers.

Herbie Mann - Do It Again
Richie Havens - Do It Again
Terry Callier - Do It Again
Dave Valentin - Do It Again
Waylon Jennings - Do It Again

BTW, didn't Fagan do some session work with and also contribute material to a country-rock band (Poco, or Pure Praire League?) in the late 70s?

One Poco song, "Dallas" (1975).

And there was Navasoto's "Canyon Ladies" -- early '70s knuckle-dragging biker rock.

I think Wilco did "Any Major Dude" on Me Myself & Irene?

Kumbia Kings' "Ella Sabe" is kind of a Do It Again cover

Jon Brion has done "Any Major Dude" live. Check out the bootleg here (gotta download the whole show, but it's great):

http://www.fairfax-avenue.com/bootlegs.php?id=B05

Wilco have done Any Major Dude live as well. There's a recording here: http://owlandbear.com/downloads/wilco_someone-elses-songs_flacf/Disc1_flacf/

Following the success (?!) of Fanny in the early 70s, other labels decided they'd better sign up their own all-girl rawk band. Anyway, one such band was 'Bertha', and (getting to the point at last!) they did a cover of 'Dirty Work'. It was released as a single in the UK; never heard it on the radio, though.

And does this count?...

(I had to look it up to remember the name of the act, so from Wikipedia...) "In 1983, Italian dance act Clubhouse released "Do It Again/Billie Jean", a precursor of the mashup genre mixing "Billie Jean" with Steely Dan's 1972 song "Do It Again". This was a hit record in Europe. Slingshot had a similar success in the U.S."

This sounds like the greatest thing ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwt0qQGqp0U

Think this was posted somewhere here before?

The reason I became a Steely Dan fan was because of the Pointer Sisters who covered their song "Dirty Work" in the late 70s. I think it was the Energy album or whatever album has the Bruce Springsteen song. "Fire", right?

For decades, I thought this was a tremendous and ignored Pointer Sisters classic. Then I heard the original in a cafe just a few years ago and I was manic! I asked the barista who that was. He was afraid and told me timidly "steely dan". I said "THANK YOU", walked out and grabbed Can't Buy A Thrill and became a Dan fan immediately.

I still think the Pointer Sisters' version is much better. But "Dirty Work" is the only Steely Dan song sung by that other guy, right? The original would have been better if Donald was courageous enough to sing it himself.

The other guy (David Palmer) sings on a bunch of Can't Buy a Thrill - Dirty Work, Only A Fool Would Say That, Brooklyn (owes the charmer under me), Change of the Guard, and Turn That Heartbeat Over Again (a true underappreciated Dan gem).

Here's when everyone mentions the Minutemen.

yes, but ultimately this is what legitimizes Steely Dan for me.

if it weren't for that cover, I would be in here equivocating like a motherfucker.

Anyone the Minutemen cover are cool enough for me.

someone beat me to clubhouse

kanye samples them on his new album. does that count?

what about this?

http://www.dragcity.com/catalog/records/dc264.jpg

Nerina Pallot and Richard X teamed up earlier this year to cover "Peg"

yes, but ultimately this is what legitimizes Steely Dan for me.

if it weren't for that cover, I would be in here equivocating like a motherfucker.

Anyone the Minutemen cover are cool enough for me.

For me, it's the fact that the Minutemen cover Steely Dan that make the Minutemen cooler than I'd originally suspected.

Ditto

366 total found

Hm, why didn't that work?

<a href="http://212.178.99.195/SteelyDanDatabase/covers.jsp?SearchInclude=0&SearchBecker=1&SearchAndOr=Or&SearchFagen=1&OrderBy=Title#top";>366 total found</a>

What's not immediately obvious from that epic list is that Nathan Haines' cover of FM has vocals by DAMON ALBARN. New Zealand, so much to answer for.

I play the Clubhouse "Do It Again/Billie Jean" medley out quite a bit, and the Pointer Sisters/Minutemen/Mountain Goats covers are k-grebt.
I thought "Show Biz Kids" would've been a shoe-in for a shrill cover by adult. or suchlike four or so years ago, but no dice.

There was a cover version of "Dirty Work" that was a minor hit here in '73 or '74, not too long after the first album came out. Probably a Canadian band. Having no luck searching the internet. It was many years before I realized it was a Steely Dan song (Can't Buy a Thrill was the only one of their early albums I didn't own until the '80s or possibly even the '90s). I'll figure out who it was eventually.

Here's an whole albumful of 'em...

http://images.plixid.com/imager/w_500/h_/c0890c198309722d672839a80f9a0bdd.jpg

Cex (yeah that guy) does some DSP shit to some Steely Dan loops:

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Cex/Dannibal/

they kind of build and build and are strangely moving/touching.

Mystery solved:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGe8ajTpSNI

Wasn't in either of my Canadian-related chart books, so it was definitely minor. Found the answer on an Eric Carmen page, of all things.

Never liked this as a teenager; now, the original's one of my favorites. They do a pretty good job, though they come up a bit short on the beauty of Steely Dan's sad jazz chords.

Replicants did a cover of "Dirty Work."

Does it count if an ex-Dan member is in the band? (Cf. Hoops McCann Band) Anyway, the one-tour late-'80s supergroup "The Best" (John Entwistle, Keith Emerson, Joe Walsh) did a bunch of Dan songs (Bodhisattva, Rikki Don't Lose That Number, Reelin' in the Years), as Skunk Baxter was another member of that group.

did sublime ever cover the dan? It seems like something they might have done.

http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/Dr+Wu+Steely+Dan+Cover/37VqKx?src=5

Someone should tell me if this is any good. I need to keep a quiet room right now, or I'd be listening to this.

Also, one time I saw Clint Black on Austin City Limits, and his band (w/Clint on drums and another guy singing) did a faithful cover of "Josie".

― C. Grisso/McCain, Wednesday, September 12, 2007 1:13 PM (6 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I always felt this was so random, but apparently Clint trots this out regularly live as a spotlight for both his sax player's vox and his own prowess behind a drum kit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4xH4SaM568

xp: That's from a Brad Nowell solo acoustic show, widely bootlegged as "Bong Hits With Bradley". It's pretty inessential.

Dokaka - ''Peg''

You can also sneak around there and find his cover of the Contra theme.

burnt sugar - any world (that i'm welcome to)

(someone posted burnt sugar's "black cow" on the steely dan voting thread, which is also great. but their "any world" pretty much destroys the dan version.)

whoa!

Any World (That I'm Welcome To) one of my favorite deep cuts and I feel like it's probably under-appreciated in the Steely Dan canon, but that version is definitely the treatment that song deserves.

i've posted this on other threads i'm sure but this indie band from canada called the darcys covered aja in its entirety

"peg" is the only one i like tho:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DcFrUdzLwo

Any World (That I'm Welcome To) one of my favorite deep cuts and I feel like it's probably under-appreciated in the Steely Dan canon, but that version is definitely the treatment that song deserves.

absolutely. if you click thru that vimeo you can get a full concert's worth of burnt sugar's steely dan covers, which are all worthwhile, but "any world" was the one that stopped me in my tracks.

I have a lounge record by a band called Matthew's Exit that do a great cover of Do It Again.

this a cool old school funk extrapolation of "do it again", by some oneoff group called Deep Heat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SPiZtgAZ5U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjkvbzReCRU-

... Lulu, from the 2022 movie of the sane name (which I've never heard of but I definitely remember the true story it's based on!)