Steely Dan Newsletter | Issue 49

Will there ever be a movie about Steely Dan? Do we need one?

May 19, 2025

A quick note: Barney Hurley, the musician and well-known Steely Dan fan, has died of cancer at age 54. His X account has been a favorite from the moment I stumbled across it. I enjoy spotlighting his great photo selections (of SD) in the newsletter. His photo curating skills of the greatest artists was sensational — and he made a lot of people very happy. Today’s issue is for Barney.

* Before we get to the entertaining lead story about the possibility of a Steely Dan biopic, let me say that I don’t forsee one ever happening (especially not the way the movie business is heading), and I don’t think we need one. I’m not sure it could ever be done really really well.

Now — A 2-hour documentary with all the bells and whistles? That would be top shelf, and I would love to see it happen. That’s more likely than a Hollywood-produced biopic.

Someone call Ken Burns and let’s get going on that Steely Dan documentary.

With All Of The Music Biopics Happening These Days, Where The Hell's My Steely Dan Movie Already?

The only way that I would ever want a Steely Dan biopic is if we actually got to hear the band’s music! I don’t want anything like the Jimi Hendrix movie, Jimi: All Is by My Side, in which we didn’t have any songs written by Hendrix. That just does not work for me.

This might be the hardest part of all about getting a Steely Dan biopic because I’m not certain that Fagen would be okay with letting somebody else have creative control over the band’s music. Yes, if he provided input and was deeply involved with the project, I could see that happening, but I honestly don’t think he would want to be deeply involved with a project that showcased both the band’s highs and lows.

That said, let’s just say that Fagen did give the go-ahead for a Steely Dan biopic and was okay with people using both the band’s music as well as his solo projects. Well, then I think that would be one of the greatest movie soundtracks of all time.

Five Deep Cuts Underscore the Overlooked Brilliance of Steely Dan’s ‘Katy Lied’

Released in March 1975, the often-overlooked Katy Lied marked the first album after the breakup of Steely Dan’s original lineup. From now on, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker would choose from among music’s most talented and sought-after sessions players. As the following five deep cuts show, Katy Lied was better for it.

The strangest song Donald Fagen ever wrote

Jazz has always been a genre that favours the strange and outlandish. In every style and subgenre that falls under the jazz umbrella, the artists who dare to put themselves out there as true origins are often those who are most handsomely rewarded.

The same is true of the much-maligned style of jazz fusion, where New York outfit Steely Dan has reigned supreme since their inception back in 1971. If you think the work of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker is strange, some of their extracurricular activities are on an entirely different planet.

Five musicians who hated Steely Dan with a passion

There’s something about Steely Dan that rubs certain musicians the wrong way. Maybe it’s the pristine, almost clinical perfection of their recordings, each note meticulously engineered within an inch of its life. For artists who thrive on raw energy, their jazz-inflected, hyper-polished sound can feel sterile—more like a science experiment than rock ‘n’ roll.

Steely Dan's "Gaucho" Is a Masterpiece About Being Past Your Prime

What do you look for in a song? I’ve spent years asking myself this. Am I a lyrics guy? Is it the actual music, like the piano or guitar or whatever instrument is leading the pack? Does it have to be one or the other? Can it be a case-by-case scenario? If so, out of the countless hours I’ve spent in my lifetime with the headphones on or a record playing nearby, has one musician or group brought me more happiness overall?

Can I trawl through, say, Aretha Franklin’s catalog and find more to like versus Prince or Neil Young? Do I like more than 75 percent of Bruce Springsteen’s recorded output? How many times have I actively listened to Pavement albums all the way through?

💬 The excellent Expanding Dan newsletter

One man's quest to remaster Steely Dan's concert recordings

Dan Belcher has been called "curator of the Steely Dan live museum."

📷 The awesome Barney Hurley X account

Barney Hurley might be gone now, but his X account will forever be must-see.

Steely Dan publicity shot, 1978

Jeff ''Skunk'' Baxter, Jim Hodder, Denny Dias, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan at the Village Recorder, Los Angeles, California during the recording sessions of their 1973 masterpiece, 'Countdown to Ecstasy' ('Music Life' magazine clipping)

Donald Fagen with Cindy Mizelle, Catherine Russell, Carolyn Leonhart and Michael Leonhart at Sear Sound Studios, NYC during the recording sessions of his 2012 album, 'Sunken Condos'

Walter Becker and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan performing at the Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts, Mansfield, Massachusetts on their 1993 U.S. tour