Donald Fagen plays Chain Lightning Steely Dan

[VEGANSAM]

WHAT A N INFECTIOUS GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!!

.

[PamelaB54]

Chain Lightning is on Steely Dan Gold Cd a must have

[saketorasan]

DONALD FAGEN／Chain Lightning

イカした、ソフィスケイテッド・ブルースとでも言おうか…。ラリ­ーのギターが聴きたい。

[Boddissatva]

Donald rockin my world!

[AButterflyBreeeze]

Darlings Donald and Walter and Michael and the guy with the horn that looks like a commode plunger! Love and blessings to each and every one of you Mistah Thangs! (and the phenom Ms. Snow, she's in all of our prayers)

[AButterflyBreeeze]

Darlings Donald and Walter and Michael and the guy with the horn that looks like a commode plunger! Love and blessings to each and every one of you Mistah Thangs!

[TheShack2112]

hey..im just grateful to have it...ive heard that A&E lost the footage

[Boddissatva]

Donald can we have coffee?

[jaecht83]

why is it missing the first part of the song? it's a great video otherwise :)

[JayBlanche]

Anyone know where I can find the same session as the CD? Y'know, the one with the sick vocal trumpet solo and Drew Zing completely on fire bouncing off the harmonica at the end? Someone's gotta have it....

[pbyardh]

There are no publicly released videos from this series of concerts, other than this A&E broadcast. the three vids i have uploaded. it's been an issue for many years. there are are some great audience vids out there, but nothing authorised. Talk to Donald.

[JayBlanche]

@pbyardh Talk to Donald! Ha... if I ever got the chance, I'd probably forget to even bring this up

[Carlo952]

the music has so much emotion

[msaalbach]

thank you for the posting; Donald Fagen and Walter Becker great work, top of the rack selection

[egyptianminor]

The song's lyrics are about two facist sympathizers who go to a Nazi rally to see the' little man' (hitler?). After the solo , it's them again revisiting the square, after 40 yrs,late at night and " ...standing just where he-the little man- stood". in the studio version of the tune, if you strain your hearing you can hear Donald yell' forty years later', right before the last verse. Also the symbol for the Nazi 'SS' was two lightning bolts next to one another, i.e. a 'Chain Lightning'.

[whoof1]

Holy crap...how did i miss this? The best live version i've ever seen of this song.

[egyptianminor]

3:13 - Donald should have yelled: ' Forty years later!...'

[egyptianminor]

The reason for the similarity w/ the MJ song "The way you make me feel...' is cause both songs are played w/ a 'shuffle' feel and both are in the BLUES form, the difference is that 'Chain...' is a 12 bar blues w/ and " The Way...' is a 16 bar blues w/ a 'chorus' - which by the way is the same form as SD's 'Peg'. Ps: Drew Zing kicks ass on guitar.

[JayBlanche]

F*ck the brotherhood, where is take with the crazy vocal trumpet and the ripping guitar solos that made the NY R&SR album? RIP Cornelius...

[Asymmatrix]

Be part of the brotherhood

[TheLeastDiseased]

I adore this song and this clip. And DF. Having said that I should be safe from anyone launching an all out verbal assault on me when I say this song reminds me of a slowed down version of Michael Jackson's The Way You Make Me Feel ("hey pretty baby with the high heels on...").

I like the jerkiness. It goes well with the B&W.

[tubedommo]

Oh man, how old are you?

[ttcherrick]

@TheLeastDiseased I agree! The loping bluesy bass line is very similar. M.J.'s hit was released late 1987.  Chain Lightning? 1975. Are you accusing M.J. of plagiarism?

[mallyrose87]

really nice version, full of soul!

Thank you for posting this.

P.S. I love DF wearing regular glasses (ie not sunglasses!)

[Nachtovision]

Cornelius Bumpus on sax--R.I.P.

[pbyardh]

If you can access the HQ button, the jerkiness goes away. Sorry for this, out of my hands...this vid has been up for quite a while...query youtube..and let me know waht they say!

[leftyrite]

The congas add a nice, soulful touch. Punch. Power. They roll off and work with the traps.

[ezwages]

2:08 RIP Cornelius bumpus.

[frederickus]

Cornelius was Da MAN!!!

[andyinoregon]

I remember buying the "Katy Lied" LP the first day it appeared on the store shelves in Bowling Green, Ohio, and thinking that the song "Chain Lightning" defined the word "cool" better than anything else I had ever heard.

[Scodiddly]

Everything run through that "jerky" filter - that does remind me of that era when everybody doing any kind of "late nite" program had to overuse that effect. I think it was federal law...

[pbyardh]

The jerky filter I think is what they want me to pay to eliminate. Was not an issue, previousely. Any thoughts?

[Dr77Funkenstein]

wow what a find!!!! this is phenomenal

[ulushka2u]

I was on the far right next to Dian and was not seen in this vid. The other singer was Catherine Russell not Mindy.

U.H.

[pbyardh]

OK, go back to the other vids from this performance, from my library.

[pbyardh]

What?

[doedoe1]

I love this version... Its Wrapped up TIGHT and of course Mr. Fagen's infecting voice, makes it an all around treat.... Love It...

[ilovesteelydan]

Awesome video. Jeff Young is a really soulful pianist.

[Trookieness]

After seeing this gorgeous video, I feel like I can die happy.

[Effeffezor]

Good*.

[Effeffezor]

Damn this is god death metal! Hahaha :D

[DrWu2000]

man Bumpus was the coolest...he always got the biggest applause next to Don and Walt..RIP

[Peterh588]

Sorry - I see Razorboy gave us the lineup above. Thanks, R!

[Peterh588]

All the musicians were fabulous-

1) Can anybody name the pianist, guitarist, tenor sax, trumpet?

2) Was that Walter Becker with old school long hair in the lower left corner?

3) How can Fagen AFFORD these guys? Fagen looks to be in his 40s so this wasn't recorded in the band's heyday. I guess musicians take a lot of gigs just to get the exposure ...?

[leftyrite]

As close to prayer

as I want or need

to be.

[pbyardh]

Should have done this months ago. Go to the vid description. Thanks for the prompt.

[dreadmorayeel]

Lovin' it!...out but in..niiiiice! Cornelius=fabulous..RIP.. The Don,in this arch knowing crypto-blues is warning about the dangers of Groupthug-psychology,Groupthin­k,fascism,tyranny and how lazily attractive some of it might appear-until one stops and thinks awhile...well that's my take on't..

[benvye]

Supposedly it is about the Nazi rallies of the 1920's that took place late in the night. The "Little Man" was Hitler, and "Chain Lightening" referred to the massive numbers of flashpods that went off from cameras that were taking pictures of him.

[leftyrite]

harmonica playing

as the pyramids

were

under construction

[jconstant]

I wish I had a name as cool as Cornelius Bumpus.

[artbychristine]

wow

[crazyNYClady]

How old is this?! Drew looks like a BABY!!!!

What a rockin' song though...

[DrWu2000]

1991 or 1992 I think...this was right before the Dan got back together and toured in 93'.

[between2and25]

what the hell is fagen playing?

[pbyardh]

I think that's a Hohner Piano Melodica. A very fancy harmonica. As Don is a piano player, it seems sort of natural.

[FreeAgain2]

Toys R Us Mr. Hoppy harmonica/piano. 19.99. ;}

[JMarkB1231]

@FreeAgain2 He looks familiar. There's a great video of the Dan playing Green Earring in North Carolina, and it looks like the same fellow. Do you happen to know if it is?

[thecat029]

This is pure dynamite. I wish the rest of the show could be uploaded. Actually, scratch that. I wish I lived @ a constant DF concert with a constantly changing line-up of amazing players.

[didyouseethatlight]

Drew Zingg is amazing.

[benvye]

Yep. Wish he'd tour with the Dan again!

[TheShack2112]

@didyouseethatlight very very underrated

[leftyrite]

gosh, brother

we've crossed the square

act natural, like you don't care.

[vascoemmanuel]

that's amazing material ! do you got more from that show ??? some nightflight songs mayb ;-)

[CSNY225]

Fagen, Drew Zingg, Bumpus, Mike McDonald, the Brecker Bros....HOLY SHIT!!!

[razorboy15]

I was at this show and the Brecker Brothers were not a part of this lineup.

[CSNY225]

Oops. Thought I saw Michael back there.

[razorboy15]

Horn Section:

Chris Anderson

John Hagan

Cornelius Bumpus

Jeff Young (keyes)

Drew Zingg (G)

Lincoln Schlifer (bass)

Denny McDermott (Drums)

Phil Hamilton (perc)

The little black girl with the dreads that's singing back up is Catherine Russell. She was the musical guest on Conan O'Brien a few nights ago.

[wankerman2002]

hah donald looks pretty cool without that mustache he keeps trying to pull.

[billylovesjazz]

lmao...Deck the halls with boughs of horry, ra ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra.

[logosthedestroyer]

Man, that Zingg solo is somethin else..

[i03johen]

Who the heck is playing the drums? Doesn't seem to be having one of his best days. Is he on some kind of drugs?

He ruined the whole gig...but that's just my opinion...

[pbyardh]

The drummer is Dennis McDermott. I'm not hearing what you're hearing, I guess. Sounds like he's keeping the beat just fine. I don't think Don would have him in the band if he couldn't.

[veeshead]

Wow!

You must be one fantastic musician to say something like that.Direct us all to your videos/albums so we can see what a mother fucker you are at drums.Dan

[razorboy15]

Denny Mcdermott is the drummer. He played with a band called "Merchants of Venus" in the 90's.