Steely Dan on May 5, 2000 plays "Kid Charlemagne"

[waleswatcher]

This is hilarious. Donald sneaks one in on corporate America. Katie Couric: "Have a great weekend everybody..." How classic? These network pod people have no idea what this song is about.

[ricktech44]

@waleswatcher Acid

[dreadtodred]

that drummers is inthe pocket hard!!

[drscottd]

Just saw Steely Dan in Louisville at the Palace - arguably a better studio band, but man those guys rock and sound GREAT live!!!!!

[MrPawillie]

The best fucking band ever bar none

[chelobes]

Is there gas in the car, that is the question. Is there gas in the car?

[charliefreak21]

Who's the drummer?

[jamiejujamie]

@charliefreak21  /watch?v=ylr2D4Pwn58&feature=r­elated Can tell by the shoulders

[knish69]

@charliefreak21 I think that's Ricky Lawson

[1970sFeel]

I would say they are definitely a better studio band than that of live band

[Dragspelarn23]

It´s a great song, but fagen's singing is ruin it a bit..

[tommynightmaresmith]

Herrington just has a smile on his face the whole time

[pfoc03]

so pathetic that these people got to hear a masterpiece and they dont even know who steely dan is, clearly pearls before swine

[crispiegee1]

Sad how incredibly elitist the comments are here. Rather than talk about the music, people jump to conclusions about where the crowd is from, how dumb they are, etc. I think the crowds that attend these outdoor TV shows are kind of silly, but I certainly don't hate them. And there may be some real Steely Dan fans who heard about their guest appearance and showed up. You don't know, so stop passing judgment on those you deem inferior, as it makes you sound insecure and nasty.

[TheBalcom]

@crispiegee1 I agree and I wish I was there. These things always seem to happen when I'm not in a position to go.

[ronaldosucks1]

typical american dumbshit muttha fuckas in the audience--dont know quality when they hear it!

[lordbonzo]

As much as the crowd sucks, it's a pretty hilarious contrast from what the song is about. "All those day-glo freaks who used to paint their face, have joined the human race, some things will never change." As the camera pans over some middle aged women with stupid ass M&M plush toys and boring hats. I have some LSD staring at me right now...is it kitchen clean though?

[randallcaster]

@lordbonzo

Great post. As a former clandestine chemist of MDA and MDMA (among other phenethylamines),

I concur.

[lordbonzo]

As much as the crowd sucks, it's a pretty hilarious contrast from what the song is about. "All those day-glo freaks who used to paint their face, have joined the human race, some things will never change." As the camera pans over some middle aged women with stupid ass M&M plush toys and boring hats.

[mchar69]

@lordbonzo I agree with you 10000000 % and woul;d like to to sAY - "look at all those white men in the street."

adds something...

[JoeJacari]

I was mesmerized by the crowd turning around, waving, cheering and jumping in front of the camera...it was great!

This band should stop hogging the spotlight and let Aunt Dot, Uncle Frank, little Johnny and sister Sissy get some camera time, so family & friends back in Lumberton can see their kin folk hitting the BIG TIME, ON PRIME TIME TV!

Yawn...

[jonanjello]

It's all so pre-9/11

[pallid56]

The "dorks" filling the audience are mostly out-of-towners from the midwest and the south who are only too enthralled to have themselves put on tv momentarily with the hopes that someone back home will see them. Spend their days looking where Mary threw that hat in the air or where Ratso Rizzo coughed. Am walkin' heah !

[Gtrplayer77]

Seeing everyone sing along about Owsley is making my night.

The Dan is an American treasure.

[Bonzoandthemadhatter]

@Gtrplayer77 THE BEAR.

[kell1reilly2]

sounds like he forgot the words or somethin' at 1:51 haha. still a great job though

[thetravellinminstrel]

its amazing that they chose this song to play

for a bunch of dorks that were more intrested in being on tv. they should have done 'reeling in the years' imo....cousin dupree would have fitting as well for all these dorks..

[kwakky]

what else needed to be said?

[godbluffvdgg]

Clean this mess up else we'll all end up in jail Those test tubes and the scale Just get them all out of here Is there gas in the car Yes, there's gas in the car I think the people down the hall Know who you are Careful what you carry 'Cause the man is wise You are still an outlaw in their eyes AMERICA BEFORE THE WORLD FELL APART. TO THINK OF WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN. 9/11 INSIDE JOB

[kwakky]

no.

[godbluffvdgg]

Good retort bright boy. Astounding and resounding counterpoint. You're my hero!

[fundy76]

wow, frisky crowd...2000...glory days

not bad for live version..they never seem to give it that stank it had on the album, though..i understand about the technicalities and all...but just once, have that wonderbread jazz sit downer play some skunk..wait, was it skunk. i dont know im baked...great band!

[thetravellinminstrel]

no it was larry carleton who played and arranged all the horns on the album.......;skunk' Baxter was with the Doobie Bros. at the time

[fundy76]

@thetravellinminstrel -oh ok, thank you for that info

[BootlandWatersport]

Nice to see that even the gods appearantly make (tiny) mistakes as well: at 4:48 there is confusion about whether the song reached the end; hear the short instrumental hesitation which seems to be initiated by the drummer and shortly after that Walter turning to the him to see if they're good to end (at the point where it should be) :)

[Nyquistic]

Joy knows no bounds!

[caraphyllis]

They're so far beyond the typical Today Show fare that it's almost funny to watch them on t.v. with Katie Couric introducing them. What a choice of tune for this venue. Brilliant. And does Herington rock? LOVE them.

[garyguitar]

Jon Herington still tears it up on his 335, he doesn't care even if he's playing in a mall.

[TheMuffin93]

is that bob saget on the guitar?

[joelok48]

Is there gas in the car? This is amazingly good! True genius in the flesh.

[bgg222]

It's the curse of a studio band playing live... that plus old age. Donald's voice doesn't sound very well. Sort of sucks really. And I'm a big fan. I'm just saying.

[zacharywild]

ha ha, sucks? i think not. maybe your hearing sucks

[tokaijazz]

brill, who was on bass please, i could'nt see 'im properly due to the stupid camera work. still good to see though, thanks.

[fendweller]

Bet they were thrilled to play for those coffin-dodging matrons in the front. Sheesh.

[beowulven]

Ha ha, excellent...

[magtownrep]

wow the people that come to these today show things are pathetic. Look at all the retards who only care about being on camera! They dont give a fuck about Steely Dan. The camera pans through the audience and these fuckers turn comepletely around back to the stage. Soo disrespectful. This must be why you dont see them playing these kind of shows anymore.

[kevinherbert]

@magtownrep : you're an idiot..EOS

[TheBalcom]

@magtownrep But that's going to happen regardless of the act. Having said that I ceretainly agree with you.

[modmusik]

Katie Couric is a dumb-ass anyway. That's why no one watches her on the CBS Evening News. She's so freakin' phony.

[drummerboynz]

How is Ricky Lawson's drumming just perfect??

[MMMuller]

americans love the camera

[thesquonkstear]

shithead camera work...  (mo mos showed no backup singers?)

[alexmortland]

Hell yeah, Fagen! Rock the CRAP outta that keytar!!!!

[klarkbar]

Here's the music of Steely Dan singing Kid Charlemagne? Jesus, get these old, out of touch bags like her and Larry King off of TV and someone on who's at least, I dunno, HEARD OF BANDS MAYBE. What a maroon!

[booblikon]

whattya want? Katie Couric=retard. she was interviewing family members of 9/11 victims and was like "and how did that make you feel?" how do you think it made them feel, Couric, you colon-obsessed sped?!

[diamondsbylauren]

What is the name of that guitar player?

[rockymoto]

That's Jon Herrington who is an excellent musician.

[rockymoto]

So the lyrics are about LSD? And all this time I thought they were about Cocaine.

Like when you "cross a diamond with a pearl". I thought they were talking about cutting coke with lactose. But then, maybe coke wasn't as prevalent then. But Easy Rider came out about the same time didn't it? And that movie involved both those drugs.

[marked95128]

Of course it's about Cocaine, freebased cocaine to be exact. Obviously, "Crossed the diamond with the pearl" means making rocks out of killer looking pearlescent blow. Test tubes....et all. Freebasing cocaine was all the rage in Los Angeles (especially among the hollywood entertainment/musician crowd) at the time this song was written....

[japm1951]

actually it is about LSD..READ the lyrics"son you were mistaken..you are OBSOLETE..look at all the white men on the street"

[mctalks]

I know right?? I love that they did this on the freakin' Today Show and dumbass Katie didn't even know what the song was about........

Priceless...

[oobjvb]

One of the few songs that the meaning has been divulged by Don and Walt... the drug story is a metaphor for the loss of the 1960s and everything that went along with it. I think DF said "It's about the end of the '60s" if I remember correctly.

[AdamSlowHandSmith]

Wow, excellent performance, although I can't believe I'm the only one who noticed the shaky ending?

Clearly the arrangement got botched at the end, when some of the musicians (certain unnamed members of the rhythm section) stopped playing too soon? Fortunately, the horn section saved the day, sticking to the chart and keeping the ending from becoming a train wreck!

Now you know one reason S.D. preferred the relative safety and control of a recording studio; no chance of egg on one's face!

[flatlander1007]

Great horns, true, but the rhythm section was there at the end. Take another listen. Lousy outdoor Today Show mix, but they nailed it. Different arrangement than you may be accustomed to, but they've been playing it live since Alive in America. That piano break is nice. You should see them if you get a chance. You're stuck in the 80s.

[AdamSlowHandSmith]

The version I'm "used to" as you say IS the "Live In America" version. Maybe you've never played on a live T.V. telecast, but it's typical to modify arrangements to fit within the live T.V constraints.

Just count the bars, and you'll see they're different: "Alive" has a 16-bar guitar solo before the unison horn riff enters; compare to "Today" where the solo is only 8-bars.

After the guitar doubles the riff, there's an extra bar in the "Today" version: perhaps why Don turns to save the endin

[M0Echitlins]

Carleton nailed that lead in one take in the studio.

[geisterbahn1]

said who! Larry is a first class guitar player and so is the chap on this video!if your in the premier division , then you see the guitar as a part of a whole idea not just the idea!

[Angzity]

You do realize the 'cheap one', John Herrington, plays with em regularly. But yea, Carlton did it in one go, in fact, when he did both solo's, they couldnt pick which one to can and just stuck with both of em. (they only wanted one originally)

[M0Echitlins]

I thought it was about a thug of Italian descent that got careless about his manufacturing and dealing of drugs.

[musicista25]

hey guys, i´m german, love the music but don´t understand what the lyrics are about, can someone tell me ?

[IWNT2BLV]

It's based on the chemist that invented LSD in the 1960's in San Fransisco. It's a little embellished, but pretty much true.

[smcosci]

not invented, but supplied a great amount - augustus owsley stanley III

check wikipedia

[musicista25]

i think that´s not right. the "discoverer" of LSD is a man named Albert Hoffmann. He was a chemist who worked in

Switzerland.

[LWOPP]

And Hoffman just died a couple of weeks ago at age 102. The one time I saw the Dan live in 1993, they used their studio approach. Everyone had charts. But it was fresh; just a fantastic show. In a big outdoor arena but the audience was allowed to flood down front for the encores. I think "My Old School" was the rowdiest of all these. A great night! I want to "Do It Again."

[musicista25]

i think that´s not right. the "discoverer" of LSD is a man named Albert Hoffmann. He was a chemist who worked in

Switzerland.

[kybullbuilt]

It also references Ken Keasey and the Merry Pranksters (listen for the lyrci "technicolor motorhome". The Pranksters had a school bus that they toured around in and had acid parties - ever heard of "the electric koolaid acid test?"), they were part of the San Francisco Bay Area/Monterey, California psychedelic movement of the late 1960's.

[DominickBlack]

yes.2 was here. ;)

[fendweller]

It strikes me that most of the schmucks watching have very little idea what's actually going on in front of them. Pearls before swine.

[hartforp]

Never knew they did this until now,thanks to you tube for the privelige of seeing and hearing the best band on the planet perform live.Saw them in Liverpool in July and they were truly ''awesome,,... as you say in the states!gradually educating my kids to them as they satrt to understand that lyrics can have meanings behind the words.

[jhanlon18]

Yeah, I was at that fantastic gig too! However, after smoking a fat one outside and a few beers, I thought i was having visions! Do you remember the horse on stage near the end? The Dan were awesome that night!

[hartforp]

The horse was for real so you were still with it.I remember Walters piece about being a young man with a girl and a bottle of scotch down by the Mersey listening to the Batles.I am sure they adapted this to each venue on the tour.

[RICKINTORONTO]

...is there gas in the car?...yes theres gas in the car...priceless!!

[jm3004]

Do ya think the grannies with the hats and the M&M's have any clue what the song is about??? On second thought maybe they do lol

[logosthedestroyer]

Oh man.. even outside they kick everyones' ass.. yes! :D

[jhanlon18]

Herrington is awesome on this performance. But i dont think anybody could ever reproduce the SUPERB Larry Carlton solo. That has to be one of THE best ever! By the way if any of you guitar heads know, can you please type in Boz Scaggs Hard times and tell me who it is on lead guitar. Its awesome, and i dont know who it is. Thanks!

[Tbob85]

If memory serves me right I think Boz Scaggs himself did the guitar solo on Hard Times.

[jhanlon18]

Sorry, what i meant was the live performance of "Hard times" here on youtube. Its a bloke with long black hair. Certainly not Boz! Although i think youre right that Boz did the solo on the recording.

[kurtwestphal]

great performance by fagan and crew

herrington smokes.... on this...

only sweeter if carlton and herrington,worked together.... wow!

[KenTammenga]

perfect live rendition in the perfect setting: outdoors in NYC

[doedoe1]

Jon Herington is Guitar Genius.....

[zephrah]

Awesome video, thanks for the time. Luv and Peace!

[oddball6227]

Excellent