I'm super interested in this. Thanks for posting.
Denny Dias
Rick Beato recently did a great interview with Denny Dias - famous for his great playing on Steely Dan recordings. Personally, he's my favourite of all the stellar guitarists that played for Becker and Fagen so this was a real pleasure to watch.
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I had seen that reported on before but it is great to have confirmation from someone who was actually there. Denny's reference to Quad 57s is also spot on - utterly transparent but you would fry them if used as studio monitors. In a similar vein, back in the 80s, I brought my LS 3/5a's to a recording studio because I wasn't happy with the frequency balance of the then ubiquitous Yamaha NS 10s. The first bass note played nearly blew the Kef B110s in the 3/5a's. That was when I realised that what works in the listening room doesn't necessarily cut it in the control room. |
Interesting. Having watched many Beato interviews, I came away with a very different impression. I enjoy Dias’ playing w/ Steely Dan but thought this was an incredibly awkward and ultimately quite boring interview. I don’t know whether Dias is just very shy/reserved or something else, but Beato, whose puppy-dog-like enthusiasm usually dominates his interviews and serves to draw interesting stuff from his subjects, doesn’t get far with Dias, who apparently isn’t interested or willing to be drawn out. It seems very odd to me that Dias would accept such an invitation, given his consistently wooden demeanor. To his credit, Beato never gives up trying. An oddity as Beato’s interviews go. BTW, the info about Magnaplanars was mentioned in CD liner notes that came out long ago. |
My sense is that Dias is likely suffering from some mental ailment and this was the best approach to get something with him on tape before he declines further. Just a guess, but something seems "off" about him.
I don't recall those liner notes mentioning which specific albums they were used for. |
"Beato, whose puppy-dog-like enthusiasm usually dominates his interviews and serves to draw interesting stuff from his subjects, doesn’t get far with Dias, who apparently isn’t interested or willing to be drawn out." We have to take what we can get. Beato isn't an experienced interviewer. He's"only" 63. He was a grade school kid when the CBAT was released! Most interviews are awkward when interviewer is a generation younger than the interviewee. Being a guitar fan, I like Beatos techie questions. I'll be honest, other than to guitar centric questions. the interview was dull.
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My perception as well. I thought perhaps it might be considered in bad taste to suggest this.
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I'm no expert on the fine points of interviewing but I've always felt Beato does a very good job. After all, he's asking questions about topics I'm interested in, so he doesn't need to try to charm me as well. This interview with Dias is the only one of Beato's interviews I've seen in which Beato seemed unable to elicit much enthusiasm from his guest. I tend to think @hilde45 is correct suggesting a possible mental health issue with Dias. His affect is unnaturally flat. |
Denny just isn’t a high energy 79 year old. This is SD’s longtime engineer’s daughter with Denny. She and her sidekick were annoying, but Denny didn’t seem to mind. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qkU34Qw066M Interesting CBAT cut trivia revealed. Edit Denny was maybe bored with answering Rick's questions that were asked a dozen times? |
I've been listening to Steeley Dan since the mid 1970's and while I enjoy all their albums as well as Donald Fagen's solo albums, my favorite Steeley Dan albums are from Can't Buy A Thrill through Gaucho. IMHO that was when these talented musicians were in their prime and creating a sound that was distinctly their own. No other band at the time sounded like the Dan, and as was the case with Denny Dias, Donald and Walter always selected incredibly talented musicians to join them in the studio. More than fifty years on I still love their music! 👍 |
@yoyoyaya Thank you so much for drawing attention to this interview. As a guitarist and record maker myself (as well as a SD fan), I found it fascinating in ways that most listeners might not. I learned more about Steely Dan than I'd ever learned before, too. I'd never heard about Walter Becker kicking over Denny's Kustom amp during a performance--that must have been hysterical (and probably well-deserved--if you've ever played guitar through an old Kustom amp; I'm not surprised Kustom had to give them away to bands). I agree with @frogman that there's nothing wrong with Denny. He just strikes me as a mellow, low-key kind of guy, unlike many more flamboyant musicians. He succinctly nailed his contribution as playing jazz guitar in a rock context. |