S.O.D. "Kid Charlemagne" by Steeley Dan

10/21/2015     This 1976 pop/rock/funk/progressive mix is praised for its guitar work.  Rolling Stone ranked Larry Carlton's guitar solo #80 on their 100 Greatest Guitar Songs list.  The solo is considered to be a song within a song and its complexity keeps you drawn, wondering what's going to happen next.

     Rounding out the lineup on the studio version are 11 artists, including a clavinet player and 4 additional backing vocalists.  Famous 1960 LSD chemist, Owsley Stanley is possibly who the tune is based on.  Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, the only two constant members of the band and writers of this song are considered perfectionists and have gone through more then 40 musicians and 10 engineers to complete an album.  

     The group has sold more then 40 million records and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.  From the Eagles song, "Hotel California", the lyric "they stab it with their steely knives", is a reference to Steely Dan.