Born February 20, 1950 in Queens, New York, Walter Carl Becker began his legendary collaboration with songwriting partner and fellow jazz aficionado Donald Fagen while they were students at Bard College and bandmates under a variety of names including the Don Fagen Jazz Trio, the Bad Rock Group (or the Bad Rock Band), and The Leather Canary. During this time, the revolving musicians collaborating with them included future comedy star Chevy Chase. After graduation, they toured with the group Jay and the Americans and had their music featured on the soundtrack of Richard Pryor’s film, You’ve Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You’ll Lose That Beat. In 1971, Becker and Fagen moved to Los Angeles where they formed the band Steely Dan with guitarists Denny Dias and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder and singer David Palmer. They created a distinctive sound unlike any other of its time: a unique blend of rock, jazz, pop and R&B musical styles, with sophisticated, ironic lyrics containing obscure literary and cultural references. They immediately gained critical and commercial success with their debut album, Can’t Buy a Thrill (ABC Records, 1972), establishing a reputation and cult following for their masterful recording and studio production achievements that became revered by critics, musicians, fans and audiophiles as one of the most sonically and creatively sophisticated pop acts of the 20th and 21st centuries. The album’s hit singles “Do It Again” and “Reelin’ In the Years” topped the Billboard singles charts at No. 6 and No. 11 respectively and along with “Dirty Work” (sung by Palmer) became instant classic rock staples. After Palmer’s departure, Donald Fagen became the lead singer of the band’s subsequent albums, Countdown to Ecstasy (ABC Records, 1973) — containing the classic rock hits “My Old School,” “Show Biz Kids,” and “Bodhisattva,” — and Pretzel Logic (ABC Records, 1973), which produced the band's most successful single, “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” (charted No. 4 on Billboard). It was also the first Steely Dan album to feature Walter Becker on guitar (who had previously played bass), an instrument which he continued to record on for several releases through 2003. Steely Dan’s refined studio recordings featured some of the finest studio musicians of the day including vocalist-percussionist Royce Jones, The Doobie Brothers’ vocalist-keyboardist Michael McDonald, session drummer Jeff Porcaro of Toto and R&B and jazz stalwarts David Sanborn, Tom Scott, Michael Brecker, Chuck Rainey, Paul Griffin, Larry Carlton, Bernard Purdie, Phil Woods and Wayne Shorter among others. Their next album Katy Lied (ABC Records, 1975), — containing their hits “Black Friday,” “Bad Sneakers,” “Doctor Wu” and “Chain Lightning” — went gold, and The Royal Scam (ABC Records, 1976) produced their first Top 20 hit in the UK with their single “Haitian Divorce.” (photo above left: Becker’s Boogie “King Tubby” speaker cabinet)