The Famed 1977 Classic Rock Drum Solo Steve Gadd Forgot He Even Recorded

If you played with a band that seems to get much cooler by the day and created an album that would define an entire genre of music, you'd remember it, wouldn't you? That would be a career-defining moment for most, but not for renowned drummer Steve Gadd, who didn't recognize his own work on Steely Dan's sixth studio album, 1977's "Aja."

To be fair, we can cut Gadd some slack. Since laying down the beat in 1968 for Gap Mangione, he has become established as a renowned session drummer. Gadd has sat behind the kit for a litany of legends, from Bette Midler to Aretha Franklin and Paul McCartney.Gadd's extensive resume is the definition of prolific and iconic, so it's okay if he doesn't recall every single session or snare roll. Yet it's shocking that he didn't remember himself playing what's been regarded as one of the best drum solos in rock history.

By 1977, Steely Dan (aka Walter Becker and Donald Fagen) had retired from the road, opting to be a studio-based band making albums with an army of session musicians. Finding such talent fell to producer Gary Katz, who helped wrangle dozens of different musicians on "Aja," including drummers Bernard Purdie, Rick Marotta, Ed Greene and Jim Keltner. When it came to the title track, Fagen and Becker initially wanted Tony Williams, but recruited Steve Gadd based on positive reports from others.

What they heard was right. "Steve Gadd, aside from being a fantastic drummer, is a fantastic sight reader," Fagen said in Brian Sweet's "Steely Dan: Reelin' in the Years." Gadd didn't need to rehearse. He came in, played along to 16 pages of sheet music (including the part designated for him to improvise a 32-bar drum solo) and nailed it in just two takes.

Months after recording, Becker, Fagen, and Katz were mixing the final product when they bumped into Gadd. Katz told Ultimate Classic Rock he asked Gadd to sit and listen to "Aja," without telling him the tune, and recalled, "The track ends, and he said, 'Wow, who is playing drums?'" Donald, Walter and I, Roger Nichols and Elliot [Scheiner], are just looking at each other. Because he wasn't kidding. I say, 'You are, stupid!' He went, 'Really?'"

One could easily blame Gadd's forgetfulness on the fact that Steely Dan's "Aja," one of soft rock's defining albums, was just one of the 90-plus records that he worked on in 1977 alone. Gadd was actually working with Michael Franks (on "When the Cookie Jar Is Empty" for his 1978 album, "Burchfield Nines") when he bumped into Katz and Steely Dan. The drummer just never slowed down, which is probably why it slipped his mind that he played on "Aja."

When speaking with Rick Beato, Gadd said he didn't always recognize his drumming if a song he worked on happened to come on the radio, saying, "It wasn't like I was trying to do something for myself. I was letting the music dictate what I was supposed to do. So it was less personal."

In the decades since the release of "Aja," Gadd's drum solo on the outro has been regarded as a landmark of jazz fusion and prog rock. And Gadd has come to appreciate it as being a crown jewel in his musical legacy. "When I listen back, I'm really proud of the way the whole song [comes together]." Gadd said in a 2023 appearance of "Live from My Drum Room." "Everyone just talks about the end, but the beginning part? ... The whole thing was very challenging, musically, and the first part is beautiful."