One Of The Greatest Guitar Solos Of The '70s Was Played By A Musician Who Wasn't Even In The Band

It's among the best guitar showcase performances of the 1970s, or even the entire classic rock era. And it all came courtesy of a hired guest — the impressive, explosive, and bluesy solo that completely takes over Steely Dan's "Reelin' in the Years" was contributed by session musician and non-band-member Elliott Randall. Only the band's second single, and ultimately a smash with its No. 11 placement on the Hot 100 in 1973, "Reelin' in the Years" helped popularize Steely Dan, primarily a studio act populated by an ever-changing array of highly professional musicians brought in to record the idiosyncratic and challenging works dreamed up by permanent members Donald Fagan and Walter Becker. 

Randall's solo was smart, soulful, and all at once traditional and progressive, while Steely Dan is a classic rock band that somehow sounds much cooler today, thanks to tracks like "Reelin' in the Years." Steely Dan turned musicians into legends more than once, and they squeezed a solo for the ages out of guitarist Elliott Randall.

One little-known detail about Steely Dan: Donald Fagan and Walter Becker spent some formative time in the backing band for '60s vocal act/pop-rock group Jay & the Americans, best known for romantic hits like "Come a Little Bit Closer" and "This Magic Moment." The pair got their big break when Jay & the Americans member Kenny Vance hired them to provide music for the 1971 movie "You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat," which led to a deal at ABC/Dunhill Records where they recorded 1972's "Can't Buy a Thrill." Fagan and Becker turned to studio musicians to execute their sound, and they brought in another Jay & the Americans instrumentalist, Elliott Randall, to play guitar on the wordy and bitterly nostalgic split-up cut "Reelin' in the Years."

Armed with a lyric sheet and the knowledge that Fagan and Becker didn't really know what they were after for the solo, Randall gave it an attempt. Since he couldn't locate a guitar amplifier, he used a bass guitar amp, contributing to the solo's raw, gritty feel. It happened so fast that the studio engineer hadn't even started rolling tape, requiring Randall to give the solo, a jump off from an exploration of the "Reelin' in the Years" chorus melody, one more try. And that second take was the one that Steely Dan used.