Steely Dan (partially found songs; 1969-2000)

The band in 1974.

Status: Partially Found

Steely Dan is an American jazz rock band founded in 1972 by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. Over the years, the band has enjoyed many hit albums and a large fan following. Because of Fagen and Becker's disliking towards unfinished songs, many songs have never been released or surfaced. Some of these range from demos to fully fledged songs.

Found Songs

Since the 1980s, many of these once-lost songs were found on cassettes, reels, bootlegs, and CDs. Below is a list of the currently found songs. The table below is sorted by whichever albums these found songs were recorded for.

Song Name	Year Found	Further Info
Pre-Dan Demos	~1983	Demos that Donald Fagen and Walter Becker recorded purely to sell off to other musicians. Kenny Vance, a musician who worked with Don and Walt, legally owned the demo tapes and sold them off to fly-by-night record labels in the 1980s. Because of this, the demos can be found all over the internet albeit in subpar quality.
Sakka Joweda	2020	Found after Reddit user "TheRealPlastic" posted a list of lost songs and a commenter named "jimlikesmayo" posted a link to the song saying he recently acquired it from a person on Facebook. The song and alternate mixes of itself and "Midnite Cruiser" were sold on eBay in the form of a tape reel in 2013.
Gullywater	~1990	An outtake from the "Can't Buy A Thrill" sessions. Allegedly first circulated in the 90's, Gullywater stills exists on the internet today albeit in a low quality format. Also rumored to be a song retried in the "Katy Lied" sessions.
Megashine City (Studio Version)	2015	An early version of "Talkin' Bout My Home". Found on a tape reel bought from an estate sale with a few other lost songs.
Runnin' Child	2015	Allegedly first circulated in the 90's alongside "Gullywater". It is rumored the version originally circulated contained an extra guitar and a fadeout. The version circulating today is also sourced from the estate sale tape reel.
Any World That I'm Welcome To (Second Version)	2015	The second version of Any World That I'm Welcome To which was meant for Can't Buy A Thrill. Also found on the estate sale reel.
Instrumental Fragment	2015	Found at the tail end of the estate reel. It is debated if this is actually Steely Dan. Rumored to be a part of the lost song "Dr. Udu's Proto Man" which is also from around this period. Sometimes referred to as "Stay There".
Everyone's Gone To The Movies (Demo)	1994	A demo of "Everyone's Gone To The Movies" found on an old acetate record. Released on the "Citizen Steely Dan" boxset.
Katy Lied Damos and Outtakes	(1980 Outtakes) (Demo circulation undated)	Outtakes and demos of songs that made it onto the "Katy Lied" album. Also contains demos of "I Got The News" and "Black Cow" which eventually were on the "Aja" album two years later.
Mr. Sam	1990s~	Found alongside the "Katy Lied" demos. Originally one of Donald Fagen's favorites, the song was scrapped after a DBX noise reduction filter glitch which made the song sound "lifeless".
Funky Driver	1990s~	Another Katy Lied era demo. Is sometimes mistitled as "Gully Water" even though it bears no resemblance to the actual "Gullywater" track. Was also damaged by the DBX noise reduction glitch.
The Royal Scam Outtakes (1, 2, 3, 4)	1990s~, 2020	Backing tracks of "Kid Charlemagne", "Sign In Stranger", "Everything You Did", and "Green Earrings" as well as a demo of "Don't Take Me Alive" have surfaced. More outtakes of "Sign In Stranger", a vocal demo of "Green Earrings and Kid Charlemagne outtakes have also surfaced.
Aja Backing Tracks	2018	Backing tracks of "Peg", "Josie", "I Got The News", "Aja", and "Third World Man" (then called "Were You Blind That Day") have surfaced
Stand By The Seawall (1, 2)	~1990s, ~2020	Two takes of this instrumental song have surfaced. The most popular version surfaced sometime in the 90s while the second surfaced in 2020.
The Bear	Late 80s	This outtake is rumored to be from either "The Royal Scam", "Aja", or "Gaucho". The song was later referenced in Walter Becker's "Down In The Bottom" and played live on a few occassions.
The Bear Instrumental	2020	An instrumental outtake of "The Bear". Private collectors in the Steely Dan community traded this song amongst themselves. In late October 2020, SD Youtuber Skeevy Daniel uploaded the song.
Were You Blind That Day	Late 80s	Rumored to be from "The Bear" recording sessions. After the deletion of "The Second Arrangement", this song was reworked into "Third World Man.
Kulee Baba (1, 2)	Late 80s	This song was originally going to be on "Gaucho". A demo and a full band version of this song have surfaced.
Kind Spirit	Late 80s	Another song for "Gaucho". Lyrics are incomplete and mostly made up of "na na na"s.
Talkin' Bout My Home	Late 80s	Reworked later version of "Megashine City" with slightly different lyrics. Only surfaced as a low-quality piano demo.
I Can't Write Home About You	Late 80s	A low quality piano demo, again from "Gaucho".
The Second Arrangement (Demos and Outtakes) (1, 2, 3, 4)	Late 80s - Present	One of the most infamous lost Steely Dan songs. The finished product was accidentally erased by a rookie studio engineer. Over the years, a demo, instrumental, outtake, and alleged demo fragment have surfaced.
Gaucho Outtakes	Late 80s	Outtakes and demos of "Gaucho", "Glamour Profession", "My Rival", "Babylon Sisters", and "Time Out Of MInd" have surfaced.
I Idolize You	Late 90s~	A rehearsal performed during the "Two Against Nature" recording sessions.
Brooklyn (Live, 2019)	2020	The song "Brooklyn" played live in 2019. First time played live since 1974. Had went uncirculated for months until it was found a day after this article was posted.
Carey	2022	A cover of the song of the same name by Joni Mitchell. Recorded for a Joni Mitchell tribute CD that never got released. Suddenly resurfaced after it was aired on a small Pittsburgh radio show.

Lost Songs

Many of these lost Steely Dan song titles were found because of copyright records filed by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker at the time. There are a few which were only rumored to exist, those will be noted as such.

Song Name	Status	Info	Notes
Bus Driver Is A Fruitcake	Lost	A song Don and Walt wrote while attending Bard College. John Boylan, an ex-bandmate, said Bus Driver Is a Fruitcake was "completely off the wall for that time"	None
Take A Dip With Dinah	Lost	A song Don and Walt wrote while performing with Kenny Vance. Vance's cover of the song was released, while a demo with Donald Fagen singing vocals has never surfaced.	None
Footprints on the Moon	Lost	Found in copyright archives. No other information has been found.	None
One Ticket To L.A.	Lost	Also found in copyright archives. Donald Fagen apparently sang vocals and played piano on this song.	None
Surreal	Lost	Also found in copyright archives.	None
Cody Canyon	Lost	Mentioned in Brian Sweet's "Reelin In The Years" book. Features Gaty Katz on lead vocal and Linda Hoover on backing vocals.	None
Shuffling Up Your Downs	Lost	Another song Don and Walt wrote that Kenny Vance covered. The Steely Dan demo has never surfaced.	None
Burn Baby Burn	Lost	A song that Dons and Walt performed for their bandmates. Jon Gordon, a then 14-year-old who performed with the band, remembers a few verses from the song.	None
Be Tender	Lost	Found in copyright archives. Supposed lyrics retrieved from copyright office?	Supposed lyrics mistaken for "Oh, Mr Lyle".
Anyway You Want It	Lost	Found in copyright archives. Was mistakenly included on the track list for a "Sun Mountain" Pre-Dan Demo bootleg, but not actually on the cassette itself. Donald Fagen also sang vocals and played piano on this song.	None
Oh, Mr. Lyle	Lost	Also referred to as just "Mr Lyle". Found in copyright archives. This song is attributed to both Don and Walt's vocals.	None
Number One	Lost	Found in copyright archives. Supposed lyrics?	None
Tell It To The Fat Man	Lost	Found in copyright archives. Supposed lyrics	None
(Stand By The) Seawall	Existence Unconfirmed	Different from the Aja outtake. First rumored on the Dandom Bluebook in October of 2012. Also mentioned in Brian Sweet's "Reelin In The Years" book.	Search "Seawall"
Who Got The Credit?	Lost	Found in copyright archives. Was one performed alongside "Bus Driver Is A Fruitcake"	None
Burnin' And Freezin'	Lost	Found in copyright archives. Supposed lyrics.	None
That Listless Feeling	Lost	Found in copyright archives.	None
Giles of the River	Partially Found	Covers of the song by Denny Doherty and John Kay have surfaced, though the Steely Dan performance has never surfaced. There are rumors the song was circulated in the 90s and a few people claim to have it.	None
Jones	Lost	Was covered by Thomas Jefferson Kaye, Linda Hoover, and even Walter Becker himself (With substantially different lyrics) , Steely Dan version never surfaced.	None
Tell Me A Lie	Lost	Not much info known about this song. Given to the band "The Grass Roots" but never actually recorded by them. Additional covers by the bands "The Sound Alikes" and "The Studio Musicians" are known to exist but are extremely rare.	None
Pearl Of The Quarter (1971)	Lost	Was included on a demo reel given to Mark Winkler. Another lost version of this song is from 1972, when it was sung live by David Palmer.	None
Canyon Ladies	Lost	Covered by Navasota. It is unknown whether a Steely Dan version exists.	None
Rapunzel	Lost	Song written by Don and Walt for the band Apogee. A demo of the song was considered for inclusion on what became the "Citizen Steely Dan" boxset.	None
I Mean To Shine	Lost	Covered by Barbra Streisand. Unless this is a typo, the song may have been played live once during the Countdown to Ecstasy tour.	Live?
Proud To Be Your Slave	Existence Unconfirmed	Covered by Diamond Head. It is unknown whether a Steely Dan version exists.	None
Club Instrumental	Lost	Mentioned in a 1994 interview (17:42). No additional Info	None
Sakka Joweda Alternate Mix	Lost	The same reel that contained "Sakka Joweda" also contained a second mix of it. The "Sakka Joweda" that was uploaded to Youtube is all we have from the tape.	None
Midnite Cruiser Alternate Mixes	Lost	More alternate mixes from the Sakka Joweda reel.	None
Roaring of the Lamb (2nd Version)	Lost	A rerecording of the Pre-Dan demo meant for Can't Buy A Thrill	None
Dr. Udu's Proto Man	Existence Unconfirmed	Rumored to be a full song. Walter Becker claims it may have been a part of one song. The instrumental fragment "Stay There" is rumored to be a part of this song.	None
Decatur Mountain	Existence Unconfirmed	Seems to have only ever been mentioned by Reddit user "KidCharlem". May have been posted to the Dandom Bluebook.	None
Steely Dan Schlitz Beer Commercial	Lost	Unaired Schlitz Beer commercial Steely Dan performed the jingle to	None
Razor Boy (Reggae Version)	Existence Unconfirmed	First rumored on the broberg.pp.se fansite and the Dandom bluebook	None
Gold Teeth	Existence Unconfirmed	An early mix of what became "Your Gold Teeth". Rumored on the Dandom Bluebook along with "Countdown to Ecstasy".	Search "teeth"
Countdown to Ecstasy	Existence Unconfirmed	A song thats name was recycled for the "Countdown to Ecstasy" album.	Search "countdown"
The Rolling Man	Lost	An early studio recording of the live song "This All Too Mobile Home".	None
Miss Irma	Lost	A song that may have complemented the found song "Mister Sam". Debated to either be a "Can't Buy A Thrill", "Katy Lied", or "Aja" outtake.	None
Shanghai Breakdown	Lost	An "Aja" song. The title is simillar to the 1988 Donald Fagen song "Shanghai Confidential".	None
Home at Last Early Version	Lost	An early version of "Home at Last" mentioned in a Metal Leg article.	None
When Josie Comes Home	Lost	Early version of "Josie".	None
Heartbreak Souvenir	Lost	A "Gaucho" outtake Steve Khan recalled was scrapped because it was "too hard to sing". Was allegedly sold on eBay in the early 2010s. Also rumored to have been destroyed.	None
The Second Arrangement	Erased	The infamous "Second Arrangement" incident where a rookie engineer deleted the song "The Second Arrangement". Will most likely never surface in its complete form. Recently, engineer Roger Nichols' daugher Cimcie discovered a tape labeled "Second Arr". This may be a backup of an outtake or demo version of the song.	None
The Second Arrangement (Second Demo)	Partially Found	A 30 second clip of an unreleased "Second Arrangement" second demo was uploaded to Youtube. This clip was taken from the Facebook page of John "JP" Paddick, a DJ who owns a Gaucho outtakes tape. This tape also has additional unheard Gaucho outtakes on it. This tape has been a source of drama in the Steely Dan coummunity, mainly after Paddick purposely spoke over another clip of the demo tape on a broadcast.	JP's specially pressed Second Arrangement vinyl
Someone	Lost	Taken from a preliminary "Two Against Nature" tracklist.	Tracklist
Sharon	Lost	Also referred to as "Sharon's Room".	Tracklist
Tigers	Lost	From the "Two Against Nature" preliminary tracklist.	Tracklist
Wet Side Story Studio Version	Lost	A studio version of the live track "Wet Side Story". Announced as a title from Steely Dan's then new album "Two Against Nature". The song never made it to the album.	None
Cash Only Island Studio Version	Lost	Same as Wet Side Story. Live track that never made it to the "Two Against Nature" album.	None
Shape Of Things To Go	Existence Unconfirmed	Most likely an early version of the song "Two Against Nature" as the phrase "shape of things to go" appears in the song's chorus. Mentioned here.	None
Take My Money	Lost	Song played live in early tours. Was performed specifically so David Palmer could sing lead vocals on a song.	Lyrics
Hellbound Train	Lost	Another lost early live song meant for David Palmer.	None
Megashine City Live	Lost	A live version of the Megashine City studio recording. Another song meant for David Palmer.	None
My Boyfriend's Back	Lost	A cover of The Angels' song performed live by the group's female backup singers as an encore.	Setlist.fm listing
Make It Shine	Lost	An unknown song from a 1973 setlist. Could either be a typo of "I Mean To Shine" or "Megashine City"	Setlist.fm listing
Please Stop (And Take Me By The Hand)	Lost	An early live version of "Bodhisattva" mentioned in a Metal Leg article.	Article
1972 and 1973 tours	Lost	Many recordings of 1974 concerts exist online but not one 1972 or 1973 concert recording has ever surfaced. This leaves live recordings of songs like "Fire in the Hole" unheard.	Silent film of an early 1974 concert
Multiple Midnight Special Performances	Lost	Steely Dan performed their songs on three episodes of ABC's "The Midnight Special" television show. Out of those three episodes, only performances of "Do It Again" and "Reelin' In The Years" have surfaced. This leaves performances of "Show Biz Kids" and "My Old School" undiscovered. The "Show Biz Kids" performance is also notable for being censored.	Midnight Special songlist
East St. Louis Toodle-Oo (Live, 1974)	Existence Unconfirmed	Listed as the final track on a Live Memphis 1974 CD, though the CD ends after "This All Too Mobile Home". Most likely a mistake.	Tracklist image
Witness	Lost	Sourced from a scrapped song list	List
Mouse Selling Salted Pretzels Underground	Lost	Sourced from a lyrics sheet.	Lyrics
Who Was The Gaucho	Lost	Early version of "Gaucho". Song from the scrapped song list	None
Day Glowsies in Riverside	Lost	Song from the scrapped song list	None
Mobile Home (Studio Version of "This All Too Mobile Home")	Lost	Likely a studio attempt of the 1974 live song "This All Too Mobile Home". Listed on the scrapped song list	None
Bottom of the Underworld	Lost	Song from the scrapped song list	None
I'll Sleep In Your Car	Lost	Sourced from an "Aja" era song title list. Also referred to as "Asleep In Your Car"	None
Buccaneers	Lost	Song from the scrapped song list	None
Casa Nova	Lost	Song from the scrapped song list	None
History	Lost	Song from the scrapped song list	None
Company	Lost	Song from the scrapped song list	None
Sisters	Lost	Early version of "Babylon Sisters". Song from the scrapped song list.	None
Illegal Fun	Lost	Early version of "Glamour Profession". Song from the scrapped song list	None
Gyrine	Lost	Song from the scrapped song list	None
Put This Thing Together	Lost	Song from the scrapped song list	None
Slide On Down	Lost	Early version of "Hey Nineteen". Song from the scrapped song list	None
L.A. is State Of Mind	Lost	Song from the scrapped song list	None
City Of	Lost	Song from the scrapped song list	None
Blue Sahara	Lost	Song from the scrapped song list	None
Set in Motion	Lost	Song found in copyright archives	None
Rough Stuff	Lost	Song found in copyright archives	None
Hole in the Middle	Lost	A song considered as a bonus track on "Citizen Steely Dan". The only evidence this song existed is a quick mention in the 17th Metal Leg article.	None
Can't Buy A Thrill, Countdown to Ecstasy, and Pretzel Logic 5.1 surround sound mixes	Existence Unconfirmed	Every Steely Dan album had a 5.1 release planned at one point, in the end "Gaucho", "Two Against Nature", and "Everything Must Go" were the only albums to receive the 5.1 treatment	None
Alive in America EPK	Lost	An electronic press kit promoting the live album "Alive In America"	None

See Also

• Steely Dan "The Second Arrangement" (lost studio recording of unreleased track; 1980)
• You've Got To Walk It Like You Talk It Or You’ll Lose That Beat (lost Steely Dan drama-comedy film; 1971)