WB

Very sad to hear that Walter Becker has died.  He and Donald Fagen were Steely Dan, and as such, were two of the strongest songwriters of the rock era.

Steely Dan was mostly a 70s phenomenon, releasing their best albums in that decade.  They broke up in the early 80s and both recorded some decent solo albums (though I'd call Fagen's work better).  They got together in the early 90s and recorded a couple of decent Steely Dan albums.  But the stuff I still listen to is almost entirely their 70s output.

Steely Dan was a rock band, but incorporated a jazz feeling and sophistication in their work. In fact, they're one of the few bands I know that mixed to two sounds successfully.

Their first six albums are so good I could sample them randomly and come up with three great songs. (I'll put them in chronological order, though.)