Steely Dan Once Wrote a Jingle for Schlitz Beer in the 1970s

(via American Songwriter) By Tina Benitez-Eves

Somewhere in between Steely Dan‘s debut, Can’t Buy a Thrill, and the 1973 follow-up, Countdown to Ecstasy, the band recorded a jingle for the Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based brewing company Schlitz Beer.

The untitled song was recorded during an eight-month break between the band’s first and second albums. “It was soon after ‘Reelin’ in the Years’ that someone called and asked if the guys would write a song for the Schlitz commercial,” shared Gary Katz, the band’s longtime producer. “And as I remember it, Donald [Fagen] said, ‘OK, but we’re gonna write it.’ By which he meant, they didn’t want to do a commercial somebody else wrote.”

Co-founding guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, added “The band was still pretty young in its career, so everybody was reaching out for whatever opportunities there were.”

Read more: https://americansongwriter.com/listen-steely-dan-once-wrote-a-jingle-for-schlitz-beer-in-the-1970s/

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