Bernard Purdie on the peculiar genius of Becker and Fagen

"The magic of Steely Dan was the two of them against the world," the drum legend says in a previously unpublished interview from 1993.

Bernard Purdie playing with Aretha Franklin at the Fillmore West in 1971. (Double exposure by Jim Marshall)

This piece is part of the series “From the Archives of Brian Sweet,” in which Expanding Dan joins forces with the author of the definitive Steely Dan biography, Reelin' in the Years, to explore his extensive trove of unpublished interviews.

In this edition, we feature Sweet’s interview with the one and only Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, which took place on March 20, 1993. One of the most recorded and influential drummers of all time, Purdie, who is now 85, played on the Steely Dan albums The Royal Scam, Aja, and Gaucho. He discusses the delicate dynamic between Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, the essential role of producer Gary Katz, the use of his signature Purdie shuffle, the spark of chemistry among musicians, and the thick skin required of session players.

“We have to be instant groove masters,” he says. “We have to make solos superb, as if we’ve been playing these songs for years. That’s the challenge of being a studio musician. It is not easy, because you gotta turn on at a minute’s notice.”

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Purdie recording with Carla Thomas in New York City on July 18, 1968. (Photos by Don Paulsen)

Your first credited work with Steely Dan was on The Royal Scam. Rick Marotta played on “Don’t Take Me Alive” and “Everything You Did,” and you appear on the rest of the songs. What do you remember about “Green Earrings”?