Reelin ' in the Years - Wikipedia Reelin ' in the Years `` Reelin ' In the Years '' Single by Steely Dan from the album Ca n't Buy a Thrill B - side `` Only a Fool Would Say That '' Released March 1973 Format 7 '' single Recorded August 1972 ; the Village Recorder, Santa Monica Genre Rock Length 4 : 37 Label ABC Songwriter ( s ) Walter Becker, Donald Fagen Producer ( s ) Gary Katz Steely Dan singles chronology `` Do It Again '' ( 1972 ) `` Reelin ' In the Years '' ( 1973 ) `` Show Biz Kids '' ( 1973 ) `` Do It Again '' ( 1972 ) `` Reeling In the Years '' ( 1973 ) `` Show Biz Kids '' ( 1973 ) `` Reelin ' In the Years '' ( sometimes `` Reeling In the Years '' ) is a song by jazz rock band Steely Dan, released as the second single from their 1972 album, Ca n't Buy a Thrill. It reached number 11 in the Billboard charts. The song was written by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker and features Fagen on vocals. The song was also a No. 11 hit on the Pop singles chart in 1973. In March 2005, Q magazine placed the song at number 95 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has reportedly said that Elliott Randall 's guitar solo on `` Reeling In the Years '' is his favorite solo of all time. That solo was also ranked the 40th best guitar solo of all time by the readers of Guitar World magazine. Fagen referred to the song as `` dumb but effective '' in Rolling Stone magazine. The four - channel quadraphonic mix of the recording has extra lead guitar fills not heard in the more common two - channel stereo version. Contents 1 Popular culture 2 Chart performance 2.1 Weekly singles charts 2.2 Year - end charts 3 Personnel 4 References 5 External links Popular culture Donny Osmond and Marie Osmond covered this song for their variety show on January 13, 1978. This rendition of the song was more ebullient than the original, and included the introduction of the shows guests, Ruth Buzzi, Buddy Hackett and Suzanne Somers. The performance also featured a chorus line of ice skating dancers. The song is featured in Rob Zombie 's 2005 movie, The Devil 's Rejects. It was also used as the theme music for the television series Rob Brydon 's Annually Retentive, which aired on BBC Three in the UK 11 July 2006 -- 4 June 2007. The song was used in the 1999 movie For Love of the Game, the 2014 documentary film Life Itself, and as the theme song to the RTÉ television show Reeling in the Years which is a historical Irish documentary covering one year per episode. Chart performance Weekly singles charts Chart ( 1973 ) Peak position Australia KMR 62 Canada RPM 15 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 11 U.S. Cashbox Top 100 7 Year - end charts Chart ( 1973 ) Rank Canada 90 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 68 U.S. Cash Box Top 100 87 Personnel Donald Fagen -- piano, lead and backing vocals Elliott Randall -- lead guitar Denny Dias -- rhythm guitar Jeff Baxter -- rhythm guitar Walter Becker -- bass guitar, backing vocals Jim Hodder -- drums, backing vocals Victor Feldman -- percussion References Jump up ^ Steely Dan USA chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved May 28, 2012. Jump up ^ Steven Wheeler ( 1995 - 06 - 11 ). `` The Led Zeppelin In - Frequently Murmured Trivia List v1. 1 ''. Led-Zeppelin.org. Archived from the original on 2012 - 02 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Classic Rock Magazine Interview -- 1999 ''. Elliott Randall. 2014 - 06 - 20. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 08. Jump up ^ `` The 100 Best Guitar Solos of All Time - Page 4 ''. Guitar.about.com. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 08. Jump up ^ Donny & Marie Osmond Opening - `` Reelin ' In The Years ''. Jump up ^ `` Item Display - RPM Top Singles - Volume 19, No. 18, June 16 1973 - Library and Archives Canada ''. Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Cash Box Top 100 5 / 26 / 73 ''. Archived from the original on 2015 - 12 - 22. Retrieved 2016 - 06 - 25. Jump up ^ `` Item Display - RPM Annual - Volume 20, No. 20, December 29 1973 - Library and Archives Canada ''. Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2017 - 07 - 14. Jump up ^ `` Top 100 Hits of 1973 / Top 100 Songs of 1973 ''. Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1973 ''. Archived from the original on 2015 - 01 - 11. Retrieved 2016 - 06 - 25. External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Music Notes Entry Steely Dan Donald Fagen Walter Becker Jeff `` Skunk '' Baxter Denny Dias Jim Hodder David Palmer Royce Jones Michael McDonald Jeff Porcaro Studio albums Ca n't Buy a Thrill ( 1972 ) Countdown to Ecstasy ( 1973 ) Pretzel Logic ( 1974 ) Katy Lied ( 1975 ) The Royal Scam ( 1976 ) Aja ( 1977 ) Gaucho ( 1980 ) Two Against Nature ( 2000 ) Everything Must Go ( 2003 ) Live albums Alive in America ( 1995 ) Plush TV Jazz - Rock Party ( 2000 ) Marian McPartland 's Piano Jazz with Steely Dan ( 2005 ) Singles `` Dallas '' `` Do It Again '' `` Reelin ' In the Years '' `` Show Biz Kids '' `` My Old School '' `` Rikki Do n't Lose That Number '' `` Pretzel Logic '' `` Black Friday '' `` Bad Sneakers '' `` Kid Charlemagne '' `` The Fez '' `` Haitian Divorce '' `` Peg '' `` Deacon Blues '' `` FM ( No Static at All ) '' `` Josie '' `` Hey Nineteen '' `` Babylon Sisters '' `` Cousin Dupree '' `` Janie Runaway '' Album tracks `` Aja '' `` Any Major Dude Will Tell You '' `` Dirty Work '' Compilations Greatest Hits ( 1978 ) Steely Dan ( 1978 ) Gold ( 1982 / 91 ) A Decade of Steely Dan ( 1985 ) Reelin ' In the Years ( 1987 ) Do It Again ( 1987 ) Citizen Steely Dan ( 1993 ) Then and Now ( 1993 ) Showbiz Kids ( 2000 ) The Definitive Collection ( 2006 ) Related articles Discography Gary Katz Roger Nichols Book This 1970s single -- related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reelin%27_In_the_Years&oldid=814498710 '' Categories : 1972 songs 1973 singles Steely Dan songs Debut singles Songs written by Donald Fagen Songs written by Walter Becker ABC Records singles Song recordings produced by Gary Katz 1970s single stubs Hidden categories : Articles with hAudio microformats All stub articles Talk Contents About Wikipedia Italiano Norsk Edit links This page was last edited on 9 December 2017, at 04 : 53. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who played the solo on reeling in the years
Answer: Elliott Randall