Song · Steely Dan
“Black Cow” by Steely Dan
From the album Aja (1977)
“Black Cow” by Steely Dan appears on 6 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 1997 and 2026. It was first released in 1977 on the album Aja. Its best result is #39 on the KSHE 95 U-Man 500 (2026). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #4,549 indie & aaa song of all time.
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Walter Becker and Donald Fagen wrote "Black Cow" for Aja, the sixth Steely Dan album, issued by ABC Records in September 1977, when the pair were chasing longer, knottier songs and hiring session players by the dozen. This one shows how the method works.
Paul Humphrey on drums, Chuck Rainey on bass, Victor Feldman on Rhodes piano and Joe Sample on clavinet lock into the groove, Larry Carlton adds guitar, and Tom Scott blows tenor sax. Fagen sings lead and plays synthesizer, while Venetta Fields, Clydie King, Rebecca Louis and Sherlie Matthews answer him from the background. Gary Katz produced, as he had every Steely Dan album before it, and Roger Nichols is credited as executive engineer. It's cool, glossy and a little sinister, jazz chops put to work on a pop song.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 443 | 102.3 WBAB | WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) | 1023 |
| 2020 | 976 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2022 | 724 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s | 908 |
| 2024 | 434 | KEXP | The Best Opening Tracks of All Time | 738 |
| 2026 | 39 | KSHE 95 | KSHE 95 U-Man 500 (2026) | 499 |
| 2026 | 1107 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
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