Hey, I'm a jazz musician, that's what I do ... so I recorded my first solo ... we listened back and they said it was great. Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1972 by core members Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). [1] It peaked at number 19 on the Billboard charts[2] and number 17 on the U.S. Cash Box Top 100 in June 1978. © 2012-2019 Deacon Productions LLC. Deacon Blues (feat. Based in Chicago, these eleven players honor the music of Becker & Fagen by crafting an amazing replication! They are America’s All-Star Grammy Tribute to Steely Dan. The genesis of Deacon Blues began when Steve Kikoen, Jon Hey, and Cash Michaels formed an original jazz/rock collective known as Bebop Daddys. . [4] In Canada, it peaked at #14, a position it occupied for two weeks,[5] and #20 Adult Contemporary.[6]. [1], About its composition, Fagen later states: "One thing we did right on 'Deacon Blues' and all of our records: we never tried to accommodate the mass market. I was gone in a half hour. . © 2012-2019 Deacon Productions LLC. . Bill MacKay) Bill MacKay shows up at the party with a tune he’d heard over the years and a sole goal: no bad high school jazz tonight! The Premier Steely Dan Tribute is DEACON BLUES! 1 talking about this. Steely Dan Database. Marc Myers writes: As midlife-crisis songs go, Steely Dan’s “Deacon Blues” ranks among the most melodic and existential. The centerpiece track from 1977's Aja, "Deacon Blues" belies the idea that Steely Dan started getting soft with this album. . Steely Dan Nite with Deacon Blues LIVE at the historic Arcada Theatre in Downtown St. Charles, IL. "Deacon Blues" was recorded at Village Recorders in West Los Angeles. Walter and I were major sci-fi fans. AND MANY OTHER GRAMMY® WINNERS . Steely Dan is a jazz rock duo (originally a full group) consisting of songwriters Donald Fagen (vocals, keyboards) and Walter Becker (guitar, bass). "[12] Music critic Marc Myers writes "As midlife-crisis songs go, Steely Dan's 'Deacon Blues' ranks among the most melodic and existential. Deacon Blues has consistently played to sold-out audiences, and has appeared on regional and national television. ... Liner Notes Live Videos Music Videos Interviews Lyric Videos News Videos The latest and greatest videos in all categories. Discover releases, reviews, credits, songs, and more about Steely Dan - Deacon Blues at Discogs. call me Deacon Blues."[9]. Deacon Blues has structured their live repertoire to encompass a wider range of the Dan’s prolific material – including rarities as well as repertoire from the the Dan’s 1991 reunion prototype — The New York Rock and Soul Revue. The only reason I checked out the song was to see if there was anyone, on line, who actually was a student at the University of Alabama when Deacon Blues came out, because I can only guess that at least some of them were completely flabbergasted and amazed that their school and nickname were mentioned in a Steely Dan song. . Recorded for the album “Aja” in 1977, the song details the bored existence of a ground-down suburbanite and his romantic fantasy of life as a jazz saxophonist. It peaked at number 19 on the Billboard charts and number 17 on the U.S. Cash Box Top 100 in June 1978. The guy in the song imagines himself ascending to the levels of evolution, "expanding" his mind, his spiritual possibilities, and his options in life.[7]. Written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen in 1976, “Deacon Blues”… living in the suburbs. Complete discography with pictures, lyrics and samples Fans with tickets to the previously announced 2020 dates are encouraged to hold on to their tickets as they will be honored for the new dates. . "[8] Characterized as a "loser" by Becker, the song's subject was meant to reflect "a broken dream of a broken man living a broken life". . "[1] The song's protagonist, muses Fagen, is somewhat "autobiographical in that it reflected the dreams [Fagen and Becker had] about becoming jazz musicians while . "[1], "Deacon Blues" was released on Steely Dan's 1977 album Aja which reached No.3 on Billboard's album chart, a position it held for seven consecutive weeks. Label: ABC Records - ABC 4217 • Format: Vinyl 12 Steely Dan - Deacon Blues / Josie (1977, Vinyl) | Discogs [9], On the origin of the song's name, Fagen says, it was inspired by football player Deacon Jones, as they like the sound of his name: "It also had two syllables, which was convenient, like 'Crimson. They asked their producer, Gary Katz, to arrange for Pete Christlieb to record the part. Create & stream a free custom radio station based on the song Deacon Blues by Steely Dan on iHeartRadio! Deacon Blues includes 11 stellar musicians, composers and educators based in Chicago. Bill MacKay) by Bill Callahan & Bonnie "Prince" Billy, released 16 November 2020 1. After the song was recorded, Becker and Fagen decided to add a saxophone solo. Deacon blues Lyrics: Sample(s): look for , or in this table Midi: Transcriptions: Authors. [3] It also reached #40 on the Easy Listening chart. . [10] Billboard particularly praised the "outstanding" saxophone playing. Saxophonist Tom Scott wrote the horn arrangements for not only "Deacon Blues" but for all of the songs on Aja, a task that he completed in less than two weeks. "Deacon Blues" remained in the Top 40 for eight weeks. Deacon Blues has structured their live repertoire to encompass a wider range of the Dan’s prolific material – including rarities as well as repertoire from the the Dan’s 1991 reunion prototype — The New York Rock and Soul Revue. Deacon Blues has consistently played to sold-out audiences, and has appeared on regional and national television. View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1977 Vinyl release of Deacon Blues / Josie on Discogs. All rights reserved. Steely Dan - Deacon Blues Lyrics. . The All-Star Grammy Tribute to Steely Dan, For More Upcoming Shows Scroll Down to 'Tour' or go to the 'Show Page', | Thomas Linsk | Rich Patterson | Paul Wertico | Ben Lewis, Paul Mutzabaugh | Ben 'Jammin' Johnson | Suzanne Cross | Jessica Hornsten, Taylor Yacktman  |  Ebonie Taylor  |  Jennifer Hall  |  Pamela Rose, Cash Michaels | Victor Garcia | Rich Lapka | Tom Hipskind, Dan Leali | Henry Salgado | Paul Hartsaw | John Gutierrez, Chuck Webb | Timothy Bales | Jack Cassidy | Larry Beers| Phil Brines, Kent Bredrup | Esme Hassinger | Aviva Bowen, ~ Guest Soloists and Grammy® Members Include ~, Howard Levy | Paul Wertico | Bob Lizik | Steve Rodby | Peter Erskine, Sugar Blue | Billy Branch | Bernard Purdie | Corky Siegel, Richard Patterson | Khari Parker | Tom Mendel. . . Jazz guitarist Larry Carlton used Fagen's demos to transcribe the chords into a rhythm section that featured Carlton's guitar on the song's opening. It also reached #40 on the Easy Listening chart. The Premier Steely Dan Tribute is DEACON BLUES! Deacon Blues – The Premier Steely Dan Tribute. "[1], The Scottish pop/rock band Deacon Blue took their name from this song. [11], In a 1994 AOL chat interview, Becker discussed the inspiration for the song, "It was an outgrowth of a specific mood that pertained at a given time," and later added, "I remember the night that we mixed that one thinking that it was really good and wanting to hear it over and over which is never the case. Steely Dan have announced that their 2020 Earth After Hours Tour with Steve Winwood has been rescheduled. Deacon Blues has structured their live repertoire to encompass a wider range of the Dan’s prolific material – including rarities as well as repertoire from the the Dan’s 1991 reunion prototype — The New York Rock and Soul Revue. . . Christlieb went to the studio and recorded the solo after taping the show one evening. [13] William Gibson's book Mona Lisa Overdrive features a gang called the Deacon Blues.[14]. In Canada, it peaked at #14, a position it occupied for two weeks, and #20 Adult Contemporary. the alienated white suburban kid thinks that if he learns how to play bebop, he'll throw off the chains of repression and live the authentic life, unleash the wild seeds of art and passion and so on. All rights reserved. Donald Fagan said of the song's opening lines and theme: The concept of the "expanding man" that opens the song may have been inspired by Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man. Plz comment and rate. If you are unable to attend the new date, you will be able to request a refund. I recorded a second take and that's the one they used. Another Lyrics vid. "Deacon Blues" was Steely Dan's fifth Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, where it peaked at #19 in 1978. View All. [1] The song was the duo's fifth Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, where it peaked at #19 in 1978. "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada", "Farewell to Walter Becker of Steely Dan", Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz with Steely Dan, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deacon_Blues&oldid=994318891, Pages using infobox song with unknown parameters, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz work identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 15 December 2020, at 02:43. "Deacon Blues" is a song by Steely Dan from their 1977 album Aja. They told me to play what I felt. We worked for ourselves and still do. [1] In his 2013 memoir Eminent Hipsters, Fagen gives credit to Norman Mailer as inspiration for the narrator's persona: [It] toyed with the cliché of the jazz musician as antihero. "Deacon Blues" is a song written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen in 1976 and recorded by their group Steely Dan on their 1977 album Aja. '"[1] The song, however, is really about "the ultimate outsider, the flip side of the dream, boy-o . It was kind of a takeoff on that old essay by Norman Mailer, "The White Negro," not to mention our lives up to that point. The band known … Blending elements of rock, jazz, latin music, R&B, blues and sophisticated studio production with cryptic and ironic lyrics, the band enjoyed critical and commercial success starting from the early 1970s until breaking up in 1981. The song remained in the Top 40 for eight weeks. Tickets. Singer-songwriters Bill Callahan and Will Oldham released a cover in 2020. It used to be common to hate Steely Dan, its famously obsessive studio habits and distaste for live performance useful stand-ins for the things rejected by a … The song was largely written at Fagen's house in Malibu and was prompted by his observation that "if a college football team like the University of Alabama could have a grandiose name like the 'Crimson Tide' the nerds and losers should be entitled to a grandiose name as well. At the time, neither Becker nor Fagen knew Christlieb by name, only by his reputation as a musician on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. Deacon Blues has consistently played to sold-out audiences, and has appeared on regional and national television. I do not own this video in any way, all credit goes to Steely Dan. Call 630 962 7000 or visit www.oshows.com Complete your Steely Dan collection. "Deacon Blues" is a song written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen in 1976 and recorded by their group Steely Dan on their 1977 album Aja. The next thing I know I'm hearing myself in every airport bathroom in the world. Deacon Blues (feat.