christlieb fagen sherlie reelin steely aja clydie metasongs venetta purdie mcpartland ritenour pretzel deacon grandiose gaucho peg transcribe overdrive pertained tropicalglen.com porcaro midlife racehorse rikki lac.gc.ca fez becker pianos janie
what is the steely dan song deacon blues about
Deacon Blues - wikipedia Deacon Blues Jump to : navigation , search For the racehorse , see Deacon Blues ( horse ) . <Th_colspan="2"> `` Deacon Blues '' <Td_colspan="2"> Artwork for German vinyl single <Th_colspan="2"> Single by Steely Dan <Th_colspan="2"> from the album Aja B - side `` Home at Last '' Released March 1978 Format 7 '' single Recorded 1977 Genre Jazz rock Length 7 : 36 6 : 33 ( 7 '' version ) Label ABC Songwriter ( s ) Walter Becker , Donald Fagen Producer ( s ) Gary Katz <Th_colspan="2"> Steely Dan singles chronology <Td_colspan="2"> `` Peg '' ( 1977 ) `` Deacon Blues '' ( 1978 ) `` FM ( No Static at All ) '' ( 1978 ) <Td_colspan="2"> `` Peg '' ( 1977 ) `` Deacon Blues '' ( 1978 ) `` FM ( No Static at All ) '' ( 1978 ) <Td_colspan="2"> <Th_colspan="2"> Aja track listing <Td_colspan="2"> `` Aja '' ( 2 ) `` Deacon Blues '' ( 3 ) `` Peg '' ( 4 ) <Td_colspan="2"> `` 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 . It peaked at number 19 on the Billboard charts and number 17 on the U.S. Cash Box Top 100 in June 1978 . It also reached # 40 on the Easy Listening chart . In Canada it spent two weeks at # 14 and # 20 Adult Contemporary . Contents ( hide ) 1 Background 2 Recording 3 Success and legacy 4 Personnel 5 References 6 External links Background ( edit ) 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 . '' The song 's protagonist has been described by Fagen as `` autobiographical in that it reflected the dreams of both Fagen and Becker about becoming jazz musicians while they were living in the suburbs '' . Characterized as a `` loser '' by Fagen , the song 's subject was meant to reflect `` ... a broken dream of a broken man living a broken life '' . On the origin of the song 's name , Fagen stated , ' At the time , there had been a lineman with the Los Angeles Rams and the San Diego Chargers , Deacon Jones . We were n't serious football fans , but Deacon Jones 's name was in the news a lot in the 1960s and early 70s , and we liked how it sounded . It also had two syllables , which was convenient , like `` Crimson . '' The name had nothing to do with Wake Forest 's Demon Deacons or any other team with a losing record . The only Deacon I was familiar with in football at the time was Deacon Jones . Recording ( edit ) `` Deacon Blues '' was recorded at Village Recorders in West Los Angeles . Jazz guitarist Larry Carlton used Fagen 's demos to transcribe the chords into a rhythm section which featured Carlton 's guitar on the song 's opening . 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 . After the song was recorded Becker and Fagen decided to add a saxophone solo and asked their producer , Gary Katz , to arrange for Pete Christlieb to record the solo . At the time , neither Becker nor Fagen knew Christlieb by name , only by his reputation as a musician on Johnny Carson 's Tonight Show . Christlieb went to the studio and recorded the solo after taping the show one evening . `` They told me to play what I felt . 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 . I recorded a second take and that 's the one they used . I was gone in a half hour . The next thing I know I 'm hearing myself in every airport bathroom in the world . '' Success and legacy ( edit ) `` 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 . 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 . `` Deacon Blues '' remained in the Top 40 for eight weeks . In a 1994 AOL chat interview with Becker , someone asked him about the inspiration for the song and he answered , `` 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 . '' `` As midlife - crisis songs go , Steely Dan 's `` Deacon Blues '' ranks among the most melodic and existential . '' -- The Wall Street Journal `` One thing we did right on `` Deacon Blues '' and all of our records : we never tried to accommodate the mass market . We worked for ourselves and still do . '' -- Donald Fagen The Scottish pop / rock band Deacon Blue took their name from this song . William Gibson 's book Mona Lisa Overdrive features a gang called the Deacon Blues . Personnel ( edit ) Walter Becker - bass Donald Fagen - synthesizer , vocals Larry Carlton & Lee Ritenour - guitar Dean Parks - acoustic guitar Pete Christlieb - tenor saxophone Victor Feldman - electric pianos Venetta Fields - backup vocals Clydie King - backup vocals Sherlie Matthews - backup vocals Bernard `` Pretty '' Purdie - drums References ( edit ) ^ Jump up to : Myers , Marc ( 2015 - 09 - 11 ) . `` Anatomy of a Song '' . The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 2016 - 06 - 16 . Jump up ^ Steely Dan USA chart history , Billboard.com . Retrieved May 28 , 2012 . Jump up ^ `` Cash Box Top 100 6 / 10 / 78 '' . Tropicalglen.com. 1978 - 06 - 10 . Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 12 . Jump up ^ Whitburn , Joel ( 1993 ) . Top Adult Contemporary : 1961 -- 1993 . Record Research . p. 228 . Jump up ^ `` Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada '' . Bac-lac.gc.ca . Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 12 . Jump up ^ RPM Adult Contemporary , July 15 , 1978 Jump up ^ Wall Street Journal , `` How Steely Dan Created ' Deacon Blues ' , by Marc Myers , Sept. 10 , 2015 Jump up ^ Whitburn , Joel ( 2004 ) . The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits , 8th Edition ( Billboard Publications ) Jump up ^ `` AOL Chat '' . Steelydan.com. 1994 - 11 - 17 . Retrieved 2013 - 07 - 23 . Jump up ^ Harris , Craig . `` Deacon Blue > Biography '' . AllMusic . Retrieved 13 March 2011 . Jump up ^ William Gibson . Mona Lisa Overdrive . Spectra , 1987 External links ( edit ) Lyrics of this song Listen to `` Deacon Blues '' on YouTube All Music Guide ( 4.5 / 5 ) link Robert Christgau ( B+ ) link <Th_colspan="2"> ( hide ) Steely Dan <Td_colspan="2"> 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 <Td_colspan="2"> Book Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deacon_Blues&oldid=818010363 '' Categories : Steely Dan songs 1977 singles Songs about loneliness Songs written by Donald Fagen Songs written by Walter Becker ABC Records singles 1977 songs Metasongs Song recordings produced by Gary Katz Hidden categories : Music infoboxes with deprecated parameters Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 1 January 2018 , at 00 : 01 . 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