Friday Night Jukebox, DL--Steely Dan: Deacon Blues

 What we have here is failure...to get my weekly post on time....

My introduction to this week's tune was the 1977 release of the album that featured it.  It was one of those albums that, if you were a white kid in 1970s America, you heard it on the radio and heard it plenty.  I actually loved the first single that was released from the album, but through the years our song of the week overtook it.  Which isn't to say that that first single won't show up on Friday Night Jukebox at some point in time....

I wrote about Steely Dan way back in 2016, in Vol. CII, and other than continuing to tour (their last LP release was in 2003), there really is nothing new to report concerning their music.  Sadly, one half of the duo that was Steely Dan, Walter Becker, passed away in 2017 from esophageal cancer.  Donald Fagen, the other half of the aforesaid duo, "reluctantly" agreed to continue the band after Becker's death.  I should also note that, for whatever reason, Steely Dan is one of those bands that I still listen to quite regularly and still enjoy quite thoroughly.

"Deacon Blues" was the third single from their sixth album, the rather I Have No Clever Play on Words for This One entitled Aja.  The single would reach #19 (with a bullet!), while the album would peak at #3.  The album also was ranked #63 on Rolling Stone's most recent list of the five hundred best albums of all-time.

Fun Fact:  While writing the song, the duo wanted to come up with a name for losers to juxtapose with Crimson Tide for Alabama.  Though not football fans, they liked the name of Rams defensive lineman Deacon Jones and somehow turned his first name into "Deacon Blues" (though in fairness, Jones was hardly a loser, eventually reaching the Pro Football Hall of Fame).

"Deacon Blues" deftly weaves the tale of a man who's going to walk away from the life he's leading and try to make it as a saxophone player.  Becker and Fagen even put him up there on the stage.  Instrumentally it's a laid-back groove with too many instruments to name, but there's a nice sax solo and lots of horns, and some funky ass drums.  Fagen sings it in the first person and captures all the determination and dreams of the man who wants to blow his sax perfectly.  A couple of nice moments are the a) "I, I..." stutter in the chorus and the b) backing vocal repeat of "Deacon Blues" also in the chorus.  Both Becker and Fagen have stated that they think the wannabe sax player eventually fails, but sometimes the dream is enough.  A beautiful song about the power of hope, especially relevant in the era of Trump.

Lyric Sheet:  "I cried when I wrote this song/Sue me if I play too long/This brother is free/I'll be what I want to be..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace, 

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CII--Steely Dan: Turn That Heartbeat Over Again

One of the reasons I started Friday Night Jukebox was for songs like this week's tune--songs that weren't hit singles but were often diamonds in the rough (and just as often more enjoyable listening than the actual hits).  And while their debut album featured two delightful top twenty singles (" Do It Again" and "Reelin' in the Years"), I also don't think it was an accident that this week's song was the closing piece on said album.

Steely Dan is, more or less, the brainchild and band of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen who are the only two constants in the band since its formation in 1972.  Since its first couple of albums, Steely
Dan has used a slew of session musicians to record the nine studio albums they've released over the course of the last 44 years.  Their heyday was from 1972 until their breakup in 1981 (during which time they released seven of their albums) and were a constant on AM and FM radio with numerous top 40 hits and a devoted following.  They reunited in 1993.  Through the years they've won a Grammy Award for album of the year, sold millions of records, and were eventually elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.  And they've always been an oddity for me personally, as their sound, especially as time wore on was heavily influenced by jazz and I've never been much of a devotee of jazz (that's not a denigration--jazz just never moved me the way it moves others).

And it may also explain that, while I've loved several of their LPs, their first is still my favorite, and is by far and away the most pop and rock oriented record of their career.  Well, that and the fact that Becker and Fagen have quite the knack for catchy tunes and clever and oh, so subtle lyrics.

If you're a child of the 70's, as am I, you'll know that all the cool kids (or at least those of us who liked to pretend we were cool), knew of and listened regularly to Can't Buy a Thrill  (title borrowed from the first line of Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry")--the album itself was a trip into Coolsville (and was ranked #238 on Rolling Stone's five hundred best albums of all-time).  It's one of those rare albums that has nary a bad tune, several great ones, and none more enjoyable than "Turn That Heartbeat Over Again."  It's also notable as the only Steely Dan song where Becker and Fagen traded lead vocals in the same song.

Near as I can tell, the song is an allegory of sorts. featuring chastising vignettes concerning a stick-up man, drug running, and the evils of too much drink, and yet stuffed in between these sad tales, is one of the most hopeful (and catchy) choruses ever which concludes with the plea to "turn that heartbeat over again."  I'm not really certain if that heartbeat is the one when you meet that special him or her or the heartbeat when your favorite team wins the World Series or the heartbeat of watching your child be born or grow or even the heartbeat of listening to a really good song, but I'm pretty certain that turning any one of them over again would be a most delightful experience.  The song also features a nice instrumental break in the middle with a fine guitar solo from Jeff "Skunk" Baxter.  And for those having their doubts, this was one of the first songs I downloaded after the Beautiful Girl brought the wonders of the digital age into our first apartment together, and I happened to notice that after about a month the Beautiful Girl, who didn't know Steely Dan from the Man of Steel, had added "Turn That Heartbeat Over Again" to her favorites....

Liner notes:  "Love your mama, love your brother/Love 'em till they run for cover...."

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee