thanks that was great.....was that Francine Reed singing also?
I'm not sure, but I think that might have been Katie Webster, the Swamp Boogie Queen, on there with Gregg on Vocals. She was on Alligator Records back in the 1980s.
Deacon Jones played keyboards for John Lee Hooker's Coast-to-Coast Blues Band in the 80s. At one show in Santa Cruz, I saw Deacon Jones play keyboards with his teeth with his hands behind his back. I stood directly in front of John Lee Hooker the entire show and then he high-fived me twice during the Boogie at the end. Incredible band, incredible Bluesman.
[Edited on 11/30/2015 by peachlovingman]
I can't believe this has surfaced on this website. I had The John Garcia Blues Band @ a party I had at a place I had in the Los Gatos mountains back in 1986 and John had Deacon Jones in his band on a Hammond B-3. John is also a former member of John Lee Hooker's band.
Deacon is a great musician but he has been out of the Bay area for a long, long time, like 20 years. I know for awhile, maybe 20 years back, he had a steady gig at B.B. King's club in Hollywood, but that ended quite some time back I'm sure.
Haven't heard of the Deacon in 20 years. Anyone know what he's up to?
Rob, here's an interview clip of Melvyn "Deacon" Jones with some wonderful stories about John Lee Hooker- the King of the Boogie...
Here's the Deacon Jones Blues Band doing "Red House" with young guitar prodigy Ray Goren (from 2010):
[Edited on 11/30/2015 by peachlovingman]
[Edited on 11/30/2015 by peachlovingman]
Rob, here's an interview clip of Melvyn "Deacon" Jones with some wonderful stories about John Lee Hooker- the King of the Boogie...
Here's the Deacon Jones Blues Band doing "Red House" with young guitar prodigy Ray Goren (from 2010):
I can't thank you enough for posting those, man. Really enjoyed that, especially the interview with Deacon. And that kid playing guitar on Redhouse.............I swear he couldn't be more than 13 years old. Amazing. That Redhouse video led me to this..............really cool to hear Deacon fairly recently (2010). So obviously he's still in L.A. and gigging..............at least he was 5 years ago. This one is at The Langham Hotel in Pasadena:
[Edited on 11/30/2015 by robslob]
I never knew this song existed, I stumbled upon it on youtube.. The Man can sing. Instead of Gregg taking forever to write songs, he should just have somebody write them for him. No shame in it.
I can't believe this has surfaced on this website. I had The John Garcia Blues Band @ a party I had at a place I had in the Los Gatos mountains back in 1986 and John had Deacon Jones in his band on a Hammond B-3. John is also a former member of John Lee Hooker's band.
Deacon is a great musician but he has been out of the Bay area for a long, long time, like 20 years. I know for awhile, maybe 20 years back, he had a steady gig at B.B. King's club in Hollywood, but that ended quite some time back I'm sure.
Haven't heard of the Deacon in 20 years. Anyone know what he's up to?
I did a lot of gigs with Deacon in the mid-late 80's...JJ's Blues Lounge was really happening then and Deacon was one of the house bands.They had the Mountain View Club and we'd play there on Sunday and The San Jose on Monday....I use to book gigs at Apple Jacks and he'd take a small casio and hook it up and walk on the bar then out on to Highway 84.....He'd always bring some female singer of the day
We'd do gigs with Vala Cupp on vocals and the rest of John Lee's band backing at some of the smallest bars and people would just freek out at these guys....
I saw one guy in a booth and his eyes bugging out and his hands were white knuckled hold on to the table...after the set I asked him and he said he'd never felt that much energy coming from a band stand.....Deacon trained me to be a pro musician. There were no rehearsals you learned on the stage in front of the crowd. He'd put me next to the keyboard because he knew I could read what he was playing. We'd have different singers and we'd just play their tune right now. He'd call out a key and if it wasn't a 12 bar you'd better be good at figuring out what was gonna happen. It was the best time I ever had on stage....
I learned the art of when in doubt lay out....you can't sound bad if you don't play.....just pretend until you figure it out....Great way to to come up to speed fast....
Deacon is a master showman and a freekin awesome B3 player
Some Deaconisms
She's a little piece of leather but she well put together
If you'd like to take the band to the bar or to your car here we are
[Edited on 11/30/2015 by goldtop]
I did a lot of gigs with Deacon in the mid-late 80's...JJ's Blues Lounge was really happening then and Deacon was one of the house bands.They had the Mountain View Club and we'd play there on Sunday and The San Jose on Monday....I use to book gigs at Apple Jacks and he'd take a small casio and hook it up and walk on the bar then out on to Highway 84.....He'd always bring some female singer of the day
We'd do gigs with Vala Cupp on vocals and the rest of John Lee's band backing at some of the smallest bars and people would just freek out at these guys....
I saw one guy in a booth and his eyes bugging out and his hands were white knuckled hold on to the table...after the set I asked him and he said he'd never felt that much energy coming from a band stand.....Deacon trained me to be a pro musician. There were no rehearsals you learned on the stage in front of the crowd. He'd put me next to the keyboard because he knew I could read what he was playing. We'd have different singers and we'd just play their tune right now. He'd call out a key and if it wasn't a 12 bar you'd better be good at figuring out what was gonna happen. It was the best time I ever had on stage....
I learned the art of when in doubt lay out....you can't sound bad if you don't play.....just pretend until you figure it out....Great way to to come up to speed fast....
Deacon is a master showman and a freekin awesome B3 player
Some Deaconisms
She's a little piece of leather but she well put together
If you'd like to take the band to the bar or to your car here we are
What a great post, Ron! I miss the Deacon greatly, he was a super nice guy, completely down to earth even with a non-musician like myself. I remember getting him high before his performance at my place in '86..............he said "we ain't got NOTHIN', man!" and I knew who at the party had exactly what he wanted so I set him up. And yeah, like you said, just a superb B-3 player and a great showman. He actually doesn't play a B-3, it's a portable Hammond, that's what he played that night @ my place.
I regret I missed you and Deacon gigging together!! I was at JJ's a LOT in the late 80's after moving up here from L.A. in 1985, usually to hear Chris Cain. Only made it to the Mountain View club a few times though, usually Stevens Creek or downtown. For those of you out of the Bay area, JJ's expanded to three South Bay clubs maybe 20 or 25 years ago but had to go back to just the original club on Stevens Creek in San Jose..........just not sustainable to run three. It changed ownership (again) maybe two years ago and they've done some nice improvements...........the bathrooms don't smell like piss anymore and they've got an adjacent lounge room now.
I did a lot of gigs with Deacon in the mid-late 80's...JJ's Blues Lounge was really happening then and Deacon was one of the house bands.They had the Mountain View Club and we'd play there on Sunday and The San Jose on Monday....I use to book gigs at Apple Jacks and he'd take a small casio and hook it up and walk on the bar then out on to Highway 84.....He'd always bring some female singer of the day
We'd do gigs with Vala Cupp on vocals and the rest of John Lee's band backing at some of the smallest bars and people would just freek out at these guys....
I saw one guy in a booth and his eyes bugging out and his hands were white knuckled hold on to the table...after the set I asked him and he said he'd never felt that much energy coming from a band stand.....Deacon trained me to be a pro musician. There were no rehearsals you learned on the stage in front of the crowd. He'd put me next to the keyboard because he knew I could read what he was playing. We'd have different singers and we'd just play their tune right now. He'd call out a key and if it wasn't a 12 bar you'd better be good at figuring out what was gonna happen. It was the best time I ever had on stage....
I learned the art of when in doubt lay out....you can't sound bad if you don't play.....just pretend until you figure it out....Great way to to come up to speed fast....
Deacon is a master showman and a freekin awesome B3 player
Some Deaconisms
She's a little piece of leather but she well put together
If you'd like to take the band to the bar or to your car here we are
What a great post, Ron! I miss the Deacon greatly, he was a super nice guy, completely down to earth even with a non-musician like myself. I remember getting him high before his performance at my place in '86..............he said "we ain't got NOTHIN', man!" and I knew who at the party had exactly what he wanted so I set him up. And yeah, like you said, just a superb B-3 player and a great showman. He actually doesn't play a B-3, it's a portable Hammond, that's what he played that night @ my place.
I regret I missed you and Deacon gigging together!! I was at JJ's a LOT in the late 80's after moving up here from L.A. in 1985, usually to hear Chris Cain. Only made it to the Mountain View club a few times though, usually Stevens Creek or downtown. For those of you out of the Bay area, JJ's expanded to three South Bay clubs maybe 20 or 25 years ago but had to go back to just the original club on Stevens Creek in San Jose..........just not sustainable to run three. It changed ownership (again) maybe two years ago and they've done some nice improvements...........the bathrooms don't smell like piss anymore and they've got an adjacent lounge room now.
The last time I saw Deacon was at the Mountain View club and he had already moved to LA. It was his first visit back and I showed up and asked if I could sit in...he said yes and after the first few songs the guy next to me said it's like you've been playing every gig with us....Deacon just looked over and smiled.
When I played with Deacon he had 3 different guitar players and who was ever available got the gig until you missed a gig then who ever replaced you until they missed a gig then you'd get hired back....that went on with every position in the band. We could do 3 or 4 nights in a row with 4 completely different bands and singers...It was a great learning experience.....
