Reverbnation

Just to let the Deacons’ faithful know, we now have a presence on Reverbnation, which enables me to have a “My Band” page on Facebook. Follow the link to see it.

30th Anniversary gig

Thanks to Louis at the Hamilton Blues Society, there’s now a bunch of video from the 30th Anniversary show on Youtube. Here’s a sample –

Paperboys 30th Anniversary Gig…TONIGHT!!

Just a reminder that our original band, The Paperboys, is playing a 30th anniversary show in Burlington, Ontario on October 2nd. It’ll be the first time I’ve seen some of these guys in 25 years, so it should be a blast.

The venue is the Plough and Harrow, and is just east of the intersection of Guelph Line and New Street in Burlington (across Guelph Line from “Don’t Fret”, which I’m sure will be familiar to all pickers in the area).

Hope to see you all there.

OMFG II

So, it;’s official… the Paperboys reunion gig is on, for Saturday, October 2 at the Plough and Harrow in Burlington, almost 29 years to the day from when we got the first vinyl copies of “Lookin’ For Sharron” back from the pressing plant.

Rick, Dan and I are currently hashing out what we’re actually going to play, but, at this point, it looks like one set of Paperboys material, one set of Deacons material, and one set of….well, we don’t exactly know, yet.

However, we’ll see you all there….rockin’

OMFG

There’s a rumour afoot that there is going to be a Paperboys reunion gig, to roughly coincide with the 29th anniversary of the release of “Lookin’ for Sharron”. Stay tuned….

50th birthday pics

I’m posting all the photos I have of my 50th birthday party. If anyone has any others, please feel free to send them to me and I’ll get them up, as well. The new album will be at the bottom of the page.- just scroll down.  As you will no doubt be able to tell, an excellent time was had by all.

Ahh, history…

I mentioned pictures a while back. These are some more from Rick’s Facebook collection – here’s a never-used publicity shot of the three piece Deacons circa 1993 –

and here’s an often used picture of us playing the G&G, probably in early ’87. No, I don’t know who drew the hat on Dan –

Man, I miss that room. It had the livest, most in-your-face sound of any I’ve ever played in. The combination of that wood floor, the leaded glass, the plaster walls and the heavy velvet drapes (and the fireplace!) gave it a very live sound with very little natural reverb. Too bad they decided that that little stage was better served being a bankette.

Deacons Timeline IV – “The Deacons Decade”

1990

In the spring, Rick decided he’d had enough of the sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll lifestyle. Well, actually the sex part was probably exaggerated – after the booze and drugs, most women would have nothing to do with him!
“Once that train was back on the rails, the first place Rick and I went was to the pawn shop to get his big, red Gretsch out of hock. From that moment on, it was inevitable that we put the band back together”, says Dave.
The Screamin’ Deacons lineup was together again for most of 1990, even managing to record three new tracks – the Prinsthal original “Hurting You, Hurting Me“, the Paul Revere and the Raiders classic “Kicks“, and Dave’s tribute to Rick’s newfound sobriety, “The Party’s Over“.

1991

Most importantly, Dave’s daughter was born in January, becoming the first child of a Deacon. However, it became increasingly apparent that other demands on the members’ time were cutting into their availabilty for the Deacons. Kenny was already in two other bands when the call came, and Dan had made a success of the recording business, most notably producing two cd’s for Hamilton folk duo Open Mind.

1992

Cam, Rick and Dave begin to work on a “new Deacons” concept, with Cam & Rick on guitars, and Dave on bass. (Cam’s still in the army, but he’s been posted to the Hamilton recruiting office).They actually play one gig with this lineup, with Kenny on drums, but it’s very apparent that Kenny’s just too busy and they need to find another drummer. Auditions begin, but they can’t find anyone that they’re all comfortable with. Exasperated by the whole process, Cam stood up after the one of the last audtions and exclaimed, “Hell, I play drums better than any of these guys!”
Dave: “Rick and I just looked at him and went ‘Oh, yeah?’ And that’s how Cam got his gig back as the Deacons’ drummer. For the next four years, we were a trio.”

In a completely unrelated matter, the Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series in six over the Atlanta Braves.

1993

For the first time since the Paperboys days, Rick starts writing original material prolifically. Since the new songs seem to be well received live, the Deacons make the decision to go back into the studio and record the best of them. Recorded with Atilla Turi at Mainway Studios in Burlington, the songs, “Wildflower“, “A Diamond Rough“, “Runway Star“, “Red Light of Love“, “Little Girl Lost” & “On the Line” are all Prinsthal originals. Eventually, all six are released on cassette, entitled “Downtime“.

“Probably the most diverse set of stuff we ever recorded, both heavier and, at the same time, more “poppy” than anything else”, says Dave. “In some ways, we were still establishing the three-piece band’s identity. I remember exactly when we recorded it, though. I missed the entire American League Champoinship Series because we were dubbing and mixing that week!”

It all pays off, though. The cassette is well received, and Joe Carter homers off Mitch Williams to give the Blue Jays their second consecutive World Series win. Oh, and for the first time, Dave is referred to by his initals, “D.J.“, in the credits.

1994-1995

These two years tend to run together, because “All we did was gig. Rick was in school, Cam & I had day jobs, and we were still working more than a lot of the so-called ‘full-time’ musicians in Hamilton. The guys in other bands were always coming up and asking. ‘How do you manage to work so much?’ It came down to Cam and Rick busting their asses, getting in club managers’ faces every day, and not giving up until we got work. They both made a lot less money than I did, so I think hunger might have been a motivating factor”, says D.J.”This is also the period when we played the company Christmas party at my day gig three years in a row. It was fun to see the looks on the faces of my co-workers when they saw what that guy in the suit was up to in his spare time!”

And though he wasn’t a Deacon at the time, Dan Thorpe got married over the May long weekend in ’94. D.J. was best man. It’s the circle of life (or something like that).

1996

After almost three years, Rick has again written enough solid material to go back into the studio. They choose to go back to the ex-Deacon who’s still in the recording business, Dan Thorpe. “Dan had bought a house by this time, and had set the studio up in his attic. We recorded most of it in August. Man, it was hot! It felt good to bring the recording back into the ‘famliy’, though. We went outside for the last project, and that gave us enough confidence in our own judgement to record with somebody really familiar.”

Eight songs were assembled into a cassette release – the Prinsthal originals “Broken Homes“, “Never Been in Love“, “This, Too, Will Change“, “Suit of Armor” and “The Real World” were combined with Hamilton songwriter Mike Williams’ “Ready to Go” and sixties nugget “It’s Cold Outside” (recorded by Raspberries’ precursor The Choir). Surprisingly, though, another Prinsthal original drew the most attention – “I Remember (When ‘the Gown’ Had Bands)“, a tribute to the acts that were the foundation of the Hess Village music scene. Those memories, though ten years gone when the song was written, were clearly near and dear to a lot of people. “I actually got into an argument with a guy in a bar about the lyrical content of that song”, recalls D.J. “I oughta know what the words are, buddy. I play the damn thing every night!”

Entitled “The Real World“, the cassette was the second-most important event in the Deacons story in 1996. It was ready just in time to combine its release with Rick’s stag & doe party.

“It became kinda the opening act for Rick’s wedding. Once again, I was tabbed for best man”, says D.J. “By this time, I was getting pretty good at the ‘speechifying’, and really, there’s no greater honour, especially for a ham like me.”

1997-1999

It was becoming increasingly apparent that Cam was bored with just being the Deacons’ drummer. “The guy has a ton of talent, plays about a dozen different instruments, and could get a gig on three or four of them.”, says D.J.”He was also fascinated by the recording process, just as I was ten years earlier, but it had moved into a totally new arena. Now, it was all digital. He wanted all of that.” As Cam embarked on his new journey, the remaining two Deacons arrived at the same conclusion at the same time. “Rick phoned me, and we both almost said at once, ‘We’re gonna have to phone Kenny and Dan’. So, the Screamin’ Deacons lineup was back together again, and so it would remain for the next two years.
“I guess you can blame me for breaking up the band”, says D.J. “We were coming off this huge, and I mean huge, street party gig in Oakville. Literally thousands of people. They closed off Lakeshore Road from one end to the other, and because Kenny was tight with the woman who was promoting the show, we were featured on the #1 stage. I was 40 years old, it’d been a long time since we’d played a show of that significance (remember, we were mostly playing pubs for a couple of hundred dollars a night at the time – we used to snidely refer to it ‘indoor busking’), and I thought to myself, ‘Crossley, old man, there’s a very real possibility it won’t get any better than this’ and decided to pack it in. Regrets? Yeah, well, I love to play, but there’s a lot about it I don’t miss. I think the time away has made me realize how much fun it really was.”

Deacons Timeline III – Early Deacons

Summer 1986

Rick, Dan & Dave discuss putting together a new band that combines the best of all that’s come before. Cam offers to come in and play drums, an instrument he’s never played onstage before. Serious rehearsals start in August.

October 1986

First Deacons gig. Mickey DeSadist (Forgotten Rebels) emcees & gives away TiCats tickets (a club promo) between sets. Name comes from Tim Gibbons, who has apparently taken to calling the band “Reverend Rick & the Deacons”. Mercifully, only the “Deacons” part sticks.

February 1987

Dave gets engaged between sets at a Deacons gig. “About the same time as my brother-in-law proposed to my sister-in-law on a beach in Acapulco, I proposed to my wife under a railway bridge in Hamilton!”

March 1987

Cam is called up to serve his country again. His recommended replacement is his brother, veteran percussionist Ken Brawn. With the added muscle Kenny’s drumming provides, the band renames itself “the Screamin’ Deacons”.

May 1987

Cam returns, and for a brief time, the Deacons are a five-piece, with Cam on precussion, harmonica & guitar. “The energy level was INSANE, and it was musically one of the best bands I’ve ever been in. However, all we ever did was argue”, sez Dave.

May / June 1987

Meanwhile, Dan & Dave have been buying recording gear in hopes of building a demo studio. “We needed guinea pigs to try it out on, so why not the Deacons?”

The first sessions produced two songs, a rocked-up version of “(I’m a) Lonesome Fugitive“, which was Merle Haggard’s first hit (written by Lynn Anderson’s parents), and the Eddie Cochran classic “Cut Across Shorty“. A third song, Johnny Cash’s “Tennessee Flat Top Box“, was recorded but never completed.

Fall 1987

Almost exactly a year after the Deacons’ original lineup launched, the band grinds to a halt. “A couple of people were struggling with personal issues, but the biggest reason for the collapse was that we were friends first, and bandmates second”, reasons Dave.”We didn’t want the politics within the band to permanently affect our friendship.”

1988

1988 was the year of no Deacons. The individual members gigged together and separately in a variety of combinations (The Jacklords, the Hucklebucks, Sweaty Betty) but none of these bands lasted more than one or two gigs. The one bright spot that year was Dave becoming the first married Deacon in August. True to form, Dan was best man.

1989

The Screamin’ Deacons lineup (Rick, Kenny, Dan, Dave) reform briefly in the spring. “We played about four gigs in about six weeks. The truly memorable one was playing Good Friday at the Gown & Gavel, when I looked out into the audience (I think we were playing “Fortunate Son”) and realized that every musician in the city was there. Then I went to Boston for a week’s vacation with my new bride, and by the time I got back, the band had broken up”, recalls Dave.

Deacons Timeline II – pre-Deacons

1983

Rick casts about for a new gig. He eventually sets his sights on Hamilton, and there moves in with an old high school friend, Cameron Hoffman. They pack up their acoustic guitars and head downtown to busk on the street corner.

1984

Rick & Cam start appearing at Folk Nights at the Gown & Gavel pub in Hess Village, playing Everly Brothers, Gene Vincent et al. Soon after, they meet drummer/rockabilly fanatic Jimmy Faulkner. They form rockabilly trio “The Kingfishers”, and start to gig.

1985

Cam leaves to fullfill his military service. Meanwhile, Dan Thorpe has moved to Hamilton. Rick invites him to join the band, but he just can’t envision a band with no bassplayer. He borrows Dave’s bass rig and they rename the band “The Rumbletones”.

1986

After almost a year of solid gigging, the Rumbletones implode over personal differences between the members. First Dan leaves (replaced by Craig Nicoloff), then Rick walks away.