Deacon Blue

Deacon Blue - Fellow Hoodlums - 1991 - Columbia

The great Glaswegian band, Deacon Blue released this album to successful reviews. Considered at one time to be among the best British live bands, Deacon Blue's unique folksy jazzy balladic songs included classics like "Real Gone Kid", "Fergus Sings the Blues," "Chocolate Girl", and "Dignity."This album may not be up to the same standard as "When the World Knows Your Name," or "Raintown," but it remains in a class of it's own, with great playing, and the highest quality songwriting from Ricky Ross. Listen to their outstanding "When the World Knows Your Name" album. For more music in this vein, check out the great "From Langley Park to Memphis" album by Prefab Sprout. Check out Seacon Blue's detailed bio @ DB/WIKI/BIO

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

A1 James Joyce Soles - Ricky Ross
A2 Fellow Hoodlums - Ricky Ross
A3 Your Swaying Arms - Ricky Ross
A4 Cover From The Sky - Ricky Ross
A5 The Day That Jackie Jumped The Jail - Ricky Ross
A6 The Wildness - James Prime, Ricky Ross

B1 A Brighter Star Than You Will Shine - James Prime, Ricky Ross
B2 Twist And Shout - Ricky Ross
B3 Closing Time - Ricky Ross
B4 Goodnight Jamsie - James Prime, Ricky Ross
B5 I Will See You Tomorrow - James Prime, Ricky Ross
B6 One Day I'll Go Walking - Lorraine McIntosh, Ricky Ross

BAND

Ricky Ross - vocals
Lorraine McIntosh - 2nd vocals
Graeme Kelling - guitar
James Prime - keyboards
Ewen Vernal - bass/fiddle
Dougie Vipond - drums/fiddle
Gavyn Wright, Steve Shaw - fiddles

REVIEW

On their third album of new studio material, Ricky Ross and Deacon Blue continued to pursue their pop/folk/soul hybrid, a musical mixture seemingly unique to the lesser dominions of the British Isles. It's a sound in which the rhythm section usually is aping the Motown house band or The MG's, there are such acoustic instruments as guitars and fiddles (or keyboard on string settings) filling the middle section, and the tunes are topped by an expressive singer with lyrics full of yearning and local references. It doesn't always travel well, and, indeed, although Fellow Hoodlums entered the British charts near the top and produced three chart singles, the album was lost entirely in the U.S. © William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

SHORT BIO [ © Craig Harris, All Music Guide ]

Taking their name from a Steely Dan song, Deacon Blue is one of the best unknown bands in Scotland. With the vocals of singer-songwriter Ricky Ross backed by jazz and soul-inspired melodies, the group recorded several British hits in the late-1980s. Their success, however, failed to carry over to American audiences. Frustrated by their inability to secure international popularity, the group disbanded in the summer of 1994. Although he launched a solo career, Ross had no greater success than he had as frontman for Deacon Blue. In May 1999, the group agreed to reunite for a series of concerts in Great Britain and Europe. Their first new album in five years, Walking Back Home, was released shortly afterwards. Formed in 1985, Deacon Blue performed their first concert as the opening act for The Waterboys' first show in England. The group continued to go through personnel changes with only Reed and drummer Dougie Vipond remaining from the original band. As of November 1999, Deacon Blue was rounded out by bassist Ewen Vernal, guitarist Graeme Kelling, keyboardist Jamis Prime and second vocalist Lorraine McIntosh.