Deacon John: 60 years of music

14th June 2017   ·   0 Comments

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

New Orleans legendary guitarist and vocalist Deacon John celebrates his 60th year in the music business at Tipitina’s, Saturday, June 17, 2017. The club, now boasting 40 years and a legend in its own right, perfectly suits the occasion on many levels. Deacon John & the Ivories not only performed at the Napoleon Avenue nightspot since its early days but Deacon was one of the original stockholders. Plus, even now, Tipitina’s retains that corner bar, neighborhood feel that tends to draw in old fans and fellow musicians making nights there special.

“I was so excited about Tipitina’s being a live music venue to honor rhythm and blues musicians who were associated with Professor Longhair’s legacy,” Deacon remembers. “I was excited about the place opening up and paying tribute to the indigenous culture and music of New Orleans – Chris Kenner, Jessie Hill, K-Doe, Johnny Adams…”

When Deacon first started performing professionally in 1957, he was still in high school and was known simply as John Moore. “That’s when I started playing for money,” says Deacon of how he determined the year. Then, as is typical for the seriously humorous man, he starts laughing.

Deacon John, a master story teller gifted with an encyclopedic memory of the last six decades of New Orleans music, naturally has a million tales. One of the most interesting is, perhaps, how he evolved from John Moore to Deacon John.

In the late 1950s, the guitarist worked regularly with a band called the Ivories that included saxophonist Roger Lewis. When the leader left for California, the group disbanded.

“When the band broke up, I got some of the players that used to play with them and we kept the name the Ivories,” Deacon explains. “But then we added my name to the group. I remember we had a meeting and everybody said, ‘What we gonna call him?’ and everybody was looking at me. We were the Ivories but we had to have a band leader like Tommy Ridgley & the Untouchables, Danny White & the Cavaliers, Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters. That’s when drummer Al Miller, who used to play drums with Professor Longhair and was on “Bald Head” and played trumpet with Roy Brown, said, ‘Let’s call him Deacon John.’ I said man, please don’t call me that. People will think we’re a gospel group and we’ll never get no gigs around here. ‘Oh, no you look like a deacon,’ the guys agreed. That name is good.’”

“I strongly suspect that he (Al Miller) got that name from the line in Roy Brown’s (original)song “Good Rocking Tonight” that said, ‘Well, Deacon Jones and Melville Brown, two of the slickest cats in town…’”

That conversation took place in 1960 and it’s been Deacon John ever since. However, for a period of time, he abandoned the name the Ivories. On the advice of a friend, Johnny Spade, the leader of, according to Deacon, one of the hottest rock bands in town, Deacon changed his musical direction and began calling his band the Electric Soul Train.

“Johnny Spade told me, ‘Look man you could be the next Jimi Hendrix.’ I said, ‘Who’s that?’ Then he said, ‘He’s just the guy tearing up the whole world. He’s the hottest thing in show business and he’s a Black guy. You’re already doing some of it, just take the next step.’”

“I saw that rhythm and blues music and soul music of the ‘60s were taking a back seat to the hard rock bands,” Deacon John remembers. “So if you want to survive and get more gigs, that was one of the avenues to take. You gotta jump on the bandwagon with the rest of the cats. So I reinvented myself.”

So Deacon dug into music from Hendrix, Sly & the Family Stone, Chicago, Buddy Miles and initially brought his new sound to Black nightclubs assuming that since it was based on blues, the patrons would dig it.

“Jim Hendrix ain’t doin’ nothin’ but playing electric blues just turning up the amplifier,” Deacon continues. “I modeled myself after Hendrix and I got myself a Fender Stratocaster.”

Like Deacon, many folks in New Orleans Black community, who primarily tuned into AM radio stations, weren’t hip to the new music. So, he says, again with a laugh, for the most part they thought he was playing original material at his gigs.

Of course, Deacon John, a man with a love and talent for theatrics, went full out in embracing the era by growing his hair out to a “big bush,” wearing bell bottom pants and a leather vest and often taking the stage barefooted. It was during this time that the Deacon’s brother, bassist Charles Moore, joined the band Electric Soul Train sporting, as Deac remembers a big Afro. He continues to play with the Ivories though now, of course, the bassist wears his hair very neatly cropped.

After establishing the Electric Soul Train at the local Black clubs like the Nite Cap and the Pepper Pot, Deacon John successfully crossed over to venues frequented by white, hard rock and psychedelic music enthusiasts. Deacon and his band opened up the area’s first big, venue, The Computer, that was designed specifically for rock music. It boasted all the era’s psychedelic bells and whistles.

Deacon John’s adaptability, affable good nature, business acumen and, naturally, his great talent as a guitarist, vocalist and band leader have served him well through six decades.

“Come out and celebrate my anniversary,” exclaims Deacon John, who has been honored along with other musical legends on Tipitina’s Walk of Fame. “We’re going to play the history of rock ‘n roll and the music of your life – your proms, your fraternity parties, your weddings. I’m going to do a trip down memory lane and an eclectic blend of nostalgia and contemporary music.”

This article originally published in the June 12, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.