Bill Callahan & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy cover Steely Dan's "Deacon Blues" w/ Bill MacKay (listen)
Having taken a few weeks off, Bill Callahan and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy are back with their collaborative covers series, this week taking on Steely Dan’s Aja classic “Deacon Blues.” As usual with these, a third collaborator provides the backing and this time we’ve got literal triple Bill thanks to improvisational guitarist Bill MacKay who delivers an ethereal and jazzy rendition of the song. This “Deacon Blues” is both familiar and new, with Callahan singing lead and Will Oldham coming for the “Learn to work the saxophone” chorus. Listen below.
Previous covers in this series: Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ “Blackness of the Night” made with AZITA; Hank Williams Jr’s “OD’d in Denver” made with Chavez’s Matt Sweeney; Dave Rich’s “I’ve Made Up My Mind” with Alasdair Roberts; The Other Years’ “Red Tailed Hawk” made with Matt Kinsey; and Billie Eilish’s “Wish You Were Gay” with Sean O’Hagan.
