And what is you guys' opinion on John Deacon as a bass player?

[Blazer]

Queen's piledriver, John Deacon who also wrote a lot of Queen classics such as "You're my best friend", "I want to break free" and "Another one bites the dust" and was very fleetfooted on the neck of his Fenders and songs like "The Miracle", "Killer Queen", "Don't stop me now" and of course "Bohemian Rhapsody" have basslines so intimately intertwined with the melodies of those songs that they are far harder to play than would appear.

What he also had in his playing is a very recognizable feel, a very articulate way of plucking the stings, he didn't have an overly bright sound but he played with, dare I say it, FINESSE. And it's only when you take him away that it becomes clear how BIG his part of the Queen sound was. When I saw the Queen and Paul Rogers concert on TV I went "It doesn't sound like Queen" because of Deacon not being there, the guy who replaced him is playing Deacon's basslines but he fails to get that taste and feel in his playing that was Deacon's very own.

This is the very last song on which Deacon plays and even though Freddie isn't there, it SOUNDS like Queen.


What I also love about John Deacon is that he knows when to call it quits, he quit the music scene to concentrate on his family and even stopped doing Queen related interviews as well.

The sad thing is Deacon is easily overlooked in Queen because of Freddie's massive stage persona and equally massive voice and Brian May's guitar playing and there aren't many bassplayers who cite John Deacon as a major influence.

So what is the Outpost' opinion on John Deacon?

[gweimer]

As I recall, it was Deacon who became band leader when they hit the studio.  I think he had a fairly knowledgeable education in electronics.  He's easily one of the best support bassists around, and gets ample time to spread his wings.  He and Roger Taylor were a mighty rhythm section.

[Hornisse]

Queen's Jazz LP came out when I was a Senior in High School and is still one of my favorites.  I have all of their stuff but really enjoy their 70's output.  Of course Roger Taylor did play bass on some of the stuff too. (mostly his songs)

[GonzoBass]

Although not a major influence on my playing style,
I have always loved the way he navigates the upper register on "You're My Best Friend".
Somehow without losing the support role.

Tastey.

[godofthunder]

Agreed a great and often overlooked player, those shorts gotta go though.

[uwe]

Excellent bass player with a hugely melodic and individual style; he was a guitarist before joining Queen. On those early recordings his melodic runs are all over and he's darn fast too, yet subtle. His songs also tend to be my favorite Queen songs. (All you yank and limey native speakers: I always wonder, is the "ea" in his name pronounced like in "head" or in "leader"? Does he rhyme with "beacon of light" or "ham and bacon"?)

I saw "We will rock you" in London on Saturday, very weak and labored story line, makes Mamma Mia seem like a work of genius. The band playing the Queen songs does its best and Laurie Wisefield (ex-Wishbone Ash and Home as well as stints with Al Stewart, Roger Chapman and Nokia Night of the Proms) has Brian May's tone and feel down pat, but while the bass player (I think it was Neil Murray, but I'm not sure, if it was him, then Murray, who has a great individual style, is not very good at copying Deacon) played some Deaconish runs, it didn't sound like Deacon at all, way too fundamental with none of his nimble lightfootedness. Queen music, if not played by Taylor, Deacon, May and Mercury, becomes bland pop very quickly, I learned that on Saturday.

Deacon has been a perfect gentleman with impeccable taste as regards the questionable projects of his former band buddies (which he did not support nor obstruct) since Freddie's death. He did not take part in the creation of the - now that I've seen it: frankly embarrassing - musical and had no part in the ill-matched (both live and on the studio record) Paul Rodgers liaison which has now thankfully come to an end. Queen (i.e. Taylor and May) were bad company for Rodgers without being Bad Company for him. And with this most brilliant pun I exit. Yes, Deacon is a great player.

[Blazer]

Uwe, from what I heard "Deacon" is pronounced "Dee-con"

[uwe]

Thanks, that was an interesting clip.  Seems to be a genuinely nice guy too. He always had a very middle-of-the-road and unobstrusive sound in the mix (not much bass, not much treble, not much mid bite and no distortion) which is probably why he was largely ignored by the greater public, so-called Bill Wyman syndrome. But his playing was quite busy, even flashy at times. Also on the early recordings he would hardly ever repeat a verse or a chorus with the same runs. But his simplistic stuff (Bite the Dust, Invisible Man or Magic) is good too, he had an ear for repeating bass lines that would grind themselves into your brain.

[gearHed289]

He's f*ckin great. Queen was a huge band for me when I started playing bass - Day at the Races was the current album. Very underrated bass player. And he wrote some great songs too. You're My Best Friend is one of the best love songs ever. 

[OldManC]

Great bass player. His parts, however flashy or simplistic, always served the song. Another little known factoid; Brian May's signature sound comes, in part, from John's self built guitar amp (later copied by Vox for a Brian May Signature amp):

Built by Queen bassist John Deacon in 1970, the original Deacy amplifier is as unique a piece of gear as you'll ever see. Built from tossed-off radio parts, Deacon simply copied a solid-state Mullard circuit from the early '60s, and mounted it into a hi-fi bookshelf speaker cabinet. The original Deacy had no controls, was powered by a 9-volt lantern battery, and it cranked out approximately a haft-watt through a small woofer and a cone tweeter.

http://www.queenarchives.com/index.php?title=Brian_May_-_08-XX-2003_-_Digitech_Pedal_-_Guitar_Player

[Chris P.]

I'm a huge Queen fan, although I hate May's guitar sound. It's Freddie and John I like. And don't underestimate Roger Taylor as drummer and singer.

All I can say is said before above, but I also love his songs. Spread Your Wings is one of my favourites and is it a coincidence that Gweimer said: 'He's easily one of the best support bassists around, and gets ample time to spread his wings'? Didn't he co-write It's A Hard Life too?

John's not only a very melodic player who always plays what the songs needed, but he also made some very, very famous lines. Think Under Pressure, Breakthrough and Another One Bites The Dust. I believe the last song is a Taylor song, and not a Deacon (pronounced like weak, beak) one, but I'm not entirely sure.

John was very influenced by Entwistle and you can hear some Entwistle in his more melodic songs. Entwistle gave him a Warwick Buzzard once, which he played for a while. In the end it was too large for him and he kept on playing Precisions. He plays the Buzzard in a vid but I can't recall which one.

I also love the fact he doesn't play in 'Queen' nowadays. have I told the story before that Paul Rodgers called me at night and I hung up angry on him?

[uwe]

You've told the story before, but its worth hearing again how you managed to put a foot in your mouth! 

"Bite the dust" is Deacon. The bass run is lifted off some Sugarhill Gang recording. It was the time when Deacon first discovered black music and funk and rap especially. It totally changed his approach to writing songs and to creating bass runs. You can really divide his bass playing with Queen in a pre-ABTD and a post-ABTD  phase.

[Chris P.]

Yep, I know the Sugarhill Gang line. It begins the same, but it goes on and up at the end. Nice.

Okay, the Paul Rodgers story, for the guys who haven't heard it yet.

I was asked by Dutch musicians magazine Musicmaker to interview someone of The Free because of the release of a DVD some years ago. I asked for Andy Fraser of course. Andy would call me that wednesday at eight thirty and indeed: At that time sharp the phone went off and I interviewed Andy for half an hour. Nice guy.

That friday I started drinking red wine quite early in the evening and at home that makes me sleepy. My girlfriend and I both had a busy week, so we decided to go to bed early. That was around 22:00. At 23:00 I woke up because the phone was ringing. I was too late to get it, so I went to bed and fell asleep again. An hour later the phone rang again and again I was too late to get it. My girfriend went to the toilet, the phone went again but she was too late too, so she brought the phone into our bedroom. There was no number identification and I just hoped nothing bad happened with family or friends. Somewhere around 1 O'Clock I was asleep again and the phone woke me up for the third time. I was a bit angry at that moment, so I took it up a bit sleepy and a bit angry. The following happened:

- Met Chris ('This is Chris speaking')
- Hello Chris, this is Paul Rodgers of the Free. I was asked to call you for an interview.
- Well, you woke me up for the third time, I know nothing about you calling me and I already spoke to Andy Fraser, so I know everything I wanted to know.
- Okay, well, goodbye then.
- Bye.

And I ended the conversation. At that moment I realised I had been very rude to an icon in rock, which some people would die for to speak to him. I just missed the opportunity to talk with Paul Rodgers! My girlfriend heard it all and we both couldn't stop laughing!

Well. In the end I only had an appointment with Andy, so Paul calling me was some kinda mistake. I apologized to the management later and they could laugh about it too. I hope Paul did so too.

And I was man enough to mention what happened in the The Free article I wrote.

What a mistake...

[Blazer]

Err, Chris, Uwe "Sugarhill gang?" don't you mean Chic's "Good times"?


Sugarhill Gang sampled this bassline and John Deacon and Bernard Edwards knew each other. In fact it was Bernard Edwards that inspired John Decon to buy a Musicman Stingray and he played that one for YEARS.



Chic in 1996 with Bernard Edwards laying it down

[Chris P.]

Okay, thanks. I think Uwe and I meant that on yeah!