John Deacon (Queen)

[Bernmeister]

John Deacon had a great ear for melody & he always played the songs.
His parts weaved in & around the vocals, guitars & drums.

He's what i call an intelligent & thoughtful player.

[7string]

Simply one of [i][b]the[/b][/i] great bass players..

[Kalim]

Hi,

John Deacon is one very underated player who in my opinion is a fantastic player both in terms of taste and melodic playing. A very solid player indeed whos parts fit the songs like a glove . Its ok tapping and slapping and raking and stuff but this is where it is really at, at least for me.

Cheers
Kalim

[nick]

Not a fan of Queen myself, but have to admit "Under Pressure" is a seminal bassline, & a cracking tune.

[anti-barbie]

It's not till you start learning them that you realise that it was more complex that it at first sounds. Top Noch Bassist (the dog is a fan of Another one bites the dust)

[dmccombe7]

For me its all been said.
Until you try learning them you dont appreciate how complex and melodic to the songs.
Was never a huge Queen fan but do appreciate they were all good individually and even more so as a group.
Great sound tho.

Dave

[stingrayPete1977]

There's a lot more fretless P and stingray on the recordings than people realise if you listen carefully. Check out good old fashioned lover boy for examples of everything said in this thread, brilliant!

[JTUK]

Right place, right time.. but I'd never call him a great bass player but then I was never
going to be a Queen fan either

[Conan]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1402582183' post='2475012']I'd never call him a great bass player[/quote]

Depends what your definition of a "great bass player" is, doesn't it?

[quote name='JD1' timestamp='1179534358' post='1981']Awesome. For me, what bass playing is all about. [/quote]

For me too. So many of the so-called "greats" are all about technique and using ten notes when one will do. Deacon is/was the antithesis of that approach. Not that he couldn't play a complex line mind... but it would tend to be complex from a melody point of view rather than just being "difficult to play".

For example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJU-E-Etop8

Edited June 26, 2014 by icastle
Link fixed.

[humapuma]

I think he's an excellent and often overlooked player. Inventive and supportive.

He's essentially retired completely from the biz, which is why you never see him interviewed anywhere. I'd like to imagine he turns up at some muso bars now and then for a jam, but who knows....

[deepbass5]

Yep - great bass so many great numbers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEjU9KVABao&list=RDCEjU9KVABao&feature=share

[Black Coffee]

Do I remember correctly that he used a Musicman stingray to record another one bites the dust ?

Not that it matters that much, it's just that he is remembered usually more as a P player.

[FlatEric]

When I stasrted reading this thread, I thought I would add my tuppence worth!
It seems, however that you have pretty much said what I was going to.

Top player.

[Lozz196]

Most of the posts on here echo my thoughts. Definitley a great player. Knew that with a singer like Freddie Mercury, and a guitarist like Brian May, over-cluttering with flash playing would be to the detriment of the band. Great melodies, and a big influence on my calmer bass-playing.

[steve-soar]

inspirational, on every level.

[steve-soar]

His middle name should be, "Taste".

[Allie]

Everyone's said it all - such a great musician.

Al

[Bassman Steve]

To me, he's the Jamerson of rock. He has the perfect tone and plays exactly what the song needs.

My biggest influence (I discovered the Precision bass thanks to him) by far and very under-rated by many (I would happily be as under-rated if I had his royalty cheques).

Edited June 13, 2014 by Bassman Steve

[ZenBasses]

All totally agree with...

A rock solid player with some classic lines. It's only when you really take the time to deconstruct a song that you realise just how complex his arrangements were. There's pick playing, slap playing, chordal work, harmonic progressions, tapping, use of fx. All bang tidy and always appropriate.

Also seems that out of all of Queen he was the most 'gentlemanly' of the lot.

Personally, his work on Made in Heaven is some of my favourite. Superb fretless playing.

Plus he wrote 2 of the most iconic bass lines of all time... You know the ones..

[flyfisher]

Agreed. He's been there, done it all, exceptionally well, and now moved on to live his life out of the media spotlight. Top man in every way!

[Cosmo Valdemar]

In purely musical terms, arguably[i] the[/i] finest British bass player. At least in the pop/rock world.
Seriously.

[notable9]

[quote name='acidbass' timestamp='1179508161' post='1665']
Vastly underrated player, he obviously knows the fretboard inside out which you can see when he fills. I think even his playing on 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is brilliant, not exactly flashy or overly technical but extremely melodic and tasteful!
[/quote]
++1
a guy who definitely knew his stuff, a very good player indeed.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='bassman344' timestamp='1402593985' post='2475161']
Do I remember correctly that he used a Musicman stingray to record another one bites the dust ?

Not that it matters that much, it's just that he is remembered usually more as a P player.
[/quote]

Lots of Ray use from him....
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI3LAgGBxqU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI3LAgGBxqU[/url]
A bit of an early pioneer for the Stingray really, lots of the hits of that era were on a Ray.

Edited June 21, 2014 by stingrayPete1977

[stingrayPete1977]

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w70HHFUvU1I"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w70HHFUvU1I[/url]

[molan]

I have to admit that I dislike Queen intensely and they were always one of those bands that if they came on the radio I'd be reaching for the 'change channel' button.

However, as others have said, when I had to learn some Queen songs I realised how interesting some of JD's bass lines were, some really nice little fills and lines I would never have noticed had I not been trying to transcribe them