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John Deacon, the bassplayer

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I think John Deacon is a wonderful bassplayer on the Queen records but sometimes a bad bassplayer on stage (live). He wasn't a very good bassplayer between 1978 - 1984 on stage. He plays too little or just nothing in some parts of song (!?). Examples : he doesn't play much in songs like Play the game, Sheer heart attack, Somebody to love, action this day and I'm in love with my car. I think his best moments on stage were between 1973 - 1977. On record he was absolutely great. Songs like under presure, dragon attack, another one bites the dust and the show must go on have great basslines.
Is this a Question? =)
MY GOD spell it write.
well. What do you think about his bassplaying ?
Well Peronsally I like his style, Since I heard all the Queen songs and like most of them, I just Feel he was to quiet sometimes live, Unlike Led Zep (well seems like it on Bootlegs) Roger and John are more quiet in sound compared to Zep, where the Drums and Bass seem louder and Brian's Guitar is louder then Jimmys, so Personally my thoughts are they knew Brian was the sound of Queen and made his guitar a little louder then most bands guitar players.
My favorite songs are written by John, so of course I like him =)
MY GOD spell it write.
I LOVE John's Bass playing, live and on record.

Listen to him on the intro. to "Dragon Attack" on "Live At The Bowl"...talk about SMOKIN'! & ROCKIN'!, also on "Under Pressure" and on "Live At The Bowl", and several cuts on "Live At Wembley", especially AKOM. You can hear the audience clapping along with the rhythm.

I mean the man is so underated. He's totally got it going on.
xyz
Where's Deacon1stChoice when you need him? ;)
He may clarify us some things...
Listen more carefully and you'd hear his bass lines on most of the songs on all lives in all periods.

He's not a star, he probably hasn't a star charisma, but he's a very good bass player.
John played Bass very well as he knew the importance of WHEN to play, and when NOT to play. This may explain why the above comments in the first post seemed to say that John hardly played anything noteworthy in the later tours.

The arrangements became much more simlified after the late 70's so naturally the basslines would change somewhat in style. Queen's best era ( for me anyway) was in the early days. The brilliant and beautifully complicated arrangements made Queen the standout that it was...and John was very much responsible for that on more levels then most folks are even aware of.

He has done some stunning work, and even in the later eras he did some amazing stuff. John always insisted in quality and was extremly aware of all aspects of the recording and performance of the pieces. The man truly had total understanding and control of what he was doing and it shows very well in many recordings and performances.
<font color=#FF399> Linda Of The Valley wrote:
Your points don't really make sense at all. I mean, the bass bits are fine on Play The Game...you're not meant to here too much of a bass player in songs and he can't just change the songs in 1978 - 1984 to put more bass in....

He played fine. I don't know that much about bass players...I could never tell a good player from a great one but I love Deacy!! :) He made some killer basslines!


Always has to add something, make her point on something she doesn't know nothing about, just to talk...
John Deacon has something that no other Bass player has - John Deacon's style. Nuff said.
"Normally i can't dance to save my life. But as soon as I step in dog shit, I can moonwalk better than Michael Jackson."
John Deacon WAS a great player! I really wish he was touring with Queen. I loved his perm and fdootball shorts...........and his great basslines.
Michael Gallagher
john's slightly underated, as is roger and even brian. i don't think john's a all time great but desearves a bit more credit as a bass player. 'millionare waltz' liar, and later stuff like 'breakthru' show his talents.
Well, being a drummer myself it's imperative that in any band the bass and drums need to work together. I tend to listen to John's bass playing a little more on all my bootlegs and let me tell you something kid, the man has "chops." He is a consumate professional and as I was telling MY bassist the other day, he RARELY makes any mistakes live and his style of playing compliments each and every song live. VERY under rated talent. He knew when not to overplay and just keep the bottom end solid. Remember, when Brian goes into a solo, John and Roger don't need to overplay or show off, just keep up the pace. But what do I know, I'm only 39 and can't compete with a 16 year old.
i agree, john is a solid bass player, i think 'your my best friend' is another example of john playing the parts but not showing off, actually all queen members were like that, by the way, i'm far from 16 buddy, not to far behind you at 39, i'm 33.
Belive me, this man is THE most tasteful bassplayer in the world, but, you may notice that, on the less successful records (TG It's Cmas etc) there is a lack of imagination in the basslines

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