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In praise of John Deacon

You got that right:
John Deacon's work with queen is a prime example of "the great 70s Bass Player."
There were so many of them, and when I was a kid in the late 70s, I failed to recognize how great they were. Fran Sheehan of Boston is another shining example. He absolutely SMOKED. Stan Sheldon of Peter Frampton's band comes to mind. BTW, he is doing great work today. There are so many... They were all steeped in the best of Motown, yet they brought a modern edge to the game. Deacon goes unsung, like a dozen or more others. It seems only John Paul Jones gets anywhere near the recognition he deserves. Hats off to all those guys. They were all so good, that great bass playing was simply the norm.
 
every song of queen is a gem basswise, not to speak of brian may's breathtaking guitarwork!
Bought my first Queen Casette (news of the world) in the tender age of 8. thats why I like some of them songs, because I kow them for soo long! Spread your wings, where JD also played the acoustic guitar, the rocker sheer hart attack and all the other classics!

JD rocks!!!

its a pity he wont play anymore
 
I disagree with people who say John Deacon wasn't flashy. His tone wasn't flashy. His playing was extremely flashy when it was warranted. That's what made him great...he knew when to be flashy and when to play footballs on the one. But trust me...he was considered flashy for his day.
 
It was also reported that Roger Taylor hated 'Another One bites the Dust' and wouldn't record it, so Deacon played the drums on the recording and also the rhythm guitar part, then May laid down those trippy guitar effects.

Definitely Taylor on drums on that one mate, though Deacon did play quite a lot of guitar with Queen (including some lead - Misfire from Sheer Heart Attack - pretty audacious when you're in a band with Brian May!). Conversley, Taylor laid down some of the great down'n'dirty bass on News Of The World! I think on Fight From The Inside ...
 
I guess i'm going to have to listen to my queen albums again. I was a huge fan of them 15 years ago, i still love their music but never play their cds anymore. the first two albums blew my mind away. i had never heard anything like that, and they are still my favourite albums.
death on two legs bassline comes to mind. but i'll have to listen to everything closer again. i didn't play bass when i was listening to queen.
 
I'm a bit of a queen fanboy, so don't have a particular favourite, but here goes.

'Liar', 'March of the Black Queen' 'Now I'm Here', from the early days. Not so keen on the middle work, but 'Body Language' has a great line, and 'Spread Your Wings', 'Bites the Dust'. Even toward the end, there's some great bass on 'Show Must Go On' and These Are The Days Of Our Lives', beautiful peice of inventive fretless on that one.
 
I have a hard time listening to anything by Queen at this point... painfully dated sounding to me.

That being said, he's a WONDERFUL bassist, and one of the first, along with Gary Thain of Uriah Heep (talk about even more painfully dated sounding now!) way back in the day (and of course Paul McCartney) who caught my ear early on as a very proficient player (clean technique, great time, creative lines, great tone!).

There were guys like Entwistle and Squire who were tearing it up back then obviously, but Deacon and these other guys really seemed like more direct descendents of the classic Soul and R&B sort of school of bass playing... fat tone, groove and supportive playing. I dug it!!!!! IMO!