John Deacon

John Richard Deacon (Leicester, England, August 19, 1951) is a retired British musician and composer, known for having been the bassist for the rock band Queen. On several albums he also played the role of guitarist and more occasionally keyboardist. He is the author of some of the band's greatest hits, such as "You're My Best Friend", "Spread Your Wings", "Another One Bites the Dust", "I Want to Break Free" or "Friends Will Be Friends", which demonstrates his important contribution to the group in creative matters.

Considered one of the most versatile bassists in rock history, Rolling Stone magazine placed him 32nd on its list of the 100 Greatest Bassists of All Time.

Biography

Deacon was born on 19 August 1951, in Leicester, and grew up in a family consisting of his father Arthur Henry Deacon (who worked for an insurance company and who died in 1962), his mother Lillian Molly and his younger sister Julie (born 1956).

At the age of seven his parents bought him his first electric guitar, a "Tommy Steele" special red plastic In 1960 the family moved to Oadby, just outside Leicester, and John changed schools. Although he really liked music -mainly that of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Hollies, The Dave Clark Five and The Zombies- his main hobby was electronics.

In 1962, at the age of eleven, he decided he wanted to learn the guitar, and began saving up to buy one, delivering newspapers in the morning. He soon had enough money to buy an acoustic guitar, whereupon he began rehearsing with some friends in a garage.

He was fourteen when he formed his first band, The Opposition. They gave many concerts in and around Leicester. In April 1966 they incorporated a new member and the bassist left the band, being replaced by Deacon, who had bought a second-hand EKO bass. Due to their formation change, in May they adopt the name of The New Opposition.

In September John enrolled at Beauchamp Grammar School in Leicester. He was still interested in Electronics, and he began his studies with great enthusiasm, although this did not stop him from continuing to give concerts with the band, which had already achieved prestige playing in clubs and private parties. In March 1968 the members decided to change the name of the group to "Art". They performed regularly, but things weren't going too well. In September one of the oldest members, Richard Young, leaves the band to play in another group.

In August 1969 he played for the last time with Art, since thanks to his high grades at the Beaucamp Grammar School he had been admitted to King's College London (Chelsea College in his day). At the start of his second year, John yearned for music and playing in a band, at which time The Beatles' album Abbey Road became one of his main influences, songs like: "Come Together", "Something", "Oh! Darling", "I Want You" and "Because" from the mentioned album are his favorites, and he convinced his mother to send him the equipment to London. Because his roommate, Peter Stoddart, played the guitar, they got together with two other classmates and were called Deacon. But John was not happy, he did not like the sound of the group.

Career

Queen

In early 1971 he attended the Maria Assumpta Teacher Training College with Peter Stoddart and a friend, Christine Farnell. Christine introduced him to three of her friends: Roger Taylor, Brian May and Freddie Mercury. With May and Taylor looking for a bassist for their band Queen, Deacon was asked if he'd like to audition. The test took place days later at Imperial College, and the members of Queen thought he was very good, and because he was quite quiet they thought he could adapt without too much trouble. The fact that he was a & # 34; magician & # 34; of electronics was a decisive factor for the acceptance of him. Later, thanks to his training as an electronic engineer, he built and adapted equipment for the band. His best-known creation is the & # 34; Deacy Amp & # 34;, used by Brian May and himself, at the end of the theme & # 34; Bohemian Rhapsody & # 34;.

A few days later (1 March 1971), they called him to say they accepted him, and John Deacon became the fourth and final member of Queen.

John spent the next 16 years touring with Queen, co-producing twelve albums and thirty-two singles. In 1986 John made his first and only work as a soloist. He formed the group The Immortals with Robert Ahwai and Lenny Zakatek, to record a single titled song No Turning Back, released that same year and appearing in the film Biggles, in which John makes a minor appearance.

Leaving Queen

John felt the death of Freddie very much, retreating and becoming a bit of a prisoner of himself [...] he wrote to Brian and me a letter where he said to us: “I fully approve what you are doing and desire that you continue with it, but not with me...”. Of course [...] John added a posdata: “Keep sending the checks!”, which, of course, we did.

Roger Taylor.

After Freddie's death, John appeared with May and Taylor at the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. In 1993 John appeared with Roger at the concert at Cowdray Ruins, playing 6 numbers. Between that year and 1995 he dedicated himself to finishing the album Made In Heaven together with Brian and Roger, and in 1997 he participated in Queen's first and only single without Mercury, No-One. But You. That song and his appearance with Elton John and the rest of the band at a charity performance in Paris in 1997 earlier that year are John's last works on Queen. From that year to the present he is retired from the musical field. This is surely related to the fact that John always said that there was no Queen without Mercury. This always encouraged him to write and to make his contributions to the band, which paid off and are detailed below on this page, therefore John became the & # 34; protégé & # 34; of Mercury and, when he died, John was greatly affected by the absence of his great friend and companion. On the other hand, John's shy character also contributed to his idea of wanting to be away from the band, now that he wasn't forced to live it like when Mercury was present. Although he did not participate, John gave his ex-bandmates his approval to record as Queen + Paul Rodgers the album entitled The Cosmos Rocks, and both Brian May and Roger Taylor have always made it clear, when they have had the opportunity, that John Deacon is aware of everything but does not participate in any way. His last public appearance was in 2002, when he could be seen attending the opening of the Queen musical, & # 34; We Will Rock You & # 34;.

The last photo in which John Deacon can be seen is the wedding of his eldest son, on an unknown date.

The Queen Controversy

It has been reported that Deacon expressed his opinion on the version of "We Are The Champions" by Brian May, Roger Taylor, Robbie Williams recorded for A Knight's Tale. It was previously thought that they had asked Williams to replace Mercury a few years after George Michael withdrew his offer to tour with them. In an interview with The Sun about this collaboration, Deacon said that "it's one of the best songs ever written, but I think they've ruined it. I don't want to be a killjoy, but let's just say that Robbie Williams is not Freddie Mercury. Freddie can never be replaced, and certainly not by him."

Musical style

Let's say that the product of drummer Roger Meddows Taylor and bassist John Deacon is explosive, a colossal and sound volcano whose eruption makes the earth shake.

Gordon Fletcher - Rolling Stone 149.

Deacon played guitar, as well as bass, taking on rhythm parts on many albums, as well as several acoustic performances. Some of the guitar parts on Hot Space (he uses a Fender Telecaster) is Deacon's work. Synthesizers are occasionally used in his compositions and often piano, playing an electric one on his hit "You're My Best Friend". He can also be seen playing the grand piano in the video for "Spread Your Wings", although he doesn't play it in the studio version (Mercury).

Featured

For the most part, Deacon's compositions have ranged from pop, to rock, to funk. He has been responsible for some of Queen's biggest hits, such as: & # 34; You & # 39; re My Best Friend & # 34; (A Night at the Opera), "Another One Bites the Dust" (The Game) and "I Want to Break Free" (The Works).

To this day "You're My Best Friend" and "Another One Bites the Dust" are two of the most heard songs on the radio. She also co-wrote & # 34; Friends Will Be Friends & # 34; with Mercury and co-wrote the chords for "The Miracle," with Mercury. Both songs were added to the album Greatest Hits II. He also wrote two other popular songs ('Spread Your Wings' and 'Back Chat'), and created the riff for 'Under Pressure'.

As a bass player, his most notable bass lines are those performed on "Another One Bites the Dust", "Father to Son", "Liar", & #34;Dragon Attack", "Brighton Rock", "The March of the Black Queen", "You're My Best Friend", & #34;The Millionaire Waltz", "We Are the Champions", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "Body Language" and "Under Pressure".

He also played rhythm guitar on songs like "Staying Power" (live and in studio) and "Back Chat", and lead guitar on "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Misfire". He also played the double bass, notably to Brian May in 1975, on the song '39'. May had asked him to play the double bass as a joke, but a couple of days later he found Deacon in the studio with the instrument, which he had already learned to play.

Deacon's keyboard contributions were mostly just background chords. His most notable work is in his composition "You're My Best Friend", which was the first song he wrote for electric piano.

Style

Deacon used the bass as a melodic instrument as well as a rhythmic one. Some of his bass lines (for example "The Millionaire Waltz", "I'm Going Slightly Mad" or "You're My Best Friend") gave his technique a certain affinity with the style of Motown melodic bass lines. Some Queen songs (like "The Dragon Attack", "Another One Bites The Dust", "Don't Try Suicide" or "A Kind Of Magic") use the bass as the main instrument. Playing with Queen, Deacon achieved a highly technical style, with numerous 'breaks' arrangements, walking segments and very tight rapid note changes. He mainly used his fingers to play, although he occasionally used a pick. He usually did not use the floating thumb technique, and only occasionally used the thumb itself to play.

Deacon's trademark is his "breaks" arrangements. In a 1975 review of Sheer Heart Attack, the author wrote: "It is only towards the end that a Queen newcomer will recognize John Deacon's unmistakable trademark: the bass arrangements over the fade are just as fast and easy to listen to as any. The least known of the Queen musicians is one of the most skilled among the rockers of his generation.& # 34;

Singer

Deacon is the only Queen member to never sing lead vocals on any song. He even admitted in some interviews that he found himself unable to compete with the voices of the other members, who made good harmonies, especially high pitches. Deacon is not credited as a vocalist on any of Queen's albums, despite the fact that he simulates backing vocals in the promotional videos for "Bohemian Rhapsody".

John wasn't given the high-pitched choruses, so when he did contribute, it was low-pitched harmonies. In live performances, Deacon did not have his own microphone until the band's first tour to promote their album Sheer Heart Attack. Despite this promising start, the main reason was that he had to play a note with the triangle in "Killer Queen". Before this he had sung the choruses of "Liar"; into Mercury's microphone. There were performances where his microphone was turned on promptly, such as at Earls Court in 1977, where his voice can be clearly heard on "Somebody to Love", doing the bass harmonies. and "In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited".

Instrument

John Deacon's first bass was an Eko, although he later bought a Rickenbacker 4001, which he used at his audition for Queen, at his first gigs, and during recording sessions at De Lane Lea in 1971. When the band began recording on the Trident, he began to have problems with it and acquired a 1967 Fender Precision model with the transitional silver 1966 logo and a sunburst finish, which became his main instrument at the last concerts of 1972 and in all the concerts he performed from 1973 to 1975. He also owned a copy of the same model, but with the 1967 logo in black. Before the start of the sessions of "A Night At The Opera" the paint on both faded, leaving them with a natural finish.

In early 1977, Deacon had two new basses: a Fender Precision Fretless, which he used for "'39" (emulating the double bass he used on the original recording) and & # 34; My Melancholy Blues & # 34; on stage, and a Music Man Stingray that was used during the recordings of "A Day At The Races" and some videos. From the "News Of The World Tour" until "The Works Tour", he relegated the Musicman to the background, only using it on songs like ("Sheer Heart Attack", "Another One Bites The Dust" and "Back Chat"), and on rare occasions, in studio. Until the end of the decade, he also used fretless basses during '39'. and "My Melancholy Blues".

In late 1977, at the beginning of the "News Of The World Tour" in the United States, he used another Fender P-Bass, a 1954 Masterbuilt model, but eventually abandoned it and returned to the '67 model. The saved old Fender was used occasionally as a back-up, on the recordings of "Coming Soon" (1979) and in the video for "Back Chat" (1982).

In 1980, Kramer made him his own bass, using it in videos like "Play the Game" or "The Words of Love". The following year, Fender gave him a special model that Deacon used for the recording of "Under Pressure" and during the recordings of the album Hot Space from 1981 to 1985. Another Fender PBass came into his hands, the Elite, Red 1, which he used in some videos and recordings (& # 34; One Vision & # 34;), during the last concert of the & # 34; Magic Tour & # 3. 4; in Knebworth, at "Radio Ga Ga" and in the Tribute to Freddie Mercury. In 1986, John Deacon purchased a Buzzard Warwick, which he used in videos, but not in recordings. Before the "Magic Tour", he reformed his old P-Bass by painting it black and continued to use it in various concerts (for example, in the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert or in "No One But You (Only The Good Die Young)").

For other instruments, John Deacon used Stratocaster and Telecaster guitars, but he primarily used a Telecaster. During the recording of "Misfire" he showed that he could also play guitar harmonies.

As for acoustic guitars, he mostly used the Martin D-18 and Ovation.

The piano he played on "Another One Bites The Dust" is a Bösendorfer and in 'You're My Best Friend', a N Pianet Hohner that is often mistaken for a Wurlitzer (although Brian May has said it was a Fender Rhodes). For synthesizers, he used the Oberheim OB-X, Roland Jupiter 8, and Yamaha DX7.

Movie and TV Portrayals

Biographical Film

Joseph Mazzello plays Deacon in the biopic about Queen.

A biopic about Freddie Mercury and Queen with the title Bohemian Rhapsody was released in 2018. It is directed by Bryan Singer and stars Rami Malek as Mercury, Gwilym Lee as Brian May, Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor and Joseph Mazzello playing John Deacon. The film was released on October 24, 2018 in the United Kingdom and on November 2 in the United States. It was awarded four Oscars, two Golden Globes and two BAFTAs, among other awards.

Other representations

The television docudrama The Freddie Mercury Story: Who Wants to Live Forever premiered on Channel 5 in November 2016. Mercury was portrayed by singer John Blunt, while Patrick Warner starred as Brian May, Martin Teall as Roger Taylor and Jack Beale as John Deacon. Although the film was criticized for focusing on Mercury's love and sexual life, Blunt's performance received praise.

Discography

Discography with Queen

Study disks

Live albums

Compilations

Queen songs that John Deacon wrote and were released as singles:

• "You're My Best Friend" A Night at the Opera
• "Spread Your Wings" News of the World
• "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Need Your Loving Tonight" The Game
• "Back Chat" Hot Space
• "I Want to Break Free" The Works
• "Friends Will Be Friends", "Pain Is So Close to Pleasure" (both co-written with Freddie Mercury) and "One Year of Love" A Kind of Magic

Queen album track selection:

• "Misfire" Sheer Heart Attack
• "You and I" A Day at the Races
• "Who Needs You" News of the World
• "If You Can't Beat Them" and "In Only Seven Days" Jazz
• "Execution Of Flash" and "Arboria" Flash Gordon
• Hot Space Cool Cat (co-written with Freddie Mercury)
• "Rain Must Fall" of Mercury The Miracle
• "My Life Has Been Saved" (two versions, the first in 1989 as a non-album B one face, and then re-grabbed between 1993 and 1995 for the 1995 album Made in Heaven)

Solo selection:

• Jive Junior And Man Friday: "Picking Up Sounds" (7" single, 1983)
• The Immortals: "No Turning Back" (soundtrack ded Biggles: Adventures in Time(1986)

Collaborations

• 1975 The four Queen members collaborated in the production of a session with the soul Trax band, but nothing was published.
• 1983 "Picking Up Sounds" by Man Friday and Jive Junior – co-wrote, produced and interpreted the bass in this song.
• 1984 "It's An Illusion" by Roger Taylor – The bass of this album song Strange Frontier.
• 1984 "I Cry For You" by Roger Taylor - under the remixed version of the song, in Strange Frontier.
• 1985 "Too Young" by Elton John - bass in this song by the LP Ice On Fire.
• 1985 Strawberry Switchblade - produced homonym first album.
• 1986 "Angeline" by Elton John - bass in this song by the Jackets of Cuero LP.
• 1986 "This Is Your Time" by Errol Brown - co-written and bass on this subject, which was never edited.
• 1987 "I Dream Of Christmas" by Anita Dobson - under this theme of the Disc Talkin 'Of Love.
• 1988 "Roulette" by Minako Honda - co-wrote this song (in fact, "No Turning Back" remake with other letters) from the album Cancel. John did not participate in the recording Minako Honda, although his May bandmate wrote and produced two songs for this album.
• 1988 "How Can I Go On" by Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé - bass in this simple of Barcelona's album.
• 1989 "Who Wants To Live Forever", by Ian & Belinda - under this album charity, produced by Brian May, also with May and Roger Taylor.
• 1992 "Nothin 'But Blue" by Brian May - plays bass in this song by Back To The Light.
• 1992 "Somewhere in Time" by Cozy Powell - plays the bass in this instrumental version of Cozy Powell's "Nothin 'But Blue" album by The Drums Are Back.
• 1994 "Matoral Fires" by Steve Gregory - plays the bass in this album song of the same name.
• 1997 "That's The Way God Planned It" by SAS Band - plays bass in this theme from his debut (and unique studio) album. Roger Taylor sings a verse and on this covered track, originally recorded by Billy Preston.

Tours

With Queen

Written Topics

Deacon also composed and was an excellent songwriter, who, like the remaining members, has at least one number 1 to his credit. He composed 3 of the band's greatest hits: You're My Best Friend , a song composed for his wife Verónica, whom he had just married; I Want to Break Free, whose video clip features the appearance of the members of Queen dressed as women, thus parodying an English soap opera of the time; and Another One Bites the Dust, the best-selling single in the band's history.

Other songs written by him are: Misfire, You And I, Spread Your Wings, Who Needs You, If You Can't Beat Them, In Only Seven Days, Need Your Loving Tonight, Execution Of Flash, Arboria, Back Chat, Cool Cat (with Freddie), One Year Of Love, Pain Is So Close To Pleasure (with Freddie), Friends Will Be Friends (with Freddie), Rain Must Fall (as Queen possibly with Freddie), My Baby Does Me (as Queen with Freddie), My Life Has Been Saved (as Queen).

Deacon Quotes

• "When I was five years old, my hero was John Deacon, who used to make the most incredible sharp records and his melodic lines, melodies with adjusted sequences." - Richie Edwards.
• "Terribly underestimated. His bass sequences are like little stories, never getting into anybody's way. With all the guitars and voices ringing, he finds the spaces and basically plays what he wants. It is free, fluid and quite busy at a time, but I am not able to find a single song where I ask for the voice or the guitars." - Danny Miranda.