Bechstein Debauchery

JOHN RICHARD DEACON

As Bass Player

Measuring the ability of somebody on an instrument is often hard, because people tend to judge them by what they play instead of by how they play it. In other words, they make two big mistakes: first, assuming that a (popular) performer has (almost) always composed what he/she is playing, and second, rating them because of that. Even if, for instance, John had written certain bass-line, it doesn't count as being a better bass player.

For classical musicians it's generally easier to compare one with another: if you've got two different pianists playing Chopin's 24 preludes, you can draw a more accurate parallel because they're both playing the same notes in the same order and (almost) the same tempo; it's even possible that they're using similar equipment! So it's all down to who plays cleaner, who makes less mistakes, whose phrasing is more fluent, etc.

But in these cases, it's much more difficult, because people are qualifying their favourite acts or their favourite songs, solos, lines, etc. What makes Deacon good at the bass, for instance, is not whether he arranges his own lines or not (sometimes he did, sometimes it was the author of the song, as with the other instruments), but the way he performs them in terms of precision, rhythm, timing and of course, technique.

In those things, John was far from being a virtuoso (same as the others with their respective performing functions) but still very good and underrated. There must be thousands of people able to play all of what he's recorded note by note, but very few could make them sound exactly the same (even if they used the same equipment). That's where Deacon's distinctive, and that's where you realise how good he is.

Some general comments on John's style:

- He used four fingers in the left hand, while in the right mostly two (index and middle). Sometimes he played with pick.

- Usually favoured playing his bits in the middle strings (D and A).

- Excellent sense of rhythm.

- He made scale fragments flow nicely and naturally (which is tad harder than one may think at first).

- Great control of dynamics (like Brian on guitar).

- Comparatively, he made more mistakes in the pitch department (i.e. playing the wrong notes, having slight glitches) than in terms of synchronisation.

Recommended listening:

- The Night Comes Down: Nice rhythm and good way to set the beat in the choruses.

- The Loser in the End: Playing the last part would make many bass-players become either "too leading" or "too artificial". But Deacy did it perfectly, sounding precise and clean in the solo bits but at the same time marking the accents well.

- Bring Back That Leroy Brown: Again, the line demands being well-versed in dynamics, which wasn't a major problem for John. All four members played their instruments superbly on this one.

- Bohemian Rhapsody: For most of the song, bass is "locked" to just doubling left-hand piano. There, John's showing an important part of musicianship: how to shine in a limited scenario. Btw, during the second "Bismilah" Roger makes a timing mistake (on timpani), but John doesn't ;)

- Teo Torriatte: Marvellous flow for what is quite an orchestral part. Great work by Brian writing this bass-part, and by John playing it.

- We Are the Champions: Note the amazing dynamic "piano-forte" alternation. That's the difference between a person and a machine!

- Don't Stop Me Now: It shows another key side of performance, which is fitting-in well within the ensemble. The way John synchronises with Roger's drums and Freddie's piano is very uplifting.

- Sail Away Sweet Sister: Gently and precisely, marking well all pauses. Just brilliant.

- Cool Cat: Another clear example on showing that how an instrument is played is just as important as what the performer plays.

- I Want to Break Free: Very simple song, very simple bass-line, but what a great sound! (And still those rotter Queennies kept recording almost half of their songs with synth- or sampled-basses).

- Pain Is So Close to Pleasure: Pay attention to the bass, and compare when it's computerised and when it's not: it's a good exercise to train your ears!

- Was It All Worth It: One of his cleanest performances.

- These Are the Days of Our Lives: Another very professional "piano-forte" performance.

- Mother Love: He made the bloody thing "speak" in this one.