Another guitar hero has left us. Les Paul, Jimi Hendrix, Roy Buchanan, Michael Bloomfield, Peter Green – they were all involved in our upbringing as guitarists. But the greatest in my book was undoubtedly Jeff Beck. And now he too has left us…
It is with great sadness that I read that Jeff Beck is no longer with us. He died the day before yesterday evening after contracting epidemic meningitis. Beck has been with me as a great guitar hero, ever since I myself started playing guitar in the early 1960s. Tellingly, he is still the only guitarist of whom I have a large picture on the wall of my project studio. It is a 70×100 poster of the cover of the March issue of Musikermagasinet from 2001. I have no plans to take that poster down just because Beck himself “has left the building”. On the contrary!
IN THE BEGINNING…
There has been so much talk in recent days about Jeff Beck’s formidable virtuosity, his wonderful tone, and his idiosyncratic phrasing, so we’ll leave it at that, for now… Everyone who has heard or seen him play has been inspired in one way or another by his entire revelation.
The first time I saw (and heard) Jeff Beck play live was in 1967, when I was on a school trip to England. We were stationed in London, and among other things, we went on a study trip to one of Mullard’s pipe factories outside London. It could actually have been the one in Blackburn, Lancashire, where, according to John Lennon, “four thousand holes” had appeared, as he sings in the Beatles song “A Day in the Life”. Strangely enough, Jeff Beck has recorded a wonderful instrumental version of that particular song. It’s all connected…
But now we’ve gotten a bit off topic… My best friend in class and I went out every night to check out different bands that played in clubs in London. It really was “Swinging London” at that time. One night we saw the group the Nice with a wild Keith Emerson riding a Hammond organ, and the next night there was a group that I really could never imagine missing. The gig took place at the club the Marquee on Wardour Street in Soho, and the band playing was The Jeff Beck Group, with Rod Stewart on vocals, Mickey Waller on drums, and Ron Wood on bass. And at the front, Jeff Beck on guitar, with a hefty Marshall stack, consisting of four 4×12 cabinets behind him, and on top of that two Marshall hundred-watt amplifiers. Damn it was good! And loud as hell!
Of course we enjoyed this immensely. The then young (and rather shy) Rod Stewart mostly hid behind the PA speakers, but he could be heard! The group ripped off most of the songs from the album Truth, which had not yet been released, plus a few more. And it was good! I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything so intense, raw, and captivating in music – either before or after that moment. This was truly Jeff Beck at his best. Sure, he’d done some great stuff before with the Yardbirds, but this was the real deal!
EXTREMELY SHORT HISTORY
Jeff Beck was born in Surrey on June 24, 1944. He sang early in the church choir and played both violin and cello. After seeing some live concerts with Buddy Holly and Gene Vincent, he decided to start playing the guitar. Jeff left school and started “making a living” as a musician at the age of 18. In 1965 – aged just 20 – he assumed Eric Clapton’s mantle (yes, he actually even inherited Clapton’s stage costume), as lead guitarist in the R&B band the Yardbirds. (Clapton quit after the group “took an increasingly commercial course”.) With Beck as guitarist, the Yardbirds had a string of hits including “Still I’m sad”, “Evilhearted You”, and “Shapes of Things”.
After the Yardbirds, Beck started the Jeff Beck Group, as mentioned, but after releasing two albums, Truth and Beck-Ola, it was time to move on.
Nick Mason from the group Pink Floyd said much later that they would have liked to have had Beck as a replacement for the defected Syd Barrett, but none of the Floyd members dared even ask Beck. He was, however, asked to replace the late Brian Jones in the Rolling Stones, but after jamming with them, Beck declined.
In a fairly recent YouTube clip, you can see friends Alice Cooper and Beck sitting around and gossiping about this very thing. Beck says that he had never been able to agree with Keith, and both laugh at the fact that the Stones had no ready ending to any of their songs.
A couple more albums under the name The Jeff Beck Group were released, but with a completely different lineup. They had Cozy Powell on drums, Bobby Tench on vocals, Max Middleton on keyboards and Clive Chaman on bass.
Together with Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice from the American group Vanilla Fudge, Beck formed a real Power Trio in 1973. The original idea was that Rod Stewart would also join the group, but the project was shelved after Beck was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident, and when Beck finally got back on his feet, Stewart had other projects in the works, so BBA became just a trio. After one studio and one live LP, the group disbanded. Another studio album is said to have been recorded, but will probably never be released. The group’s biggest hit was a version of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”, whose dominant riff was something Jeff created when he jammed with Wonder during the preparation for his album Talking Book. The original idea was that Beck would release the song before Wonder, but BBA’s album was delayed and Wonder’s management pushed for Wonder to release it first, because they saw the enormous hit potential the song had.
Jeff Beck has been a vegetarian since 1969, and he refused both alcohol and other drugs. His only vices in life seem to have been dragster cars, guitars and music. And possibly women. In any case his wife Sandra was wife number six.
AND WHAT ABOUT SINGING…
On Wikipedia we can read the following: “Despite Beck not being particularly well-known to the general public (largely due to the fact that he chose not to sing like Eric Clapton, for example, but also because he moves so freely between different genres), he is said to be one of the world’s most respected guitarists among guitarists.”
The last part, that he was one of the world’s most respected guitarists among other musicians is completely true, but the part that he chose not to sing is not quite true…
He sang in a church choir when he was young, and he has actually sung on several records. The first example was the song “The Nazz Are Blue”, on the Yardbirds record Roger The Engineer (their absolute best), which came out in 1966. The song is a variation of Elmore James’ old slide theme, like: “Dust My Blues”, and Beck literally slaughters it with his guitar playing. Absolutely wonderful! But we shouldn’t say anything more about the singing.
Incidentally, my first real blues band was named The Nazz after that song. Todd Rundgren later named his band The Nazz, but we couldn’t stand to mess with such greats, and in 1970 we disbanded our band.
IF we should return to Roger the Engineer, we find another Beck gem on it, namely “Rack My Mind”. Here it is the band’s regular singer Keith Relf who sings, but Beck breaks off with two of the most breakneck blues solos ever recorded on vinyl. And they are typical Beck solos – that is to say: almost impossible to copy. Absolutely wonderful!
https://youtu.be/xhpgepbvIhYHere we see a visibly nervous Jeff Beck singing “Hi Ho Silverlining” on a New Year’s Eve show with Jools Holland in 2003.
After the Yardbirds stint, producer Mickey Most managed to persuade Beck to sing on two more songs, “Hi Ho Silver Lining” (with Rod Stewart on backing vocals) and “Tallyman”. Both were released as singles and peaked at 14th and 30th respectively on the UK charts, thanks to his formidable guitar playing, and perhaps despite his vocal efforts (he certainly has good help from Mr. Stewart). Then, of course, they got some help from the fact that the B-sides consisted of “Beck’s Bolero” and “Rock My Plimsoul” respectively. This was the end of Beck’s singing on records.
SOLOALBUMS AND STUDIOWORK
Beck has released a large number of solo albums, with the two albums from the mid-70s, Blow By Blow and Wired, produced by George Martin, standing out a bit. On these, Beck shows an incredible lyrical sense for how to approach an instrumental ballad. Here we find tracks like the Beatles’ “She’s a Woman” (where he uses his talk-box in an excellent way), Stevie Wonder’s “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers” (dedicated to one of Beck’s idols, Roy Buchanan), and last but not least “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” by Charles Mingus.
Jeff Beck has also appeared on other artists’ recordings, and also guested in live settings. He has played live with David Bowie, Stanley Clarke, Eric Clapton, and many other greats. He has recorded with Kate Bush, Mick Jagger, Donovan, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Seal, ZZ Top, Brian May, Paul Rodgers, Morrisey, Ozzy Osborne, and many more.
His best work as a studio musician is probably what we find on Roger Waters’ Amused to Death. There he shows who the real master is. He plays long phrases by hitting a note – or a fharmonic – and then using only his vibrato arm. It’s pure magic! In my opinion, this is the best Pink Floyd (or Jeff Beck) album ever made, even if it can’t formally be called this.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/YRWRRBX3TB0”What God Wants, Pt 1”, from Roger Waters’ Amused to Death.
Jeff Beck has also made film music together with both Hans Zimmer (Days of Thunder) and Jed Leiber (Frankie’s House). He also appears in Mike Figgi’s film Red, White and Blues, which depicts how the blues came to Britain in the 60s. There he plays together with, among others, Lulu, Tom Jones and Van Morrison.
Another thing you should definitely check out is the Jeff Beck – Live at Ronnie Scott’s DVD. It was actually posted in its entirety on YouTube (now unfortunately it’s been removed). It is undoubtedly one of his best live performances. He is joined there by the young and incredibly talented Tal Wilkenfeld on bass, Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, and Jason Rebello on keyboards.
Here Beck and the gang rip off a series of top songs – many of which we have already mentioned – but we also find other creations such as “Nadia” (by Nitin Sawney) and the wonderfully low-key blues “Brush with the Blues”. He also has guest artists here such as Joss Stone and (“the wonderful”) Imogen Heap, both of whom make fantastic vocal contributions. And of course, old pal Eric Clapton. “A splendid time is guaranteed for all”, as a certain Mr. Lennon would have put it. Among others, you see a certain Robert Plant in the audience at the small London club, and he certainly enjoys himself!
https://youtu.be/T6FZc8VzUYAHere is an interview that was done in connection with the Ronnie Scott’s recording.
TECHNIQUE
Jeff Beck has always been at the forefront of technology – especially his own playing technique – but also everything electronic. As for playing technique, he gave up the plectrum thing sometime in the 80s. Since then, he has mostly played with his thumb, and sometimes used the other fingers of his right hand. However, he often used his index finger to make “swells” with the volume control on the Strat, and his little finger for his amazing whammy-bar maneuvers.
And when it comes to choosing guitars, he is absolutely outstanding. In the Yardbirds, he was seen playing an early Fender Esquire. He has also been seen with a Telecaster that Seymour Duncan fitted with a humbucker in the neck position. In the late 60s, it was often a ox-blood colored Gibson Les Paul Standard that was in fashion. Then came the Charvel/Jackson era and guitars with a head like an ice hockey stick became the rage. After a stint with Tina Turner in 1984, Beck was seen with a pink Jackson Strat that the singer had carved a large TINA TURNER on the front.
In recent years, however, it has been the Fender Stratocaster that has been the most popular, and in 1991 Jeff got his own Fender signature model, which was updated ten years later. Since 2004, there has also been a Custom Shop version of the signature model, in Olympic White or Surf Green.
However, his sound has always been the same and very typical of him – regardless of what guitar or amplifier he has had. I have even seen him sound so typical of Jeff Beck even with a big “jazz guitar” on his stomach. It is simply in his fingers! Or as Clapton put it: “With Jeff, it’s all in his hands.”
https://youtu.be/qMryWoRRqUc”With Jeff, it’s all in his hands.”
Jeff Beck was also one of the very few guitarists who could make the transition from playing Gibson guitars to the much more difficult Fender instruments seemingly painlessly. Maybe we shouldn’t single anyone out, but I can at least recall one great guitarist who lost a lot of his technique and great phrasing when he made that transition. But not Beck! Always the same dazzling technique, where he mixed all kinds of circus arts with slide playing, tapping, flageolets and his completely unique handling of the whammy-bar/vibrato lever, or whatever you want to call it (but not “tremolo bar” as Leo Fender himself, completely incorrectly, named it).
Beck was not the first, but he was still early on when it came to using both different fuzz boxes (such as the Tone-Bender) and acoustic feedback or feed-back, in his guitar playing. Among the various pedals we have seen and heard him use, we can perhaps mention various wah-wah pedals, various delay effects, a Strymon BlueSky reverb pedal, and various distortion pedals such as Pro Co RAT and Klon Centaur. The latter is said to have been modified in order, among other things, to give a fuller reproduction of the bass strings. More recently he was also seen using one of the Klon Centaur clones, a special JM version of the Archer, and it is said to have been used extensively on Beck’s last record. As a curiosity, one of the founders of J Rocket (the company that manufactures the Archer), Chris Van Tassel, mentions that it was his birthday on the same day that Jeff Beck died. Tassel was a great admirer of Beck. Maybe he could have wished for a slightly nicer birthday…
Beck was also early on in using a so-called talk-box to make his guitar sing different phrases.
https://youtu.be/usotJ3kmBHQLennon MacCartney’s ”She’s a Woman” gets a Talk-Box-treatment…
But technology hasn’t always been on his side. In the film Blow Up by Michelangelo Antonioni (1966), the Yardbirds are seen performing a version of the song “Train Kept A-Rollin'”, here called “Stroll On”. In the film we see both Jimmy Page and Beck, but Jeff seems to have some problem with his Vox amplifier – it’s making all sorts of noise. It ends with Beck smashing the guitar (a cheap semi-acoustic thing, probably a Harmony) to smithereens. Of course, we had already heard in the autumn of 1964 that Pete Townshend performed the same maneuver with a Rickenbacker.
Beck is also said to have at some point become angry over a talk box that did not work as it should and threw both it and his Stratocaster off of the stage. The rest of the concert he played on a Gibson Les Paul guitar.
During his long career, Jeff Beck has been awarded no less than 8 Grammy Awards. He has been placed among the top among the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” in Rolling Stone magazine’s poll. He was twice inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, both for his contributions to the Yardbirds and as a solo artist.
LATELY
N 2016, the album Loud Hailer was released, with songs written by Beck, Carmen Vandenberg (guitar), and Rosie Bones (vocals). Bones and Vandenberg are members of a young pop duo from Camden, London, BONES UK. They also get help from bassist Giovanni Pallotti, former producer on BONES UK’s work, and now also producer on this album – together with Jeff. In addition, we find Davide Sollazzi on drums. The album received rather mixed reviews and unfortunately only sold half-heartedly. Maybe the material was too modern to suit Beck’s normal listener base; maybe the song material was not strong enough? Who knows? The lyrics to the songs received a lot of criticism anyway. Personally, I think it may be the most varied album from Beck in a long time. At the age of 72, Jeff Beck still delivered his licks with an honor. As always!
https://youtu.be/rXJQb7aIxfkConcert photage from 2017, after the album Loud Hailer was released.
IN 2022, he released the album 18 with the somewhat unexpected partner Johnny Depp. Depp sings and has written two of the songs. Among other material we find songs by Killing Joke, Marvin Gaye, The Miracles, The Velvet Underground, The Everly Brothers and Janis Ian. There are also wonderful versions of two Brian Wilson songs, “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)” and “Caroline No”. In addition, a fabulous version of the old Everly Brothers hit “Let It Be Me” with Depp on vocals (yes, Johnny actually sings really well).
https://youtu.be/JxEpHFV-5OUBrian Wilson’s “Caroline No” from Pet Sounds is on the final album, 18.
18 was to become Jeff Beck’s last album.
Jeff Beck left us on January 11, 2023, and we miss him tremendously!
SOME MORE VIDEO LINKS:
Here we can see Beck performing “What Mama Said” with, among others, Jennifer Batten, on David Letterman.
Here we have a later clip where Beck performs “Hammerhead”, and “Nessun Dorma”. As a bonus you get Buddy Guy and Ron Wood with “Five Long Years”.
Jeff Beck with Stanley Clarke…
J.B with Dion.
”Sixteen Tons” with Billy Gibbons
B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, and Jeff Beck…
Little Wing from The Capitol Theatre, NY, 2022
Jeff Beck Group with Bob Tench on vocals in 1972
From the recording of Beck-Ola with Stewart
”Rock My Plimsoul” Jeff Beck Group featuring Rod Stewart
The Yardbirds’ video for Shapes of Things 1966
The Yardbirds ”Train Kept A-Rolling” / ”Shapes of Things” live 1966
”Yardbirds ”Over Under Sideways Down” 1966
JB and Johnny Depp
Steven Van Zandt interviewing Beck and Depp, part 1
Steven Van Zandt interviewing Beck and Depp, part 2
Inside The Friendship Between Johnny Depp and Jeff Beck
JB & JD playing Lennon’s ”Isolation” (official video)
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