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The
Jeff Beck Story |
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Geoffery Arnold "Jeff"
Beck was born in 1944 in
Wallington, Surrey, England he played in a number of influential bands in the
1960s. But Beck never attained the commercial visibility that some of his
contemporaries did, he was as innovative as Jimmy Page, as tasteful as Eric
Clapton, and nearly as visionary as Jimi Hendrix. Jeff Beck began his musical career following a short stint at
London's Wimbledon Art College. He earned a reputation by supporting Lord
Sutch, which helped him land the job as the Yardbirds' lead guitarist
following the departure of Eric Clapton. Beck stayed with the Yardbirds for
nearly two years, leaving in late in 1966 with the pretence that he was retiring
from music. He returned several months later with "Love Is Blue," a
single he played poorly because he detested the song. Later in 1967, he
formed the Jeff Beck Group with vocalist Rod Stewart, bassist Ron Wood and
drummer Aynsley Dunbar, who was quickly replaced by Mickey Waller;
keyboardist Nicky Hopkins joined in early 1968. With their crushingly loud
reworking of blues songs and vocal and guitar interplay, the Jeff Beck Group
established the template for heavy metal. Neither of the band's records, Truth
(1968) or Beck-Ola (a 1969 album which was recorded with new drummer Tony
Newman), was particularly successful, and the band tended to fight regularly,
especially on their frequent tours of the U.S. After Stewart and Wood left
the Jeff Beck Group in 1970, to join the Faces, Beck Broke up the group. Beck
never again worked with a charismatic lead singer who could have helped sell
his music to a wide audience. Furthermore, he was simply too idiosyncratic,
moving from heavy metal to jazz-fusion within a blink of an eye. As his
career progressed, he became more fascinated by automobiles than guitars,
releasing only one album during the course of the '90s. All the while, Beck
retained the respect of fellow guitarists, who found his reclusive ness all
the more alluring. Beck had intended to form a power trio with Vanilla Fudge
members Carmine Appice (drums) and Tim Bogert (bass), but those plans were
derailed when he suffered a serious car crash in 1970. By the time he recuperated
in 1971, Bogart and Appice were playing in Cactus, so the guitarist formed a
new version of the Jeff Beck Group. Featuring keyboardist Max Middleton,
drummer Cozy Powell, bassist Clive Chaman, and vocalist Bobby Tench, the new
band recorded Rough and Ready (1971) and Jeff Beck Group (1972). Neither
album attracted much attention. Cactus dissolved in late 1972, and Beck,
Bogert and Appice formed a power trio the following year. This group, too, failed to attract much critical
attention and soon split up, although they did have a minor hit For
about 18 months, Beck remained quiet, re-emerging in 1975 with Blow by Blow.
Produced by George Martin, Blow by Blow was an all-instrumental jazz-fusion
album that received strong reviews. Beck collaborated with Jan Hammer, a
former keyboardist for Mahavishnu Orchestra, for 1976's Wired, and supported
the album with a co-headlining tour with Hammer's band. The tour was
documented on the 1977 album, Jeff Beck With the Jan Hammer Group -- Live. After
the Hammer tour, Beck retired to his estate outside of London and remained
quiet for three years. He returned in 1980 with There and Back, considered his finest album and featuring contributions
from Simon Phillips and Jan Hammer. Following the tour for There and
Back, Beck retired again, returning five years later with the slick, Nile
Rodgers-produced Flash. A pop/rock album recorded with a variety of
vocalists, Flash featured Beck's only hit single, the Stewart-sung
"People Get Ready," and also boasted "Escape," which won
the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental. During 1987, he played lead guitar on
Mick Jagger's second solo album, Primitive Cool. There was another long wait
between Flash and 1989's Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop With Terry Bozzio and Tony
Hymas. Though the album sold only moderately well, Guitar Shop received
uniformly strong reviews and won the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental. Beck
supported the album with a tour, this time co-headlining with guitarist
Stevie Ray Vaughan. Again, Beck entered semi-retirement upon the completion
of the tour. In
1992, Beck played lead guitar on Roger Waters' comeback album, Amused to
Death. A year later, he released Crazy Legs, a tribute to Gene Vincent and
his lead guitarist Cliff Gallup, which was recorded with Big Town Playboys.
Beck remained quiet after the album's release prior to resurfacing in 1999
with Who Else! You Had It Coming followed two years later. Jeff Beck won his third Grammy Award, this one for 'Best Rock |
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LIVEMUSICMAGAZINE.COM2006 |
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