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Jeff Beck

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Template:Guitarist infobox Geoffrey Arnold ("Jeff") Beck (born June 24, 1944 in Wallington, Greater London, England) is an English guitarist and songwriter. Though he played in several influential bands in the 1960s and 1970s (notably in The Yardbirds) Beck has maintained a sporadic solo career over the last 25 years. Despite never attaining the commercial viability of his contemporaries, Beck has gained widespread critical acclaim, especially in the guitar playing community.[1] Never one to be tied to one particular genre, he has experimented with blues rock, heavy metal, and jazz fusion. Most recently, he has absorbed the influence of techno, creating a blend of heavy guitar rock and electronica.

Biography

Early career with The Yardbirds

Like many rock musicians in the early 1960s, he began his career working as a session guitarist. In 1965, following a gig with the Tridents, Beck was recruited to join the Yardbirds (after Eric Clapton had left the group for John Mayall's Bluesbreakers). It was during his tenure with the Yardbirds that they recorded most of their hits. His volatile temper, coupled with the unreliable nature of amplifiers in those days, resulted in many incidents of taking out his frustration on his equipment, although he rarely actually destroyed his guitars. In 1966, he shared the dual-lead guitar role with Jimmy Page. His time with The Yardbirds was short, allowing Beck only one full album, Roger the Engineer (1966); Beck left after 18 months, partly for health reasons.

While on the surface Beck seems to have departed the group because of his health, Jimmy Page, who had been invited into the band in 1966 by Beck himself, tells a different story:

It was on that Dick Clark tour — there were a few incidents. One time in the dressing room I walked in and Beck had his guitar up over his head, about to bring it down on Keith Relf’s head, but instead smashed it on the floor,” Jimmy Page recalled years later. “Relf looked at him with total astonishment and Beck said, ‘Why did you make me do that?’ Fucking hell. Everyone said, ‘My goodness gracious, what a funny chap.’ We went back to the hotel and Beck showed me his tonsils, said he wasn’t feeling well and was going to see a doctor. He left for L.A., where we were headed anyway. When we got there, though, we realized that whatever doctor he was claiming to see must’ve had his office in the Whiskey. He was actually seeing his girlfriend, Mary Hughes, and had just used the doctor bit as an excuse to cut out on us.

Jeff Beck Group

The following year, Beck formed a new band called The Jeff Beck Group, which featured him on lead guitar, Rod Stewart on vocals, Ron Wood on bass, Nicky Hopkins on piano, and Micky Waller on drums. The group produced two albums, Truth in 1968 and Beck-Ola the following year. These two albums are highly acclaimed, and are considered by some to be among the precursors to heavy metal. Owing to friction within the band, Stewart and Wood left the group in 1969 to replace Steve Marriott in the Small Faces.

Later career

In 1981 he made a series of historic, joint live appearances with his Yardbirds predecessor Eric Clapton at the Amnesty International The Secret Policeman's Other Ball benefit shows. He appeared with Clapton on Crossroads, Further On Up The Road and his own arrangement of Stevie Wonder's Cause We've Ended As Lovers. Beck also featured prominently in the all-star band finale performance of I Shall Be Released with Clapton, Sting, Phil Collins, Donovan and Bob Geldof. Beck's contributions were seen and heard in the resulting album and film produced by Martin Lewis, both of which achieved worldwide success in 1982. Another benefit show called the ARMS Concert for Multiple Sclerosis featured a jam with Jeff, Eric and Jimmy Page performing "Living on Tulsa Time" and "Layla". This is the only time all of the 1963-1968 Yardbirds lead guitarists appeared on stage together.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Jeff Beck recorded sporadically (due largely to a long battle with noise-induced tinnitus): There and Back (1980, featuring Simon Phillips and Tony Hymas), Flash (1985, including performances with Rod Stewart and Jan Hammer), Guitar Shop (1989, with Terry Bozzio and Tony Hymas), Crazy Legs (1993), Who Else! (1999), and You Had It Coming (2001). He also accompanied Paul Rodgers of Bad Company on the album Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters in 1993. Jeff Beck won his third Grammy Award, this one for 'Best Rock Instrumental Performance' for the track "Dirty Mind" from You Had It Coming. The 2003 release of Jeff showed that the new electro-guitar style he used for the two earlier albums would continue to dominate. This style has been lauded by critics; Beck has skillfully fused an electronica influence with his blues/jazz past, with a sound mix which seems heavily influenced by the "brown" tone of subsequent guitarists like Van Halen and Joe Satriani. The song "Plan B" from this release earned him his fourth Grammy Award, again, for 'Best Rock Instrumental Performance'.

In the past few years, Jeff Beck has performed on new albums by Les Paul, Cyndi Lauper, and Roger Waters. Beck also is featured on one track on Queen guitarist Brian May's last solo album, Another World. He also appears on ZZ Top's album XXX. Beck made a cameo appearance in the movie Twins starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito.

Jeff Beck continues to perform shows on a regular basis, including opening for B.B. King in the summer of 2003, backed by Terry Bozzio and Tony Hymas.

Beck's most recent tours in 2005 and 2006 have included: Jason Rebello on keyboards, Vinnie Colaiuta on drums and Pino Palladino on bass (replaced by Randy Hope-Taylor due to Palladino's prior commitment to The Who).

Jeff Beck also accompanied Kelly Clarkson as the guitarist for her song, Up To The Mountain, during the American Idol Gives Back show.

Influence

Beck was one of the first electric guitarists in the 1960s to experiment with electronic distortion (most notably in The Yardbirds' 1966 album, Roger the Engineer) and helped to redefine the sound and role of the electric guitar in rock music. Beck's work with The Yardbirds and The Jeff Beck Group's 1968 album Truth were seminal influences on heavy metal music, which emerged in full force in the early 1970s. Jeff Beck is still highly influential with many modern guitarists, who cite him as a major influence on their playing.

Technique and equipment

Unlike some guitarists, Jeff Beck does not rely heavily on electronic effects. He produces a wide variety of sounds by using only his thumbnail and the stock vibrato bar on his signature Fender Stratocaster, although he frequently uses a wah pedal both live and in the studio.

Along with Fender Stratocasters, Beck occasionally plays Fender Telecaster and Gibson Les Paul models as well. His amplifiers are primarily Fenders and Marshalls. In his earlier days with the Yardbirds, Beck also used a Fender Esquire guitar through Vox AC30's. On the "Truth" and "Beck-Ola" albums there is also extensive use of the wah pedal, of which Beck is often cited as being a pioneer. He has also played through a variety of fuzz pedals and echo-units along with this set-up. He most famously used the Pro Co RAT Distortion Pedal.

Recently, Fender created a Custom Shop Tribute series version of his beat-up Esquire as well as his Artist Signature series Stratocaster, which emerged in 1991 with features such as a massive neck shape (deep '50s) and Fender Gold Lace Sensor pickups. This guitar was based on the Strat Plus, except for the addition of a Gold Lace Sensor Dually pickup, which resembles a humbucker in the bridge position with a coil-split push button. Other features included a roller nut, locking tuners and a 2-point pivot tremolo bridge. 2001 saw major changes to the guitar, reflecting Beck's requirements. The Lace Sensors were replaced with Fender's dual-coil ceramic Vintage Noiseless pickups while a thinner neck with a smooth contoured heel took the place of the previous deep U-shaped neck. Custom Shop versions of the artist's personal instrument debuted in 2004. The guitar features a rosewood fingerboard and is available in Olympic White and Surf Green.

Discography

As the Jeff Beck Group:

As Beck, Bogert & Appice

Solo:

With Big Town Playboys:

Compilation:

Appeared on

Trivia

  • While Beck and Jimmy Page played together in The Yardbirds, the trio of Beck, Page and Eric Clapton never played together in the group all at the same time. The three guitarists did play on stage together at the ARMS charity concerts in 1983 in honour of Ronnie Lane.
  • Beck's girlfriend Mary Hughes is name-checked in The Yardbirds song "Psycho Daisies".
  • He appears in the movie Blow Up with The Yardbirds.
  • He appears in the movie Twins with Nicolette Larson.
  • Beck plays an instrumental version of Lennon/McCartney classic "A Day in the Life" on Sir George Martin's album In My Life (1998).
  • Beck and Jimmy Page have known each other since Page was 11 years old.
  • Beck is a vegetarian.
  • Stevie Wonder originally wrote "Superstition" for Beck. However, Stevie's manager insisted that he record it before Beck did.
  • When not touring or recording, Beck rarely plays guitar. Instead, he spends most of his time working on his classic Jaguars or building hot rods.
  • Beck was asked to join The Rolling Stones but declined before Ron Wood took the job.
  • Jimi Hendrix considered Beck a close friend.
  • Beck did a co-headline tour with Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1989.
  • One of his songs, "Cause We've Ended as Lovers", was written by Stevie Wonder.
  • He was interested in playing lead guitar for Iron Butterfly when the group reformed in 1968 after a brief split. Before deciding upon Erik Brann, the band also considered Neil Young and Michael Monarch.
  • Beck appears on John McLaughlin's Promise.
  • Pink Floyd originally considered Beck to replace Syd Barrett after the latter become difficult to work with. However, Beck declined and David Gilmour was chosen instead.[1]
  • Joe Satriani claimed that if he could take a lesson from one player, it'd be Beck, saying "One of the most amazing things about Jeff is that he sounds even more like Jeff Beck today than he did before... He plays a classic guitar, doesn't use a pick, doesn't use any unusual equipment -- yet he sounds more amazing and pure with each outing."
  • Beck's group plays with Donovan on the song, "Barabajagal (Love is Hot)"
  • Beck was to play a song with Guns N' Roses in Paris in 1992 but couldn't perform due to ear problems. He did rehearse on stage with them though. Slash is a big fan of Beck.
  • Beck rarely uses a pick while playing.
  • Mick Mars, Mötley Crüe guitarist, has said his idol is Beck.
  • Jeff has played on the rare blues album Guitar Boogie with Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page
  • Joe Perry of Aerosmith fame cites Jeff as his favorite guitarist.
  • Jeff was due to play as featured guitarist on Mo Foster's first solo album Bel Assis but days before the recording was due to start Jeff injured his thumb working on one of his beloved hot-rods. He was replaced at the last minute by Gary Moore.

See also

Further reading

  • Carson, Annette (2002). Jeff Beck: Crazy Fingers. Backbeat books. ISBN 0-87930-632-7.
  • Christopher Hjort and Doug Hinman (2000): Jeff's Book: A Chronology of Jeff Beck's Career, 1965-1980: From the Yardbirds to Jazz-Rock, Rock'n'Roll Research Press ([2], [3])

Notes

  1. ^ Top ten guitar players
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