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Truth (Jeff Beck album)

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Untitled

Truth is the debut album by Jeff Beck, released in 1968 in the United Kingdom on Columbia Records and in the United States on Epic Records. It introduced the talents of his backing band the Jeff Beck Group, specifically Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, to a larger audience, and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200.

Content and background

After leaving the Yardbirds in late 1966, Jeff Beck had released three commercial singles, two in 1967 featuring Beck on lead vocals, and one without vocals in 1968. All had been hits on the British singles chart,[1] and all were characterized by songs aimed at the pop chart on the A-side at the behest of producer Mickie Most.[2] Harder rock and blues-based numbers were featured on the B-sides, and for music on the album, Beck opted to pursue the latter course.

Recording sessions for the album took place over four days, 14–15 May and 25–26 May 1968.[3] Nine eclectic tracks were taken from these sessions, including covers of "Ol' Man River" by Jerome Kern, the Tudor period melody "Greensleeves", and Bonnie Dobson's "Morning Dew", a 1966 hit single for Tim Rose. Beck acknowledged two giants of Chicago blues in songs by Willie Dixon – Muddy Waters' "You Shook Me" and Howlin' Wolf's "I Ain't Superstitious". The album started with a song from Beck's old band: "Shapes of Things". Three originals were credited to "Jeffrey Rod", a pseudonym for Beck and Stewart, all reworkings of previous blues songs: "Let Me Love You" the song of the same title by Buddy Guy; "Rock My Plimsoul" from "Rock Me Baby" by B.B. King; and "Blues Deluxe" similar to another song by B.B. King, "Gambler's Blues".[4] "Plimsoul" had already been recorded for the B-side to the 1967 single "Tallyman", and the tenth track, an instrumental featuring Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Keith Moon, and future Beck group pianist Nicky Hopkins, "Beck's Bolero", had been edited and remixed for stereo from the earlier B-side to "Hi Ho Silver Lining". Due to contractual conflicts, Moon had been credited on the original album as "You Know Who".

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic link
Rolling Stone(positive) [5]
Rolling Stone
album guide		 link

Truth is regarded as a seminal work of heavy metal because of its use of blues toward a hard rock approach.[6] According to Pete Prown and HP Newquist, "although some have claimed that this disc was the first metal album, the sound actually leaned more towards a heavy brand of blues rock."[7] Classic Rock magazine ranked Truth eighth on its list of the 30 greatest British blues rock albums; an accompanying blurb read, "it was an album that not only helped establish the British blues rock sound, but featured many of its best exponents."[8] Tom Scholz of Boston has listed it as his favorite album on Gibson's online magazine, stating, "I knew Jeff Beck's Truth album inside out..."[9] The album's title inspired the name of Iowa band Truth and Janey.[10]

Blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa recorded a studio version of "Blues Deluxe" on his 2003 album Blues Deluxe and recorded live versions on Live at Rockpalast (2005), and Live from the Royal Albert Hall (2009). Bonamassa also played "Beck's Bolero", "Let Me Love You Baby" (and "Spanish Boots" and "Plynth (Water Down the Drain)" from the Beck-Ola album) in his Salute to the British Blues Explosion tour featuring the music of Beck, Clapton and Page in July 2016.

On 10 October 2006, Legacy Recordings remastered and reissued the album for compact disc with eight bonus tracks. Included were two earlier takes of "You Shook Me" and "Blues Deluxe", the latter without the overdubbed applause, and the six tracks making up the three singles by Beck. The B-side to the 1968 single "Love Is Blue", "I've Been Drinking", was another "Jeffrey Rod" special, this time reconfiguring the Johnny Mercer song "Drinking Again".

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Shapes of Things"Jim McCarty, Keith Relf, Paul Samwell-Smith3:22
2."Let Me Love You"Jeffrey Rod4:44
3."Morning Dew"Bonnie Dobson4:40
4."You Shook Me"Willie Dixon, J. B. Lenoir2:33
5."Ol' Man River"Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II4:01
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Greensleeves"Traditional1:50
2."Rock My Plimsoul"Jeffrey Rod4:13
3."Beck's Bolero"Jimmy Page2:54
4."Blues De Luxe"Jeffrey Rod7:33
5."I Ain't Superstitious"Willie Dixon4:53

2005 reissue bonus tracks

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."I've Been Drinking" (stereo mix)Jeffrey Rod3:25
12."You Shook Me" (take 1)Willie Dixon, J. B. Lenoir2:31
13."Rock My Plimsoul" (stereo mix of single version)Jeffrey Rod3:42
14."Beck's Bolero" (mono single mix)Jimmy Page3:11
15."Blues De Luxe" (take 1)Jeffrey Rod7:31
16."Tallyman"Graham Gouldman2:46
17."Love Is Blue"André Popp, Pierre Cour, Brian Blackburn2:57
18."Hi Ho Silver Lining" (stereo mix)Scott English, Laurence Weiss3:46

Personnel

Additional credited personnel

Additional uncredited personnel

Production personnel

References

  1. ^ UK Chart Stats retrieved 04/02/11
  2. ^ Charles Shaar Murray. Truth, 2006 reissue, Legacy Recordings 82876 77352 2, liner notes.
  3. ^ Murray, Truth reissue liner notes.
  4. ^ Murray, Truth reissue liner notes.
  5. ^ Kooper, Al (28 September 1968). "Truth". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  6. ^ Nick Logan and Bob Woffinden, editors. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock. New York: Harmony Books, 1977, p. 137.
  7. ^ Prown, Pete; Newquist, Harvey P. (1997). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 62. ISBN 0793540429.
  8. ^ "The Top 30 British Blues Rock Albums Of All Time". Classic Rock. Future plc. 23 March 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  9. ^ Tom Scholz Top 10 Favorite Albums retrieved 04/02/11
  10. ^ Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association retrieved 11/02/11
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