Beck, Jeff

Beck, Jeff, guitar-God with a spotted career; b. Wal-lington, Surrey, England, June 24, 1944. A competent pianist and guitarist by the age of 11, Jeff Beck performed with early 1960s British bands such as The Nightshifts and The Tridents before replacing Eric Clapton in The Yardbirds in March 1965. Beck played lead guitar with the group through its greatest hit-making period (“Heart Full of Soul’” “I’m a Man’“Over Under Sideways Down”) and pioneered the use of feedback and effects, particularly with “The Shapes of Things” from 1966. Leaving The Yardbirds that November, he recorded several singles, including the major British hit “Hi Ho Silver Lining,” and formed the first of several Jeff Beck Groups with Rod Stewart (vocals), Ron Wood (bass, harmonica), and Mickey Waller (drums). The group proved enormously successful with its blues-oriented material during an American tour in 1968. The tour also introduced American audiences to Rod Stewart, who had been singing almost anonymously with various blues aggregations in Britain for years.

The Jeff Beck Group’s debut album, Truth , helped pioneer heavy-metal music with songs like “I Ain’t Superstitious,” “Rock My Plimsoul,” and “Beck’s Bolero.” The group expanded in October 1968 with the addition of sessions keyboardist Nicky Hopkins. After a second album, Beck-ola , and the recording of Donovan’s major British and moderate American hit “Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot),” the group fragmented, with Stewart and Wood joining The Faces, and Hopkins moving to Calif, to join Quicksilver Messenger Service.

An attempt to form a new band with Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge failed, and a car crash later left Jeff Beck out of commission for 18 months. He reemerged in late 1971 with his second Jeff Beck Group, featuring keyboardist Max Middleton and drummer Cozy Powell. This group recorded two undistinguished albums before disbanding in 1972. With the demise of their second-generation band Cactus, Tim Bogert (bass) and Carmine Appice (drums) joined Beck for the shortlived Beck/Bogert/Appice group, which disbanded in early 1974.

Jeff Beck returned in 1975 with his Blow by Blow album, a surprising yet intriguing change of musical direction for Beck. Made with former Beatles producer George Martin, the all-instrumental album had a distinctive jazz (and occasionally disco) flavor and sold remarkably well. Wired , recorded with Czech jazz keyboard wizard Jan Hammer, was also well received. Beck subsequently toured with Hammer, releasing a live set from the tour in 1977. After another sabbatical, Beck returned with a new band, the album There and Back , and another round of touring as an all-instrumental unit.

In 1983, Jeff Beck joined Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and a cast of established British musicians for a brief tour in support of Ronnie Lane’s Appeal for Action Research into Multiple Sclerosis. The following year, Beck played on Rod Stewart’s Camouflage album and its smash hit single “Infatuation,” and toured with Stewart before leaving due to “artistic differences.” Later he toured and recorded a mini as The Honeydrippers with Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Brian Setzer, and Cozy Powell. Beck also played on Tina Turner’s smash hit “Private Dancer” and Mick Jagger’s She’s the Boss and Primitive Cool albums. In 1985, Beck issued his first solo album in five years, Flash , which featured Rod Stewart on vocals for “People Get Ready,” a minor hit.

Jeff Beck again took several years off, reemerging in 1989 with Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop , an all-instrumental album recorded with keyboardist Tony Hymas and drummer Terry Bozzio, and his first major tour in nearly a decade, this time co-headlining with Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. In 1993, with an ad hoc Big Town Playboys, Beck recorded 15 Gene Vincent songs for Crazy Legs , his tribute to the rockabilly star and his guitarist, Cliff Gallup. Jeff Beck toured with Carlos Santana in 1995.

Jeff Beck is one of rock music’s most intelligent, innovative, and respected guitarists. One of the first electric guitarists to utilize a fuzztone device and make extensive use of feedback while playing, Beck introduced both modal and East Indian tonalities into rock with The Yardbirds. The debut album by his first Jeff Beck Group introduced American audiences to Rod Stewart, and along with Led Zeppelin’s debut album six months later, helped define 1970s heavy-metal music. Moreover, with his Blow by Blow album, Beck helped redefine and revitalize the more challenging and ambitious sound of fusion music, a 1970s phenomenon not strictly classifiable as jazz or rock, but containing elements of both. Taking regular extended breaks from recording and touring throughout his career, Jeff Beck is regarded as a musician’s musician.