One of rock’s greatest skilled and most influential guitarists (yet still somewhat under the mainstream radar) Jeff Beck passed away on Tuesday at a hospital near his southern England rural estate in Riverhall, at the age of 78 of bacterial meningitis, according to his publicist.
Beck was born in Wallington, Surrey, England on June 24, 1944, to Arnold (an accountant) and Ethel (a candy maker) Beck. His mother demanded he play piano daily at an early age, which would help to hone his distinctive musical chops after switching to guitar once he heard the great Les Paul.
By the age of 13, he was building his own guitars to play, fascinated by the tone and the mechanics of playing. Beck would enroll in Wimbledon College of Art but dropped out of school in favor of music, doing studio session work and then in 1965 was invited to join The Yardbirds via Jimmy Page (who initially turned the band's offer).
Only a band member for some 20 months, Beck played on most of The Yardbirds’ successful songs, such as “Heart Full of Soul,” which hit the Top 10 on Billboard and was #2 in the UK. The Yardbirds’ 1966 single “Shape of Things,” got to #11 in the US (#3 in UK) featuring an unmistakable double-time Beck signature guitar solo, that would help define his early legacy.
The Yardbirds would become a band of legend, adding Jimmy Page, first on bass and later in a dueling lead guitar role with Beck. In 1966, an instrumental titled “Beck’s Bolero" would feature Page on rhythm guitar, Keith Moon from The Who on drums, future Led Zeppelin member John Paul Jones on bass, along with piano player Nicky Hopkins.
Tensions within the band spurred him to leave, soon forming the first Jeff Beck Group (with Rod Stewart on vocals and with Ron Wood), who were signed by Columbia Records, issuing their debut album “Truth” in 1968.
Another landmark came in 1975, with Beck’s "Blow by Blow” solo album, blending jazz, fusion, funk, and more to his rock repertoire to create a Platinum-selling, successful and still-influential album that would hit the Billboard Top 5.
Though he never equaled the sales of peers Page, Eric Clapton, or idol Jimi Hendrix, he always remained respected in the highest order, with Rolling Stone recently ranking him at #5 of all-time guitarists. “I’ve never made the big time, mercifully,” Beck told the magazine in 2018. “When you look around and see who has made it huge, it’s a really rotten place to be.”
Beck’s career is highlighted by seven Grammy Awards, eight gold albums, and Induction into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame not once but twice, in 1992 as part of The Yardbirds, and solo in 2009.
We were lucky enough to have seen him play live, but only once, on a co-headlining tour with Carlos Santana, but can readily remember our jaw being on the floor for his entire set, as he made sounds and melodies that we never thought possible from a Fender Strat, and with an uncanny ease and joy.
Beck continued to tour and to record, most recently yielding a collaboration album with actor/guitarist Johnny Depp, titled “18,” (released last July), which they also took out on the road. Jeff Beck’s wife, Sandra Cash, whom he married in 2005, survives him.
| John C ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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