There is Jeff Beck … and then everyone else.

Some artists seem larger than life, a force of nature, bigger than the arena they occupy; like a monument, they cannot die.

That Jeff Beck could pass away doesn’t seem possible. As many grasp for phrases like, “one of a kind”, some of us have been declaring it ever since his debut with the Yardbirds on “Heartful of Soul” & “Shapes of Things” up to the present: There is Jeff Beck … and then everyone else.

Beck blew up the concept of the electric guitar, kicking down the door to reveal its possibilities. He forged a path which no-one can follow. Nobody has come close to the expression, technique or character of Jeff Beck’s playing. Watching other guitar virtuosos, you can follow the performance. The physical properties of the guitar itself dictate moves around the neck; you can surmise the key of the song, the logical flow of ending a phrase, for example.

Not so with Jeff Beck -- he made the guitar obey him, forced it to speak a new language. Nobody can figure out what he’s doing, even while watching him do it:
Beck could veer off to left and right turns before the listener realized it.

Analysts have studied his amplifiers and pedal boards, his move from Telecaster to Les Paul to Stratocaster, but none of it matters; he grabs any guitar, plugs straight into any amp, and it’s instantly Jeff Beck, no pick required.

No-one can explain it. The sounds and technique are untraceable.

It wasn’t about ego, flashy chops to display his cleverness; it was pure beauty of the guitar.
Beck was far above the shredder nazis who measure only in speed & chops. Jeff said he can do that, but that’s not music. “If I hire a singer, do I want someone shredding notes fast as humanly possible? Ridiculous; it’s not music.”

From simple anthemic hooks to blindingly fast arpeggios played with fingers, fretting hand seemingly unrelated, constantly working the volume knobs, chiming harmonics all over the fretboard, ringing out sweet melodies on the whammy bar alone, tapping strings with a glass slide tube beyond the frets, over the pickups to create heartbreakingly beautiful phrases --- all mind-boggling to the ear and the eyes.

The “human voice” quality Jeff achieved involved his quick use of the whammy bar to scoop up into notes, then ending notes with a very quick whammy pitch drop and muting, much like the cadence of human conversation.
Then there’s the tone – one note and you know it’s Beck. Such sonic character, phrase to phrase, a palette of emotional expression, from ferociously rude to humorous to sheer poetic beauty, at times all expressed within a few bars.

Like his contemporaries at the dawning of the guitar-hero era, Beck knew his blues roots, once challenging those who consider the blues crude & easily tossed-off, “try to get it right, I dare you.”

But he was also drawing from Les Paul, Cliff Gallup, the Ventures, Hawaiian steel styles, Santos & Johnny, Scotty Moore, Jorgen Ingman’s “Apache” … Beck was a library of influences without imitating any of them. The psychedelic era of sitars and eastern scales were adopted into his repertoire for the duration.

Beck’s older sister Annetta suggested the 14 year-old Jeff meet another teen at school with a similar interest in electric guitars. A young Jimmy Page knocked on the door, and the two boys began learning licks from records on home-made guitars.

After Page suggested Beck fill the opening left by departing Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds in 1965, Beck transformed the band with wild feedback and irreverent experimentation. When he released his regal solo single “Beck’s Bolero” in ‘66, with sidemen Keith Moon, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones & Nicky Hopkins, Beck fans knew we were in for a wild ride; the future looked bright.
His restless quest led him to record the eponymous Jeff Beck Group’s album “Truth” with Rod Stewart & Ron Wood in 1968.

The album became the template used by Page for Led Zeppelin’s first album, featuring a similar arrangement of Willie Dixon’s “You Shook Me” heard on “Truth”.
Beck was not pursuing arena-rock superstardom; had the then-tempermental Beck with Stewart and Wood held together, celebrity stardom would’ve been inevitable.

Instead, Beck’s appetite to explore heavy soul and jazz fusion led to a long list of collaborators, including Max Middleton, Jan Hammer, Carmen Appice & Tim Bogert, Tony Hymas, Terry Bozzio, Jennifer Batten and others.
Jeff’s tender solo on Stevie Wonder’s 1972 “Looking For Another Pure Love” is introduced by Wonder’s “Do it, Jeff.”

George Martin produced the breakthrough “Blow by Blow” album in 1974, reaching Number Four in Billboard the following year, an all-instrumental jazz fusion triumph.

Jeff wasn’t in a hurry; he seemed to value fearless experimentation over career moves. He turned down an offer to join the Rolling Stones in 1974.

Beck spent much of the 1980s away from the music world, working on his car collection, building hot rods. A master builder, Beck became close friends with legendary California custom car builder Chip Foose and others in the car culture. As an accomplished welder, Beck fabricated frames, chopped roofs and channeled bodies on his Deuces and rods, with an equal appreciation for his Corvettes.

He’s been called a “Grease monkey with the musical heart of a Poet Laureate”. The cover photo of the 1990 album “You Had It Coming” depicts Beck’s hands covered in that automotive grease.

Beck occasionally took criticism for his forays into electronic and industrial music. But there’s no categorizing the wondrous results of all his adventures.
How do you classify Jeff’s version of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” or Nitin Sawhney’s “Nadia”, a stunning guitar interpretation of Swati Natekar Ji’s exquisite Indian vocal performance?

For that matter, his passionate performance of “Nessun Dorma” from the Opera “Turandot” by Giacomo Puccini, as seen in the video of Crossroads Blues Festival in 2010 is enough to reduce the viewer-listener to tears.

The eight Grammys, two Hall of Fame inductions, countless guest recordings & gala concerts are too numerous to list.

Page and Clapton have been heard to say that while they all plied their craft and stayed in their lanes, Beck kept exploring, discovering, expanding. He once found a new trick and showed it to Ron Wood with, “Do you do this one?” Woody responded, “No, but you do!”

Recently Jeff stated he was more interested in heartfelt melodies than edgy aggression. There was more to come.
We should all recall the moment we got the news of Jeff Beck’s passing. I was driving onto a ferry, walked to the top deck in the pouring rain and wept for the entire voyage.

Guitarist James Bowers met Jeff in 1976, thanking him for Jamie’s own lifelong journey with the Stratocaster, studying every note of Beck’s records. Jeff’s response was, “Really? Even my mistakes?”

Upon leaving the Yardbirds, Beck said he had plenty to accomplish on the guitar. He did it.
He later said he would quit the day his fingers could no longer carry out what his mind wanted to play.
That day never arrived.

Some guitarists have studiously tried to unlock a few of Beck’s secrets. Now sadly, Jeff has taken his secrets with him. What heavenly music greets him now?
“No eye has seen … no ear has heard … what God has in store for those who love him.”
Long live Jeff Beck.

Since our musical tribute to Jeff Beck posted here on Sunday, I've been listening to more JB tunes that should have been included here.

Jeff Beck - Nessum Dorma - Live at the Crossroads Guitar Festival, 2010

The first comment underneath this Youtube video:

"Well, I wasn't planning on openly weeping today, but alas, here I am. RIP Jeff Beck. You are the greatest guitarist to have ever lived." ... Mark Johnson

The Cliff Notes version:

:

1- If members of Congress read bills before voting on them, legislation would be better.

2- If only we stopped wasteful spending, we’d solve most of our problems.

3- My family balances its budget. Why shouldn’t the government?

4- Government should be run like a business.

5- The parties need to stop the partisan squabbling and get things done.

6- We need more people in Congress who aren’t politicians.

Jeff Beck - A Man For All Seasons: In the 60s (docu 2015)

I recall my freshman year at Univ. of Michigan (1976) when I was starting to explore AOR rather than 45-RPMs. Not having my own stereo I was exposed to a lot of other people’s music which resulted in me buying 100+ albums that first year.

I bought Wired and JB’s playing really blew my mind!

While listening to a lot of Jeff Beck these past few days and reading a lot of my 'facebook Canadian musician friends' posts paying tribute to Jeff Beck and sharing how influential he was on their guitar playing, I came across this heartfelt comment, summing up what he meant to them:

"There is a bruise on my heart today, and I’m sure, on the hearts of every guitar player on the planet. You see, we have lost our King, Jeff Beck. We all looked up to him as our hero. There have been many beautiful words spoken about him, but all I can say is that Jeff played with sensitivity, power, emotion, humor, sex, and wisdom. Each and every note had value and purpose, and each and every note managed to wrangle its way into your soul. No one will follow in Jeff’s footsteps…that is impossible. It is a sad day for me." ... Steve

Jeff Beck Group - Rough and Ready (Full Album, 1971)

You know, this past Sunday night was one of the most enjoyable evenings of music I've had since we started this fun!

Hey Liz,

Thanks for the functional link — first thing I always check in with my Weigantia peeps, and this AM I treated myself to another listen before I even got out of the bed.

[41]

I wouldn’t be too concerned about either investigation-o-Rama or his docs case because Joe will certainly practice effective politics and demonstrate what words like transparency and accountability look like in practice.

I wasn’t much concerned about the promised GQP investigation-o-rama and that was before the fifteen ballot clusterfuck. Today I’m still not concerned about it. You watch, probably the very first such investigation will be so comical that the backlash will strangle in the cradle most subsequent impulses.

I share your lack of concern for the same reasons about how Republicans will go about investigating the Biden White House.

My great concern, however, rests with how the Biden administration will react to all of it. I am hoping that they will be completely forthcoming and give Republicans what they say they want - ALL of the facts - and be ready, willing and able to fully and freely cooperate with the hearings providing the witnesses that Republicans call for.

The Dems on the committees should not be doing anything to stymie the investigations and hearings. What congressional Democrats should be doing, essentially, is turn this Republican strategy to their great advantage!

let's try this one ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQIdjHcS4m4

... and a wonderfully non-brief accompanying description!

Enjoy!

Queen's Brian May is considered a guitar hero to many, but for him, Jeff Beck was his hero despite only being a few years older. Like many, May is reflecting on Jeff Beck's life and legacy as one of the premiere musicians in rock after the guitar great's death on Tuesday. In the midst of a lengthy commentary, May also shares the Beck song that he feels is possibly "the most beautiful bit of guitar music ever recorded."

That song would be "Where Were You" off of the guitarist's Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop album. In the midst of his salute to Beck, May tells viewers, "If you wanna hear his depth of emotion and sound and phrasing and the way he could touch your soul, listen to 'Where Were You' off the Guitar Shop album. Just Google 'Where Were You Jeff Beck' and sit down and listen to it for four minutes. It's unbelievable."

Jeff Beck - Where Were You

From the description:

Jeff invites Eric onto the stage sparking rapturous applause. They play beautiful renditions of "Little Brown Bird" and "You Need Love" both Muddy Waters singles, the latter of which was ultimately revised and covered by Led Zeppelin as "Whole Lotta Love".

From the description:

Billy Squier intro with Les Paul & Jeff Beck trading off riffs.
(note the wad of duct tape on JB's strat..
word was he knew LP was going to yank the cord out ...cause its not a Les Paul................)

On 16 April 2020, Beck released a new single, in which Beck collaborated with Johnny Depp to cover John Lennon's song "Isolation", explaining that this was a first record release from an ongoing musical collaboration between the two men. They had been recording music together for some time, with the track being produced the year before, but Beck explained that the decision to release it was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns: "We weren't expecting to release it so soon but given all the hard days and true 'isolation' that people are going through in these challenging times, we decided now might be the right time to let you all hear it".

Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp - Isolation (John Lennon cover)

This evening we pay tribute to Jeff Beck, "guitar hero's guitar hero", who died suddenly this week at 78.

Steve Vai said,

"I was a kid and I heard Cause We Ended as Lovers [from 1975’s Blow by Blow]. I had never heard anyone craft an instrumental like that before. Beck had switched from a Les Paul to a Strat at that point and he squeezed every tonal color you possibly could out of the thing.

"He’s really like a craftsman, and I’ve watched in stunned disbelief at how he can hit one note and do things to that one note that no one else can touch."

Jeff Beck Live - Cause We've Ended As Lovers

"In addition, such efforts to avert miscalculations that could lead to a war should be matched by a reaffirmation of the West’s desire for a peaceful accommodation with Russia regarding a joint effort to help Ukraine recover economically and stabilize politically. The West should reassure Russia that it is not seeking to draw Ukraine into NATO or to turn it against Russia. Ukrainians themselves can define the depth of their closeness to Europe and the scope of their economic cooperation with Russia, to the benefit of peace and stability in Europe."

This is classic Zbigniew Brzezinski doctrine!

Transforming Russia into a peaceful Europeanized democratic state is the only way to save Russia from collapse and destruction. Ukraine membership in NATO is the prerequisite to Russian membership in NATO.

While that might have been a reasonable assertion to make thirty years ago, it certainly hasn't been part of the lexicon since then and certainly won't be now for a very, very long time, if ever.

Zbig was one of my favourite teachers of geopolitics.

He most certainly did NOT see Ukraine's membership in NATO as essential. On the contrary, he saw Ukraine as more of buffer zone between Russia and an expanding NATO alliance. And, he most assuredly would have advised against the ineffective stance taken by the Biden administration of insisting on the expansion of NATO right up to the doorstep of Moscow through Kyiv and would have most decidedly warned against any talk of regime change in Russia.

A careful reading of the Brzezinski Doctrine will find that Zbig's thinking on these issues was more about evolutionary process and not so simplistic as you would wish your quotes to demonstrate.

Yes, Russian membership in NATO was indeed bandied about during the heady days of Russian democratization. But, the idea, regardless of how serious it might have been, didn't last very long.

To quote Zbigniew Brzezinski directly: "Both EU AND NATO expansion should continue, thereby eliminating ANY geopolitical ambiguities or temptations in the areas immediately west of Russia."

Brzezinski thought that it was ESSENTIAL that Ukraine join both the EU and NATO so that it could both serve as an example to and facilitate Russia's own transformation, as well as guarantee both Europe's and Russia's own security.

Quoting Brzezinski again: "Propitiation of Putin's regime will only delay the desired evolution of Russia into a democratic, Europe-oriented, national Russian state."

The ultimate goal is a Russian state that makes a post-imperial choice in favor of the West and adheres to European norms and disavows any future imperial ambitions against its neighbors.

Transforming Russia into a peaceful Europeanized democratic state is the only way to save Russia from collapse and destruction. Ukraine membership in NATO is the prerequisite to Russian membership in NATO.

Well isn’t that special!

less church committee and more 'church lady' committee. could it be..... satan???!!!!

You watch, probably the very first such investigation will be so comical that the backlash will strangle in the cradle most subsequent impulses.

Oh, there are many Dems who would dearly love to see Biden not seek re-election and this scandal will do nicely as a reason for calling on him not to run. That wouldn't be a very good strategy for winning the presidency in 2024, though.

Now, however, the doubters have returned, right when Biden was planning on triumphantly clearing the field with his campaign announcement. This could damage him severely, or it could all just be a bump in the road -- nobody knows at this point. But the best thing Biden could do for himself is to give a short public statement explaining it all to the American people.

Clearing the field, eh? I have to laugh out loud at that one. Because, you know, he tried that a couple of times before and it didn't work out so well. Yeah, he'll be running as a president looking for a second term but, still ... putting Biden and clearing the field in the same sentence will always make me laugh.

I do expect Biden to give a public statement, explaining all to the American people. There was a time when I would have added that it won't be short nor delivered late on Friday but, alas, Biden has changed. :(

Give it a listen — then we can back and forth.