Jeff Beck: C/D, S/D, RFD

Nile Rodgers told an amazing anecdote at Pop Conference years back when he was one of the keynote speakers -- Alfred remembers it I'm sure -- where he talked about producing Beck and was baffled at learning that Beck was really into Vangelis around then. But with the long scope of time it totally makes sense he was into that as much as anything and everything else.

Jeff, thank you for believing in me before anyone else did. You stood behind me & told everyone to take me seriously. You treated me like a daughter to the point where Wikipedia actually thought that was true. Actually, I did too. ♥️💔♥️💔@jeffbeckmusic #RIPJeffBeck pic.twitter.com/TtQ0Ysrji3

— TAL (@talwilkenfeld) January 12, 2023

Aw. She rules.

Nile Rodgers told an amazing anecdote at Pop Conference years back when he was one of the keynote speakers -- Alfred remembers it I'm sure -- where he talked about producing Beck and was baffled at learning that Beck was really into Vangelis around then. But with the long scope of time it totally makes sense he was into that as much as anything and everything else.

― Ned Raggett,

*nods* It reminds me when I learned Nile Rodgers cited Roxy Music as an influence -- a "well, DUH" moment.

He also cites Kiss, which is more like a "well, HUH" moment.

Goddaaang these first two Jeff Beck Group albums are excellent and also supremely funky. Some of my favorite Rod vocals as well. Came to these very, very late but so glad I have. Rest In Peace. What a master.

I've now listened to Blow By Blow, Wired and There and Back — his three late 70s all instrumental studio albums — and I am definitely gonna be coming back to these. If you're a fan of early Al Di Meola (shredtastic instro rock with some funk and Latin stuff thrown in, plus the occasional wiggy prog synth eruption) you will love these, and vice versa.

Also in that era, he toured with the Jan Hammer Group, and my friend said it was good---now dig this wiki credit, from the resulting album:

Fernando Saunders - bass, harmony vocals; rhythm guitar on "She's A Woman"

And another friend just now sent me the Blow-Up clip:

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

I listened to Beckology at least twice from end to end. The first half is really strong, a fantastic listen, but the momentum slows with Beck, Bogert, Appice and their two live cuts were kind of excruciating. (The studio outtake "Jizz Whizz" was much better than expected though.) Things do pick up a lot with the selections from Blow by Blow and Wired - that takes us five tracks into the third and final disc. After that the rest is wildly uneven, but there's a nice cover of "People Get Ready" and "Where Were You" is just beautiful.

you guys gimme some other examples if I overlook anything…

1.) he is the most major brit rock 60s personage whose shit under his own name is in no way part of the terrible classic rock complex, no classic rock radio presence to speak of…

2.) while there was a tradition of instrumental music being genuinely popular on the radio before, what, 1967? the 70s? (particularly in the UK), he is the most major rock figure whose mark was most definitive (again, under his own name) as an instrumental artist (those 70s fusion records were genuinely popular).

3. similarly, he is one of the major fusion acts… he's right behind the big three of Return to Forever, Mahavishnu and Weather Report…he plays on Stanley Clarke's "Hello Jeff " and "Rock and Roll Jelly," two songs that are notable for their lack of the self serious portent that enveloped fusion. Which I have no problem whatsoever with, but the absence as such makes these songs totally fun and daresay danceable…

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igi342t78qs

4) he came up with the drum best for “superstition”

contusion” of songs in the key of life could totally be a late 70s jeff beck tune

beat

xpost: the other day, I heard "Hi Ho Silver Lining" for like the second time: almost no one other than heads in the U.S. know this tune, but is it true that in the UK, it is by far the best known exponent of his work, a pub singalong, played at weddings and so forth?

I had forgotten that he actually played with Clarke, but while walking around this morning listening to Wired again I was thinking that the music sounds very much in the vein of Clarke's solo material, particularly his self-titled and Journey to Love albums...and there he is!

xpost abt Hi Ho Silver Lining

P much, although poss not so much nowadays.

xpost: the other day, I heard "Hi Ho Silver Lining" for like the second time: almost no one other than heads in the U.S. know this tune, but is it true that in the UK, it is by far the best known exponent of his work, a pub singalong, played at weddings and so forth?

― veronica moser,

can confirm.
this is a uk party standard.
and i have never ever got fed up with it.

Just discovered this now-obscure 45:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO4Xn0S5MGE

Written and performed by Paul Jones (ex-Manfred Mann) and released in March 1968, it's more or less a supergroup featuring Jeff Beck on guitar, Paul McCartney on drums, Paul Samwell-Smith on bass, and Nicky Hopkins on keyboard with Peter Asher producing.

From Hot Wired Guitar: The Life Of Jeff Beck, by Martin Power:

Locked into a low-paying contract that forced him to release below-par singles wholly unrepresentative of his undoubted talent or preferred musical direction, and with a band now on the verge of desertion, Beck continued to prop up his income with the odd session. The most notable of these was an inspired contribution to the B-side of ex-Manfred Mann singer Paul Jones’ single ‘And The Sun Will Shine’, cut in the early spring of 1968. Written by the Gibb Brothers – aka the Bee Gees – ‘And The Sun…’ was a fairly innocuous example of late-sixties pop balladry. But its flip side, ‘The Dog Presides’, was much more rewarding to the ear. Cut at Abbey Road’s famous Studio II, ‘The Dog Presides’, featured an all-star cast of musicians and fashionable London faces. Making his debut as a producer was Pete Asher of Peter & Gordon, a singing duo that had already achieved considerable notoriety with four million-selling singles, the best known of which was ‘A World Without Love’. The brother of Jane Asher – then dating Beatle Paul McCartney – Pete had asked McCartney to attend the session at which he ended up playing drums. Also along for the ride was Jeff’s former bandmate and now producer in his own right, Paul Samwell-Smith, who added bass guitar. To give things an extra helping of top-end sheen, Nicky Hopkins brought along his keyboard, leaving Beck to provide some typical fiery runes from the neck of his Gibson Les Paul. The result of all this superstar jamming was a cracking little tune, sung beautifully by Jones, whose panicky harmonica fills were a perfect complement to Jeff’s growling lead lines. For Beck, who reportedly earned a week’s rent from ‘The Dog Presides’, there was only one regret: “Well, all I remember [about it] was hoping Paul McCartney would sing“.

1.) he is the most major brit rock 60s personage whose shit under his own name is in no way part of the terrible classic rock complex, no classic rock radio presence to speak of…

This is true, but also slightly mysterious: why didn’t “classic rock” radio latch onto anything from the first two records? That said, I did hear his version of “Shapes Of Things” a few times on the radio, and I must’ve heard some of the Blow By Blow / Wired stuff on the radio since when checking it out recently every other tune was, “oh, I know this one” (and I didn’t know anyone into Beck who would’ve played those records for me). I think there was probably a narrow window (and/or a midnight “let the stoner DJ play whatever” slot) on “classic rock” radio in the ‘80s that let some Jeff Beck slip through.

BBC just put this up, Beck doing a rig rundown in 1974:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7nP0xwgTY0

is it true that in the UK, it is by far the best known exponent of his work

Beck described it "like having a pink toilet seat hung around your neck for the rest of your life.”

it is / was such a ubiquitous UK wedding / school disco / pub singalong anthem though i'd guess a lot of people who know the song don't know who it's by. i asked my wife about it earlier and sher said she had always thought it was a beatles song!!

..and while he famously hated it, he was persuaded to play it one time at least -

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

xxxpost, "The Dog Presides" indeed! Totally refreshing, bird, thanks so much!

Here's one somebody just sent me:

This one, from 2007, is worth it too. Not just because he does the track from Blow by Blow that was all over the airwaves back in the day, but for the solo by Australian bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, who was 22 at the time. The entire show at Ronnie Scott's is available on YouTube, and it's really good...includes a version of Billy Cobham's "Stratus" (from his first solo album, "Spectrum") that is every bit as good as the original!

David Torn said on of Beck winning a Grammy for "Plan B" which featured mix and music by Torn.

splatt said:
that's what Jeff said, and it meant a lot to him..... and to me. he called me immediately upon hearing the Grammy news, and enthusiastically blasted me with, "It's your Grammy, it's yours!"

freaking dude.

ya know, he was really incredibly supportive of me as a player, pointing out the inspiration he'd gotten listening to my playing & music, my uses of pitch-expression on the guitar over the years, and my Oud playing of all things..... completely unbidden, and without any hint of hesitation.

mensch.

i went to a gig with him, once --- his gig, after dinner --- which was fantastic.
me & my friend Hector went backstage afterwards to see what was up, thank him for his brilliance, see how he felt, make after-show plans, but the room was sooooo over-crowded --- maybe 85-100 people jammed together in a pretty small ante-room? --- with a sizeable percentage of guitarists present.

it was waaaay too crowded for me, and i was getting guitarplayerly-claustrophobic..... couple of well-known players saw me, came over & said "hey"; one of 'em said, clearly condescendingly, "what are you doing here?".
(like, why would i attend a JB show?" damn. WTF?)
i said, "well, i came to hear Jeff play", turned to Hector & said "let's split & see Jeff later." Hector disagreed, "f*** that merde, let's hang for another few minutes!"

so, a few minutes later:
Jeff pops through the curtain and is just peering around the crowd, then grabs a chair & stands up on it so's he can see better, sees me & points at me & yells across the room "TORN, TORN! Didja hear me playin' your licks, TORN? Didja hear your licks, TORN?"
and, as if i were a kid..... i just felt so good in that moment. crazy, of course, but kinda validated, maybe even relieved somehow? and Jeff knew, he def knew what that meant to me.

freaking dudistic mensch.

Great story, thanks.
A bunch of shows, incl w xpost Jan Hammer Group and Stanley Clarke---also, scroll all the way down for his Bowie show, guesting on "Jean Genie" and "Round and Round":
https://zensurfingarcher.blogspot.com/

why didn’t “classic rock” radio latch onto anything from the first two records?

I used to hear "Beck's Bolero" and a few others from those records, plus "Going Down", on the local classic rock station.

On the subject of the tour with Jan Hammer, there's a Spinal Tap-worthy quote from Beck from a guitar magazine:

I couldn't believe how I misjudged the role he was to play. Not musically, because his playing is superb, and if he fell on his arse on a piano, it would come out a magnificent chord. He's that sort of bloke.

Flash has weirdly really grown on me. I first heard it last March and only enjoyed the more bizarre songs where the LinnDrum seems to be wanting to do free jazz or 777-9311. Now I have time for all of it except People Get Ready.

The opening seconds of this cannot fail to make me laugh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s7r9n4jspM

That's a Dirk Diggler single they've got there.

Written and produced by Nile Rodgers!

But check out this bonkers/shit song (also written by Nile Rodgers) and time capsule video from the same album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaGfW2Ifuts

Crazy solo starts around 3:40.

I am saddened by the news of Jeff Beck’s passing. Here’s a clip of a video I did with him in ‘85. It was this video that really paved the way for the success of my hit, Soldier of Love. 

I’ll always be grateful to Jeff for that opportunity.

RIP, my friend. pic.twitter.com/7FTDYMLp3r

— Donny Osmond (@donnyosmond) January 12, 2023

Greil Marcus was asked about Jeff Beck and recalled a bizarre incident at one of his Yardbirds shows. Here's the relevant section:

Jeff Beck shocked me in the Yardbirds. What he did in “Shapes of Things” seemed unreal, but it erased the song. With the much stronger number “Mister You’re a Better Man Than I” he becomes part of the body of the song; he is the song. I admired him in the Jeff Beck Group but Rod Stewart was so good it was hard to listen to Jeff Beck. Listen to their “I’ve Been Drinking.” It’s built to showcase the solo but when it comes, and the rest of the instrumentation builds to it, it’s a distraction. Maybe that’s why for so long that record, buried as a B side, was almost impossible to hear.

I’m glad he carried on. I would have thought he was pretty much forgotten. A full page obituary in the New York Times almost didn’t make sense. Someone there loved him.

A memory, though: In June 1966, we went to a small place in Brixton, in London, to see the Yardbirds: the Ram Jam Club. Before bands came on they played only reggae—its rock steady form. We had no idea what it was but it slithered through the room. Then a soul band called the Heatwaves came on. They were good. They built their set so that when they ended with “Heatwave” it was pure satisfaction.

By this time it was late and the place was so hot and steamy it felt like sweat was pouring down the walls. The Yardbirds came on and the reality of the night took a step up. They were both explosive and careful, anarchic and precise. It was an unstable combination of values and it seemed to make every song feel like a risk, where anything could happen.

When they finished everyone was milling about. Two beautiful Swedish women went up to Jeff Beck, gave him huge smiles, talked for a minute, and then one of them asked Beck for his guitar. As a souvenir: “I will take it home,” she said. I was shocked. There was something so condescending, so trivializing of the show, along with a sort of implicit transaction that she wasn’t trading sex for the guitar, it wasn’t worth that much, but merely by appearing before him offering him the priceless opportunity to keep her in his mind forever as an unobtainable erotic object. Something like that. I could see him freeze with rage. He picked up his guitar and proceeded to smash it to bits. Then he kicked the pieces to the back of the stage and walked off. The women acted insulted. I liked that as much as any solo I heard heard him play.

Was just looking up the Yardbirds' history because of the book I'm writing — Cecil Taylor opened for them at the Fillmore West for three gigs at the end of May 1968. Beck was long gone, though; Jimmy Page was the sole lead guitarist by that point, and the band broke up in early June.

Jeff Beck shocked me in the Yardbirds. What he did in “Shapes of Things” seemed unreal, but it erased the song

wrong

Was just looking up the Yardbirds' history because of the book I'm writing — Cecil Taylor opened for them at the Fillmore West for three gigs at the end of May 1968. Beck was long gone, though; Jimmy Page was the sole lead guitarist by that point, and the band broke up in early June.

― but also fuck you (unperson), Monday, January 30, 2023 2:34 PM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Just hit me that it's kind of weird to me to realize that 1968 Page and 1968 Taylor existed at the same time

The women acted insulted. I liked that as much as any solo I heard heard him play.

Maybe she was trying to get him to say, "Well, I'll bring the guitar---special delivery," boom-chakka-wow-wow. I mean, those were the Sixties, after all. But easy to see how it could have come off as too lofty, baby.

Maybe Marcus was just thinking of the scene in "Blow Up."

along with a sort of implicit transaction that she wasn’t trading sex for the guitar, it wasn’t worth that much, but merely by appearing before him offering him the priceless opportunity to keep her in his mind forever as an unobtainable erotic object.

Griel is overthinking this. When you're hot people give you guitars all the time.

Don't I know it

BBA Box Set:

https://www.houstonpress.com/music/things-to-do-listen-to-the-beck-bogert-and-appice-live-box-set-16323062

Includes the first domestic release of Live In Japan

Awesome!

Nice! Here's the link on the Rhino site.

oh fuck yes

Will not forgive him for breaking up Cactus