Guitar Legend Jeff Beck has died

January 12, 2023 9:10 AM

Regarded as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, he was 78.

Starting out in the 60s with artists such as Screaming Lord Such and replacing Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds, Jeff Beck then went on to a successful solo career. His influence stretched across all of rock, as well as blues and fusion. He died Tuesday after suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis.

posted by BigHeartedGuy (63 comments total)

"Heart Full Of Soul" RIP
posted by DJZouke at 9:14 AM on January 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

*Sutch.

Yeah, he was a towering talent who had the misfortune to have his stint in his first major band come between Clapton and Page, in which company it is hard not to be the bronze medallist. Even in bands where he shone more, the groups themselves had less cultural impact: Beck, Bogert and Appice rarely comes up as anyone’s faves.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:23 AM on January 12, 2023 [6 favorites]

My first concert, with SRV. Such a unique talent, and apparently a down to earth guy. Truly a guitarist’s guitarist.

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posted by swift at 9:27 AM on January 12, 2023

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posted by JoeXIII007 at 9:31 AM on January 12, 2023

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posted by Silverstone at 9:39 AM on January 12, 2023

Here is Jeff Beck in the Yardbirds with Jimmy Page in the classic 1966 film Blow Up. Beck smashes his guitar while Page looks on.
posted by JonJacky at 9:59 AM on January 12, 2023 [10 favorites]

because we've ended as lovers, live
posted by pyramid termite at 10:00 AM on January 12, 2023 [4 favorites]

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I saw Tommy Emmanuel in a small-venue concert last night. After a few words he dedicated a haunting acoustic version of ''Cause We've Ended as Lovers" to Beck.
posted by eclectist at 10:02 AM on January 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

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posted by jquinby at 10:02 AM on January 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

Clapton and Page may have been the more famous, but Beck was the best.* Here's the full show at Ronnie Scott's in London in 2007, with a band including the very young Tal Wilkenfeld on bass, guest vocals from Joss Stone and Imogen Heap, playing tunes from Lennon and McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Nitin Sawhney and Charles Mingus among others.

The sound he made was glorious and surprisingly subtle for something that loud.

It's shocking that he's the first of the Yardbirds guitarists to go, because he seemed to be still a creative force.

*As far as I know, Beck's sole moral slip was making an album with Johnny Depp last year, which doesn't really compare with some rock and roll excesses that could be mentioned.
posted by Grangousier at 10:02 AM on January 12, 2023 [12 favorites]

Beck gave singer Rod Stewart CBE the first big break of his career. The Jeff Beck Group toured in the late 1960s with Stewart, and he appeared on their two albums.
posted by JonJacky at 10:15 AM on January 12, 2023 [4 favorites]

Clapton and Page may have been the more famous, but Beck was the best.*

Was just typing something similar. At the very least, Best was at the top of his game for his whole career while the other two peaked sometime in the early 70s.

Check out this clip of him and Imogen Heap from 2007 and watch how much pure joy he brings.
posted by octothorpe at 10:21 AM on January 12, 2023 [7 favorites]

Oh geez, what a loss.

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posted by May Kasahara at 10:24 AM on January 12, 2023

This is a lot of fun: Tribute to Les Paul from 2010, with Imelda May on vocals. Not so much of the soaring, wailing solos to be sure, but lots of rockabilly goodness.

(Storming version of Peter Gunn)
posted by Grangousier at 10:28 AM on January 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

🎸
posted by clavdivs at 10:34 AM on January 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

Not necessarily his best work but was played a lot on MTV back when the "M" still stood for "Music" and is noteworthy for all the 1980s b-list celebrity cameos: Ambitious. Probably Donny Osmond's coolest moment.

One of the best; RIP.
posted by TedW at 10:40 AM on January 12, 2023 [5 favorites]

Sure, he's known for being one of the greatest guitar players of all time, but he also came up with one of the most signature drum beats in American music:

Jeff Beck was an admirer of Wonder's music, and Wonder was informed of this prior to the Talking Book album sessions. Though at this point he was playing virtually all of the instruments on his songs by himself, Wonder preferred to let other guitarists play on his records, and he liked the idea of a collaboration with Beck. An agreement was quickly made for Beck to become involved in the sessions that became the Talking Book album, in return for Wonder writing him a song.

Between the album sessions, Beck came up with the opening drum beat. Wonder told Beck to keep playing while he improvised over the top of it. He improvised most of the song, including the riff, on the spot. Beck and Wonder created a rough demo for the song that day.[11][12]

After finishing the song, Wonder decided that he would allow Beck to record "Superstition" as part of their agreement. Originally, the plan was for Beck to release his version of the song first, with his newly formed power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice. However, due to the combination of the trio's debut album getting delayed and Motown CEO Berry Gordy's prediction that "Superstition" would be a huge hit and greatly increase the sales of Talking Book, Wonder released the song as the Talking Book lead single months ahead of Beck's version, the latter being issued in March 1973 on the Beck, Bogert & Appice album.[13]

posted by General Malaise at 10:50 AM on January 12, 2023 [22 favorites]

Legendary. RIP
posted by Liquidwolf at 10:57 AM on January 12, 2023

evidence for the case that Beck could have done a Led Zeppelin if he really wanted to:

Rice Pudding



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posted by philip-random at 11:19 AM on January 12, 2023

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posted by kitten kaboodle at 11:21 AM on January 12, 2023

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posted by SystematicAbuse at 11:28 AM on January 12, 2023

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posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 11:30 AM on January 12, 2023

Freeway Jam

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posted by lock robster at 11:32 AM on January 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

I just remembered - in the early 1980s, he provided the theme music for literally the coolest music show on television. Live version from 2017.
posted by Grangousier at 11:44 AM on January 12, 2023 [3 favorites]

Posted by BigHeartedGuy

Checks out.
posted by wittgenstein at 11:46 AM on January 12, 2023

One of the pillars of guitar inspiration for me. This is tough.

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posted by jabo at 11:46 AM on January 12, 2023

god wants jeff beck
posted by flabdablet at 11:48 AM on January 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

• Cause We've Ended As Lovers as performed by Beck is one of my favorite pieces of music ever.
posted by bz at 11:50 AM on January 12, 2023 [4 favorites]

On Letterman, doing What Mama Said with Jennifer Batten on co-guitar.
posted by Grangousier at 12:00 PM on January 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

♪
posted by Gelatin at 12:04 PM on January 12, 2023

I’m watching the Live at Ronnie Scott’s Performance today and it’s of course stunning. Besides Jeff Beck being a certified monster on the guitar, what strikes me most is how much fun he and his band appear to be having playing together. And the music does absolutely showcase the whole band. He was surely as much of a joy to play with as to listen to.

(I do realize that back in the 60s he was known for being very temperamental, so he was probably less fun then)
posted by wabbittwax at 12:28 PM on January 12, 2023

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posted by Pendragon at 12:54 PM on January 12, 2023

It wasn't until I saw him live around 2003 where I went "Whoa. O.k. This is what people are talking about when they talk about Jeff Beck." Almost 20 years later, I still remember his set. It was part of a double bill with B.B. King, so it was a night of great guitar. I still have the ticket stub.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:59 PM on January 12, 2023 [3 favorites]

𝄻
posted by adekllny at 1:00 PM on January 12, 2023

I caught his eye at the Hour Cafe (Time Cafe?) in the east village in NYC in the late 80s. He grinned at me and later brushed up against my table and told me I was pretty. He seemed kinda drunk but then it was like 3 am and so was I. That is it, that’s my Jeff Beck story.
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:04 PM on January 12, 2023 [15 favorites]

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posted by Mitheral at 1:28 PM on January 12, 2023

Nthing the love for Mr. Beck and the opinion that he was the best of the Yardbirds' guitarists. Clapton got stuck in the blues and that pseudo-Okie thing, while Page hasn't released new music in... (and his post-LZ discography does his legacy no favors). Beck tried different sounds and styles, from Gene Vincent/Cliff Gallup-inspired rock to one of the defining fusion albums to funk to straight-up modern rock. That he went first of the three is a cruel irony. I'll say he was the most naturally gifted of those Yardbirds pickers.

A legend.

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posted by the sobsister at 1:35 PM on January 12, 2023 [5 favorites]

(Of course, it was four Yardbirds guitarists and Peter Green went first - I’d forgotten.)

There was also the albums of the late 90s/early 00s where his producers were using electronics-type beats. More fun!

And Emotion and Commotion , which is a bit redolent of a late 70s Shadows record, but my goodness it shows off the guitar as an expressive instrument.
posted by Grangousier at 1:46 PM on January 12, 2023

Where Were You is absolutely gorgeous.
posted by swift at 1:47 PM on January 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

Although I was already into the Yardbirds by then, the first I heard of Jeff Beck was early 1967 when (in an attempt at prolonging the British Invasion) Epic Records was promoting a trio of new singles on US Top 40 radio. They were

• I Could Be So Good To You by Don and the Goodtimes,
• Here Comes My Baby by the Tremeloes, and
• Hi-Ho Silver Lining by Jeff Beck.

Though obscure, the first two charted and can still be heard on Oldies stations, but Jeff's first solo effort sank like a stone stateside and it was years (years!) before I finally got a copy and heard it again. Since that 45 was on a different label it must have been re-released, and it's a worthy inclusion in any 'Summer of Love' mix.
posted by Rash at 1:56 PM on January 12, 2023 [3 favorites]

Beck's only failings were that he wasn't a composer of memorable riffs and was a mercurial band leader. His bands just didn't last long. But yeah, he kept moving forward, trying different styles, collaborators, and techniques. Given the blowback on Clapton lately, it is interesting that Beck and Page remained good friends (when they lived near each other in the 90s they'd jam in Beck's garage, sometimes dragging in Keith Richards). At the Ronnie Scott's gig, Page is there. But ask either about EC and you'd get polite evasion. And I never heard of him getting access to the garage.

RIP, to a master of the six string.
posted by Ber at 2:07 PM on January 12, 2023 [4 favorites]

That “Because We’ve Ended As Lovers” (linked a couple of ways above — it’s from the This Week Live at Ronnie Scott’s show) is fucking tears-in-my-eyes amazing. Part of that is Beck’s sheer musicality, coaxing such magic from his guitar with the mere brush of his fingers. Part is his pure joy — and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta’s — at Tal Wilkenfeld’s wonderful bass solo. Talk about loving the music.
posted by Songdog at 2:10 PM on January 12, 2023 [4 favorites]

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posted by Splunge at 2:28 PM on January 12, 2023

I have been going over his back catalog. Not being a particular fan of the blues rock genre, I never got into his music. It finally clicked for me with "Blow By Blow". It's one of the better instrumental guitar albums I've ever heard - the guitar does the talking. Absolutely stunning technique and melodicism.
posted by thoughtful_jester at 2:52 PM on January 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

I was lucky enough to see him at the RAH in 2009 and it was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life.

I've tried to post a link or two but I haven't made it to the end of anything I've previewed without crying so I give up. It's all out there.

> I just remembered - in the early 1980s, he provided the theme music for literally the coolest music show on television

OMG I had totally forgotten that! Thank you!

> Clapton and Page may have been the more famous, but Beck was the best

True dat. Clapton made the mistake of sharing the stage with Beck for the Secret Policeman's Ball. I haven't forgotten that :)

A sad day today :(
posted by merlynkline at 2:56 PM on January 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

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posted by gentlyepigrams at 3:07 PM on January 12, 2023

Something that's been buzzing around my mind...

There's something about the way that the guitar solo is a kind of highly emotional expression that's available to people for whom it doesn't, perhaps, come easily. I think it's telling that so many young men of a particular generation of Englishmen, mostly working class or lower-middle class, were so good at it, across genres - Beck, Clapton, Page, Green, Gilmour, Knopfler (born 1949, so the same generation, pretty much), McLaughlin, Peter Frampton, Paul Kossoff, and it might be useful to include the (very non-bluesy) Brian May and Robert Fripp. Each with a unique, confident and distinct voice. And for a lot of chaps of my generation and older it certainly is a direct emotional experience, especially the operatic wailing of Beck or Gilmour. I think we get mocked somewhat for feeling that, especially if (as I do), we make crude attempts at it ourselves. But it's still an authentic catharsis, for people who are notoriously averse to heightened emotional expression, and while it's obviously channelling blues music (in a way that perhaps these days would be considered illicit), I often feel it has as much of a connection to The Lark Ascending as The Thrill Is Gone.
posted by Grangousier at 3:44 PM on January 12, 2023 [20 favorites]

One of the best of the best. Much better and more interesting than Page or Clapton, IMHO. Or almost any other electric guitarist, and I mean no disrespect to them all. The late Alan Holdsworth is about the only one I can think of who was in Beck's class.

Live at Ronnie Scott's is easily in my top five concerts ever, in any genre, and competing hard for Number 1. Already played it twice in full since hearing the news yesterday. Never gets dull for even a second. Not just Beck, every band member was in the zone that night. We are so fortunate such a rare gem was recorded.

It is very sad, of course. But he was 78, had a very long and productive career (58 years!), was active right up to the end, and was one of those rare beasts who not only started brilliantly but just kept getting better and better and better. We should celebrate as much as commiserate.

A life very well spent, indeed.
posted by Pouteria at 3:53 PM on January 12, 2023 [8 favorites]

This original take of Heart Full of Soul featured a sitar player recruited from an Indian restaurant, but it just didn't work. So, instead, Jeff Beck being a total gearhead, he rigs up some rudimentary gear, bends some notes the right way, & in less than 10 minutes, he recreated the sitar melody as the riff we know today.

(Storming version of Peter Gunn)

Among the many influences Jeff Beck absorbed, he was a big fan of music from spy movies & spaghetti westerns. You can definitely hear Beck bringing that cinematic influence to the guitar work on the Yardbirds' Evil Hearted You.

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posted by jonp72 at 4:07 PM on January 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

Picture this - 1975, Blow By Blow was just out. I'd heard bits and pieces, but hadn't really, really listened. Houston, TX before fungicide in cattle feed, when after a good rain, mushrooms could be found growing like... mushrooms, in the cow pastures. We had a whole paper grocery sack of the fresh ones.

A friend had a VW van and some undeveloped land we repaired to in the countryside a ways to the west of town where the coast plain begins to give way to the gently undulating oak savannah. He situated his van near the edge of a soft meadow, and we built a very nice campfire under the tall trees as evening set in.

It takes a long time for mushrooms to take effect. I had the idea after waiting nearly an hour, that I hadn't taken enough (reader, I had) so I doubled my dosage - probably 4-6 large fresh ones. It was hard to tell - we had ground them up in a lemonade concentrate paste. 5 or 10 minutes later as the first dose really kicked in I realized my mistake, though it was fortuitous, as i was in the right place for that to have happened. The weather was fine, it was dusk, the fire was roaring, and music was wafting from the van. I wandered about, at one point laying in the field on my back, staring into the sky, and came to the sudden realization that the entire world was behind me and that the only thing between me and space was the thin clear air, and I felt compelled to grab a hold of the grass so that I wouldn't fall off.

Putting my faith in gravity, I got up and decided to go sit in the van and listen to music - Blow by Blow was on cassette, looping. My friend had a good stereo, and as I sat down, side 2 started up, and I sat through the whole album, having my entire psyche rearranged molecule by molecule. It was the most utterly perfect music for that moment, a truly unforgettable experience, a place in time, a ride on the sonic waves, pillows of sound. I can't give words to properly convey the meaning that moment had for me.

I came away just utterly filled with joy and a calm sense of peace.

Also, side two will always be side one for me, and I listen to it that way to this day. What an incredible album, and what a perfect way to experience such a masterful work of beauty.

Thanks, Mr. Beck.
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:46 PM on January 12, 2023 [34 favorites]

•🎸
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 7:09 PM on January 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

In the mid-60s the Yardbirds were the 2nd live band I ever saw, when I was about 13. It was a dance concert and I worked my way up to the front right next to the band and got to see both Jeff Beck and Jimmy Paige play up close and personal. Young mind blown!
posted by a humble nudibranch at 9:24 PM on January 12, 2023 [9 favorites]

You had to see him play to understand how he managed to get the sounds out of a guitar that he did. And even then it didn't mean you could do it yourself.
posted by tommasz at 4:46 AM on January 13, 2023 [3 favorites]

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Wired is one of my favorite albums ever.
posted by luckynerd at 5:32 AM on January 13, 2023 [6 favorites]

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posted by Lynsey at 9:43 AM on January 13, 2023

I have not seem it mentioned in any of the appreciations/obituaries - but the case has been made that 1967's Beck's Bolero (recorded with Page...) single-handedly INVENTED the genre of heavy metal.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 1:12 PM on January 13, 2023 [3 favorites]

In the realm of electric guitar, there has been no player as talented, consistent, explorative and entirely unique as Jeff Beck. Put him with Hendrix in one rarified box, and everyone else in another, and you’ve pretty much got the picture. I’m lucky enough to have seen him at least a dozen times live since the seventies, and to anyone lucky enough to have attended any of the Ronnie Lane benefit shows, and who saw Clapton, Page and Beck on that stage together, there was one player that so obviously towered over the others as to leave no subtlety to it - Jeff Beck was easily the best of the three, by an embarrassingly wide margin, and I think it was most obvious to Clapton and Page. I can only imagine how they both feel today. This one is gonna hurt for some time. No other living player ever came close to his absolute virtuosity. RIP
posted by dbiedny at 4:40 AM on January 14, 2023 [4 favorites]

You had to see him play to understand how he managed to get the sounds out of a guitar that he did. And even then it didn't mean you could do it yourself.

Stratus
posted by flabdablet at 9:08 PM on January 14, 2023 [2 favorites]

>> You had to see him play to understand how he managed to get the sounds out of a guitar that he did.

> Stratus

Yeah. No. That's the band I saw and if you think I have the slightest understanding of how he did that you are mistaken. They are deep into that tour there and still you can see the "WTAF did he just do?" look on Tal's face at times in that clip. He has a rack of guitars and a giant array of pedal effects on stage with him and never goes near any of them. I can only think he made a deal at a crossroads.
posted by merlynkline at 3:44 AM on January 15, 2023

> Stratus

great great track. First showed up long ago on a Billy Cobham album with the doomed Tommy Bolin playing guitar.

And if that groove sounds familiar, Massive Attack made great use of it on their first album.
posted by philip-random at 1:06 PM on January 15, 2023

evidence for the case that Beck could have done a Led Zeppelin if he really wanted to

Yeah, late 60s Beck and early Zep were working the same side of the street (short sweet crunchy melodic rock riffs). The Zeppelin just had more career pushin'.

The thing that I mostly listened to was Wired.
posted by ovvl at 5:21 PM on January 15, 2023

Billy Joel Paid Tribute to Jeff Beck With a Pair of Covers
posted by chavenet at 12:58 AM on January 16, 2023

When I was in college, I went to a show in 1989 in Cleveland where Jeff was opening for Stevie Ray Vaughn.
It seemed inconceivable that he was an opening act, so I figured that they were just sharing stage time.

Jeff was playing with Terry Bozzio and Tony Hymas - both of them monsters in their own right.
posted by plinth at 6:24 AM on January 17, 2023