Jeff Beck. Guitar icon. I don’t really know what else to say about him. He’s been the most creative, most humble guitar genius that’s come along. And when I mention him to people these days they say, “Jeff Beck? Who’s he?” “He played with the Yardbirds.” “I thought that was Jimmy Page?” Or “Wasn’t that Eric Clapton?” Yikes! It was Eric Clapton first, when the Yardbirds were a London blues band with a weak singer and visions of becoming the next Rolling Stones. They recorded as a backup band to Sonny Boy Williamson, but turned their back on the blues in favour of a pop hit (written by future 10CCer Graham Gouldman) “For Your Love.” Legend has it Clapton left over this decision.
Then Jeff Beck stepped in. The band began to play a more “fuzzed-up” form of blues. They had more pop singles, such as “Heartful of Soul,” “Shapes of Things,” and “Over, Under, Sideways, Down,” which made effective use of Beck’s fretboard skills. He really never sounded like anyone else. He did things with a guitar that noone else had done. Then Jimmy Page joined the group playing bass, and for a brief while the Yardbirds had TWO lead guitarists, in Back and Page. Beck was ill, and left the band, Page turned it into Led Zeppelin, and the rest is history.
Jeff Beck went on to solo success, recording albums of with the Jeff Beck Group, which featured Rod Stewart and Ron Wood, then a new Jeff Beck Group with Cozy Powell, Bob Tench and Max Middleton followed by a trio with ex-Vanilla Fudgers Bogart and Appice. Soon he was recording albums of guitar instrumentals produced by George Martin. Jazz fusion with Jan Hammer. Rockabilly with the Big Town Playboys. The guy is unstoppable.
And now in 2008 there’s a new live disc recorded live at Ronnie Scott’s Club in 2007. It’s 16 songs that cover much of his career, and played in the manner that has marked his life. Full tilt, melodic, virtuosic but never just flashy for the sake of flash. Whenever you hear something that makes you go “Wow!” it’s there because it fits the song. Jeff Beck has respect for the song. Not all guitarists can make that claim.
Starting with “Beck’s Bolero” a Jimmy Page composed track that appeared as a B-side on his first solo single, he proceeds to wow us — well, this listener at least — with his complete mastery of the Fender Stratocaster. He covers John McLaughlin (no mean feat), Billy Cobham (taking us into the jazz fusion realm), Stevie Wonder and Charlie Mingus “Goodbye, Pork Pie Hat,”).
The band with him on this night keeps up with him all the way. Keyboardist Jason Rebello, bassist Tal Wilkenfield and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta match him beat for beat, but Beck is in charge. Whether reaching back into the past covering the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life” or putting his own stamp on Nitin Sawhney’s “Nadia,” Beck is a guitar master. This CD shows him at the top of his game, which puts him, in my opinion, at the very top of all guitarists in the world. So when somebody asks who the best guitarist in The Yardbirds was … the answer is Jeff Beck. No doubt!
(Eagle, 2008)
