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Jeff Beck
Photo: Raph_PH (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)
British

Jeff Beck

This artist is no longer with us.
Born: 1944-06-24 · Died: 2023-01-10• United Kingdom• Active: 1965–2022
BritishBlues RockJazz Fusion

Passed away January 10, 2023, at 78. Forty-seven years with the guitar after The Yardbirds — feedback, fuzz, and a tone that sounded like a voice.

Instruments
Electric guitar
Labels
Epic Records, Rhino Records
from
Wallington, Surrey
Born
1944-06-24
Jeff Beck never settled on being one kind of guitarist, and that restlessness — blues one record, jazz fusion the next, a Beatles cover after that — is exactly why other guitarists tended to name him first when asked who the best was. He was born Geoffrey Arnold Beck on June 24, 1944, in Wallington, Surrey, England. In March 1965 he joined the Yardbirds, taking over lead guitar from Eric Clapton for a restless twenty-month run that pushed the band toward feedback, fuzz and studio experimentation. He left in 1966 and, in 1967, formed the Jeff Beck Group with a then-unknown Rod Stewart on vocals and Ronnie Wood on bass — a lineup whose 1968 debut album, Truth, is now widely counted among the records that invented heavy rock guitar, a year or so ahead of Led Zeppelin (Kilde: Wikipedia). The Jeff Beck Group released Beck-Ola in 1969 before splitting; Beck then co-led the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice from 1972 to 1974. In 1975 he turned toward instrumental jazz fusion with Blow by Blow, produced by George Martin — an album with no vocals at all that still reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and went platinum. Its 1976 follow-up, Wired, made with Martin, Chris Bond and keyboardist Jan Hammer, reached No. 16 and was also certified platinum. AllMusic later called the pair "twin towers" of instrumental rock that "even Beck has found difficult to match" (Kilde: Wikipedia). Beck kept moving through the decades that followed — electronica-tinged records in the 2000s, a Grammy-winning tribute to Les Paul at the 2010 ceremony, and a late-career partnership with actor and musician Johnny Depp that produced the covers album 18 in July 2022, released on Rhino Records. It turned out to be his final studio recording before his death (Kilde: Wikipedia). He won eight Grammy Awards in total: Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the album Wired (1977); Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Escape" (1986), "Dirty Mind" (2002), "Plan B" (2004) and "A Day in the Life" (2010); and three in a single year, 2011, for "Hammerhead" (Best Rock Instrumental Performance), "Nessun Dorma" (Best Pop Instrumental Performance) and "Imagine" with Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal and Oumou Sangaré (Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals). He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice — as a member of the Yardbirds in 1992, and as a solo artist in 2009 (Kilde: Grammy.com, Wikipedia). Beck played Fender Stratocasters almost exclusively from the mid-1970s onward, pioneering the use of feedback, distortion, the vibrato bar and thumb-and-finger picking (rather than a pick) to make the guitar sound closer to a human voice than to a conventional lead instrument. Fender began producing a signature Jeff Beck Stratocaster in 1991. He died on January 10, 2023, at age 78, after suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, at a hospital near his home in East Sussex, England (Kilde: BBC, The Guardian, NPR).

Musical Influence

Jeff Beck never had the sustained solo-chart career of his Yardbirds successor Jimmy Page or his predecessor Eric Clapton, and that was largely by choice — he kept walking away from formulas that worked, from the Jeff Beck Group to Beck, Bogert & Appice to instrumental jazz fusion, chasing a guitar tone that behaved more like a human voice than an instrument. Guitarists from Jimmy Page to Eric Clapton to Brian May have named him as the one who most changed what a rock guitar could sound like (Kilde: Wikipedia, Grammy.com).

Influences

Les PaulCliff GallupB.B. KingSteve Cropper

Formative experiences

  • •1944: Born Geoffrey Arnold Beck in Wallington, Surrey, England. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •March 1965: Joins The Yardbirds, replacing Eric Clapton on lead guitar. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1967: Forms the Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1968: Truth, the Jeff Beck Group's debut, becomes an early template for heavy rock guitar. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1975: Turns to instrumental jazz fusion with Blow by Blow, produced by George Martin. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1991: Fender launches the first signature Jeff Beck Stratocaster. (Kilde: Wikipedia)

Instruments & Equipment

Stories & Anecdotes

"Replaced Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds in 1965 and was himself later replaced by Jimmy Page. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"Truth (1968) is widely cited as an early blueprint for heavy rock guitar, roughly a year before Led Zeppelin's debut. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"Blow by Blow (1975) had no vocals at all, yet reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 — an unusual chart result for an instrumental record. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"Recorded his final studio album, 18, with actor Johnny Depp in 2022, released on Rhino Records. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

Collaborators

Rod Stewart & Ronnie Wood

Jeff Beck Group (1967–1969), before both went on to Faces and the Rolling Stones.

Tim Bogert & Carmine Appice

Power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice (1972–1974).

George Martin

Produced Blow by Blow (1975) and Wired (1976).

Jan Hammer

Keyboardist on Wired and later live recordings.

Johnny Depp

Recorded the covers album 18 (2022), Beck's final studio release.

Watch & Listen

Featured

Cause We've Ended as Lovers

Jeff Beck - Topic

Freeway Jam

Freeway Jam

Where Were You

Where Were You

A Day In The Life (Live)

A Day In The Life (Live)

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony 2009

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony 2009

Watch & Listen

Henter videoer fra YouTube…

Discography

YearTitleProducerStudioLabelChartSalesMusiciansYouTubeNotes
1968TruthMickie Most, Jeff Beck—Epic———Jeff Beck Group debut with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood; widely cited as an early blueprint for heavy rock guitar.
1969Beck-OlaMickie Most—Epic———Second and final Jeff Beck Group album before the band split.
1973Beck, Bogert & Appice——Epic———Sole studio album by the power trio with Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice.
1975Blow by BlowGeorge Martin—Epic———Instrumental jazz fusion breakthrough; No. 4 on the Billboard 200, certified platinum.
1976WiredGeorge Martin, Chris Bond, Jan Hammer—Epic———Follow-up to Blow by Blow; No. 16 on the Billboard 200, also certified platinum.
1985FlashNile Rodgers and others—Epic———More vocal- and pop-oriented record; won the Grammy for "Escape" the following year.
1989Jeff Beck's Guitar ShopJeff Beck, Terry Bozzio, Tony Hymas—Epic———Recorded with drummer Terry Bozzio and keyboardist Tony Hymas.
1999Who Else!Jeff Beck, Andy Wright—Epic———First album to fold in electronica and drum-and-bass textures.
2010Emotion & CommotionJeff Beck, Trevor Horn, Steve Lipson—Rhino/ATCO———Includes his Grammy-winning "A Day in the Life," performed with an orchestra.
202218——Rhino Records———Covers album made with actor and musician Johnny Depp; Beck's final studio release before his death.

Famous songs

01Cause We've Ended as Lovers
02Freeway Jam
03Where Were You
04Beck's Bolero
05A Day in the Life

Awards & Recognition

1977
Grammy Award, Best Pop Instrumental Performance
Wired
1986
Grammy Award, Best Rock Instrumental Performance
"Escape"
2002
Grammy Award, Best Rock Instrumental Performance
"Dirty Mind"
2004
Grammy Award, Best Rock Instrumental Performance
"Plan B"
2010
Grammy Award, Best Rock Instrumental Performance
"A Day in the Life"
2011
Grammy Award, Best Rock Instrumental Performance
"Hammerhead"
2011
Grammy Award, Best Pop Instrumental Performance
"Nessun Dorma"
2011
Grammy Award, Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
"Imagine," with Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal and Oumou Sangaré
1992
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Inducted as a member of The Yardbirds
2009
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Inducted as a solo artist

External links

Official website Official site Wikipedia YouTube

Sources