Jeff Beck Has Died

[Slim]

One of the pantheon of British guitar greats from the '60s, with Clapton, Page and Peter Green. And Ronnie Wood IMO but that's another discussion possibly.

Saying that the word "genius" is overused is overused, but I don't think I'm overusing it here if I mention that it definitely wasn't overused in Jeff's case. He had a control of his instrument that few other players have come close to. Made his name as a rocker but absolutely brilliant at modal jazz / fusion from the mid '70s on, after being inspired by John McLaughlin.

A massive influence on other players as well; you'd be hard pushed to find a rock player from the '70s who didn't cite him as an influence. Alex Lifeson did.

I was listening to Scatterbrain and a couple of other tunes from Blow by Blow only on Sunday. That one and Wired are the essential Beck for me.

Awful loss.

[pdw1]

A terrible loss of a great great musician. I am so glad I did manage to see him live. What he could do with a guitar was unbelievable. And he was still putting out great albums right to the end. Listen to Loud Hailer it is no coffee table blues, it is still screaming to tell you things musically and lyrically.

One of the all time greats. RIP

[Nick]

Glad I got to see him play, as Slim stated he was a true genius.

[The Picnic Wasp]

Very sad to hear of his passing. I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't really ever connect to his career in a record buying sense, despite realising how incredibly gifted he was. Put it down to a lazy aural palate. He must be one of the most quoted as having been a huge inspiration by just about any famous guitarist you can name.

R.I.P

[Nickslikk2112]

Gutted I missed him in Sheffield.

RIP Jeff

[captainkurtz]

Gutted I missed him in Sheffield.

RIP Jeff

Had a ticket to see him in Gateshead - the last of my bucket list gigs - should have been 2020, then 2021, happened in 2022 when I was in Barcelona.  Gave the ticket to my brother.

An all time great.  Always looked cool as feck as well.

[David L]

Bacterial meningitis.

I went to see him at Oxford Apollo, probably getting on for  five or six years ago. I had no real knowledge of his stuff, unfortunately, so I didn't really get him at all. I came away wondering what all the fuss was about.

Well, about two or three years ago I bought a pre-owned copy of Blow by Blow and it really struck a chord. I've since bought Wired (which is arguably as good) and There and Back, which is dripping in eighties vibe/production and doesn't come anywhere near the other two. Like Slim, I'd say most would rank Blow by Blow and Wired as the peak of his output.

Seemed to play the game on his own terms and appeared to have hugely enjoyed his career in music which gave him huge respect from other players and musicians which resulted in many collaborations. Might be fair to describe him as the guitar hero's...guitar hero.

78 is not a bad innings, especially for a rock 'n' roller like Beck, who has probably done his fair share of drinking and smoking (if only passively)

I should have taken more of an interest years ago but jazz fusion is part of a fairly recent broadening of my musical tastes.

An enigma. Jeff had his own style, great hair and a face like a welder's bench but boy, did he know his way around a geetar.

RIP

[Matt2112]

A player whose work I'm very patchily familiar with at best - when I was "discovering" great guitar players in my youth, it pretty much exclusively encompassed the prog and hard rock pioneers of the 80s, so Jeff Beck wasn't on my radar, even though many of those guitarists who left me awestruck stood on his shoulders. In those days I exclusively associated him with Hi Ho Silver Lining, a song that was a staple of family function discos, and I really didn't like it (I don't mind it at all nowadays).

An iconic player though, undoubtedly, and a great loss.  I will put some time aside to belatedly investigate his most recommended works.

 

[Slim]

Jeff's hair is the most baffling enigma of popular music. There's no way, IMO, that a barnet as thick and lustrous as that could have been the genuine article atop a gentleman in his '70s.

And yet there's no Ritchie Blackmore (or Paul Rodgers) moment when an evidently threadbare coiffure is suddenly superseded by a full thatch.

Unless Jeff was already benefitting from some discreet synthetic tonsorial assistance when he was in The Yardbirds? I suppose it's possible.

[Slim]

[David L]

Jeff's hair is the most baffling enigma of popular music. There's no way, IMO, that a barnet as thick and lustrous as that could have been the genuine article atop a gentleman in his '70s.

And yet there's no Ritchie Blackmore (or Paul Rodgers) moment when an evidently threadbare coiffure is suddenly superseded by a full thatch.

Unless Jeff was already benefitting from some discreet synthetic tonsorial assistance when he was in The Yardbirds? I suppose it's possible.

The seamless transition from natural hair to a syrup is indeed a tricky one (see our own Mr Lifeson). I'd never considered Jeff's barnet to be of dubious origin because his style had steadfastly remained the same throughout his entire adult life.

As to your speculation that he was trichologicaly compromised early doors, that (IMHO) seems unlikely. I don't think the technology existed in the sixties to enable such a convincing cover-up. I reference Reg Dwight's early efforts which were atrocious right up until only fairly recently.

To have kept that a secret for that long would surely have been an achievement comparable to the level he attained in the mastering of his chosen instrument

[Fishy]

Sad.. another artist who kind of passed me by but as Slim says the go to albums for me as well are Wired and Blow by Blow. Also have a live album with Jeff and the Jan Hammer Band

Will need to revisit all of the above

[Thenop]

Sad news indeed. Was not on my radar to be honest until Roger Waters' Amused to Death on which he played some interesting parts.

Must look i to at least his eay solo work, Beck-Ola for instance.

[David L]

Nice obituary from Variety:

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/jeff-beck-guitarist-dead-dies-1235486491/

[The Picnic Wasp]

Strangely, my most played Jeff Beck song is a performance of Cause We've Ended As Lovers. I've watched this several times on YouTube because it features Tal Wilkenfeld on bass. She's a fantastic player. I hadn't heard the story behind the song until today though. It was written by Stevie Wonder who gave it to Jeff as an apology. He wrote Superstition for Jeff but his record company insisted it was too good to give away and made Stevie record it himself. He was such an effortless player when you consider the histrionic behaviour of many lesser talents.