The Best Of Jeff Beck

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The opening tracks of "Black Cat Moan" and "Lady" gives listeners a nice after-taste of the Jeff Beck Group before it descends into soft and funky rock with "Livin' Alone" and "I'm So Proud". But no I only played a few of the tracks and to me it sounded like, we'll I can only describe it as if he was tuning the guitar up as loud as possible, why do the disc jockeys just pick out the two best tracks leaving punters to think they are all on that type of MUSIC. Once he left the Yardbirds, Beck and his guitar remained the star of the show, even when he recruited pals like Keith Moon, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood to play on his records. Hunt down this excellent three-CD box (released in 1991 but, sadly, currently out of print) for a comprehensive overview of Jeff Beck’s career spanning 1963 to 1989. Beck wasn’t only pushing the boundaries of what he could do as a player in The Yardbirds, but was revolutionising what the band did in the studio, manipulating his instrument beyond almost all recognition.

The material itself may not be top-notch but Spanish Boots contains a great riff and spectacular work by Beck, while Plynth (Water Down the Drain), The Hangman's Knee and Rice Pudding once again make it possible to draw comparisons with Zeppelin, especially seeing how, despite the fact that Beck and Stewart are better instrumentalists than Page and Plant, the scales clearly fall on the side of Zeppelin because the songs are so much better. Imelda May appears for “Lilac Tree”, a very pretty ballad, and Josh Stone gives us a rip roaring performance of “I Put A Spell On You”, and sounds like she really means it. Jeff Beck made his mark with the landmark album Truth, an album that was every bit as great as Led Zeppelin in its heaviness, and acoustic breaks as well. For jazzier edges and funkier grooves, Jeff employed the likes of keyboardist Max Middleton and singer Bob Tench in an effort to shed the heavy metal image and make not only a more accessible sound, but a greater platform of freedom for Jeff to get closer to that sound he was restlessly pursuing; there are moments of this when the group ventures into extended, funk-inflected, reflective jazzy instrumental sections.

They had 2 albums that were excellent, and I like them both equally well and those are Rough and Ready and the Oranges Album with “Goin Down”. s 'Truth' not only premiered the birth of British heavy metal, it established Jeff Beck as the musician's model for the perfect guitarist; a visionary that pushed the established boundaries of sound and ability to new and exciting heights. We’re talking about Rod Stewart, who would, with Wood, make the Jeff Beck Group’s second and final album Beck-Ola before splintering off on his own. Like the A side, the B side was a selection of titles from the band's debut album, Five Live Yardbirds, released in 1964 when the lead guitarist was still Clapton. Since that time he has published myriads of photographs, articles, interviews, and contributed to 2 encyclopedias and published 6 books on everything from music to the military.

One of the best examples of this interplay is “Scatterbrain” which was co-written by Beck and Middleton. What Do You Want seems like it is going to be easily forgotten until finally Beck appears and you start to wonder, my God, did this guy already play like this in 1966? That said, the protagonists are once again Beck's guitar and Stewart's throat, the two Elvis covers are happily taken to their terrain.Beck-Ola is Jeff Beck’s second studio album by the Jeff Beck Group released in 1969 and features the same lineup as Truth including keyboardist extraordinaire Nicky Hopkins. The stand out track would be "The Pump" and possibly "The Golden Road" too, but everything else feels like offcuts that he has picked up and repurposed. The biggest radio hit off the album was a version of Curtis Mayfield and the “Impressions” 1965 “Civil Rights” anthem “People Get Ready. The albums Roger Waters made after flouncing out of Pink Floyd had plenty of the grandeur and ambition that helped forge Dark Side… and The Wall, but they lacked a certain something: namely, David Gilmour. S. Bonds and Trombone Shorty to the show, and a showdown show ender with Brian Setzer as they play a furious version of Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock”.