Any Jeff Beck fans out there?

[secgator]

I've been listening to Jeff Beck for ages & appreciated his work all along, but have really stepped up that appreciation in recent years....thankfully to YouTube I suppose.

He's obviously been around since the 60's--heck he's in his 70's now so he's getting on up there. The one thing about him which is unlike virtually everyone else....he's gotten better with age. So many others tend to lose a step or two due to the age thing....not as fast, not as clean as they once were. Clapton is a good example(he's still my favorite overall by far)....but admittedly he's not quite the same as he was 15-20-30 years ago. Beck on the other hand....IMO....has actually gotten better with age! That is impressive to say the least considering he isn't merely a guitarist like so many others---he's got his own, totally unique style and talent that no one I can think of is even close(for that type of style). The only other one who is similar because he has his own style is Sonny Landreth(see if anyone knows him!) His style is just as unique as Beck, but different than any other guitarist as well.

All that to say this....I stumbled onto a Jeff Beck video recently that is one of the best examples of his talents. For anyone who knows how to play a guitar, what he does in this is absolutely amazing. Beyond words. Stopped using a pick years ago, and uses the wammy bar on his Fender Strat with his individual fingers instead of a pick, and he can make the guitar sing and cry. This is one really good video for any guitar player to watch and enjoy.

 

[secgator]

Had to come back and add another one here---Beck/Clapton doing of all things, Andy William's Moon River. Never imagined either Clapton or Beck pulling this off but they did an incredible job. This is a great example of Beck being able to make his Strat sound like a different instrument altogether. The sustain he gets out of some his notes, merely be pulling the strings and using his wammy bar is something very, very few people can do---and no one does it as good as Beck. Most people shouldn't even try--it's simply that hard to do well.

Enjoy.

 

[Jack o' Diamonds]

Had to come back and add another one here---Beck/Clapton doing of all things, Andy William's Moon River. Never imagined either Clapton or Beck pulling this off but they did an incredible job. This is a great example of Beck being able to make his Strat sound like a different instrument altogether. The sustain he gets out of some his notes, merely be pulling the strings and using his wammy bar is something very, very few people can do---and no one does it as good as Beck. Most people shouldn't even try--it's simply that hard to do well.

Enjoy.

Moon River was written for the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's by my man Henry Mancini.. Williams was a Johnny come lately...

 

[secgator]

Moon River was written for the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's by my man Henry Mancini.. Williams was a Johnny come lately...

When I said Andy Williams, I didn't mean to imply he wrote it & it was his---however he is probably the one most associated with the song as he sort of put it on the mainstream map with his version. Still gets a significant amount of play even now. I bet if you ask most folks who they think of when Moon River is mentioned and it is Williams 10 to1

 

[stephenPE]

Had to come back and add another one here---Beck/Clapton doing of all things, Andy William's Moon River. Never imagined either Clapton or Beck pulling this off but they did an incredible job. This is a great example of Beck being able to make his Strat sound like a different instrument altogether. The sustain he gets out of some his notes, merely be pulling the strings and using his wammy bar is something very, very few people can do---and no one does it as good as Beck. Most people shouldn't even try--it's simply that hard to do well.

Enjoy.

That is so cool. And of course Moon River mean Andy Williams. His sig song. Back in 72 I had a tall friend who played basketball with me and he assured me Jeff Beck was the greatest guitar player on earth. I was a big fan of Jimi Hendrix but I guess you can say that Beck sure did it longer and harder after all. Im gonna Youtube some tomorrow.

 

[secgator]

That is so cool. And of course Moon River mean Andy Williams. His sig song. Back in 72 I had a tall friend who played basketball with me and he assured me Jeff Beck was the greatest guitar player on earth. I was a big fan of Jimi Hendrix but I guess you can say that Beck sure did it longer and harder after all. Im gonna Youtube some tomorrow.

This one is probably considered Beck's sig tune....he originally did it back in 1975(!!!!) and this first video below was recorded live in 2007, and sounds so close to the studio version it is amazing, yet Beck was in his early 60's at the time. The second vid was recorded in 2017--Beck was 72 or 73 yrs oldand just emphasizes how talented he STILL is! Hasn't really lost a step in his ability at all.

"Cause We've Ended As Lovers"....definitely Beck's signature piece.

 

[crosscreekcooter]

Yardbirds. Cactus. Beck Bogart and Appice (Vanilla Fudge). Pink Floyd wanted him as did the Stones. Dude is a guitar god.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

Back in the early 70's Beck was one of the most respected guitarists out there. If not the most respected. The guitarist's guitarist. Surprisingly never with anybody commercially successful. So while The Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice where critically acclaimed he never got the publicity of a Blackmore, Page, or May.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

Yardbirds. Cactus. Beck Bogart and Appice (Vanilla Fudge). Pink Floyd wanted him as did the Stones. Dude is a guitar god.

Cactus is now Jimmy Kunes (Savoy Brown fame), Carmine Appice and a changing lineup of guitarist/bassist. Kunes is a friend (of a friend). We hookup when he's in FLA and when we go to NY... So I got that going for me.

 

[crosscreekcooter]

Cactus is now Jimmy Kunes (Savoy Brown fame), Carmine Appice and a changing lineup of guitarist/bassist. Kunes is a friend (of a friend). We hookup when he's in FLA and when we go to NY... So I got that going for me.

Youre ridin on that Hellbound Train

Great song

 

[secgator]

Youre ridin on that Hellbound Train

Great song

Great song indeed. Man that is going back a long ways. Reminds me of the days of Humble Pie, Uriah Heep, Foghat, Blue Oyster Cult, Mountain, etc....all the "non-commercial" bands that you rarely if ever heard on conventional radio. Good days for sure.

 

[crosscreekcooter]

Great song indeed. Man that is going back a long ways. Reminds me of the days of Humble Pie, Uriah Heep, Foghat, Blue Oyster Cult, Mountain, etc....all the "non-commercial" bands that you rarely if ever heard on conventional radio. Good days for sure.

I remember going down to the old Sam Wolfson Baseball Park to see Mountain. Leslie West and Felix Papalardi (sp). Great concert, prolly around 1970.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

Mountain was my first concert. 73? In Macon GA.

So my friend traveled in the NY music scene in the late 70’s early 80’s. Felix was a friend. Everybody hated his wife. She remembers getting the call that Gail shot Felix.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

Great song indeed. Man that is going back a long ways. Reminds me of the days of Humble Pie, Uriah Heep, Foghat, Blue Oyster Cult, Mountain, etc....all the "non-commercial" bands that you rarely if ever heard on conventional radio. Good days for sure.

Uriah Heep hardly gets any love these days. I wanted to play keyboards because of their sound. Every band that played in Jax would stay at the Turtle Inn at the beach so we would go hang there. One night we finally struck gold and got to talk to Ken Hensley.

 

[crosscreekcooter]

Uriah Heep hardly gets any love these days. I wanted to play keyboards because of their sound. Every band that played in Jax would stay at the Turtle Inn at the beach so we would go hang there. One night we finally struck gold and got to talk to Ken Hensley.

I went to school with Barry Adeeb.

 

[desertskullz]

Quite recently I listened to Beck's album Truth. Outstanding guitar work. Some of the sounds he gets I had mistakenly attributed to Jimmy Page with Zeppelin, but it seems they were Jeff's creations.

I've always thought Clapton was over-rated, but I also recently listened to his album with John Mayall. IMO, his best work.

 

[desertskullz]

Yardbirds. Cactus. Beck Bogart and Appice (Vanilla Fudge). Pink Floyd wanted him as did the Stones. Dude is a guitar god.

Don't see him jiving with the Stones. I know it is sorta sacrilegious, but while I think the albums made with Mick Taylor are the Stone's best, he sounds too smooth to me for Stones' music. I think Beck would have been way too distinctive for the Stones.

 

[crosscreekcooter]

Don't see him jiving with the Stones. I know it is sorta sacrilegious, but while I think the albums made with Mick Taylor are the Stone's best, he sounds too smooth to me for Stones' music. I think Beck would have been way too distinctive for the Stones.

If you compare Beck's early guitar work from the 60's Yardbirds to Beck-Ola around the early 70s you can see the transition.
For Your Love was first recorded when Beck replaced Clapton on lead when Clapton left to form Cream. Jimmy Page was playing bass and later replaced Beck on lead when he left. On this tune Beck is playing through fuzztone, very Satisfaction-esque. he was also playing a Fender Esquire, a model sans whammybar that he now works the schit out of.

here's Page as lead with the Yardbirds

here is Beck's Bolero from his album Truth with Rod Stewart, Ron Wood ,Nicky Hopskins- Becks early days (when they had an interest would have easily worked- new stuff is very fluid-you are right about not matching up with the honky tonk bar room style of the Stones today

 

[secgator]

Don't see him jiving with the Stones. I know it is sorta sacrilegious, but while I think the albums made with Mick Taylor are the Stone's best, he sounds too smooth to me for Stones' music. I think Beck would have been way too distinctive for the Stones.

I get your point but have to disagree---solely on the premise that I firmly believe Beck can play with anyone, anywhere, any way the song/group/music dictates because of his range of talent.

If he can play (with his own style) with someone like Jimmy Page(see below), Leann Rimes(see below), the song Moon River for pete sake, and on and on and on.....he's versatile enough to make the Stones sound even better than they have for years. If he had joined with them years ago, the Stone music might have been far different than what we have seen over the past(it seems)...80 years!

Sorry to post so many vids below but just to show how wide a range this guy has....overall far outreaches any other guitar player IMO. He can literally play ANYTHING. And everything.

 

[crosscreekcooter]

Quite recently I listened to Beck's album Truth. Outstanding guitar work. Some of the sounds he gets I had mistakenly attributed to Jimmy Page with Zeppelin, but it seems they were Jeff's creations.

I've always thought Clapton was over-rated, but I also recently listened to his album with John Mayall. IMO, his best work.

The John Mayall album is a great one but my all time favorite Clapton album remains Disraeli Gears.