Jeff Beck Anyone?????? (1 Viewer)

[Brian L]

I recently added a turntable to my rig after many years without. As such, I have been doing a deep dive into my long neglected vinyl collection.

An LP that is getting heavy rotation (well 2 LPs actually) are Truth and Beck-Ola, by the Jeff Beck Group. I have these in a 2 LP set, and probably played them all of twice after I bought 'em new back in the day.

For the uninitiated, this iteration of the Jeff Back Group features among others, Rod Stewart on vocals, and Ronnie Wood on bass.

Damn fine stuff, these LP's are!

Anyone that only knows Rod from "Maggie May", or worse, "Do You Think I'm Sexy" needs to take a listen to these LPs. There is some seriously gritty blues here that makes you wonder how Rod got from there to doing a collection of standards.

Obviously, there is some damn fine guitar work on here as well, including a really cool take on "You Shook Me". Beck has a very unique style that is instantly identifiable. To my ears, it sounds like no one but him.

Its cool to find these hidden, long lost gems sitting right there in my closet!

BGL

 

[Rachael B]

Those are fine albums. I used them both recently when I made my "Covers" recordings. If it hadn't been for Jeff's near fatal car wreck, he and Rod would of made more albums together. BTW, what else would you expect a singer as old as Rod to be doing at this point? For easy listening I've heard way worse than his!

 

[Mike Broadman]

After losing the group and Rod going off to do is solo thing, Beck didn't think he'd find anyone as good and who he could have such a good working relationship, so he just did instrumental stuff. I was pretty schocked when I read that.

 

[Rachael B]

Mike, back then Rod was cutting edge stuff. His own solo albums were really good back in the early 70's too with that acoustic-electric sound and Pete Sears was a real asset too. Later, his success spiraled into mediocrity IMO. Jeff's 3 piece band after his recovery with the rhythm section of Bogert and Appice was intended to have have Rod as the singer but that couldn't happen then. Rod's solo and Faces stuff had propelled him too far away.

 

[gregD]

Couldn't have worked out better!

A singer just gets in the way of Jeff Beck's astounding music... his singular innovative guitar playing has only gotten better over the years... his last three discs rank among his best (along with the almighty Blow by Blow and Wired)... and he's even better in concert... can't think of another player whose shows are regularly attended by 'name' guitarists, just standing there drooling and taking notes.

Even though it comes by way of Rolling Stone (ughhh), this review from a couple years ago says it all: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/new...d=13560&cf=838

 

[Brian L]

I just love this place

While I am admittedly a somewhat casual fan of a lot of the artists that reside in my collection (like JB), I can always expect great comments from those that know more about the subject than I.

I did note that I had another LP in the pile; Jeff Beck Group (White cover with a checker board pic of the musicians that play on the disc). Bob Tench is listed as vocalist.

I would guess that this came after Ola and Truth, but listenning to it, you can hear bits of what Wired and Blow by Blow were going to sound like. Sort of a bridge between the bluesy stuff and where he was headed.

What kills my about this is that I do not for the life of me recall buying these. I have been a hack guitar player for way to many years, and at one point, if it said Page, Beck, or Clapton on the cover, I would buy it. Likely that's how I came to have these.

Damn glad I did!

BGL

 

[Robert A. Willis Jr.]

Hey don't forget the albums he cut just before Borgert and Appice with Max Middleton on keyboards and Bob Tench on vocals around 1972. I think these were his first albums after his accident. Fine music from Rock's best guitarist.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Truth and Beckola rock. Try the box set he did, there's (only) a few more tracks from that era, but still good stuff nonetheless. I also picked up a Japanese live import (lp!) from the Beck/Bogart/Appice era that also has some good stuff on it. Superstition and Going Down from a little bit later are also faves. Never got into his later Jazz stuff though.

 

[Alex Shk]

I have that 2 lp issue of Truth/Beck-Ola as well.

Have you noticed that those albums are the blueprint for Led Zeppelin? Seriously - give them another listen with Zep I and II in mind. J.P. Jones even plays on some tracks.... as does Keith Moon (listed as "you know who" in the credits).

I agree with your opinion on the young Rod Stewart - he had the pipes and his big break was just a year away. How about Ron Wood's maniac bass playing? Just check out the end fade on Spanish Boots.

Both of those albums are lost classics of "classic rock". They deserved a lot more radio play than they ever received. They deserve a lot more now as well.

 

[John Wes]

Beck, imho, has always been way under rated. His last three albums are killer.

Last summer, I traveled to Reno to see him play live. He wasn't even the headliner...B.B. King was.

The Beck protion of the show, was awesome to say the least.

 

[Rachael B]

Having seen Beck, Bogart & Appice live in concert, I can assure you that they really needed Rod Stewart, Tench, or somebody else to sing. I really dug the show, the way they played, but the singing was not at all good.

BTW, the very first rock show that I ever saw was, for warming, the Grease Band who were bland. The main course was Small Faces and Savoy Brown. sMALL fACES had just fliped personel. Steve Marriott, Mr. Itchycoo Park, was gone, which is what we were expecting to hear. It was a hippie anthem. So, Rod Stewart was an intresting suprise. They performed stuff off his solo albums...Cut Accross Shorty...Gasoline Alley...Country Comforts, stuff off FIRST STEP...Flying and especially hot and memorable was Dylan's Wicked Messenger, and a few of the old Small Faces' songs, I remember My Way Of Giving which I know the old group did.

I remember the show quite well, I didn't get drunk or too especially small. Savoy Brown was even better than Smallish Faces, say hay! It was quite a show!

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Rachael- You're dating yourself. In a good way!

 

[gregD]

I'll take that a step further... the singing stunk!... BB&A was not a highlight of Jeff Beck's carreer -- what was he thinking?... B&A's previous group Vanilla Fudge was pretty OK, but these guys were way below JB's level of music-making ("let's boogie!")... nonetheless -- if only for Beck -- BB&A played well live (I saw em too).

I agree that early Rod Stewart produced very good tunes... especially the Faces -- kinda goofy sloppy-drunk hard rock... but it didn't take long for Rod to find the spandex and disco, from which he never recovered... too bad -- great pipes gone to waste.

Back on topic... recommended current Jeff Beck: Who Else?.

 

[Mike Broadman]

I've actually been meaning to listen to Faces, if only because they're maybe the biggest influence on my favorite "roots" rock band, The Black Crowes.

I remember listening to a tape of Truth in college. I need to get that on CD.

Who Else? is great, as well as his latest. I'm still on the fence about Guitar Shop. That song about the environment- *shudder*

 

[gregD]

Just another example of why Mr. Beck should ditch the vocals... I like Guitar Shop quite a bit, but it's not all it coulda been... it's hard not to have unrealistic expectations with a Terry Bozzio in the band... the last tour featured the Guitar Shop trio, and was stunning.

There are a few clunkers in the Beck catalog (Flash, BB&A), but there are individual gems buried within even those.

He was an energetic, creative inventor as far back as the mid-60s with the Yardbirds (pre-dating Hendrix)... for my money, that's when "Rock 'n' Roll" became "Rock"... amazing that JB's been a recording artist -- at such a high level -- for nearly FOUR DECADES!

Can't wait for the next record, tour...

 

[Rachael B]

Greg, you're missing a bus stop for Bogert and Appice. After Vanilla Fudge they were the rhythm section for a very, very good band, Cactus, saw 'em. They were up to playing with Beck. B, B & A should'a hired a singer though! The dude from Cactus or just about anybody else would'a done just fine IMO. The music was dead on.

 

[Rachael B]

Kevin, is there a bad way? BTW, I'm going steady with myself. I use the Ian Dury method of wishing for another birthday when blowing out my birthday candles. Admitedly, it didn't work so well for him, GRHS, but it working well for me! Granted, I never had polio or was a hard-core drug addict either! Recuerdos!

 

[DanaA]

As a huge fan of the Yardbirds, I, of course, immediately bought Truth when it came out and it is an undiscovered gem to most. The way the group does blues and standards such as Morning Dew and Old Man River is absolutely stunning. What a great album!!!

 

[gregD]

A little-known bit of Beck history goes like this: for a brief period before BB&A, The Jeff Beck Group was comprised of Bogert, Appice AND singer Bob Tench and keyboardist extraordinaire Max Middleton from the previous band... they toured a little, maybe did some studio work... I think boots can be had if you nose around.

So you almost got your wish!

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Vanilla Fudge ... Haven't heard that name in a while. Off to allmusic.com I go! I agree, the singing was weak with BBA, but if you ever get a chance, there are some good jamming on the live one.