Meditating on Jeff Beck's Career.

Illustration by Ken Coleman

     This past week, one of the greatest guitarists passed away.  In fact, Jeff Beck is someone who many consider to be the ultimate guitarist.  Through the course of his 78 years, Beck continued to push the boundaries of what can be done with a guitar.  How the can be played.  How that instrument's output can then be expressed.  The man only knew of a fraction of the people that his music moved, as his recordings will continue to affect people throughout time.

     When deciding how to respond to Jeff Beck's death, I was trying to think of distinct way to present my thoughts.  Plentiful are the biographies, discographies, and video clips.  I decided to look at how his music impacted me in the moment.  With many instrumentals, and an improvisational flair, It a distinct approach that I was reaching for.  Back when I analyzed Mazzy Star's "Look on Down from the Bridge", I took on that songs, dreamy ambience through meditation.  Lying in the dark with my eyes closed, I took my mind off everything but the music.  Entirely sober, may I add.

    Part of me wanted to indulge myself in a binge of his thirty-three albums.  I have the eccentricity, perseverance, and three day weekend to take on such a challenge, but I settled for a short playlist on Pandora.  It was like a Whitman's Sampler representing the variety of Beck's music.  When a version of Blondie's "Maria" came up which sounded different from the studio cut, I was wondering if he had worked with the band on a revisit of the song (like when Natalie Merchant joined the Cowboy Junkies for a version of "Misguided Angel").  

     The earliest recording featured was 1965's "Heart Full of Soul".  This was the Yardbirds' first single after Jeff had taken on the lead guitar vacancy left by Eric Clapton.  I've heard the Surfrajettes speak about how much of an influence the guitar legend had been on their band, and I can definitely see a comparison between Beck and surf greats like Hank Marvin of the Shadows and Dick Dale.  Revolutionary guitarists on Fender guitars with a lot of reverb and Stratocasters (as the Leo Fender & his team innovated their line of equipment).  Closing my eyes the other night (and not even contemplating the song title or lyrics), I could hear the each individual guitar string as it it got picked and tugged.  I can even hear the shifting of the string's vibration as Beck repositions the guitar (furthering an electric counterpart of the sound waves moving around within an acoustic guitar's body.  

     "Shapes of Things" from 1968.  This had been previously released during Beck's time with the Yardbirds.  This version was with a band featuring such rock stars as Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood.  Just as with the Yardbirds, Jeff was working with a vocalist.  While guitarists (especially as relative "lead guitarists") usually play a role of elevating a song in accompaniment of the singer, you can hear his identity in music growing.  As Stewart sings the verbal lyrics, it sounds like Beck is "scat singing" through his guitar.  There is a feel to his playing that communicates with a level of articulation that you would expect more from a means of oral expression.  In 1967's "Tales of Brave Ulysses", you start to hear pull more melodies out from the song's main rhythm, and Jeff experiments here in exploring an even wider array of guitar capabilities.  This is all at the forefront of what we now know as the "rock 'n roll" "guitar solo".   In 1985, (this balance between Jeff and Rod) can be recognized in their cover of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready".  One can say that there was only one "singer' on that track,  but it felt to me like a duet.  Beck uses his guitar as a conduit for his voice as he pours out his emotions in his interpretation of the lyrics.  There's the additions of ("I'll just call it "guitar scat").  The combination of these approaches smoothly fitting together in one recording demonstrates a versatility that would continue to develop.  Writing this blog post, It's not lost on me that I'm analyzing a cover of "People Get Ready" on Martin Luther King Day.

     Now, let's talk instrumentals.  Since 1975, "Freeway Jam" was regularly played by Beck & his bandmates.  In this piece composed by Jeff's then drummer Max Middleton, each bandmate brings their own unique improvisations to the party, and that's part of the collaborative nature of a jam.  Listening to this is the dark, I heard the continuing theme of what felt like an urbane motorway.  The drummer and bassist keep this driving and steady rhythm of the motors separately participating in a greater orchestra of sounds.  The keyboardist vibrantly represents (in my opinion at least) the lights of the vehicles as they pierce through an otherwise pitch dark space.  The piece's architect plays the invigorating role of the speed and the revving of engines.  Passing cars, and some of the more dynamic experiences in that night time experience.  1976's "Blue Wind" takes me back to the surf rock association, but...  Just as Skip Engblom and his Z-Boys of Dogtown adapted the techniques and skills of surfing for skateboarding, I feel that 70's Jeff Beck brought that surf vibe to dry land.  Drawing upon references from numerous decades, I've told friends that Blue Wind reminds me of a skate park, crossed with a rave, and Xanadu (a roller disco paradise of 1980 cinema).  The rest of the band constructs a figurative apparatus of musical devices that become like a playground for a guitarist to improvise and perform tricks of varying complexity (which is all relative when the standard's already set so high).  You hear the guitarist build up momentum as they approach targeted moment.  They launch into some mesmerizing tricks of finger dexterity and rhythm while not falling out of time with the band.  That's often followed with a more baseline phase as the guitarist (sometimes another guitarist) prepares their trajectory for another display of their skill.  

     Stepping back into the 60's (it's like rewinding the tape of retrospect), "Beck's Bolero" is like skating metaphor translating to the Olympic sport of "ice dancing".  Inspired by Joseph Ravel's classical piece "Boléro".  This couple's piece is matches up Beck with fellow Yardbird Jimmy Page.  Yes, I'll say it.  Beck's Bolero showcases two men in a couple's dance of guitars, with John Paul Jones, Keith Moon, and Nicky Hopkins backing them up.  Just as a gay man could be a great skating partner with a straight woman, these two longtime friends had such a great chemistry together however they may individually identify.  Page & Beck support one another as they each take turns excelling, Page's own techniques creating sounds that usually remind me of Star Trek and whale songs.  A little more than halfway through "Beck's Bolero", you hear the conception of Led Zeppelin.  The band still is fully formed yet as these entwined guitar gods erupt (with the rest of their star-studded  ensemble) into the birth of metal.  It's all too appropriate that Jimmy Page inducted Jeff Beck into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as an individual  in 2009 (the Yardbirds had been inducted back in seventeen years earlier).  After Jeff plays the first half his Bolero "solo" with his current band lineup, Jimmy joins him for a cover of Immigrant song, with Beck "singing" Robert Plant's part in that way I had spoken of earlier.  It was a fitting celebration of his career, and the friendship between the two.

     On January 9, 2023, I found out through social media that it was Jimmy Page's 79th birthday "I thought "Shit, I've got to find some chance to see John Bonham's surviving bandmates perform while it's still possible.".  On my way into work, I listen to Page & JPJ play a two song set with Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins (of the Foo Fighters).  Though there have been a some songs where Taylor sang lead, that 2008 moment when he sang "Rock & Roll" with one of his closest friends (and two of their idols) stands out most to me.  You can see the joy on Jimmy's face.  Later on the 9th, it was announced that the Foo Fighters will be performing the first night of the Boston Calling Festival 2023.  Aside from two memorial concerts ("concerts" being an understatement), this will be the first time that the Foo Fighters perform live following the overdose death of Taylor Hawkins.

     On January 10th, 2023, Rod Stewart turned 78.  Travel to Hollywood, Florida, or the Caribbean makes it impractical for me to see him in the dates so far announced for 2023.  Surcharge be damned, I did make arrangements to see the Foo Fighters, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Paramore, and many others in late May.  Later that day, word made its way around the globe that Jeff Beck had passed away.  As we mourn the loss of a music legend.  I pray for him, his family, his friends, and all the fans experiencing this sense of loss.  May his music continue to inspire (as it did Saturday night) when I created the illustration for this post.

Best regards,

Ken