Jeff Beck interview: no regrets from reluctant guitar god
Jeff Beck is still centre stage – and his passion for music is as fierce as ever.

By Neil McCormick
Published: 3:38PM BST 31 Mar 2010


A phone rings in the middle of my interview with Jeff Beck. “F--- off!’ he snarls, comically. But then he looks closer at the digital display. “Oops, sorry, it’s Eric, I better take this.”

It is Eric Clapton, Beck’s fellow guitar god, calling to discuss a planned performance together. “It’s in D, Eric. Nah, don’t worry about that, I’ll do all the riffs,” chatters Beck. “You just play fills and solos. I’ll do everything else. We’ll give it a shot, anyway, if it doesn’t work, heave ho.”


It is a fascinating glimpse into the private world of guitar heroes. Not least because, at 65, remarkably fit, muscular and alert, it is Beck who appears to be calling the shots with arguably his more celebrated peer, giving some indication why he is so often referred to as the guitarist’s guitarist.

With Clapton and Jimmy Page, Beck is one of a legendary triumvirate who emerged from the British blues boom of the Sixties, all serving time as lead guitarist with The Yardbirds, all going on to blow open the potential of the six-string electric instrument.

But while his contemporaries became household names by continuing to mine and explore variations on the blues, Beck has been more elusive and mercurial, following a wayward, experimental path through heavy soul, hard rock, jazz fusion and electronica. He has only had one hit single in his entire life, which he refers to, rather disparagingly, as “the Silver Lining incident”, but this year he releases his 17th solo album, Emotion and Commotion, and collected his fifth Grammy award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

“Yeah, well, there’s a lot of categories,” Beck jokes, self-effacingly. “Best Use Of A Comb, Best Paper Clip. You’re bound to win something if you’ve been around as long as me.”

Beck is easy company but it is not hard to see why he has proved such an elusive star. The thing that really engages him is the music itself, which he will discuss with fierce passion, while his discomfort with everything that goes along with it manifests as humour.

Of his one moment of pop stardom with Hi Ho Silver Lining in 1967, he says, “I hated every minute of it.” He claims he was virtually strong-armed into the recording studio by his manager Mickey Most, who told him he needed a hit: “Then you can do what you want.” Beck wanted a young unknown called Rod Stewart to provide vocals.

“Mickey wasn’t interested in Rod at all. He said, 'What do you want that poof in the band for?’?” So Beck sang it himself, even though he claims to find his vocal limitations “humiliating”. He was only in the studio for two hours. “As I came out, the receptionist was singing it. I knew I was in trouble then. But if you’ve got to have one, its not that bad, I suppose. It’s got a nifty guitar solo. If it makes people happy at Essex weddings, then so be it.”

He also famously ran out on The Rolling Stones, when they wanted him to replace Mick Taylor in 1975. “They duped me into going over to play on a couple of tracks in Rotterdam. When I got there, I spied 400 guitars all with different tags on. I said 'Are these all Keith’s guitars?’ They said 'No, these are the guys coming to audition.’ I said, 'What? I’m not auditioning!’ They said, 'No, you’ve got the gig, they’re going to tell the others not to come.’

“I was being sucked into it, so that was the crossroads, what path was I going to take? But one rehearsal was enough. When I played with the Rolling Stones it was so quaint, after the real violent riffs and wild Billy Cobham rhythms I was getting into, it would never have worked. So I slipped a note under (road manager) Ian Stuart’s hotel door, I said 'There’s been a mistake,’ and I was gone.”

There are not many musicians who could get away with describing the Rolling Stones as quaint, but then, while the Stones were recording the patchy Black and Blue with the pedestrian Ronnie Wood (who had once been bassist in the Jeff Beck Group), Beck was making the extraordinary, million-selling, jazz-fusion instrumental classic Blow By Blow with George Martin producing and Stevie Wonder on keyboards.

“I’ve no regrets,” insists Beck. “Let’s face it, I’m centre-stage, the ticket’s got my name on it, I go out and play and there’s no singing. Who wants to swap that for being part of someone else’s band?”

The one guitarist who has really put him off his stride is Jimi Hendrix. “The thing I noticed when I saw him was not only his amazing blues but his physical assault on the guitar. His actions were all of one accord, an explosive package. Me, Eric and Jimmy, we were cursed because we were from Surrey. We all looked like we’d walked out of a Burton’s shop window. There was Jimi with his military jacket, his hair about 14 feet in the air, playing with his teeth. We would have loved to have done that.

“He hit me like an earthquake when he arrived. I had to think long and hard about what I did next. The wounds were quite deep, actually, and I had to lick them on my own. I was constantly looking for other things to do on the guitar, new places to take it. I’ve got to feel that this is mine. If I don’t feel special, I don’t do it.”

This is one of the most curious thing about Beck. There is a kind of fragility to his creativity. He seems to have periods of retreat. His fans have got used to cancelled concerts and long hiatuses before he emerges with something new. Ask him what contemporary guitarists he admires, and he is surprisingly circumspect.

“I’m a bit timid on the listening front,” he admits. “I don’t want to be pole-axed by any great new players. Jack White shook me, The White Stripes in full flood, it was like Zeppelin. But I don’t like over-the-top heavy metal, can’t stand it. Too many amps, too much volume, it’s just flat-out ear assault. I’m sure there’s a lot of deaf people out there. Speedy guitars leave me not feeling detached but physically upset. When you think of all the subtleties that were built into the guitar and amps for you to discover they completely cover the whole lot with a rack of effects. The guitar doesn’t need that.”

Discussing modern recording, Beck can suddenly turn into a grumpy old man.

“The computer is like a Zimmer frame. You play one note and you can make a whole album out of it. It’s convenient but it’s not real. It’s just graphics. Where’s the music?”

Yet, strangely, he doesn’t think that he has made a great record himself. “Not come close yet,” he declares, cheerfully. “But records are a nuisance because they are a lie. The live thing is still the king. It’s the experience of one person doing their thing on stage and thousands of people responding. You need one good amp and a player, that’s it. Then you are closer to revealing what you are trying to say.”

'Emotion and Commotion’ is released on Rhino

[www.telegraph.co.uk]

Thanks for posting that!

The man has real intergrity, even if Nigel copied him.

Marv Peck

Y'all remember that rubber legged boy

Thank God the Stones didn't hire Beck. If folks here think MT was too much of a guitar hero, imagine having a guy in the group who would prefer playing "Billy Cobham rhythms".

An interesting interview, he says some very true things (about heavy metal for example), it is clear that he could not have worked under Mick and Keith, he has always been successful on his own, he is overqualified for a Ronnie Wood job. Ronnie fitted in, and did a good job for 20 years, then he ruined himself.

its interesting that Keith and Mick thought Jeff Beck would join the Stones. did they just want him for a tour? or as the guitarist to work with Keith, I just can't see that.

Beck would have been great with the Stones during his Beck-Ola era, but Beck has moved way beyond that. Can't imagine Beck playing lead guitar on Streets of Love.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-03-31 20:37 by mitchflorida.

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71Tele
Thank God the Stones didn't hire Beck. If folks here think MT was too much of a guitar hero, imagine having a guy in the group who would prefer playing "Billy Cobham rhythms".

Jeff said NO to the Stones .

I remember reading a Keith interview about the auditions during Black and Blue where he mentioned Wayne Perkins, and how he had gotten the gig, until Ronnie walked in...and how'it must have been hard for Wayne Perkins'...

Not so sure of Becks take on his visit.....nice story though...

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crawdaddy

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71Tele
Thank God the Stones didn't hire Beck. If folks here think MT was too much of a guitar hero, imagine having a guy in the group who would prefer playing "Billy Cobham rhythms".

Jeff said NO to the Stones .

Yes. I said it was good they didn't hire him. They didn't hire him, did they? It doesn't matter if it was Beck who turned them down.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-03-31 22:49 by 71Tele.

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71Tele

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crawdaddy

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71Tele
Thank God the Stones didn't hire Beck. If folks here think MT was too much of a guitar hero, imagine having a guy in the group who would prefer playing "Billy Cobham rhythms".

Jeff said NO to the Stones .

Yes. I said it was good they didn't hire him. They didn't hire him, did they? It doesn't matter if it was Beck who turned them down.

Oh come off it Tele, I think the guy was speaking in a general sense. Regardless of the fact that Jeff declined, he's still right, they didn't hire Jeff Beck. Stop being such a bully.

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windmelody
An interesting interview, he says some very true things (about heavy metal for example), it is clear that he could not have worked under Mick and Keith, he has always been successful on his own, he is overqualified for a Ronnie Wood job. Ronnie fitted in, and did a good job for 20 years, then he ruined himself.

From the interview: "... while the Stones were recording the patchy Black and Blue with the pedestrian Ronnie Wood."

.....I don't own one damn thing by Beck. And that's not gonna change.

Jeff's Boogie.


[www.last.fm]

thanks for posting

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boogie1969

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71Tele

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crawdaddy

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71Tele
Thank God the Stones didn't hire Beck. If folks here think MT was too much of a guitar hero, imagine having a guy in the group who would prefer playing "Billy Cobham rhythms".

Jeff said NO to the Stones .

Yes. I said it was good they didn't hire him. They didn't hire him, did they? It doesn't matter if it was Beck who turned them down.

Oh come off it Tele, I think the guy was speaking in a general sense. Regardless of the fact that Jeff declined, he's still right, they didn't hire Jeff Beck. Stop being such a bully.

I don't understand your comment. I'm the one who said they still didn't hire Beck. How does what I said make me a bully? It was a simple correction. All I said was "thank God the Stones didn't hire Beck". Either you are assigning me the wrong quote, or you didn't understand what I said. Either way, no bullying was intended. I am against all bullying of any kind.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-04-01 01:00 by 71Tele.

Please don't bully me.I'm just a poor defenceless English wimp and you are probably a big musclebound thug !! Leave me alone to write a post now and again without being picked on !! Boo Hoo !!!!><

I'm not inclined to believe Becks story, so all I know is they didn't hire him.

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MKjan
I'm not inclined to believe Becks story, so all I know is they didn't hire him.

There is no way someone like Beck is going to join a structured, hierarchical group like the Rolling Stones. Beck takes orders from no one . .And he doesn't care if Jagger/Richards like his songs anyway. He was going into Fusion Rock, which is a lot more complex than songs that the Stones like to play. .

I can't even put Jeff Beck and Ronnie Wood in the same league. Jeff Beck is a real musician ,, Ronnie Wood is a rock guitarist, nothing more.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-04-01 02:44 by mitchflorida.

pedestrian ronnie wood? slap that man please

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crawdaddy
Please don't bully me.I'm just a poor defenceless English wimp and you are probably a big musclebound thug !! Leave me alone to write a post now and again without being picked on !! Boo Hoo !!!!><

No thuggery here...Just an American wimp, so we are equal in our wimpery. No bullying was intended. I am troubled by a guilty conscience.

jeff is so totally amazing; brilliant. he invented heavy metal with beck ola...
bandmate in yardbirds page cobbled zep from this explosive genius of an album...
imo.

i have blow by blow and a lot of his stuff and it is all incandescent. i hate fusion but when beck's behind the wheel it's classic, brilliant, stunning. NOBODY sounds ANYTHING like him...they can't. nobody. his own tone no matter whatever git amp setup he takes on...

can't say enuff about Jeff...and his current band. just sublime...totally sublime.
seen him live and nobody NOBODY beats this guy on the guitar..saw him with beck bogart appice back in the day when the Capitol Theatre in Passaic New Jersey was operating as such....
what an amazing gift... WOW.
a matter of taste of course, and peeps who can't 'hear' beck don't have any
hawww

I would have to agree. Jeff Beck has remained current and cutting edge. No one can really say that about the Rolling Stones. Much as I like them, the Stones are basically now a "nostalgia" group.








Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-04-01 07:24 by mitchflorida.

Jeff said in one of the recent interviews that at the Rotterdam 'audition' there was something not quite right about himself joining the Stones.He has no regrets over it and I think it's the truth.There has never been anything said on the contrary from Mick or Keith.Got a lot of respect for Jeff and his whole persona.He seems a genuinely nice guy.Ticket prices for his gigs are very reasonable although the shows with EC were high price,but I guess they were something special. EC has had high prices for his gigs for a few years now.Wouldn't go to see Clapton these days.Almost predictable his shows these days. Ramblin on a bit now !

Nice read, Edith Grove, thanks for posting!

I can think of two of "older" generation of rockers who only keeps getting better and better: Jeff Beck and Nick Cave. They have not shut down on exploring; they are still as much or more of an artist as they ever were.
Not that folks like Mccartney, Waits, Dylan, Boss are no good IMO - but they have settled into a holding pattern.

Didn't Mick Jagger once hire Jeff for a Solo Tour? Jeff initially joined but after recognizing that they will end up playing Keith Richards riffs all night long he left.
Must have been something like that. Please don't blame me if this isn't totally correct. Just vague memory :-)

IMO beck is a total bore

At 65 the guy is super-busy... after years of jerking it off : in the 80's he was "famous" for... his laziness, his lack of desire to record new stuff and his will to put his energy in hot-rodding cars at his place...

History often washes reputations clean but let's not forget Beck had a BAD rep : a looney, an unreliable assh0le who could leave a band in the middle of a tour.

And his 1990 instu. version of "People Get Ready" (his biggest hit) is HORRIBLE!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-04-01 15:27 by dcba.

You know Beck has remained current and cutting edge. I may not always be able to relate to what it is he is playing but.........

Saw him in Feb. with EC @ MSG. I have seen Beck many times but to me he is still on top of his game. He still seems to be challenging himself as a guitarist.

I am surprised "something or another 77". aka Mario Andretti, has not weighed in on this yet.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-04-01 17:08 by 1cdog.