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Jeff Beck, Guitar Legend, Has Passed Away At 78 – RIP Jeff Beck – Yardbirds, The Jeff Beck Group, ‘Blow By Blow’ – Such A Tremendous Loss

~ kcorsini ~ 3 Comments

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*Image of Jeff Beck in 2014 above taken from the internet and likely copyrighted

I was in my home office trying to knock out a laborious task for my corporate masters when I took a break to look on-line to see if anything of note had happened today. To be honest, I wanted to check the news and to look at some rock n roll stuff. It was then that I saw the sad news that guitar legend Jeff Beck had passed away from meningitis. Then I read it was a hoax, then I read it was the truth, Beck had passed. Damn internet. It was then that my friend, drummer Blake, reached out with the news. It is with a heavy heart I type these words: Jeff Beck has passed at the young age of 78 years old from a sudden bought of meningitis. He was simply one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Rolling Stone magazine had him in the top 5 all time if that means anything to you. He ranks up there with Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix for me. He could bend the strings…

Obviously, I am a huge fan of Jeff Beck. He had a guitar tone that was instantly recognizable. As most people know, he was one of the “Big 3” guitarist who played in the seminal English, blues rock band The Yardbirds. The Yardbirds started with Clapton on lead guitar but he quit because of his “blues purism.” He thought the band was moving too far into “pop.” Jeff Beck then came in to replace him. Eventually Jimmy Page joined the band. Imagine that dual lead guitar line up – Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck! Eventually they fired Beck and kept Page. Jeff could be, uh, mercurial. After the blues purism of Clapton, Jeff Beck really opened up what the Yardbirds’ sound. If you listen to “Heart Full of Soul” you can hear the psychedelia entering the picture. I think that was the song they’d hired a sitar player to play on, but they didn’t like the sound so Jeff just played the riff it on guitar. There was little he couldn’t do with the instrument. Coincidentally Ozzy Osbourne was able to recruit both Jeff Beck and Clapton to play on his album Patient Number 9 and had actually reached out to Page to play on the record, but he declined. As Meatloaf sang, “Two out of three (Yardbirds’ guitarists) ain’t bad.” Beck plays on the title track (Review: Ozzy Osbourne’s New Song Patient Number 9 With Jeff Beck! On Guitar) of the album and one other song.

After leaving the Yardbirds Jeff formed his own band, The Jeff Beck Group. Guitarists were a huge draw and Beck was to be the focus of the band so they used his name to cash in on his Yardbirds fame. He recruited Ronnie Wood (later of the Faces and Rolling Stones) to play bass guitar and Rod Stewart as his lead vocalist. The theory was Jeff’s guitar would pull the guys into shows and good looking Rod Stewart would draw the women. Jimmy Page, who took Beck’s job in the Yardbirds stole that very blueprint for Led Zepplin with Robert Plant. I loved the Jeff Beck Group and posted on them years ago: Artist Lookback: The (Original) Jeff Beck Group: Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart & Ronnie Wood. They only hung together for 2 albums, Truth and Beckola before constant touring and treating Wood & Stewart like sidemen broke the band up. Ronnie Wood joined the Faces on his chosen instrument, guitar. Rod went solo but soon joined Woody in the Faces. The album Truth is one of the most influential albums in blues rock. It’s a stunning record. I could listen to their version of Howlin Wolf’s “I Ain’t Superstitious” and “Blues De Luxe” all day long. “Blues De Luxe” is on my “Rockers Playing the Blues” playlist. The Jeff Beck Group was supposed to play Woodstock but Jeff, who was fond of fast cars, was in a car accident and they couldn’t play. I still wonder to this day what would have happened if they’d made that iconic gig.

After the Yardbirds and the original Jeff Beck Group a lot of people may have lost track of Beck. He formed a couple of different bands and put out records. He carried on as the Jeff Beck Group with an all new line up he put together that included Cozy Powell on drums and Bobby Tench on vocals. Then in 1973 he formed Beck, Bogert, Appice with Tim Bogert on bass and Carmine Appice on drums. Carmine’s little brother Vinny played with the Dio fronted Black Sabbath on Mob Rules. Beck, Bogart, Appice did a version of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” on that record that inspired Stevie Ray Vaughn to cover it years later.

While that was already an incredible resume, in the middle 70s Beck decided to eschew working with a vocalist and put out two of the greatest guitar instrumental records ever. In 1975 he put out Blow By Blow which is another personal favorite. He covered the Beatles song “She’s A Woman.” He has a guitar solo titled “Constipated Duck” which may win the most preposterous song title award. He also covers Stevie Wonder’s “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” to wonderful effect. He worked with keyboardist Max Middleton who had been in the second incarnation of the Jeff Beck Group and it’s just a great LP. It almost feels like Jazz. He came back in 1976 with Wired, which I believe may be drummer Blake’s favorite. It was also produced by George Martin. They do a cover of Charles Mingus’ “Goodbye Porkpie Hat” which is worth the price of admission.

After those highlights I have to admit my knowledge of Jeff’s work is spotty. I remember hearing his version of “People Get Ready” with Rod Stewart and it’s a sublime track:

I know he also guested on Stewart’s LP Camouflage and joined the tour but quit only a few shows in. I know Rod and Jeff Beck talked about trying to record together again for years after that – up until just recently – but they couldn’t get it together. Rod wanted to do blues stuff and Jeff’s musical tastes couldn’t be confined to the blues. It was a missed opportunity if you ask me. Their relationship was a rocky one. As Jeff said when he inducted Rod into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, “Rod and I have a love-hate relationship. He loves me and I hate him.”

While I lost touch a bit with Jeff’s work over the years I know he did quite a few critically acclaimed records over the years like Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop and Who Else!. Drummer Blake turned me onto the video – that I recommend highly – Live At Ronnie Scott’s. If you watch the audience on that DVD you’ll spot all kinds of rock royalty there to listen to Jeff’s guitar wizardry. While I didn’t keep up as much with his solo work, he was a guest guitarist on so many other artist’s records: Mick Jagger, Ozzy, Paul Rodgers and Roger Waters just to name a few. His amazing guitar skills were much sought after.

Rock and roll in the 60s was built on the backs of guitar giants like Jeff Beck. Of the three Yardbirds guitarists, Jeff probably gets the least attention. His records – from the Yardbirds to the Jeff Beck Group to his solo stuff – should be on everyone’s turntable.

It may be a Wednesday night – and I avoid drinking on weeknights – but tonight I see a tumbler of the good stuff with Truth, Blow By Blow, Wired and Beckola on the stereo. “I’ve been drinkin’ again, thinkin of when you left me.” We’ve lost a true legend today, and way too soon. As a friend of mine is fond of saying, “The guy could play.”

RIP Jeff Beck, guitar legend, 24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023. It’s a sad day indeed. You will be missed.

Time is short folks. Cherish every day.

Cheers!

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Review: Ozzy Osbourne’s New Song “Patient Number 9” With Jeff Beck! On Guitar

~ kcorsini ~ 9 Comments

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When I was a youngster it seemed like summer vacation flew by, as Jackson Browne sang, “in the wink of an eye.” I always loved summer vacation – I didn’t have to go school, aka Elementary Prison, for a few months.  Now that I’m a working adult I have no extended summer vacation. Summer is now more akin to what Springsteen sang, “Summer’s long but I guess it ain’t very sweet around here anymore.” I think the reason summer flew by when I was a kid is that I missed all the signs that it was passing by me. School would end, Memorial Day would come – the unofficial start of summer in the U.S. – and we were off and running…the next thing I knew we’d be in the mall at the “back to school” sale buying jeans. This year, despite my corporate masters, I plan on enjoying summer. My goal this year is to blast my Summer/Sun playlist as much as possible and more importantly to get a tan. Not that blotchy farmer’s tan but a real life, head-to-toe, “I work outside” without a shirt tan. No more looking like a cadaver for me this year. Memorial Day came and I celebrated. The Summer Solstice came and I was out there doing my pagan thing, dancing naked in the moonlight like I was in a Thin Lizzy song. Now Wimbledon has come and I’m wearing white all day. It’s ok until Labor Day. This coming weekend is 4th of July… Man, it really is summer. More importantly, I can tell it’s going to be a great summer because Ozzy Osbourne, the Prince of Darkness has released a soaring new rock song, “Patient Number 9,” as a precursor to the album of the same name (Sept 9th release date).

I’m on record as being a big Ozzy fan. I became a rock n roll fan in the late 70s, when I was in junior high or middle school as it’s known now. It was kind of a weird time to start listening to music. If you were a fan in the late 60s or early 70s you were probably into Sabbath and Zeppelin. When those bands split up or fractured you may or may not have jumped on the “solo” bandwagons. I could see fans of those type of bands just staying dialed in on that music and not moving forward. They say our music tastes tend to calcify around what we listened to in our late teens. But for me there was both – there was the great music of the 60s and 70s from classic, hard rock bands AND solo music from those guys after their break ups. Robert Plant for instance. I got into rock music just in time to catch Zeppelin’s In Through The Out Door, which we all loved, despite what the critics say. But merely a few years later, Plant came out with Pictures At 11. I just saw this week on social media it’s the 40th anniversary of that album… Man, I love “Burning Down One Side.”

The same thing happened with Ozzy, albeit it a little sooner. I really dug his debut solo album with Randy Rhoads on guitar, Blizzard of Ozz (although I only taped it on a cassette at the time). But I also really liked Sabbath. Although, admittedly I was originally only into the Dio-era Sabbath LPs, Heaven And Hell and The Mob Rules. I’m not sure I even connected Ozzy with Sabbath until I was in college… every rock n roll fan’s knowledge grows on it’s on pace, folks. I purchased Diary Of A Madman almost the minute it came out. “Flying High Again” with those great lyrics, “Mama’s gonna worry, I’ve been a bad bad boy, no use saying sorry, it’s something that I enjoy” were, shall we say, somewhat autobiographical for me at the time. After that I can honestly say I’ve purchased almost every single Ozzy LP. He’s like the Black Keys or Tom Petty, just putting out consistently great music. I think the only LPs of his I don’t own are The Original Sin and Ozzmosis. Although I owned Ozzmosis at one time… not sure if someone took off with it or I sold it at the used record store for reasons unknown.

I began to worry about Ozzy after Scream. With his health scares and accidents I was concerned he’d hung it up. I knew Sharon had run off Ozzy’s long time guitarist Zakk Wylde after the sensational (and sensationally overlooked) album Black Rain because she said it sounded too much like Zakk’s Black Label Society. I disagree but the Rock Chick really takes umbrage with that statement. But then in 2020, after a 10 year absence, Ozzy released the Andrew Watt produced album Ordinary Man. And what a great comeback that LP was. It was the best thing I’d heard from Ozzy in quite a while. Ozzy had so much fun doing that one I heard he immediately scheduled time with Watt to produce the follow up, which comes out on Sept 9th, Patient Number 9. Like Ordinary Man on this new LP there will be many special guests. Slash and Eric Clapton are both said to play on a song or two. I even read that Ozzy tried to coax Jimmy Page to play on a track but he declined. If he’d said yes, Ozzy would have collected all three of the famous Yardbird guitarists: Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. It was a noble plan.

Luckily for Ozzy, Jeff Beck said yes and he’s the lead guitarist on “Patient Number 9.” Coincidentally I’ve been a huge fan of Jeff’s for a long time. I really loved the original Jeff Beck Group but that was mainly because I was a Rod Stewart stan in college. Those albums led me to the Yardbirds and Jeff’s solo albums Wired and Blow By Blow. If you’re a fan of guitar – and an amazing guitar tone – pick up those last two records. I absolutely love Jeff Beck’s playing on this new Ozzy track although in the interest of full disclosure, the Rock Chick misses Zakk Wylde’s heavier, thicker slabs of guitar. To each their own. I’m just lucky I’m married to a woman who notices the difference…

It was my buddy Drummer Blake who first texted me that the tune was out. He’s a huge fan of Jeff Beck and of course, Ozzy as well. I had already heard the tune once. He did point out to me that it has that typical Ozzy intro. You know, it’s got synthesized strings and the sound of eerie laughing. We get it Ozzy, you’re crazy, you’re scary… you’re the fucking Prince of Darkness. But at this stage of the game you don’t need that crap. After you get through the B-movie horror film intro the riff kicks in and the song just takes off to me. I love Jeff’s playing on this song. The opening riff, after scary Ozzy time, just bores into my head. Ozzy’s voice is strong and loud. The chorus is soaring, and when Ozzy sings “When they call your name better run and hide, tell you you’re insane, you believe their lies. I’m not getting out, no I’m not getting out alive…” you tend to believe him. The first solo is a wonderfully off the chain Jeff Beck solo. He’s torturing that guitar. He gets the greatest sounds out of his guitar. The he even comes back for a second solo after the ethereal bridge. Two Jeff Beck solos in one song, yes, please. Here’s the official video…It’s ok, I just watch it to hear the song.

This may be an odd pick for my “song of the summer,” it’s pretty dark after all, but this may be my summer jam. Ozzy has had so many wonderful guitarist he’s worked with: Tony Iommi, Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee, Zakk Wylde, Gus G, Andrew Watt, Slash and now Jeff Beck. And he always melds so well with each of them. Hell, hearing this song I can only wish that Jeff Beck was the lead guitarist on the entire album.

Who knows what this means for the upcoming Patient Number 9 LP but knowing how consistently awesome Ozzy’s been over the years, I think it bodes well. I’m not sure whose in charge of quality control down at the Ozzy camp but they deserve a raise. Andrew Watt as producer is bringing out some vintage Ozzy sounds on these tunes and I’m here for it!! Although even I have to wonder how Ozzy and Clapton are going to sound together? But hey, if Ozzy can pull off a collaboration with Elton, whose style is so different than his, he can play with anybody.

Cheers! and of course, Happy Summer.

Editor’s Note: You can find our thoughts on Ozzy’s entire new LP, Patient Number 9, at the following link: Review: Ozzy Osbourne, Patient Number 9: Glorious Metal And Packed With An All-Star Band