There are guitarists and then there ‘is’ Jeff Beck. ‘is’ because while his body has left the planet, but his body of work will always be around for us to savour. He gave a new twist to The Yardbirds sound when he replaced their guitarist, Eric Clapton. He gave birth to the heavy sound which shaped the sound of Led Zeppelin and the subsequent genre - heavy metal. And then he went on to experiment in jazz, jazz-rock, fusion, funkand techno, pushing the envelope with every subsequent album.

Beck was born Geoffrey Beck in 1944, in South London. As a child, he sang in a church choir, and began playing guitar as a teenager. Beck said that he first heard an electric guitar when he was six-years-old and heard Les Paul playing How High the Moon on the radio. He asked his mother what it was. After she replied it was an electric guitar and was all tricks, he said, "That's for me". Gene Vincent, BB King, and Steve Cropper became other early influences.

While attending Wimbledon College of Art in the early 60’s, Beck played in a succession of groups and met musicians like Ian Stewart (co-founder of The Rolling Stones) and Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) and eventually landed up a role in the The Yardbirds. In his 20 month’s tenure with them, the band recorded most of their Top 40 hits. During this time, Beck recorded his first solo outing, the iconic and brilliant Beck’s Bolero. Backed by giants like Jimmy Page (guitar), Keith Moon (drums), John Paul Jones (bass) and Nicky Hopkins (keyboard) and inspired by the rhythm of Ravel’s Bolero, the composition features a prominent melody with multiple guitar parts.

After group disbanded, due to creative differences, Jeff formed The Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart (vocals), Ronnie Wood (bass), Nicky Hopkins (piano) and Aynsley Dunbar (drums). This ensemble gave two epic albums that became the cornerstones for the heavy sound that emerged later with Led Zeppelin and heavy metal. “Truth’ and “Beck-Ola” remain one of the most important milestones in the journey of modern popular music. The group was disbanded in 1972 after producing two more albums.

Never hungry for fame and always hungry for pushing the musical envelope, Beck, throughout his career kept on experimenting, developing, or embracing new genres and sounds. He also kept performing as a session’s guitarist / support act with bands and musicians like The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Clapton, Phil Collins, Sting, Roger Waters, Jon Bon Jovi and Kelly Clarkson.

In the words of Robert Plant, “He embraced project after project with limitless energy and enthusiasm. He cooked up magic through all the passing eras, always up for the next, unknown, unlikely, beautiful collision.”

Technique wise, Beck pioneered and popularised the audio feedback and distortion on the guitar. In the 80’s he stopped using the guitar pick and started using his thumb to pluck the guitar strings, his ring finger on the volume knob and his little finger on the vibrato bar on his signature Fender Stratocaster. And this created a unique singing sound.

Winner of several Grammy awards and appearing in every list of Top 10 all time guitarist, Jeff Beck passed away on 12^th January 2023 after suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis leaving, the world of music and fans in a state of shock.

PS: For those who are uninitiated into the world of this guitar genius, Live at Ronnie Scotts streaming on YouTube is a great start.

By Meraj Hasan

Meraj Hasan is a Dubai based marketing and communications professional, poet and a musician with a passion for listening to music the vinyl way. His 33 years old Technics (SL Q3) turntable along with a humble collection of LPs across genres like Rock, Classical, Blues, Jazz, Indian Classical are his prized possessions. He is also the author of a bestselling book of poems in Hindustani called, 'Khyaalon Ki Tapri'. He can be reached at +971 522766809 and meraj.hasan@gmail.com.