It’s no surprise that Jeff Beck, the legendary guitar virtuoso, received numerous offers to join various bands throughout his career. He had a brief stint with The Yardbirds before embarking on his journey as a solo artist in 1967. Once he tasted the freedom of being his own boss, he never looked back, never settling for the role of just a band guitarist again.
That said, it wasn’t for a lack of interest from other groups. During a conversation with Alice Cooper, Beck fondly reminisced about his time at the Speakeasy Club in London, where he often encountered a burgeoning psychedelic band called Pink Floyd.
“It was so dark in there, and they used all that Prisma psychedelic lighting; they could have changed personnel every day, and you wouldn’t have noticed,” Beck recalled. He was surprised to learn only recently that Pink Floyd had been seeking him out. “I never would have thought they would have given me the light of day,” he admitted, reflecting on the missed opportunity.
Beck also shared that The Rolling Stones had extended an invitation for him to play on their upcoming album, Black and Blue. However, he was unaware that the invitation was a covert audition for membership in the band.
“The fact that I had actually turned up was a signal to them that I had committed. Not the case. I had already agreed to work on the Blow by Blow album. They just asked me to come by and play a couple of tracks,” he explained.
Looking back, Beck mused, “Me and Keith would never have gotten on,” referring to Keith Richards. Instead, he recommended his former bandmate from the Jeff Beck Group, Ronnie Wood, who had already collaborated on writing and recording “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll” the previous year. While it’s easy to speculate about how Pink Floyd and The Stones might have sounded with Beck on lead guitar, it seems everything worked out for the best in the end.
