While Jimi Hendrix was putting most guitarists to shame in the 1960s, the Yardbirds trio of Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page was chasing him hard in the London scene. None of these three electric guitar virtuosos performed for the Yardbirds at the same time. Nor did their most important contributions to music come from the formative era. The group served as a rich ground for the development of talent. It opened doors for groups like Led Zeppelin, Cream, and The Jeff Beck Group.
Never did the Jeff Beck Group achieve the same level of success as Led Zeppelin or the relatively brief Cream. But the bandleader’s exceptional guitar playing secured respect from all around the world and an enduring legacy. The guitarist gained recognition as the “guitarist’s guitarist” with The Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice because of his varied instrumental style, which included blues rock, heavy rock, and jazz fusion.
As a solo artist, Beck remained active throughout the 1970s. He reached the height of his popularity with the instrumental albums Blow by Blow and Wired in the middle of the decade. But as the 1980s drew nearer, Beck retreated from the spotlight, silently mocking the studio-produced synth-pop trend.
In a 2006 interview with Classic Rock, Beck talked about this quiet period and said that the 1980s weren’t his style. He said, “I liked Eliminator by Prince and ZZ Top, and that was about it.” “It was hopeless, so I wasn’t going to try to sell anything about me, old, new, or weird, Tomorrowland music. It was all a joke, the whole musical playground. Even the bloody retailers were snorting coke and teaching you how to play the guitar. The executives of record labels held more power than the performers. That is ridiculous.
Beck only went on one significant tour in the 1980s despite releasing the popular albums There And Back, Flash, and Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop. “I stayed out of the way,” Beck said. And I believe that I’ll need to exert a lot of force at some point soon. That will entail releasing a quality album to inform people of my existence.
In 1990, The Observer surveyed esteemed guitarists to determine who was the greatest guitarist alive—the guitarist’s guitarist. With a significant lead, Beck was praised by David Gilmour and Brian May for his exceptional virtuosity. “Those kinds of comments are really what motivate me,” Beck said. The things that Brian May, who is an amazing technician and a skilled recording artist, has said about me. I don’t care who disparages me in the press—people with lesser credentials, for example—it just crosses my mind right now.
Before passing away in January 2023, Jeff Beck had one more successful career. Beck was invited to tour as a duo with actor and musician Johnny Depp during his defamation trial against Amber Heard. Together, the two also recorded the studio album 18.
