Jeff Beck, one of the greatest guitarists of all time, has died. Beck belongs to the golden generation of British musicians who admired the rock and blues sound coming from the United States, made it their own and exported it to the rest of the world. Beck was born in 1944 in Wallington, England (Greater London).
Beck passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 10. His representative left a message on the artist's Instagram account:
On behalf of his family, it is with deep and profound sadness that we share the news of Jeff Beck’s passing. After suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, he peacefully passed away yesterday. His family ask for privacy while they process this tremendous loss.
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Rolling Stone magazine published a list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. Number one was Jimi Hendrix. The next three were Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. These three were all at one point part of the group The Yardbirds. It was a supergroup before supergroups were invented.
The Yardbirds
Their best known song from their first album is "For Your Love" (1965), but this was from the Clapton era. Jeff Beck would introduce more psychedelic elements and sounds inspired by India.
One example of this is Heart Full of Soul. Years later, Chris Isaak would make his own version.
After a car accident that kept him away from music, Beck returned in the early 1970s. From there, he pursued both solo and collaborative projects. In his solo career, and with the short-lived The Jeff Beck Group, he released the splendid song "Going Down" (1972).
This was his first collaboration with Rod Stewart. At that time, Pink Floyd offered him to be Syd Barrett's replacement, but he declined the offer.
'Blow by Blow'
He had a huge success with the album Blow by Blow. In "Cause We've Ended as Lovers," he shows all his skills as a guitarist. The song was composed by Stevie Wonder and produced by George Martin. The use of tremolo, which allows volume control and varying intensity of the notes, is very characteristic of his style.
In his career, he has collaborated with artists such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Phil Collins, Sting, Bob Geldof, and, more recently, Bon Jovi and Guns N' Roses. In Wired (1976) he fused rock with jazz. An example of this new creative path of the guitarist is this "Come Dancing."
In 1985, he released the album Flash, in which he once again collaborated with his former bandmate Rod Stewart, who provided the vocals for "People Get Ready," originally composed by Curtis Mayfield.
Other collaborations
In the 90s, Beck collaborated on an album that seems far removed from the rest of his career, Beverly Craven's Love Scenes.
Last year, he collaborated with Ozzy Osbourne on the single "Patient Number 9."
