Jeff Beck is a British virtuoso guitarist and composer. Seven-time Grammy winner. At the beginning of his career he played in the rock band The Yardbirds. In 1967 he organized his own collective The Jeff Beck Group !. After that he performed solo, collaborated with other performers as a guest musician.
Jeffrey Arnold Beck is best known as one of the three Yardbirds guitarists and the frontman of the Beck, Bogert & Appice band. Ranked 5th in the list of 100 Greatest Guitarists.
The road to the heights
The biography of the famous musician began in 1944. The child was born into a London family on June 24. The boy studied at Sutton Manor. Further education Jeff received in one of the best schools for boys. From the age of six he dreamed of a stage.
After hearing "How High the Moon" performed by Les Paul, Beck became seriously interested in the electric guitar. The teenager realized that he only wanted to play this instrument. The boy borrowed acoustics from a friend, while mastering several more musical instruments. Then there were attempts to create their own guitar from scrap materials.
A new stage on the path to success was studying at the Wimbledon College of Fine Arts. The young man decided to become a decorator. The student played in the groups The Savages and Screaming Lord Sutch. After completing his education, Jeff began working as a colorist in a car repair shop. Sister Annette introduced her brother to Jimmy Page.
The famous musician opened the way to the musical Olympus for a novice colleague. In 1963 he met Ian Stewart of The Rolling Stones. He helped Jeff organize the Nightshift project. The guy recorded a couple of songs at the Piccadilly studio and began performances in a London nightclub.
Ensembles and Solos
For a short time the young guitarist joined the Rumbles ensemble. Collaboration with the Chiswick group Tridents was the beginning of a professional career. The team played blues, played R&B. Beck liked the topic.
He performed in London clubs throughout the year. At the same time, work began as a session musician for The Fitz and Startz. The band members recorded "I'm not Running Away" and "Parlophone". In the early spring of 1965, Jeff replaced Eric Clapton with the popular Yardbirds.
Work has begun on the "Roger the Engineer" CD. Together with Jimmy Page, Beck worked in 1966 as the lead bassist. The celebrity tandem was immortalized in the film "Magnification" by director Michelangelo Antonioni.
Finally replaced Beck in the Paige team after the rebel Jeff left the Yardbirds. Left alone, the guitarist released a couple of solo hit songs. Then came the Jeff Beck Group project. The team had 2 successful albums on the account, but the team disbanded in 1969.
Beck received offers to become a guitarist in Pink Floyd and Rolling Stones, but the musician liked A. N. Other . 4 singles were recorded with him.
New project
In the early 1970s, a new team, The Jeff Beck Group, was formed. In October 1971, the roster was replenished with three more members. The debut disc "Rough and ready" was released with seven tracks. This album presented the future signature style of the virtuoso.
The second disc was marked by a change of line-up, the appearance of a vocalist and the beginning of a tour for the presentation of the album "Beck, Bogert & Appice". The Japanese company Sony later released one of the concerts in video format. In 1975 Beck left the band and started recording "Wired" and "Blow by Blow". In solo albums, he demonstrated the worthless playing of a virtuoso. The album took 4th place in the prestigious charts, becoming the most commercially successful release of the guitarist.
Jeff gave concerts with the Mahavishnu Orchestra until May 1975. Spectators were particularly impressed by a performance in Cleveland when Beck smashed a Stratocaster due to dissatisfaction with the sound.
Improvement
After spending time in the United States until the eighties, Jeff released the disc "There & Back" in his homeland. Then there was an international tour. In 1982 the new album "Flash" was released.
His main hit "People Get Ready" with Rod Stewart's solo was released as a separate single. After the rotation on MTV of the video for the song, in which the musicians were filmed, the number of their fans increased markedly.
In 1985, Beck starred in Gemini. A break in creativity came in 1985 due to illness. In 1989, Beck presented a new CD "Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop", where he showed fans the "finger" style of playing. In the nineties, author projects were abandoned, Jeff actively collaborated with other musicians.
He released the disc Who Else! And won two Grammy Awards. On April 4, 2009, the guitarist was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2010 the disc "Emotion & Commotion" was released. A world tour started in 2014. A couple of years later, the studio album Loud Hailer was released.
Vocation and family
The musician's personal life was not easy. His first chosen one was Patricia Brown. They did not stay as husband and wife for long. The marriage broke up in 1967. The couple did not have time to acquire a common child.
The guitarist remained alone for over 3 decades. Sandra Cash became his new darling in 2005.
In his spare time, the musician restores the original appearance of the Ford rarities.
After the 2018 performances, the guitarist left the stage. He works in his recording studio. In 2019, it is planned to complete the recording of the disc "What Might Be A Back-To-Roots" and preparations for the next world tour.
