Shot in the Dark

Jeff Beck

Over my years of teaching myself to play guitar in an era before the Internet and Youtube, I aped the styles of an awful lot of guitar players: Eric Clapton, Pete Townsend, Keith Richard, Mark Knofler, Mike Campbell, Hendrix…

…but there were a few that I could never even think about copying. The fingers on my left hand just didn’t move fast enough to copy Eddie Van Halen or Nils Lofgren. The fingers on my right hand didn’t move fast enough to do Richard Thompson very well.

And I could never figure Jeff Beck out at all.

Beck – who played in the Yardbirds after Eric Clapton and efore Jimmy Page, before going solo – died yesterday at 78, of bacterial meningitis.

And once I started watching music on video, and saw that he picked with right thumb, only? That added insult to envy.

And yes, he is very difficult to imitate:

A very bad couple of years for music fans continue.

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Mitch Berg

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9 responses to “Jeff Beck”

  1. Mr. D Avatar
    Mr. D

    Huge loss. He was could play in any style you wanted. And a visionary, too.

  2. justplainangry Avatar
    justplainangry

    he picked with right thumb, only

    Well, that’s because rest of the fingers and hand are constantly fidgeting with knobs and tremolo at the the same time. Live at Ronnie Scott’s is one of his best live performances, not that Jeff Beck ever had bad ones. RIP.

    P.S. sudden bacterial meningitis, hm? I wonder how many jabs Beck had?

  3. kinlaw Avatar
    kinlaw

    When I first saw your headline I immediately thought of Beato’s videos on Beck. Some comments from them: he NEVER played a bad note; every note was delivered at a slightly different volume than the previous.

    Hard to call him underrated but damn few know what a genius he is.

  4. kinlaw Avatar
    kinlaw

    PS the female bass player is totally badass.

  5. Emery Avatar
    Emery

    No one could ever accuse Jeff Beck of being anything else then a master musician who followed his heart. Beck’s solo on the Yardbirds’ “Shapes of Things” is just unparalleled – such an avant-garde imagination (the whole break played on one string!), capped with that final brain-freezing blast of treble. And it’s only 30 seconds long. The greatest rock guitar solo ever recorded.

  6. cosmicwxdude Avatar
    cosmicwxdude

    Saw Jeff Beck at the State Theater about 7yrs ago…seems like last nite. He and the band were great. I play guitar, perform and write music myself and I just appreciate listening to and watching exceptional performers and JB was one of those people. RIP Mr Beck.

  7. jdm Avatar
    jdm

    It just occurred to me for no particular reason that Beck decided how he wanted his hair to be back in 1966 or thereabouts and never changed it. There’s a clip from the (way overrated) movie, Blowup, from ’66 and Beck’s hair, as far as I know, never changed style nor length.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSJGEn4FDys

    Whatta guy thing to do.

  8. Ultra Maga Mammuthus Primigenesis Avatar
    Ultra Maga Mammuthus Primigenesis

    Ah! the classic “Pete Townsend”!

  9. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    What Kinlaw noted. The bass player is doing a wonderful job.

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