Guitarist Jeff Beck Dead at 78

[Motown Eddie]

RollingStone.com-

JEFF BECK, GUITAR god, blues-rock innovator, and two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, has died at the age of 78.

Beck’s family confirmed the former Yardbirds guitarist’s death Wednesday, a day after Beck’s death. “On behalf of his family, it is with deep and profound sadness that we share the news of Jeff Beck’s passing,” Beck’s family said in a statement. “After suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, he peacefully passed away yesterday. His family asks for privacy while they process this tremendous loss.”

Beck, an eight-time Grammy nominee, was twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, both as a member of the Yardbirds as well as for his work with his own Jeff Beck Group.

“Jeff Beck has the combination of brilliant technique with personality,” the Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell wrote when Beck placed Number Five on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists. “It’s like he’s saying, ‘I’m Jeff Beck. I’m right here. And you can’t ignore me.’ Even in the Yardbirds, he had a tone that was melodic but in-your-face – bright, urgent, and edgy, but sweet at the same time. You could tell he was a serious player, and he was going for it. He was not holding back.”

[copley]

Did you know that Jeff recorded an album for Motown circa 1970?

[Motown Eddie]

Did you know that Jeff recorded an album for Motown circa 1970?

According to Wikipedia, Jeff Beck did record songs with The Funk Bros. at Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. studio and the tracks were never released. Jeff also played guitar on Steve Wonder's "Looking For Another Pure Love" on his Talking Book LP.

[ralpht]

To my knowledge there are no recordings of Beck and the Funks. WHAT HAPPENED.....

I had gotten to my office the morning after the night the Funks were to work with Beck. Things didn't go well that first night. The Funks had given Beck a hard time.

Harry and Beck came to my office to relate the events of the previous night in the studio. Harry asked me what I thought we should do. I immediately suggested we get Babbitt and drummer Andrew Smith To come in to work with Jeff. Harry thought it was a dynamite idea and arrangements were made to bring them in.

That night I stopped into the studio to see how things were going. Between beer and weed they were really cooking in the studio. I talked with Jeff in the control room and asked if everything was cool. His positive response "Oh yeah" told me all I wanted to know.

In all honesty I don't know what, if anything, came out of this night.

Jeff was an extremely nice guy and I am saddened by his passing.

[bob_olhsson]

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...-album-111450/

We wound up with Cozy Powell and Babbitt. It was a killer combination. Powell was one of the best sounding drummers I ever recorded. Years later Babbitt told me Beck had asked him to join his band. Bob had just signed an artist contract so he asked to be released but Motown declined.

It was a very complicated situation because Beck had been trying to get released from his contract with Mickie Most and the two literally weren't speaking to each other. Both wanted to see Motown more or less as tourists. This was probably why the Funks felt insulted and refused to do any more sessions. Ken Scott told me Beck had brought him the tapes to mix in London but Most's lawyers seized them before they could do anything.

Jeff had not brought a guitar amplifier and somebody rented a dreadful sounding Kustom amp for him to use. I can't imagine he wouldn't have wanted to rerecord his guitars on all of those recordings.

[ralpht]

Thanks for the further insight, Bob

[timmyfunk1]

Rest in peace, Mr. Jeff Beck

[Circa 1824]

If memory serves well, Jeff Beck played on Diana’s Swept Away album.

[Motown Eddie]

If memory serves well, Jeff Beck played on Diana’s Swept Away album.

Yes he did! Jeff Beck also played on Tina Turner's classic Private Dancer LP.

[Motown Eddie]

From RollingStone.com-

Stevie Wonder Remembers Jeff Beck: ‘A Great Soul Who Did Great Music’

STEVIE WONDER REMEMBERED his friend and one-time collaborator Jeff Beck in an interview that followed the death of the guitar virtuoso.

“He was a great soul who did great music,” Wonder told the Detroit Free Press. “I’m glad that I was able to meet him and have him in my life, giving some of his gift to my music.”

Beck and Wonder first worked together in 1972 while the latter was working on what would become his classic LP Talking Book. The duo were introduced by producers Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil, with Wonder enlisting Beck to play the solo on the album’s “Lookin’ for Another Pure Love.”

“I really didn’t know too much about him,” Wonder said of Beck. “But then I heard him play in New York. We were working on ‘Lookin’ for Another Pure Love’ and I said to him, ‘Why don’t you play on this?’ He thought that would be great. He laid one part down, then another part and another part. It was just amazing.”

While in the studio, Wonder and Beck played around with another song that Wonder had written at the time: “Superstition.” Wonder originally agreed to give Beck the track for the guitarist’s new group Beck, Bogert & Appice. While that trio recorded their “Superstition” first, Motown — recognizing the track’s hit single potential — ultimately released Wonder’s version before Beck, Bogert & Appice could issue their self-titled 1973 debut album.

“I told Motown, ‘Listen, I did this for Jeff Beck. He likes the song,'” Wonder told the Detroit Free Press. “I thought we should make ‘Sunshine of My Life’ the first single. They said, ‘No, no, no, no. The first single should be ‘Superstition.” So I went back to Jeff and had that discussion.”

Still, the trio’s take on “Superstition” served as one of Beck’s greatest recordings. Beck would later record two more Wonder tracks, “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers” and “Thelonius,” for his 1975 LP Blow by Blow, and reunite with Wonder at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 25th anniversary show in 2009 to perform “Superstition.”

Wonder told the Free Press that, following news of Beck’s death, he re-listened “Lookin’ for Another Pure Love.” “When I heard it today, it was emotional for me because I could remember the moment,” Wonder said. “There’s just something about music. I know for you, as a fan, songs take you back to a space in time — you’re right there, right then,” Wonder said. “As long as you talk about people, you keep them alive. You keep their spirits alive.”