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Jeff Beck has passed away. He was a guitar virtuoso who pushed the boundaries of blues, jazz, and rock 'n' roll. Along the way, he had an impact on generations of shredders and came to be known as "the guitar player's guitar player." He was 78.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Beck's representatives stated that he had "suddenly contracted bacterial meningitis" and passed away on Tuesday. At the time, the location was unknown.
Among the many tributes, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi wrote on Twitter, "Jeff was such a nice person and an outstanding iconic, genius guitar player — there will never be another Jeff Beck."
tributes to Jeff Beck Beck first rose to prominence as a member of the Yardbirds before embarking on a solo career that spanned hard rock, jazz, funky blues, and even opera. He was well-known for his ability to improvise, his love of harmonica, and the whammy bar on the Fender Stratocaster, his favorite guitar.
In 2010, Aerosmith's lead guitarist Joe Perry told The New York Times, "Jeff Beck is the best guitar player on the planet." With a talent that only appears once or twice in a generation, he stands head and shoulders above the rest of us.
Beck was one of Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix's rock guitarists of the late 1960s. Beck won eight Grammy Awards and was inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, once in 1992 as a member of the Yardbirds and once in 2009 as a solo artist. On Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time," he came in fifth place.
Page tweeted on Wednesday, "Jeff could channel music from the ethereal."
Luciano Pavarotti, Macy Gray, Chrissie Hynde, Joss Stone, Imelda May, Cyndi Lauper, Wynonna Judd, Buddy Guy, and Johnny Depp were just a few of the numerous vocalists with whom Beck collaborated on the guitar. He collaborated with Rod Stewart on two records—"Truth" in 1968 and "Beck-Ola" in 1969—and recorded "Emotion & Commotion" with a 64-piece orchestra.
I like music that has some chaos in it. As long as you don't overdo it, that feeling is the best thing ever. It needs to be in harmony. In 2014, he told Guitar World, "I just saw Cirque du Soleil, and it struck me as complete organized chaos." If I could make music out of that, it would be very close to my ultimate goal, which is to simultaneously delight people with beauty and chaos.
The power trio that Beck formed with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice and released the album "Beck, Bogert and Appice" in 1973, tours with Brian Wilson and Buddy Guy, and a tribute album to the late guitarist Les Paul called "Rock 'n' Roll Party (Honoring Les Paul)" are among the highlights of Beck's career.
"Talking Book," Stevie Wonder's landmark 1972 album, is one of Beck's album credits. He received a warm "Do it Jeff" callout from Wonder for his tenderly rendered guitar solo on the ballad "Lookin' For Another Pure Love," which was included on the album cut.
Geoffrey Arnold Beck went to Wimbledon Art College and was born in Surrey, England. His mother worked in a chocolate factory, and his father was an accountant. He used a cigar box, a picture frame for the neck, and string from a radio-controlled toy airplane to build his first instrument when he was a kid.
Before joining the Yardbirds in 1965, he was in a few bands, including Nightshift and The Tridents. He replaced Clapton there, but Page took over a year later. The band released the hit singles "Heart Full of Soul," "I'm a Man," and "Shapes of Things" under his direction.
The instrumental "Beck's Bolero," which was released in 1967 and featured The Who drummer Keith Moon and future Led Zeppelin members Page and John Paul Jones, was Beck's first hit single. Stewart sang with the Jeff Beck Group, who were later scheduled to perform at the 1969 Woodstock music festival, but their performance was canceled. Beck later stated that the band was agitated.
In 2010, he stated to Rolling Stone, "I could see the end of the tunnel."
Hendrix and Beck performed together and were friends. The majority of rock guitarists prior to Hendrix focused on a similar aesthetic and technical vocabulary. That was blown up by Hendrix.
Beck stated to Guitar World, "He came along and reset all of the rules in one evening."
Beck collaborated with legendary producer George Martin, better known as " the fifth Beatle" to assist him in creating the genre-bending, jazz-fusion classics "Blow by Blow" and "Wired" in 1975 and 1976, respectively. He collaborated with Seal on the Hendrix tribute album "Stone Free," formed a jazz-fusion band led by synthesizer player Jan Hammer, and released the album "Crazy Legs" in honor of rockabilly guitarist Cliff Gallup. In 2016, he released "Loud Hailer."
On the soundtracks of movies like "Stomp the Yard," "Shallow Hal," "Casino," "Honeymoon in Vegas," "Twins," "Observe and Report," and "Little Big League," you can hear Beck playing guitar. Beck was featured on Ozzy Osbourne's "Patient Number 9" album and recently completed a tour in support of his album "18," which he released with Johnny Depp.
Clapton's career never reached the same commercial heights as Beck's. He preferred to make instrumental records that were well-received by critics and stayed out of the spotlight for a long time, enjoying his time restoring vintage automobiles. He and Clapton had a difficult early relationship, but they later became friends and went on tours together.
Why did they not tour together for nearly four decades?
In 2010, Beck told Rolling Stone, "We were all trying to be big bananas." However, I did not have the luxury of Eric's hit songs.