While he was as innovative as Jimmy Page, as tasteful as Eric Clapton
and nearly as visionary as Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck never achieved the
same commercial success as any of his contemporaries, primarily because
of the haphazard way he approached his career. After Rod Stewart left
the Jeff Beck Group in 1971, Beck never worked with a charismatic lead
singer who could have helped sell his music to a wide audience.
Furthermore, he was simply too idiosyncratic, moving from heavy metal
to jazz-fusion within a blink of an eye. As his career progressed, he
became more fascinated by automobiles than guitars, releasing only one
album during the course of the '90s. All the while, Beck retained the
respect of fellow guitarists, who found his reclusiveness all the more
alluring.
Jeff Beck began his musical career following a short stint at London's
Wimbledon Art College. He earned a reputation by supporting Lord Sutch,
which helped him land the job as the Yardbirds' lead guitarist
following the departure of Eric Clapton. Beck stayed with the Yardbirds
for nearly two years, leaving in late in 1966 with the pretense that he
was retiring from music. He returned several months later with "Love Is
Blue," a single he played poorly because he detested the song. Later in
1967, he formed the Jeff Beck Group with vocalist Rod Stewart, bassist
Ron Wood and drummer Aynsley Dunbar, who was quickly replaced by Mickey
Waller; keyboardist Nicky Hopkins joined in early 1968. With their
crushingly loud reworkings of blues songs and vocal and guitar
interplay, the Jeff Beck Group established the template for heavy
metal. Neither of the band's records, Truth (1968) or Beck-Ola (a 1969
album which was recorded with new drummer Tony Newman), were
particularly successful, and the band tended to fight regularly,
especially on their frequent tours of the US. In 1970, Stewart and Wood
left to join the Faces, and Beck broke up the group.
Beck had intended to form a power trio with Vanilla Fudge members
Carmine Appice (drums) and Tim Bogert (bass), but those plans were
derailed when he suffered a serious car crash in 1970. By the time he
recuperated in 1971, Bogart and Appice were playing in Cactus, so the
guitarist formed a new version of the Jeff Beck Group. Featuring
keyboardist Max Middleton, drummer Cozy Powell, bassist Clive Chaman,
and vocalist Bobby Tench, the new band recorded Rough and Ready (1971)
and The Jeff Beck Group (1972). Neither album attracted much attention.
Cactus dissolved in late 1972, and Beck, Bogert and Appice formed a
power trio the following year. The group's lone studio album -- a live
record was released in Japan but never in the UK or US -- was widely
panned due to its plodding arrangements and weak vocals, and the group
disbanded the following year.
For about 18 months, Beck remained quiet, re-emerging in 1975 with Blow
By Blow. Produced by George Martin, Blow By Blow was an
all-instrumental jazz-fusion album that received strong reviews. Beck
collaborated with Jan Hammer, a former keyboardist for the Mahavishnu
Orchestra, for 1976's Wired, and supported the album with a
co-headlining tour with Hammer's band. The tour was documented on the
1977 album, Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group -- Live.
After the Hammer tour, Beck retired to his estate outside of London and
remained quiet for three years. He returned in 1980 with There and
Back, which featured contributions from Hammer. Following the tour for
There and Back, Beck retired again, returning five years later with the
slick, Nile Rodgers-produced Flash. A pop-rock album recorded with a
variety of vocalists, Flash featured Beck's only hit single, the
Stewart-sung "People Get Ready," and also boasted "Escape," which won
the Grammy for Best Rock instrumental. During 1987, he played lead
guitar on Mick Jagger's second solo album, Primitive Cool. There was
another long wait between Flash and 1989's Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop with
Terry Bozzio and Tony Hymas. Though the album sold only moderately
well, Guitar Shop received uniformly strong reviews and won the Grammy
for Best Rock Instrumental. Beck supported the album with a tour, this
time co-headlining with guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. Again, Beck
entered semi-retirement upon the completion of the tour.
In 1992, Beck played lead guitar on Roger Waters' comeback album,
Amused to Death. A year later, he released Crazy Legs, a tribute to
Gene Vincent and his lead guitarist cliff Gallup, which was recorded
with the Big Town Playboys. Beck remained quiet after the album's
release prior to resurfacing in 1999 with Who Else!