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Jeff Beck: Truth & Beck-Ola

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s

Artist: Jeff Beck
Title: Truth & Beck-Ola
Released: 1975
Label: Epic Records
Time: 71:36
Producer(s): Mickie Most
Appears with: The Yardbirds, Rod Stewart
Category: Rock
Rating: *****..... (5/10)
Media type: CD
Purchase date:  2001.08.21
Price in €: 10,83
Web address: www.jeffbeck.com

 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


JEFF BECK GROUP: TRUTH:
[1] Shapes of Things (Paul Samwell-Smith, James McCarty and Keith Relf) - 3:21
[2] Let Me Love You (J. Rod) - 4:44
[3] Morning Dew (Bonnie Dobson and Tim Rose) - 4:43
[4] You Shook Me (Willie Dixon and J.B. Lenore) - 2:33
[5] Ol' Man River (Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern) - 4:01
[6] Greensleeves (Traditional/Arranged by A. Jeffrey) - 1:50
[7] Rock My Plimsoul (J. Rod) - 4:14
[8] Beck's Bolero (Jimmy Page) - 2:55
[9] Blues de Luxe (J. Rod) - 7:33
[10] I A'in't Supersitous (Willie Dixon) - 4:56

JEFF BECK GROUP: COSA NOSTRA [BECK-OLA]
[11] All Shook Up (Blackwell/Presley) - 4:51
[12] Spanish Boots (Beck, Stewart, Wood) - 3:35
[13] Girl from Mill Valley (Hopkins) - 3:47
[14] Jailhouse Rock (Leiber, Stoller) - 3:16
[15] Plynth [Water Down the Drain] (Hopkins, Wood, Stewart) - 3:07
[16] The Hangman's Knees (Hopkins, Beck, Newman, Stewart, Wood) - 4:48
[17] Rice Pudding (Beck, Wood, Hopkins, Newman) - 7:22

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


On "Truth":
JEFF BECK - Guitar, Bass on [5]
ROD STEWART - Vocals
RON WOOD - Bass
MICKEY WALLER - Drums

J.P. JONES - Hammond Organ on [5]
NICKY HOPKINS - Timpani, Piano on [3],[9]

On "Beck-Ola":
JEFF BECK - Guitar
ROD STEWART - Vocals
RON WOOD - Bass
NICKY HOPKINS - Piano
TOM NEWMAN - Drums

STEPHEN GOLDBLATT - Cover Photography
RENE MAGRITTE - Cover Painting "La Chabre d'Ecoute"
ARTFUL DODGERS - Design, Artwork
JOHN TOBLER - Liner Notes

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1969 LP Epic BG-33779
1969 CS Epic EGT-33779
1991 CD EMI CDP-7954692
2001 CD EMI 7954692

1991 EMI release, a two-on-one featuring the first two albums by the band he formed after leaving the Yardbirds in 1967, 1968's 'Truth' and 1969's 'Beck-ola'. 17 tracks total.Other members in the band include Rod Stewart, Ron Wood, Nicky Hopkins, Tony Newman and Mick Waller. Tracks include 'Shapes Of Things', 'I Ain't Superstitious', 'Beck's Bolero', 'You Shook Me', 'Jailhouse Rock' & 'All Shook Up'.



Epic reissued the Jeff Beck Group's two albums, Truth and Beck-Ola, as a double LP/single cassette in the late '70s. For casual listeners, this may not be a bad way to purchase these records, but the packaging and sound on the tape are subpar. Most fans, even casual ones, will be better served by the original vinyl editions or subsequent CD reissues.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All-Music Guide, © 1992 - 2001 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



...[TRUTH] is a classic, much the same way the Clapton-Mayall album [THE BLUES BREAKERS WITH ERIC CLAPTON] is....The singing is gorgeous and actually in order not to repeat myself, the singing is first-rate throughout the album....As a group they swing like mad...

Rolling Stone (9/28/68, p.29)



Nachdem Mega-Egozentriker Jeff Beck 1967 die Yardbirds verlassen hatte, tat der Ausnahme-Gitarrist seinen besten Griff. Er holte sich die junge Reibeisenröhre Rod Stewart in seine eigene Band und schuf zusammen mit Ron Wood (Bass), Mick Waller/Tony Newman (Drums) und Nicky Hopkins (Piano) zwei der stärksten Rock-Alben der Endsechziger, hier sauber No-Noise- überarbeitet vereinigt. Ob knallharter Rock, rauher Soul oder Standard: immer Blues De Luxe. Und das auch noch zum Midprice - zugreifen.

© Audio



Seiner Labilität wegen brachte es Jeff Beck nie zum Superstar, obgleich ihm aufgrund seiner Saiten-Künste im Gitarren-Olymp ein Platz neben Eric Clapton, Peter Green oder Alvin Lee gebührt. Am vorteilhaftesten brachte er seine Qualitäten auf zwei Alben mit seiner Jeff Beck Group zu Gehör: "Truth" und "Beck-Ola" enthalten unschlagbar urwüchsigen Bluesrock, schräg, laut, energiegelanden, eingespielt in einer Topbesetzung und mit Rod Stewart als ungezähmtem Tier am Mikrophon. Die CD-Importe aus den USA belassen den Sound so ungehobelt wie gehabt. Those Were The Days. (40:47; 30:52). ** Interpret.: 09-10

© Stereoplay



Beck-Ola:

This is a brilliant album, dense in texture, full of physical and nervous energy, equally appealing to mind and body. There is a guiding intelligence which enables these five excellent, assertive musicians to work with and not against each other. The group benefits from the addition of Nicky Hopkins, the most perfect of rock pianists (although his playing is sometimes over-shadowed by the electrical sturm and drang around him, something of an occupational hazard for pianists). Ron Wood's very prominent bass provides the rhythmic background of the album, and Tony Newman's drumming is solid and wonderfully varied, especially on "Spanish Boots" and "Plynth," Rod Stewart's voice is a little high and raspy, but this is a matter of personal taste; the singing itself is emotive, displaying a good grasp of blues-rock singing technique. The rasp, in fact, is somehow appropriate; it's really the vocal equivalent of electric distortion.

Beck himself, of course, is the star. His playing doesn't quite have the excellence and logic of Clapton, but his ideas are unsurpassed. Outside of Jorma of the Airplane, Beck plays the most unpredictable guitar lines in rock, yet manages to combine them with a heavy blues feeling. He is capable of enormous speed and precision, yet his technique is almost always in service to a fertile, bizarre imagination. Listen to the eastern, Arab quality of his playing on the Yardbird's "Heart Full of Soul" and "Over Under Sideways Down." Beck miraculously manages to adapt this quality to a straight blues—the most obvious case being "Let Me Love You" on Truth—a very unlikely fusion.

Much is made of Beck's egotism (in concert he will interrupt a song to play, by himself, Earl Scrugg's "Beverly Hillbillies Breakdown"), but really, he has the resources to support it.

Truth, the other Beck album, contained individually outstanding cuts, particularly some ingenious reworking of traditional blues, but the entire album was not so much good or bad as patchy. "Greensleeves" and "Ol' Man River" came across as fillers, and another cut was an old B-side. Beck-Ola has greater esthetic unity, but the problem of working up material still remains. The new album has only seven cuts (five of which are original) and a playing time of under thirty minutes.

Beck-Ola includes two oldies, "All Shook Up" and "Jailhouse Rock". While Beck throws in a little new-fangled feedback on the latter, the original echo, sounding very campy by now, is preserved for Stewart's voice. This cut contains the strongest vocal performance of the album (Stewart's best singing altogether is on a very soulful number called "Drinking Again," which for some reason is not on the album). The Beck Group's "Jailhouse Rock" boils with all the virulence the Fifties could muster. There's a change of pace with "Girl From Mill Valley"—a lovely, wistful gospel tune written by Hopkins, which towards the end teeters unfortunately on the edge of Mancini-land. The addition of a vocal part would have made it even better.

The last cut, "Rice Pudding," is teeming with ideas. There's lots of rhythmic interest and a driving, syncopated riff which is returned to regularly as if for recharging when the semi-improvisations start to wear thin. There is the same kind of mood control, even metabolic control, which the Stones displayed on cuts like "The Last Time." In the middle of the finale, the tape is cut, leaving the listener hanging unmercifully in the group's thrall until the release of the next album. (RS 39)

BEN GERSON, Rolling Stone




Truth:

The album that catapulted John Mayall & Eric Clapton to fame, The Bluebreakers with Eric Clapton, was a special one. It hipped the U.S. to two good blues interpreters, held a fresh approach to the blues, and was performed by good musicians all around. Two months ago everyone was saying "Jeff Beck's in town and you must see his group . . . blah, blah, blah."

It was an unnerving experience to hear the Beck group. I had to leave after three numbers. The band was blowing changes, the bass player was losing time, Beck was uncomfortably and bitingly over-volumed, the singer was doing deep knee-bends holding the mike stand like a dumbbell (original, but so what.) It didn't make a hell of a lot of sense to me.

When his album came out, I expected to hear England's revenge for Blue Cheer or Jimi Hendrix and his Electric Period. Not a chance. This album is quite another story. It's called Truth.

I wonder what is the truth: the record or what I saw that night? This remains to be seen. However, this album is a classic, much the way the Clapton-Mayall album is. TRUTH is probably the current equivalent of that album.

The album opens with a considerably reworked version of "Shapes of Things" and it is more successful than the original except for Beck's solo. I believe the solo on the Yardbirds record (by Beck) to be one of the classic guitar solo on a pop record. I was hoping he would top it. The singing (Rod Stewart) is just great and many will now realize just how impotent a singer Keith Relf really was.

After a "Strange Brew"-ish opening, "Let Me Love You" gets into a Mayall-Clapton "Little Girl" structure with an honest and relaxed feel. Beck sounds really comfortable here. The bass line (Ron Wood) is as correct and tasteful as could be for this particular groove. The ending is beautiful.

Tim Rose's "Morning Dew" comes in for a good turn next. Most covers of this song have been quite good and it's probably a credit to Tim's original, which gave everyone a lot to work with. It sounds like they phased Becks "wah... wah" without moving the frequency to give it a close-up sound (like the vocal on "Punk's Dilemma" by Paul Simon). Bonnie Dobson would be proud of the occasionally faded in bagpipes on this cut. The piano playing by Nicky Hopkins is quite good.

On "You Shook Me," no credit is given the organist or the pianist, but the organ is up front and slows the groove down a great deal. Beck plays his our-de-force (sic) on this cut. The close of the first side and a highlight of the album is "Old Man River." A very orchestral beginning featuring tympani gives way to a Percy Sledgeish track and vocal. The tympani are a bit overbearing after a certain point, and you wish "you know who" hadn't gotten hung up with them at the session. The singing is gorgeous and actually in order not to repeat myself, the singing is first-rate throughout the album. It was not half as groovy in person however, which might tell the story of the Jeff Beck Group's "fame" in the coming months.

An acoustical "Greensleeves" opens side two. It's not very impressive. B. B. King's bastardized "Rock Me Baby" called "Rock My Plimsoul" uses a quarter note triplet turnaround which is very effective and the track bounces around like a pinball machine. Beck sounds a lot like Hendrix on this. "Beck's Bolero" is on here. It's a B side from one of his old singles and it's a chapter in a book that includes "Jeff's Boogie" and his other instrumentals. Beck is actually a lot better than Clapton at playing four guitar overdubs and fusing them. Hendrix is better than both of them; he does it all at once.

"Blues Deluxe" is a seven-minute jam. Supposedly "live" (it sounds quite studioish) is slugs along and sounds like any other blues by a competent group. Nothing special. "I Ain't Superstitious" starts off like a Yardbirds record but gets into Beck's new groove. He does dog's barking with his wow-wow pedal, changes tempos and just generally eases around Stewarts lucid singing.

As a group they swing like mad on this record. It remains to be seen what will happen to them in person. I hope the public is honest enough to make them work out. (RS 18)

AL KOOPER, Rolling Stone
 

 L y r i c s


JEFF BECK GROUP: TRUTH

SHAPES OF THINGS

Shapes of things before my eyes
Has helped me to despise
will time make men more wise?

Here within my lonely frame.
My eyes just hurt my brain
will time make men more sane?

Come tomorrow will I be older?
Come tomorrow maybe a soldier (now listen)
Come tomorrow, maybe I'm older than today.

(Listen to this)
Here within my lonely frame.
My eyes just hurt my god-darn' brain
will time make men more sane?


LET ME LOVE YOU

Over here!
Let me love you baby,
you're drivin' my poor heart crazy.
Let me love you baby,
you're drivin' my poor heart crazy.
When I'm with you woman,
my whole life seems so hazy.

Ah, don't you know that.
[Jeff] Baby when you walk, you shake just like a willow tree.
Ah, yes you do darling,
every time I see ya' Oh!
[Jeff] Baby when you walk you know what, you shake just like a willow tree.
No, I know, I know, I know.
[Jeff] Oo-eee baby, you sure look so good to me.

Come on babe ... Yes I know ... Yeah

Baby when you walk,
you shake like a willow tree.
(You oughta know that by now)
Baby when you walk,
you shake like a willow tree.
And Oo-eee baby, you sure look so good to me.

(Easy with this one)
Let me love you baby, love you baby
No, I know, I know.
Let me love you baby,
Ah you, let me love you ... What you got.
Let me love you baby, love you baby
Any old way you choose it,
I don't mind what time you call me,
Ah, ah, yeah
You're drivin' my poor heart crazy
Let me love you baby, love you baby,
Early in the morning time,
later in the evening,
Let me love you baby,
you're drivin' my poor heart [breath]... crazy.


MORNING DEW

Walk me out in the morning dew, my honey.
Please walk me out in the morning dew, sometime.
Can't walk you out in no morning dew. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Can't walk you out in no morning dew.

Thought I heard a young man cryin'.
Thought I heard a young man cryin' today.
You didn't hear no young man cryin'.
You did not hear no young man cryin'.

Thought I heard a young girl cryin'.
Thought I heard a young girl cryin'.
You, you did not hear no young girl cryin'.
I'm sorry but you know it is [true].
You did not hear no young man cryin'.

Now there is no more morning dew.
Now there is no more morning dew.
What they've been saying all these god-darn' years has come true,
I knew it would too.
Now there's no more morning dew.

Now there is no more morning dew, at all, oh.
Now there is no more morning dew.
Because, because, because,
What they've been saying all these years has come true,
You know, and only you know,
that there's no more morning dew.

Now, now there is no more morning dew.
People, you know that there's no more morning dew.
Because, because,
What they've been saying all these years has come true,
it had to happen.
You know, that there's no more morning dew.


YOU SHOOK ME

You know you shook me,
you shook me all night long, yes you did.
You know you shook me,
you shook me all night long.
And the way that you love me baby, (you know what you do?)
You mess up my happy home.

(Dig this)
You know you love me,
just like a hurricane.
You know you love me,
just like a hurricane.
And the way that you love me baby,
You mess up my happy home, (you're so bad).

Come on ... 


OL' MAN RIVER

Old man river, that old man river,
He don't say nothin', but he must know somethin'
That old man river, he just keeps rolling along.

He don't plant tater's,
and we all know he don't pick cotton.
But them that plant 'em, are soon forgotten, that
Old man river, he just keeps rolling along, oh yes he does.

You and me, we sweat and toil,
Our bodies all achin' and racked with pain, now listen!
Lift that bar, you'd better, tote that bail,
And if ya' get a little drunk,
You'll land in jail.

I'm so weary, and sick of tryin',
I'm tired of livin', but afraid of dyin'.
That, that god-darn' old river, he just keeps rolling along.
Keep on rollin' along.

Keep on rollin' along.
Old man river don't you stop your way.
Keep on runnin' from the north, the south, the east or west,
you gotta roll it ...


GREENSLEEVES

[Instrumental]


ROCK MY PLIMSOUL

Listen!
You can rock me, rock me all night long.
Keep on rockin' me baby, rock me all night long.
'Cause you know what, when you rock me,
my poor back it ain't got a bone.

You can roll me, just like they roll the wagon wheel,
way down in the country.
Keep on rollin' me baby, roll me all night long.
You know, you can shake, rattle, and roll me,
till my back it ain't got a bone.
And I won't mind that!  Yea!

Oww! ... Over here!
Keep on rollin' me baby, just roll me all night long,
I won't mind it.
Keep on rollin' me baby, roll me all night long.
'Cause you know what, when you shake, rattle, and roll me,
My old back ain't got a bone.
So will you do it?

Keep on rollin' me baby,
Rollin' me baby.
Any old way you choose it,
Keep on rollin' me.
Ha, ha.  Keep rollin' me honey,
'Till my old back ain't, got a bone. Over there!

Rockin' me baby,
Rockin' me baby,
Rock me honey,
Rockin' me baby,   whoa-whoa

I don't mind which way that ya', come on honey, keep on.
Rockin' me baby,
Rockin' me baby,
Keep on rockin' me baby,
You know you'd better keep on rockin' me all night long.
You can rock me baby, yeah, yeah,   Oww!


BECK'S BOLERO

[Instrumental]


BLUES DE LUXE

I don't know much about love people,
but I sure think I've got it bad.
I don't know too much about love people,
but I sure think I've got it bad.
Some people say love is just a gamble,
but whatever it is, it's about to drive poor me mad.
Yes it is.

I'm sittin' here in my lonely room,
tears flowin' all down my eyes.
Come on baby.
As I'm sittin' here, sittin' here, sittin' here in my lonely room,
You know the tears flowin' all down my god-darn eyes.
I wonder how you could treat me so low down and dirty, ha-ha,
You know what?  Your heart must be made out of iron.
And it ain't no lie.  Come on baby.

Don't you worry!
Oww!  Oh yeah!

Over here!
Sometime, I get so worried,
you know I could sit down and cry, ha-ha-ha, yea!
Dig this!
You know sometime I get so worried people,
you know, and only you know, I could sit down and cry.
And it ain't no lie.
Because, I don't know too much about love people,
but I,
but I,
Oww  sure think I've got it bad.


I AIN'T SUPERSTITIOUS

Ain't superstitious,
black cat crossed my trail.
I ain't superstitious,
but a black cat crossed my trail.
Bad luck ain't got me so far,
and I won't let it stop me now.
The dogs begin to bark,
all over my neighborhood.
And that ain't all.
Dogs begin to bark,
all over my neighborhood.
Mmm-mmm
This is a mean old world to live in,
And I can't face it all by myself, at all.
And, dogs begin to bark,
all over my neighborhood.
The dogs begin to bark,
all over my neighborhood.
I got a feelin' about the future,
and it ain't too good, I know that.
I know, I know, I know.
Ain't superstitious,
but black cat crossed my trail,
(I said it so many times before)
Ain't superstitious,
a black cat crossed my trail.
Bad luck ain't got me so far,
and you know I ain't gonna let it stop me now.
Come on.





JEFF BECK GROUP: COSA NOSTRA [BECK-OLA]


ALL SHOOK UP

Bless my soul, what's wrong with me ?
I'm itchin' like a man that's on a fuzzy tree
My friends say I'm acting as wild as a bug.
I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm all shook up.
Ah, ah, ah, all shook up most of the time.

Well, my knees are shakin'
And my hands are gettin' weak.
Can't seem to stand on my own two feet.
Who do you blame when you, oh, when you found such luck ?
I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love,
I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love
I'm all shook up, any old way

Yea please don't ask me what's up on my mind
I'm a little mixed up but I'm feelin' fine
But that's alright
Oh, when I meet a girl that I've love best,
My heart beats so and it scares me to death
But that's alright

She touched my lips, what a thrill I got
My [heart] beats like a volcano when it's red hot
I'm proud to say that she's my, oh, what a buttercup
I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love,
I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love,
I'm all shook up, any old time.
Ah, yeah
That's alright, listen
That's OK too

I'm in the mood for love, woman
I'm in the mood for love
My knees are shakin' and my elbows quakin'
I can't seem to stand on my own two feet
All shook up, oh yeah.

Please don't ask me what's up on my mind
I'm a little mixed up but I'm feeling fine
I'm in the mood for love, woman, yeah
In the mood for love
Come on babe

Bless my soul, what's wrong with me
Ah ...


SPANISH BOOTS

I used to work and take a salary
In a hole up near a foundry
But it did not take me too long
To get my boots on a "So Long!"
Long Spanish boots on a "So Long!"

I took a day job in Bethlehem
I nearly threw in the towel then
But it did not take me too long
To get my boots on a "So Long!"
High Spanish boots on a "So Long!"
Dig it

I took a Spanish haberdashery
Restored with 15th century tapestry
But oh, Mr. Nesbitt got the best of me
So I strapped on my boots and said "So Long!"
Laced up my high boots and "So Long!"
Goodbye

... am on a job you see
'Cause my old boots they mean too much to me
Leather boots are just a mystery
Put on my boots and said "So Long!"
High Spanish boots on and "So Long!"
Put on my boots and said "So Long!"

Those old Spanish boots
Put on my boots and said "So Long!"
High spanish boots


GIRL FROM MILL VALLEY

[instrumental]


JAILHOUSE ROCK

The warden threw a party in the county jail
The prison band was there, and they began to wail
The band began to-jumping, they began to swing
You should have heard the knock down jailbird sing
Let's rock, everybody let's rock
Oh everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancing to the jailhouse rock

Number forty-seven said to number three
You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see
I sure would be delighted with your company
So come and do the jailhouse rock with me
Let's rock, everybody let's rock
Oh everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancing to the jailhouse rock, yeah!

Spider Murphy played on the tenor saxophone
Little Joe was blowin' on a slide trombone
Drummer boy from Illinois was crash-a-bam boomin'
The whole rhythm section was the purple gang
Let's rock, everybody let's rock
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancing to the jailhouse rock

Listen
Dancing to the jailhouse rock
Dancing to the jailhouse rock
Dancing to the jailhouse rock
Dancing to the jailhouse rock
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancing to the jailhouse rock, yeah!

Everybody in the whole cell block
Dancing to the jailhouse rock

C'mon
Dancing to the jailhouse rock
Dancing to the jailhouse rock
Dancing to the jailhouse rock
Dancing to the jailhouse rock
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancing to the jailhouse ...


PLYNTH (WATER DOWN THE DRAIN)

I've woken up on mornings such as this
And thought exactly the same as I'm thinking now
Every night for a year I've slept alone
My cold damp room looks worse than me.

I got a fear of death that creeps on every night
I know I won't die soon but then again I might
Just like water down the drain I'm wasting away
And oh, doctors can't help.  A ghost of a man, that's me.

I'm going far
Ah, ah, ah

And oh, water down the drain flows to the sea
The pattern of my life keeps a-hauntin' me
Like moisture from the ocean fills the sky
Comes on down to the ground as time goes by.

Ah, ah, ah
Please don't weep for me when I'm gone
Ah, ah, ah

I got a fear of death that creeps on every night
I know I won't die soon but then again I might
Please don't weep for me when I'm gone
Ah, ah, ah
A fear of death that creeps on every night


HANGMAN'S KNEE

Hangman, hangman, slack your noose
Slack it, oh slack it
Slack it for a while
There ain't no use in your hurrying me
Ain't nothing gonna change things now

Now I ain't trying to prove your judge is wrong
And your jury, oh your jury
I guess I'll know the way out
And if you kill me with my canvas shirt
Good God, you could put my lawyer in jail

Listen
It's just this twenty two minutes to prepare yourself
I haven't been in this position before
Wash your hands, get your .?.
Find the waistcoat, lock the door.
And oh!

Get your .?.
Oh yeah, get your .?. lock the door
Come on

Listen to this one
Oh hangman, hangman, slack your noose
Oh slack it, please slack it
Oh just slack it awhile, give me one more chance
There ain't no use in you hurryin' me
Good God, nothing's gonna stop me now

Oh
Don't you worry
Cause you never get your .?.
Well, might get your waistcoat on
Ha-ha
Heh-heh


RICE PUDDING

[instrumental]

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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