Beck ranked in the top five of Rolling Stone and other magazine's list of 100 greatest guitarists. He was often called a "guitarist's guitarist". Rolling Stone describes him as "one of the most influential lead guitarists in rock". Although he recorded two hit albums (in 1975 and 1976) as a solo act, Beck did not establish or maintain the sustained commercial success of many of his contemporaries and bandmates.
Beck earned wide critical praise and received the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance six times and Best Pop Instrumental Performance once. In 2014 he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. Beck was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: as a member of the Yardbirds (1992) and as a solo artist (2009).
Beck was born on 24 June 1944 to Arnold and Ethel Beck at 206 Demesne Road, Wallington, England. As a 10-year-old, Beck sang in a church choir. He attended Sutton Manor Schoo and Sutton East County Secondary Modern School.
Beck cited Les Paul as the first electric guitar player who impressed him. Beck said that he first heard an electric guitar when he was 6 years old and heard Paul playing "How High the Moon" on the radio. He asked his mother what it was. After she replied it was an electric guitar and was all tricks, he said, "That's for me". Cliff Gallup, lead guitarist with Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps, was also an early musical influence, followed by B.B. King and Steve Cropper. Beck considers Lonnie Mack "a rock guitarist [who] was unjustly overlooked [and] a major influence on him and many others."
As a teenager he learned to play on a borrowed guitar and made several attempts to build his own instrument, first by gluing and bolting together cigar boxes for the body and an unsanded fence-post for the neck with model aircraft control-lines and frets simply painted on.
Upon leaving school, he attended Wimbledon College of Art, after which he was briefly employed as a painter and decorator, a groundsman on a golf course and a car paint-sprayer. Beck's sister Annetta introduced him to Jimmy Page when both were teenagers.
Beck stopped regular use of a pick in the 1980s. He produces a wide variety of sounds by using his thumb to pluck the strings, his ring finger on the volume knob and his little finger on the vibrato bar on his signature Fender Stratocaster. By plucking a string and then 'fading in' the sound with the volume knob he creates a unique sound that can resemble a human voice, among other effects. He frequently uses a wah-wah pedal both live and in the studio. Eric Clapton once said, "With Jeff, it's all in his hands".
Along with Stratocasters, Beck occasionally played Fender Telecaster and Gibson Les Paul models as well. His amplifiers were primarily Fender and Marshall. In his earlier days with the Yardbirds, Beck also used a 1954 Fender Esquire guitar (now owned by Seymour W. Duncan, and housed in the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) through Vox AC30s. He also played through a variety of fuzz pedals and echo units along with this set-up and has used the Pro Co RAT distortion pedal. The pickup was based on a Gibson pickup rewound by Duncan and used in a salvaged Telecaster dubbed the "Tele-Gib" which he had constructed as a gift to Beck. Scott Morgan of the Rationals, who at one point shared a dressing room with the Yardbirds, recalls how Beck amplified his lead guitar through a Vox Superbeetle while using banjo strings for the unwound G string on his guitar because "they didn't make sets with an unwound G at that point."
During the ARMS Charity Concerts in 1983 Beck used his battered Fender Esquire along with a 1954 Stratocaster and a Jackson Soloist. On Crazy Legs (1993) he played a Gretsch Duo Jet, his signature Stratocaster and various other guitars. In 2007, Fender created a Custom Shop Tribute series version of his beat-up Fender Esquire as well as his Artist Signature series Stratocaster.
Described by Rolling Stone as "one of the most influential lead guitarists in rock", Beck cited his major influences as Les Paul, the Shadows, Cliff Gallup, Ravi Shankar, Roy Buchanan, Chet Atkins, Django Reinhardt, Steve Cropper and Lonnie Mack. Of John McLaughlin, Beck said: "[he] has given us so many different facets of the guitar and introduced thousands of us to world music, by blending Indian music with jazz and classical. I'd say he was the best guitarist alive."
According to musicologist and historian Bob Gulla, Beck is credited for popularising the use of audio feedback and distortion in rock guitar. Prior to Beck's arrival, guitar playing generally conformed to the "clean, bright, and jangly" sounds of early-1960s British Invasion bands or the bluesy aesthetic of 1950s African-American performers like Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley. During his short time with the Yardbirds, Beck's experimentation with feedback, distortion, and "fuzz" tone "pushed the band into directions that would open the door for psychedelic rock" while "jolt[ing] British rock forward", according to Gulla. While Beck was not the first rock guitarist to experiment with electronic distortion, he nonetheless helped to redefine the sound and role of the electric guitar in rock music. Beck's work with the Yardbirds and the Jeff Beck Group's 1968 album Truth were seminal influences on heavy metal music, which emerged in full force in the early 1970s. Gulla identifies one of Beck's characteristic traits to be his sense of pitch, particularly in exercising the whammy bar to create sounds ranging from "nose-diving bombs to subtle, perfectly pitched harmonic melodies".
According to guitarist and author Jack Wilkins, Beck is regarded alongside Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton as one of his generation's greatest guitarists, receiving praise for his technical skill and versatile playing. Stephen Thomas Erlewine finds him to be "as innovative as Jimmy Page, as tasteful as Eric Clapton, and nearly as visionary as Jimi Hendrix", although unable to achieve their mainstream success, "primarily because of the haphazard way he approached his career" while often lacking a star singer to help make his music more accessible. On his recorded output by 1991, Erlewine remarked that "never has such a gifted musician had such a spotty discography", believing Beck had largely released "remarkably uneven" solo records and only "a few terrific albums". In Christgau's Record Guide (1981), Robert Christgau essentialised Beck as "a technician" and questioned his ability to "improvise long lines, or jazz it up with a modicum of delicacy, or for that matter get funky", although he later observed a "customary focus, loyalty, and consistency of taste".
In 2015, Beck was ranked No. 5 in Rolling Stone' magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists". In an accompanying essay, guitarist Mike Campbell applauded Beck for his "brilliant technique" and "personality" in his playing, including a sense of humor expressed through the growl of his wah-wah effects. Campbell also credited Beck with expanding the boundaries of the blues, particularly on his two collaborations with Stewart.
New Orleans
Jeff Beck Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I said "hey hey hey yeah" (I said "hey hey hey yeah")
Oh c'mon everybody, take a trip with me
Well, down the Mississippi down in New Orleans
They got honeysuckle growing on the honeysuckle vine
And love is a-blooming there all the time
Well, every southern belle is a Mississippi Queen
Down the Mississippi, down to New Orleans
I said "hey hey hey hey yeah" (I said "hey hey hey hey yeah")
I said "hey hey hey yeah" (I said "hey hey hey yeah")
C'mon, take a stroll down to Basin Street
Listen to the music with the Dixieland beat
Well the magnolia blossoms fill the air
Well, well, you ain't been to heaven till you been down there
They got ? hanging from the big oak trees
Get outta here, tell me 'bout it, I tell ya
I said "hey hey hey yeah" (I said "hey hey hey yeah")
I said "hey hey hey yeah" (I said "hey hey hey yeah")
C'mon everybody, take a trip with me, oooh
Down the Mississippi down to New Orleans, yeah yeah
Well, the honeysuckle's hanging on the honeysuckle vine
Well, love is blooming there all the time
Every southern belle is a Mississippi Queen
Down the Mississippi, down to New Orleans
Yeah, yeah yeah (yeah, yeah yeah)
Yeah, yeah yeah (yeah, yeah yeah)
C'mon, take a stroll down to Basin Street
Oh, listen to the music with the Dixieland beat, yeah
I said the magnolia blossoms fill the air
Well, you ain't been to heaven if you ain't been there
Honeysuckle hanging from a live-oak tree
Down the Mississippi, down to New Orleans
I said "hey hey hey yeah" (I said "hey hey hey yeah")
I said "look out, y'all, yeah" (I said "look out, y'all, yeah")
The lyrics of Jeff Beck's song "New Orleans" are a celebration of the vibrant culture and atmosphere of the city. The repeated refrain of "hey hey hey yeah" is an invitation to everyone to join in the fun and take a trip down the Mississippi to New Orleans. The lyrics paint a picture of the natural beauty of the region, with honeysuckle growing on the vine and magnolia blossoms filling the air. The city is also depicted as a place of love, where every southern belle is a Mississippi Queen.
The song encourages the listener to take a stroll down Basin Street, a famous thoroughfare in New Orleans where music with a Dixieland beat can be heard. The lyrics suggest that anyone who hasn't been to New Orleans hasn't experienced heaven, and the imagery of hanging honeysuckle and live-oak trees evokes the distinct sense of place found in the city. Overall, the song is a joyful tribute to the unique blend of natural beauty, romance, and music found in New Orleans.
Line by Line Meaning
I said "hey hey hey hey yeah"
Expressing enthusiasm and excitement over New Orleans
I said "hey hey hey yeah"
Continuing to express enthusiasm and excitement over New Orleans
Oh c'mon everybody, take a trip with me
Inviting everyone to come on a journey to New Orleans together
Well, down the Mississippi down in New Orleans
Describing the destination of the journey, which is down the Mississippi River to New Orleans
They got honeysuckle growing on the honeysuckle vine
Noting the beauty of the natural landscape in New Orleans
And love is a-blooming there all the time
Describing the romantic atmosphere of New Orleans
Well, every southern belle is a Mississippi Queen
Portraying the women of New Orleans as regal and beautiful
I said "hey hey hey hey yeah"
Expressing enthusiasm and excitement over New Orleans
I said "hey hey hey yeah"
Continuing to express enthusiasm and excitement over New Orleans
C'mon, take a stroll down to Basin Street
Encouraging the listener to explore Basin Street, which is known for its music scene
Listen to the music with the Dixieland beat
Advising the listener to pay attention to the unique sound of Dixieland music
Well the magnolia blossoms fill the air
Describing the sweet fragrance of magnolia blossoms in New Orleans
Well, well, you ain't been to heaven till you been down there
Emphasizing how amazing an experience in New Orleans can be
They got ? hanging from the big oak trees
Possibly referencing Spanish moss which can grow on oak trees in New Orleans
Get outta here, tell me 'bout it, I tell ya
Encouraging someone to share their own experiences of New Orleans
I said "hey hey hey yeah"
Expressing enthusiasm and excitement over New Orleans
I said "hey hey hey yeah"
Continuing to express enthusiasm and excitement over New Orleans
C'mon everybody, take a trip with me, oooh
Reiterating the invitation to come on a journey to New Orleans together
Down the Mississippi down to New Orleans, yeah yeah
Repeating the destination and adding an emphatic 'yeah yeah'
Yeah, yeah yeah (yeah, yeah yeah)
Adding another emphatic 'yeah yeah' to express excitement
C'mon, take a stroll down to Basin Street
Encouraging the listener once again to explore Basin Street
Oh, listen to the music with the Dixieland beat, yeah
Another reference to the unique sound of Dixieland music
I said the magnolia blossoms fill the air
Repeating the description of the sweet fragrance of magnolia blossoms
Well, you ain't been to heaven if you ain't been there
Restating how amazing an experience in New Orleans can be
Honeysuckle hanging from a live-oak tree
Another reference to the natural beauty of New Orleans
Down the Mississippi, down to New Orleans
Repeating the destination of the journey one more time
I said "hey hey hey yeah"
Endlessly expressing enthusiasm and excitement over New Orleans
I said "look out, y'all, yeah"
Encouraging others to take notice and come to New Orleans
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Joseph F. Royster, Frank J. Guida
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Maria Tolentino
This song will never get old. I just love it!❤
John Giovine
Gary and the Band are tearin' this UP!
Swamprocker57
Awesome song, awesome show!
Jackie Perks - Classical Jams Piano
This is a terrific performance!! Thanks for sharing it Frank. You have great taste in music! ~Jackie
dimitrios otis
Tight! And, man, Bonds' voice still that good in 2010!!
CABLE 715
That man turns 83 today, what a legend
Philippe Salmon music
wow that is a fantastic performance with a huge band , great !
thank you for sharing these treasures with us :)
Larisa Shik
Большое спасибо! Прекрасная музыка. Отличное выступление на сцене!
mtntime1
Love that sax!!
LesSmith45
If this song does not get you moving! You better check your freaking pulse!! BECAUSE YOUR DEAD!!! This is the best version of this song out there! That SAX just kicks ass!!! And Jeff Beck on lead!