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.
Nursery Rhyme
Jeff Beck Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They asked if she would stay the same,
My brother's name is Little Jack Horner,
My mama asked to watch to heat warm them.
Sister told papa when he got home,
Papa, papa, he sassed and moaned,
Papa looked at brother, far in his eyes,
He called sister, and he called mom,
Said, "Look here, look here, what's this going on?"
Everybody had a real surprise,
But brother had tears in his eyes.
Brother's so scared he couldn't walk,
Papa's afraid he could not talk.
At first glance, Jeff Beck's song "Nursery Rhyme" may seem like a hodgepodge of disconnected phrases and characters from classic nursery rhymes. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that the lyrics are a representation of a dysfunctional family, with each name representing a family member. The singer's sister, Puudin' Tame, is likely a play on words for "pudding 'n' tame," representing a domestic and submissive woman. The family asks if she will "stay the same," indicating that they expect her to remain subservient. The singer's brother, Little Jack Horner, is a reference to the titular character of the nursery rhyme who "sat in a corner, eating his Christmas pie." This character is often interpreted as idle and unproductive, fitting with the family's portrayal of the brother as being unhelpful.
As the song progresses, it becomes clear that the family is dysfunctional, with the singer's father being verbally abusive towards his wife and children. When the sister tries to tell her father what is happening, he "sassed and moaned" in response. The family is surprised when the father notices something is wrong, indicating that this behavior is not uncommon. The brother is so scared that he cannot walk, and the father is afraid he cannot talk, suggesting that the father's behavior is intimidating and has created a culture of fear in the household.
Overall, "Nursery Rhyme" is a poignant commentary on the danger of normalized abuse in families. The lyrics use the symbolism of nursery rhymes to illustrate the otherwise abstract concept of family dynamics and how easily traditional roles and expectations can lead to harmful behaviors.
Line by Line Meaning
My sister's name is Puudin' Tame,
My sister has a unique and unusual name called Puudin' Tame.
They asked if she would stay the same,
People are curious whether Puudin' Tame's name will get changed or remain the same.
My brother's name is Little Jack Horner,
My brother is known as Little Jack Horner.
My mama asked to watch to heat warm them.
My mother requested to keep an eye on them and keep them warm in the heat.
Sister told papa when he got home,
My sister informed our father once he reached home.
Papa, papa, he sassed and moaned,
Our father reacted negatively with sass and moaning.
Papa looked at brother, far in his eyes,
Our father glanced intensely at my brother and connected with his eyes.
Brother started on the handjive.
My brother began gesticulating with his hand rhythmically.
He called sister, and he called mom,
My brother called out to our sister and mother.
Said, "Look here, look here, what's this going on?"
He asked them to pay attention and inquired about the situation.
Everybody had a real surprise,
Everyone was genuinely bewildered and shocked.
But brother had tears in his eyes.
My brother was emotional and had tears in his eyes.
Brother's so scared he couldn't walk,
My brother was frightened and unable to walk properly.
Papa's afraid he could not talk.
Our father was scared and unable to speak at that moment.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: ELLAS MCDANIEL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@gualbertodemanos2368
You are a bright young man, Mr. Beck. And you will go far.
@jonathanabbott8579
Been listening to this since I purchased "Beckology" in '94. Can't play it enough.
@udomatthiasdrums5322
still love it!!
@nyg1954
Absolutely ridiculous sounds for that time period.
@MCBhangramuffin
Imagine rehearsing in the room next to this band when no one had heard of Jeff..."bloody hell who's that guitarist?" "oh it's some kid from Sutton called Beck" lol!
@malcolmcook7529
jeff doing his thang before it was even considered..a man before his time
@stix6447
At his best with the best already well established band he ever had the privilege of playing with.
@cdnpicker
I would have to say that The Yardbirds were a better well-established band when he joined them.
@stix6447
@Steve LatimerIt's only my humble opinion but in the words of Jeff himself in an interview on KMET radio with Cynthia Foxx 1985: "The Trident's were better than the yardbirds, more earthy, more real".
@elbecko7969
@Stix And he's said that he was offended when Giorgio Gomelsky approached him after a Tridents gig to say "you're gunna be in the top fuckin band" that he didn't also congratulate him on how The Tridents had just brought the house down. He has also said that he believed he was only a temporary stand-in for Clapton and didn't want to lose his place in The Tridents. The Tridents sounds more his bag than The Yardbirds. This recording is wild!! The whole band is a powerhouse.