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.
Vaya Con Dios
Jeff Beck Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Now the time has come to part, the time for weeping,
Vaya Con Dios, my darling,
May God be with you, my love.
Now the village mission bells are softly ringing,
If you listen with your heart, you'll hear them singing.
Now the time has come to part, the time for weeping,
May God be with you, my love.
Wherever you may be, I'll be beside you,
Although you're many million dreams away.
Each night I 'll say a prayer, a prayer to guide you,
To hasten every lonely hour of every lonely day.
Now the dawn is breaking through a gray tomorrow,
But the memories we share are there to borrow.
Vaya Con Dios, my darling,
May God be with you, my love.
The lyrics of Jeff Beck feat. Imelda May's song Vaya Con Dios speaks of a goodbye. The hacienda is dark and the town is sleeping, indicating a late hour, a time for parting. The chorus “Vaya Con Dios, my darling, May God be with you, my love” translates to “Go with God, my love” and hints at the possibility of a difficult journey ahead. The mission bells of the village are softly ringing, which could indicate a funeral or departing from the church after the wedding ceremony. If one listens carefully with their heart, they will hear the bells singing, and the time has come for weeping.
The second verse tells us that distance will not be a hindrance in their relationship. “Wherever you may be, I'll be beside you, Although you're many million dreams away”. The singer will always be there for their loved one, no matter the distance and will say a prayer each night to guide them and hasten each lonely hour of every lonely day. The last verse opens with the dawn breaking through a gray tomorrow, suggesting a new start although the journey may be challenging. The lyrics here hint that the singer is clinging to memories and hopes his/her loved one will do the same. The song's overall mood is a bittersweet goodbye, a farewell filled with love and the hope of being reunited.
Line by Line Meaning
Now the hacienda's dark, the town is sleeping,
The night has come and the big house and the community wrapped in deep slumber.
Now the time has come to part, the time for weeping,
It's time to leave this place and start anew but leaving is painful.
Vaya Con Dios, my darling,
Farewell, my love, may God be with you.
May God be with you, my love.
I hope God's blessings accompany your every step.
Now the village mission bells are softly ringing,
The church bells are gently ringing, announcing the beginning of a new day.
If you listen with your heart, you'll hear them singing.
This is a moment of magic, where time stands still, and the sounds of the world come alive for us to feel.
Wherever you may be, I'll be beside you,
No matter how much distance separates us, know that I'll always be there for you.
Although you're many million dreams away.
Even if it feels like we're worlds apart, my love for you remains strong.
Each night I 'll say a prayer, a prayer to guide you,
Before I fall asleep, I will pray that you find your way and your path is clear.
To hasten every lonely hour of every lonely day.
I wish I could make time go by faster so you don't have to suffer through each moment spent without me.
Now the dawn is breaking through a gray tomorrow,
A new day is beginning, even though it may seem bleak and uncertain right now.
But the memories we share are there to borrow.
We will always have our memories together to comfort us during hard times.
Vaya Con Dios, my darling,
Once again, farewell my love, may God be with you.
May God be with you, my love.
I hope and pray that God's grace will surround you always.
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Buddy Pepper, Inez James, Larry Russell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@papaldanondo
Ahora oscura de la hacienda
La ciudad está durmiendo
Ahora ha llegado el momento de separarnos
El tiempo de llanto.
Vaya con Dios, mi vida
Vaya con Dios, mi amor.
Ahora las campanas de la misión del pueblo
Están sonando suavemente
Si escuchas con el corazón
Los oirá el canto.
Vaya con Dios, mi vida
Vaya con Dios, mi amor.
Donde quiera que estés
Yo estaré a tu lado
Aunque eres muchos
Millones de sueños lejos.
Cada noche me va a decir una oración
Una oración para guiarle
Para acelerar cada hora solitaria
De cada día solitario.
Ahora está amaneciendo
A través de una mañana gris
Pero los recuerdos que comparten
¿Hay que pedir prestado.
Vaya con Dios, mi vida
Vaya con Dios, mi amor.
Vaya con Dios, mi vida
Vaya con Dios, mi amor.
@theranjithjay
What a beautiful song and sung very beautifully! I used to dance the waltz for this music 58 years ago !
@roscoej
So damn good .. Jeff and Imelda was an inspired pairing of talent. I was lucky enough to catch the last performance of this tour in San Francisco, and will never forget it I had only recently learned of Imelda through the live at Ronnie Scott’s release, she was fantastic as a live performer, and held her own with the unmatchable treasure that was Mr Beck. Via con Dios, Jeff!
@papaldanondo
Ahora oscura de la hacienda
La ciudad está durmiendo
Ahora ha llegado el momento de separarnos
El tiempo de llanto.
Vaya con Dios, mi vida
Vaya con Dios, mi amor.
Ahora las campanas de la misión del pueblo
Están sonando suavemente
Si escuchas con el corazón
Los oirá el canto.
Vaya con Dios, mi vida
Vaya con Dios, mi amor.
Donde quiera que estés
Yo estaré a tu lado
Aunque eres muchos
Millones de sueños lejos.
Cada noche me va a decir una oración
Una oración para guiarle
Para acelerar cada hora solitaria
De cada día solitario.
Ahora está amaneciendo
A través de una mañana gris
Pero los recuerdos que comparten
¿Hay que pedir prestado.
Vaya con Dios, mi vida
Vaya con Dios, mi amor.
Vaya con Dios, mi vida
Vaya con Dios, mi amor.
@yvonnepereira9249
Love this song with all my heart. So beautifully sung.
@davidjanson9900
pure music
song with a narrative
singer with crystal clarity
guitarist with extordinary talent does nothing extrodinary but supports the song
this IS the way to make music
@99sco
An absolutely breathtaking voice. One of the very best of all time.
@wandalorek9265
Piękna piosenka, piękne wykonanie!!!
@omerbilimer5728
This is the song I used to sing for many months after my 56 yo wife passed away on 18 April 2006. I still listen to it at every now and then, dreaming of my memories.
@andrewkling9530
I'm sorry for your loss, and I'm glad this brings you some solace.
@alansmith7313
Omer Bilimer
That is sad hope you feel better soon