The first Jeff Beck Group was formed in the U.K. in 1967, consisting of Jeff Beck guitar, Rod Stewart vocals, Ron Wood bass, and Aynsley Dunbar drums. Beck had signed a personal management contract with famed U.K. singles record producer and manager, Mickie Most. Beck had envisioned forming the band he eventually did, but for the first part of their existence (early '67), they were relegated to being a 'backup band' for Beck, who was pressured by Most to become a solo act and singer; something Beck resented. They recorded three U.K. singles, each with lower sales than its predecessor; the 'B' sides demonstrated the group's potential. Most lost interest in Beck quickly, and the group floundered for the better part of a year. Most's employee Peter Grant was keen to manage his own band, and took on The Jeff Beck Group.
Having been to the States as tour manager for The New Vaudeville Band, Grant was aware of a new concert and album trend developing in the U.S., where a band could be launched through concerts - without a hit single. Beck's outfit was made to order for this new market. And so he tried - repeatedly, desperately, and in vain to buy Beck's contract from Mickie Most. And although Most had lost interest in Beck, he refused to sell. In early '68, however, Grant arranged a six week U.S. tour for the band. Dunbar had already left to play 'straight blues', being replaced briefly by Roy Cook and then eventually by Micky Waller. This final gamble paid off - they took the States by storm. Grant used their reviews (most notably The New York Times) to secure a contract with Epic records for a U.S. release. Upon return to the U.K., Most was still disinterested, and spent very little time supervising the album sessions, basically leaving the project in the hands of the band and a young engineer/producer, Ken Scott, who had worked with The Beatles, and was soon to produce all of David Bowie and The Spiders From Mars' records. The result was the album Truth, to this day considered a 'touchstone' to many musicians, and a seminal influence on all 'Hard Blues','Hard Rock', and 'Heavy Metal' music that was to follow, (via Led Zeppelin), often cited as usurpers of Beck's act, and largely (behind the scenes) responsible for its breakup.
This four piece lineup then toured the U.S. to coincide with the release of Truth in early/mid 1968. The tour was another huge success, and they were being touted as the obvious replacement to Cream. The album climbed to number 15 on the Billboard charts and at Peter Grant's insistence, Jimmy Page was present for most of the second tours shows - apparently studying the band, their audience and material. Many insiders claim that Grant and Page were plotting to form a similar group, which they quickly did; trying to snag the 'gravel-sounding' vocal stylings of Steve Marriott, Terry Reid, and Paul Rodgers among others, before settling on Robert Plant temporarily.
Late in the year, well-known session keyboardist Nicky Hopkins accepted an offer to tour with The Beck Group, although offered more money to tour with Led Zeppelin. This lineup (Beck, Stewart, Wood, Waller and Hopkins), is considered by many to be one of the finest in rock history. But they would ultimately suffer from internal struggles, jealousies and firings. Ron Wood was fired at least twice, and in 1969 Micky Waller was replaced by drummer Tony Newman, who stayed with the group until they disbanded. They played many gigs from 1967 to 1969. Through most of 1967 they played the club circuit up and down England, as well as short tours to Europe and Scandinavia. 1968 and 1969 saw them playing a large amount of shows, mostly in the U.S., but again in Europe as well. Jimi Hendrix was a big fan of the group and joined them on stage during the 1968 US tour, jamming with Jeff Beck on stage.
Sadly though, for a band that stayed together almost three years, their output is lacking. They were only to produce three ill-conceived U.K. singles, and two L.P.'s. There are however, dozens of early recordings produced at DeLane Lea studios in 1967 and 1968, specifically for various BBC radio shows, including Saturday Club, Top Gear, and the Simmonds Show. Although bootlegged in poor quality, these have never been officially released.
In mid 1969, after completing the admittedly rushed Beck-Ola, The Group toured the States for the last time with Nicky Hopkins, who had to stop touring for health reasons. They were to do a bit more touring as a four-piece in '69, notably appearing at the Newport Jazz Festival, but the band dissolved on the eve of the Woodstock Festival, at which they were scheduled to appear (they are listed on the promotional posters and ads). There is virtually no known TV or film footage of this band. There are bootleg live recordings of their concerts and film footage posted on Youtube.
After the group disbanded, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood went on to join Small Faces, who were about to break up because of the loss of Steve Marriott. They were renamed Faces. Meanwhile, Jeff Beck planned to join Vanilla Fudge's Rhythm section, Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice, but suffered a head injury in a car wreck. Bogert and Appice would go on to form Cactus while Beck recovered.
After recovering from his injuries, Beck reformed the group with vocalist Bob Tench, keyboardist Max Middleton, drummer Cozy Powell and bassist Clive Chaman. The band would go on to release two more albums before disbanding.
Jeff Beck went on to join Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice, forming the band Beck, Bogert & Appice. They released one studio album, which made it to #12 on Billboard in 1972, and one live album. While planning to release a second album, Beck left the group to reunite with Max Middleton. He released mostly instrumental fusion albums and eventually began recording techno.
Rod Stewart and Ron Wood had tremendous success with Faces, and were known for their rowdy, raucous live shows, as well as some very developed and poignant recordings. Simultaneously, Stewart pursued a solo career for Mercury records. After releasing two solo L.P.'s to average sales and critical acclaim, his third album Every Picture tells A Story produced one of the biggest hits of the '70s - "Maggie May". Both the single and the L.P. shot to the #1 Billboard chart position. With the success of this record, Stewart launched a tremendously successful solo career that continues 35 years on.
As for Faces, Ronnie Lane grew disenchanted with being relegated to the sidelines, and was replaced by Japanese bassist, Tetsu Yamauchi. Because Tetsu was unable to get a work permit in the UK, the band decided to break up. Ron Wood continued to play with Stewart, until he replaced Mick Taylor in The Rolling Stones.
Cozy Powell went on to join Rainbow and several temporary acts before joining Black Sabbath.
The Jeff Beck Group, minus Rod Stewart, backed Donovan on both songs on his 1969 single "Barabajagal" b/w "Trudi". Both the Jeff Beck Group and Donovan shared Most as producer.
Discography
* Truth 1968
* Beck-Ola 1969
* Rough and Ready 1971
* Jeff Beck Group 1972
The Jeff Beck Group is also on Last.fm as Jeff Beck Group.
Official Website: Jeff Beck
Morning Dew
The Jeff Beck Group Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
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 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.
The lyrics to "Morning Dew" by The Jeff Beck Group speak of a world that has come to an end. The song opens with the idea of walking in the morning dew, but this is no longer possible as there is no more morning dew to walk in. The reference of not being able to walk in the morning dew is a metaphor for the end of the world. The implication is that the world has become so polluted and destroyed that there is no longer any life in it. The young man crying and the young girl crying are both metaphors for the sadness that comes when something is lost, in this case, the world. The repetition of the phrase "now there is no more morning dew" is a powerful statement that is meant to drive home the idea that the world has ended and there is no going back.
The last verse of the song says "What they've been saying all these years has come true, You know, and only you know, That there's no more morning dew". This line is a commentary on the environmental destruction and the apocalyptic fears of the 1960s. The song speaks to the idea that if humanity continues to destroy the planet, there will be no more morning dew, and we will be left with a lifeless and barren world. The song is a warning that we must be careful with our actions and take care of the planet before it is too late.
Line by Line Meaning
Walk me out in the morning dew, my honey.
Take me for a walk outside in the morning dew, dearest.
Please walk me out in the morning dew, sometime.
Please take me for a walk in the morning dew at some point.
Can't walk you out in no morning dew. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I am sorry, but I cannot take you for a walk in the morning dew.
Can't walk you out in no morning dew.
I cannot take you for a walk outside in the morning dew.
Thought I heard a young man cryin'.
I thought I heard a young man crying.
Thought I heard a young man cryin' today.
I thought I heard a young man crying today.
You didn't hear no young man cryin'.
You did not hear a young man crying.
You did not hear no young man cryin'.
You did not hear a young man crying.
Thought I heard a young girl cryin'.
I thought I heard a young girl crying.
You, you did not hear no young girl cryin'.
You did not hear a young girl crying.
I'm sorry but you know it is (true)
I am sorry, but you know it is true.
Now there is no more morning dew.
There is no longer any morning dew.
What they've been saying all these god-darn' years has come true,
What they've been saying for all these years has finally come true.
I knew it would too.
I also knew it would happen.
Now there's no more morning dew.
There is no longer any morning dew.
Now there is no more morning dew, at all, oh.
There is absolutely no morning dew left, oh.
Because, because, because,
Because...
You know, and only you know,
You know, and only you know.
People, you know that there's no more morning dew.
People, you know that there is no longer any morning dew.
It had to happen.
It was bound to happen.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BONNIE DOBSON, TIM ROSE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Marcus Quelquechose
Rest in peace, Jeff Beck, you're already missed...
Alan C
Strangely, this has been my earworm for the past two days, before I learned just now of his passing. RIP Jeff
oxcarthabu
Jeff Beck's amazing on this album, and, 52 years later, he's still relevant, and always changing. The Best!!
Edward
We listened to this album in the 70’s. We in high school
NIGEL WILLMOTT
Jeff Beck's guitar & Rod Stewart's vocals compliment perfectly. Sublime. Jeff Beck is the greatest guitarist the UK has ever produced & it's about time he received a knighthood.
eduardo miguel
There couldn't and wouldn't be a better comment, I totally agree with you bro, and I've listened to countless groups and researched to date, but Rod's voice with Jeff is perfect, the way they blend together, there's no better duo group and band like this one in their time than has existed nor will there be another that surpasses these monsters, and in faces they are also the best, greetings from Peru, long live rock and roll
John Cosky
RIP JEFF. PERFECT ALBUM. 55 YRS. OF AWESOME!!!
Les Romanchuk
Jeff Beck "Truth" always on top of the pile of albums to listen to in the early 70's. a Masterpiece
Bob Johnson
Just saw Jeff last week. Man, he is still killing it at age 74. Most people there were awestruck.
NIGEL WILLMOTT
Beck is the BEST!