The late Jeff Beck’s career was marked by an abundance of excellence. And surprises.
From his playing choices to his stylistic maneuvering and frequent changes of personnel, Beck made a career out of keeping everyone guessing — including those who played with him. He was a restless chameleon, starting in rock and blues and then incorporating jazz – mostly of the ‘70s electric fusion variety – into his mix, achieving mastery on all fronts. But it was never just for change’s sake; Beck’s experiments and diversions almost always had purpose.
It worked out, of course. Beck – who passed away Tuesday (Jan. 10) at the age of 78 in England – was a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee (with The Yardbirds in 1992 and on his own in 2009) and won eight Grammy Awards, five of them for best rock instrumental performance. He also received the British Academy’s Ivor Novello Award for outstanding contribution to British music in 2014 along with a slew of other honors. He’s universally acknowledged as one of the greatest guitar players of all-time, in any genre.
His skill on the instrument could and often did leave our jaws on the floor. But some of his decisions did the same — or at least made us raise our eyebrows. As we continue to celebrate one of (and to some, the) best proponent of the electric guitar, here’s a look back at a dozen of the most surprising moments in Beck’s long career.
-
"Greensleeves"
Anyone who’d been paying attention understood that Beck was no run-of-the-mill guitarist by the time he left The Yardbirds and released his first solo album, Truth, in 1968, which peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard 200. Most of its material made sense — Willie Dixon covers, his own take on The Yardbirds’ “Shapes of Things,” the majestic “Beck’s Bolero.” But “Greensleeves,” a 16th-century English folk song, was hardly what anyone had expected, yet an early sign of Beck’s taste, acumen and daring. Listen here.
-
Jeff Beck Group Deux
The first Jeff Beck Group — with Rod Stewart, Ron Wood and Micky Waller (and later Nicky Hopkins) — made huge waves with the Truth and Beck-Ola albums. So, of course, it didn’t last long. With Stewart already working on his first solo album, Beck decided to break up the band during July 1969, after a short U.S. tour and on the eve of the Woodstock festival. After some time off he assembled the next incarnation, which included future Santana singer Alex Ligertwood, drummer Cozy Powell, Max Middleton on keyboards and Clive Chaman on bass. Bobby Tench replaced Ligertwood by the time the group recorded 1971’s Rough and Ready, and the troupe released one more album — Jeff Beck Group, recorded with Booker T. & the M.G.’s guitarist Steve Cropper in Memphis — before Beck again pulled the plug during July 1972.
-
Wonder-ful Choices
Beck dipped into the Stevie Wonder canon with Beck, Bogert & Appice’s searing take on “Superstition” from the supergroup’s only studio album, released in 1973. Two years later, Beck (who’d guested on Wonder’s Talking Book album in 1972) doubled down on his Billboard 200 top five album Blow by Blow, surprising fans by opening side two with back-to-back Wonder deep cuts, “‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” (dedicated to Roy Buchanan) and “Thelonius.” Wonder played Clavinet, uncredited, on the latter.
-
Monk-y Business
Blow by Blow introduced a jazz fusion direction, which Beck took a step further on its follow-up, Wired, in 1976. But after an opening blast of the originals “Led Boots” and “Come Dancing,” Beck and company stepped into trad mode with the gutsy choice of Charles Mingus’ “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.” It’s a contemporized electric rendition, of course — perhaps irreverent to purists but certainly adhering to the jazz ethos of progressive experimentation.
-
Blazin' With Jon Bon
Jon Bon Jovi was a rock radio staple during the 1980s, but his MTV appeal made some of the genre’s elite dubious. He stepped outside of his band to create the soundtrack for 1990’s Young Guns II, bringing on board players such as Elton John, Little Richard, Waddy Wachtel, Benmont Tench and Kenny Aronoff. Beck, meanwhile, was all over the soundtrack, performing on six of the 11 tracks, including the Billboard Hot 100-topping theme song “Blaze of Glory.” Watch the music video here.
-
‘F--k’ The Yardbirds?
There had been irreverent acceptance speeches during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s previous induction ceremonies — but few as succinct as Beck’s when The Yardbirds were given their due in 1992. “I have done other music after The Yardbirds,” he said at the dais of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel ballroom in New York while his former bandmates, including Jimmy Page, looked on. “But anyway, somebody told me I should be proud tonight, but I’m not because they kicked me out. They did. F–k them!” The smackdown was delivered in genial tones and received considerable laughter; both Beck and Page were happily part of the all-star jam that ended the evening. Things were more G-rated in 2009, when Page inducted Beck into the Rock Hall as a solo artist.
-
"A Day in the Life"
Beck started including Beatles covers in his repertoire with “She’s a Woman” on 1975’s Blow by Blow. But taking on this Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band epic for In My Life, Beatles producer George Martin’s 1998 covers album, was particularly ballsy. He more than pulled it off, however, creating a definitive instrumental treatment that was part of his live shows from 1999 through his final tour in 2022. It’s also preserved on 2008’s Live at Ronnie Scott’s. Listen here.
-
Revisiting the Nest
Bygones appeared to be bygones with The Yardbirds by 2003 when Beck was among the guests on the Birdland album by a new incarnation of the band, led by original members Jim McCarty and Chris Dreja. Beck can be heard on the Dreja-written “My Blind Life,” while other guest guitarists on the album included Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Queen’s Brian May, Slash, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter and Toto’s Steve Lukather. Listen here.
-
A God on ‘Idol’
American Idol was hardly the place you’d expect to find guitar god Beck, but there he was on the April 24, 2007, “Idol Gives Back” special, raising money for a variety of global charities. Beck joined inaugural Idol champ Kelly Clarkson for a rendition of Patty Griffin’s “Up to the Mountain” that was released immediately after the show aired.
-
A Night at the Opera
Even Beck felt that choosing “Nessun Dorma,” the most famous tenor aria (from Giacomo Puccini’s opera Turandot), was “quite a ludicrous choice” for his 2010 album Emotion & Commotion. But Beck told Billboard at the time that seeing Luciano Pavarotti perform it inspired him to take it on. “All it is is a sophisticated blues. [Pavarotti] pours it out, bellows out those notes the way a blues singer would. So along comes me and has a go at the melody, and it just enables me to do another form of emotional expression, really.” The same album included another surprising cover, of the 16th-century British hymn “Corpus Christi Carol.” Listen here.
-
God Only Knows What Happened
During 2013, it was revealed that Beck and Brian Wilson were collaborating on an album. During the fall of that year they joined forces for a 23-date U.S. tour, during which Beck joined Wilson and his band for a selection of songs. Though each made glowing comments about the other, the chemistry between them was clearly forced, and the album project never saw the light of day.
-
Depp Impact
Eyebrows raised when Johnny Depp — who’d staked his music claim with the all-star Hollywood Vampires — began showing up at Beck concerts during his 2019 U.S. tour. A collaborative cover of John Lennon’s “Isolation” was released during April 2020, with a full album, 18, following in July 2022. “When Johnny and I started playing together, it really ignited our youthful spirit and creativity,” Beck said in announcing the album. “We would joke about how it felt to be 18 again, so that just became the album title.” The set, which debuted at No. 183 on the Billboard 200, included one Beck-Deep original, a pair of Beach Boys tracks and covers of songs by Marvin Gaye, The Velvet Underground and Janis Ian.