What is astonishing about this guitarist is its right hand. He often plays with a pick on his thumb and uses his fingers to modify the volume or the tone of the sound while he plays. This constant control over the intensity and the colour of his sound allows him to achieve wonderful modulations.
Just check his beautiful cover of Cause we ended as lovers to experience it.
What I especially like about Jeff Beck is its slighlty rough way to play, he does not aim at perfection but tries to highlight the musical intensity.
He is a very original musician. He did few different (irregular) albums surrounded with great musicians, or playing with a particular band, but always seemed to prefer his independence. He looks a bit like a lonely modern blues player.
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Jeff Beck
The Yardbirds
Though this 1960s very British band is not so famous it indirectly gave birth to a musical revolution. Indeed, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page all started playing in the Yardbirds at the youth of their musical careers. The Yarbirds was one of those successful bands that met a regular audience but did not manage to go beyond Europe. It seems surprising because they had an incredible potential. Just listen to Stroll on or Train kept a rollin’ to realize the energy they could spread.
I think that the Yardbirds was quite a “teaching band”. Through it those three amazing guitarists learnt the last elements they needed to reach their best. They faced the musical rigor, the hardships, the audience fluctuant mood, the tensions… And they efficiently dealt with that. Little by little they started to get well known by the professionals and earned enough musical credit to fly with their own wings.
Most of all, through the Yardbirds they defined their musical directions. They turned their backs to the successful pop music and aimed towards the music that appealed to them and that would be the core of their future fantastic creations: The Blues.
Eric Clapton played with Cream and met a worldwide success. Jeff Beck started an irregular solo career, but made some astonishingly beautiful albums. And obviously Jimmy Page gave birth to the amazing Led Zeppelin.
Hail to the Yardbirds!
