Legendary guitarist Jeff Beck, who performed alongside Jimmy Page with The Yardbirds, has died aged 78.
The virtuoso passed away on Tuesday, 10 January, after “suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis,” according to his representatives.
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With fingers and thumbs that were insured for a whopping £7 million, he is considered to be one of the best guitarists of all time.
Rumors of the guitarist’s alleged demise gained traction on Sunday after a ‘R.I.P. Jeff Beck’ Facebook page attracted nearly one million of ‘likes’. Those who read the ‘About’ page were given a believable account of the British guitarist’s passing:
Speaking when he was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the second time in 2009, Beck - said: "I play the way I do because it allows me to come up with the sickest sounds possible."
"That's the point now, isn't it? I don't care about the rules.
"In fact, if I don't break the rules at least 10 times in every song, then I'm not doing my job properly."
In a recent interview Jef Beck told is surprised about Rock: "I never thought guitar would last so long"
The guitarist also explains why is remained devoted to the Stratocaster. Jeff Beck on his Les Paul Love Affair: “You Pick Up a Les Paul and It's Heavy and It Really Means Something, It Means Business” .
Guitar virtuoso Jeff Beck has spoken out about how, when he first began playing the instrument, he didn’t expect rock music to have the longevity to still be around today. Beck confesses that he initially didn’t believe that the rock-style of guitar playing would become quite as monumental as it is today: “It was Scotty Moore and Elvis’ band, obviously. Rock Around the Clock; there’s an amazing solo in there. Bill Haley and His Comets. Gene Vincent – you know, they were all amazingly individual, and they had their own sound and style… Buddy Holly” he recalls. “It just was rocket-propelled, from ’54 to today, really. I never thought that the guitar would be sustained for so long. And everybody knows what a Stratocaster is, which is quite amazing.”
For years, the Beck-Strat marriage has been fruitful and faithful with his alternately refined/skunky Strat tones. In the wake of Beck's mid-'60s stint in the Yardbirds, he formed the Jeff Beck Group, whose 1968 album, Truth, is a showcase for his brief love affair with the Les Paul electric guitar.
In the December '73 issue of Guitar Player, Beck said that one of the things he dug about the Les Paul was its robust feel. "Fenders are cheap in feel," he remarked. "You pick up a Les Paul and it's heavy and it really means something – it means business.
“The Fender was nice because you could grip it like a weapon and really chunk out the chords, but when you came to the more subtle stuff it wasn't there. After a while I got so used to the Les Paul, there was no turning back. I picked up my Fender and thought, 'How the hell did I ever play this?'"
Beth Hart Talks of her music with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck.
She had a chance to work with Jimmy Page in the early 2000s, but it didn't work out. Instead, she soon landed an equally impressive gig, writing and touring with Jeff Beck, beginning in 2006.
Hart discussed with UCR on why she didn't get the gig with Page, the experience of working with Beck, and the new music she's been working on.
"Jason Flom had originally given me a hookup to Jimmy Page, Beth recalls. My DVD had gone to him. His wife at the time, I guess was pretty frickin’ jealous. She said, “No frickin’ way, are you working with that girl.” So then it went to Jeff Beck. But when he got it, he didn’t get [my live DVD at the] Paradiso [in Amsterdam] at first. He got me singing “I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues,” the Billie Holiday with Toots Thielemans – who is a pretty famous harmonica player – on one of his albums.
RELATED: Jeff Beck discusses ‘uncomfortable rivalry’ with Eric Clapton
I must admit there was a tear – especially with Eric,” Beck told Rolling Stone. “I never expected him to bother to be in it. I studied his face over and over, just to make sure there wasn’t something else going on [laughs]. But no, it was just overwhelming.”
“I remember he invited me to this gig [in 1980] in Guilford, near where he lives, and I thought, “Why is he asking me?” I thought to myself, “Obviously you won’t be playing, so go along and have a beer”.
