Jeff Beck

Jeff Beck

Jeff Beck is an English rock guitarist from Wallington, United Kingdom, born Geoffrey Arnold Beck in 1944 and dying in 2023. He is associated with blues rock, hard rock, jazz rock, psychedelic pop, rock and rockabilly, and is widely identified as one of the major figures of electric guitar in rock music.

Career

Beck first rises to prominence as a member of The Yardbirds, where his use of feedback, distortion and fuzz tone helps move the band towards a more experimental sound. His work there is later seen as influential on psychedelic rock and heavy metal. After The Yardbirds, he fronts the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. His career also includes work with The Tridents, The Honeydrippers, UPP, The Secret Police, Immediate All Stars, Malcolm McLaren and the Bootzilla Orchestra, Lord Sutch & Heavy Friends, Jeffery Rod, Holy Smoke and Mark Knopfler’s Guitar Heroes.

Style and playing

Beck moves away from regular use of a pick in the 1980s and develops a highly individual technique on the Fender Stratocaster. He often uses his thumb to pluck the strings, his ring finger on the volume knob and his little finger on the vibrato bar, creating sustained sounds and vocal-like effects. He also uses a wah-wah pedal frequently in both live and studio settings. Alongside Stratocasters, he sometimes plays Fender Telecaster and Gibson Les Paul guitars, and his amplifiers are mainly Fender and Marshall. Earlier with The Yardbirds, he uses a 1954 Fender Esquire through Vox AC30 amplifiers, together with fuzz pedals and echo units. His distinctive setup is later reflected in signature and tribute instruments made by Fender.

Recordings and recognition

Beck’s solo work includes two commercially successful albums in the mid-1970s, and from 1975 onwards he adopts a mainly instrumental approach with an emphasis on sound and texture. His releases span blues rock, hard rock, jazz fusion and a blend of guitar rock and electronica. He receives the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance six times and the Best Pop Instrumental Performance once. In 2014 he receives the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. He is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, first with The Yardbirds in 1992 and later as a solo artist in 2009. He is also ranked among the leading guitarists in major lists, including Rolling Stone’s top guitarists, and is often described as a “guitarist’s guitarist”.

Influences and legacy

Beck cites Les Paul, the Shadows, Cliff Gallup, Ravi Shankar, Roy Buchanan, Chet Atkins, Django Reinhardt, Steve Cropper and Lonnie Mack among his influences, and he also names John McLaughlin as a major figure in guitar playing. He is credited with helping popularise audio feedback and distortion in rock guitar, and his approach is described as one that helps redefine the sound and role of the electric guitar in rock.