The one album that rescued Jeff Beck “out of the gutter”
Sometimes we need a little pick me and music is the greatest at providing a ladder out of your situation. Jeff Beck is one of the most hallowed guitarists of all time, but even he needed help.
A virtuoso of the six-string, he has invariably followed his creative vision, constructing a highly personalised discography over his six decades in the sun, boasting many iconic moments. But without the help of one inspirational album, there’s a good chance that Beck’s talents could have flowed down the gutter.
Famously, he was one of three legendary guitarists to play in The Yardbirds, one of the vanguards of the British Invasion. Through his association with the Keith Relf-fronted band, Beck struck up great friendships with London’s other most eminent guitarists, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, and he ultimately replaced the former in the group.
Beck and Page fleetingly played as dual guitarists in the quintet, which helped to instil rock music with a more robust edge off the back of cuts such as ‘Happenings Ten Years Time Ago’. If filling the boots of Eric Clapton was not a significant indicator of his prowess, then being a partner in crime of the future mastermind of Led Zeppelin certainly is.
Over his post-Yardbirds career, Beck has combined styles such as hard rock, blues, jazz and even electronica to cultivate a varied back catalogue that is imbued with a consistency that many of his contemporaries should be envious of.
Another indication of his talent is the status of other musicians he’s worked with. Beck has lent his guitar to David Bowie, Hans Zimmer and Kate Bush over the years and has helped to augment the creations of all those lucky enough to enlist him as a collaborator. He is so respected that Nick Mason, the drummer of Pink Floyd, claimed in his 2004 autobiography Inside Out that after founding member Syd Barrett left the band, they wanted Beck as his replacement, but “none of us had the nerve to ask him”.
A real hero of music, fans have long desired to understand what music Jeff Beck holds dear, as his work is so eclectic. When listing his six favourite albums of all time to the Express in 2014, he offered a fascinating insight into his record collection and explained that one surprising album helped to drag him “out of the gutter”.
This is 1971’s A Tribute to Jack Johnson by jazz pioneer Miles Davis. It’s not one of his most well-known bodies of work by any stretch, but it is one of the highlights of his career and the one that Beck holds dearest. Davis wrote it as the soundtrack for Bill Clayton’s celebrated documentary about the life of the American boxer Jack Johnson, and it remains a masterpiece of the jazz-rock genre.
Consisting of two tracks with durations of over 25-minutes, they were produced from recordings made on February 18th and April 7th, 1970, at 30th Street Studio in New York City. When Beck first heard the record on the radio, it galvanised him and pulled him out of the creative mire that ensued after he and Rod Stewart had stopped working together.
“This album got me out of the gutter after my split with Rod Stewart. I was working on a car outside my house when this amazing free-form shuffle came on the radio,” the guitarist revealed. “Davis’s trumpet comes in randomly with the melody and that freedom appealed to me. (John) McLaughlin played on this as well and gave me my next career move”.
It’s difficult to think about how pivotal the record must have been for Beck. There’s no doubt that he was always an accomplished player, but as Beck passed, one tribute seemed to speak loudest of all. Musicians and fans praised his versatility above all else. Beck wasn’t just a rocker or a jazz man, he was able to be anything and everything to anyone and everyone. Without this LP, it might never have turned out that way.
