“Got me off the ground”: The artist who dragged Jeff Beck out of retirement
Even in the saturated rock and roll landscape of the 1960s, Jeff Beck stood out among all the rest. Constantly marching to the beat of his own drum, refusing to conform to trends or commercialism, the legendary guitarist crafted some of the most important and enduring riffs of all time, paving the way for multiple generations of guitar masters in the process. But, the 1960s were a long time ago, and as the new millennium approached, Beck was struggling with a crippling lack of motivation to keep going.
When Beck first emerged from obscurity during the 1960s, he represented the excitement and innovation of the younger generation in Britain, seeking to distance themselves from the stuffy old ways of their parents. Particularly during his time with The Yardbirds, Beck was right at home alongside the likes of The Who, The Small Faces, and The Rolling Stones. As time progressed, however, Beck’s grip over the musical mainstream began to loosen, and while many of his contemporaries rose to the dizzying heights of global fame, Beck appeared to fade into the background.
There were a multitude of reasons for this decline in relevance, but the prevailing reason was Beck’s own artistic motivations. Sure, if he would have stuck with The Yardbirds, or even The Jeff Beck Group, he might have amassed a huge global audience to rival that of The Stones or anybody else, but it would not have satisfied his constant need for innovation and exploration. So, while all his pals continued in their blues rock devotion, Beck began to explore far-out worlds of jazz improvisation, which never washed particularly well with mainstream music.
Although Jeff Beck was never particularly chasing mainstream chart hits, the comparatively weak reception to much of his jazz-fueled explorations did take its toll on the songwriter. During the late 1980s, for example, Beck poured his entire heart and soul into Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop, but its release in 1989 had very little mainstream impact, barely breaking into the US album chart’s top 50. After that, the guitarist seemed to resign himself to retirement, disenfranchised and unmotivated after multiple decades in the unforgiving realm of the music industry.
Beck remained in this creative slump for an entire decade before he was pulled out by the enigmatic performance of Jennifer Batten. In addition to recording two solo records during the 1990s, Batten made waves as a touring guitarist for Michael Jackson, where she emerged onto Jeff Beck’s radar.
“She was the girl with the big hair,” he joked in a 2001 interview. “I thought, ‘God, you know, I could use a fiery guitar player in the band.’ She’s a star, and also being a girl, that puts a whole different spin on things, you know.”
Together, the pair recorded Beck’s stunning return to form, Who Else!, in 1999 and embarked upon various tours together over the next few years. “I don’t know why she wants to waste her life with me,” Beck shared. “But she sort of dragged me out of retirement in some ways. I mean, I would have formed a band eventually, but she actually got me off the ground quicker.”
The partnership was fairly short-lived in the grand scheme of things, lasting until the end of Beck’s You Had It Coming tour in 2001, but Batten was an essential figure in inspiring Beck to continue. Without her incredible influence, Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop might have been the final album ever recorded by the iconic songwriter.
