“He was very knowledgeable”: the artist Jeff Beck believed would be the greatest president
When any celebrity gets an inflated ego, it’s easy for them to think they can do anything. From buying luxurious houses and cars to vacationing in islands that most people can’t even pronounce, the high life of a rich rock star is something that either intrigues or repulses someone the minute that they hear about how the other half lives. While many artists have tried to play down their ego as much as possible whenever they get big, Jeff Beck was never afraid to have some fun listening to his fellow rock stars talk a big game.
Granted, Beck always managed to keep his feet on the ground when playing some of his material. He had been the greatest guitarist that The Yardbirds had ever seen, and even when he was outpacing people like Jimmy Page in terms of raw technique, he always saw his role as a day job where he kept on innovating the way that he played whenever he went into the studio.
I mean, look at the kind of ground that he covered on records like Blow by Blow. The fusion world was starting to get born around this time, but the minute people heard songs like ‘Freeway Jam’ and ‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers’, they realised that songs could touch people on a deep level without having any set lyrics behind them. Beck may have been pushing things forward, but that paled compared to what progressive rockers were doing.
There had already been Yes and Genesis hanging around to make extravagant musical movements, but prog-rock wasn’t always meant to stretch songs out for as long as an audience could stand. It had to do with creating something that no one had ever heard before, and looking at the kind of music that Frank Zappa made, no one else will ever be able to match up to what he did in terms of sheer weirdness.
That’s not to say that his music is reserved for freaks, either. Albums like Overnight Sensation, One Size Fits All, and Hot Rats are brilliant pieces of art, but it was clear that none of them were going to reach the top of the charts based on single potential, especially when Zappa included people like Captain Beefheart. Outside of the music, though, Zappa was always extremely intelligent, and when listening to him talk, Beck wanted to see him in a position of power.
Considering all of the discipline he had leading his band and how in tune he was with current events, Beck would have loved to see Zappa in the White House at some point, saying, “I loved his political outbursts. From what I could read between the lines, he probably could have made the best American president ever. He was very knowledgeable about world affairs, and he had a deep cynical streak.”
And when talking about how Zappa acted during his prime, the word may as well have been in bold lettering. Zappa had a firm understanding of how unfair modern living could be at times, but judging by his stances on racial equality and making sure everyone worked to get to where they wanted to be, he would at least have the right ideals instead of trying to profit off the poor or picking fights with anyone who dares to disagree with him like certain political figures.
In fact, Zappa is one of the best examples of what the American spirit stands for. Anyone who made something as strange as Freak Out on their first try may have been laughed out of the room these days, but by holding strong to his ideals and fighting for his artistic freedom, he carved out a place in rock history that most musicians can only hope to accomplish in their lifetimes.
