The forgotten guitarist Jeff Beck called “an absolute genius”
One of the most defining guitar heroes of an entire generation, Jeff Beck redefined what it meant to be untouchable. Rising to the top as a monolith no one could surpass, Beck was the titan everybody wanted to be like.
Although overshadowed by the careers of names in his circle, including Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, Beck became an unavoidable force who seemingly made the leap from student to master overnight, a contender who knew how to bend and slide in a way others couldn’t, also with the kind of versatility that went hand-in-hand with some of the more traditional or experimental styles of his peers.
And then, after he’d already more than proved just how much the industry needed someone like him, he formed The Jeff Beck Group, celebrating innovation, nuance, and a certain drive that unknowingly bred the foundations of hard rock later on, taking the crux of rock ‘n’ roll and imbuing it with a different approach that made it feel far more refined, almost like it was best left to the pros and not just anybody with a fleeting desire to pick up a guitar and be the next Jeff Beck.
Still, while Beck enjoyed his seemingly endless high as one of the more coveted guitarists in rock, it says a lot that the only person (rival) who came along that made him question whether he was actually as good at the game as he thought he was was Jimi Hendrix. Obviously, a lot of musicians were suddenly filled with the same kind of enthralled fear as Beck the moment Hendrix came on the scene because, well, he wasn’t really human.
But these doses of healthy re-establishment, no matter how frightening at the time, constantly drew Beck forward. He also always had an eye for them, particularly lesser-known or underappreciated musicians he felt deserved far more credit, like Cliff Gallup, the guitarist for Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps.
Praising the solo in ‘Race With The Devil’, Beck once discussed how much he loved Gallup, and how he felt the song very much represented his oeuvre as a world-class guitarist who never gained mainstream recognition. It was also one of the last songs he recorded with Vincent before leaving to record a solo album, though he never broke commercially, and his work struggled to gain any notable traction.
“Gene’s guitarist Cliff Gallup was an absolute genius,” Beck said. “There just isn’t another word to describe him. I read an interview with him once where he claimed that he never worked out in advance what he was going to play, and the idea that he came up with the two guitar breaks on this song on the spot is just incredible. It took me months and months of practice to get anywhere near what he played!”
He added, “There isn’t a dropped note to be heard anywhere, and the tone of the solo is just perfect. Hardly anyone in the world today is working with the immediacy and instinct that Cliff had. Jack White probably comes closest to the spirit of Cliff.”
Clearly, this also proves just how plugged-in Beck was, no matter the success of the musician, choosing instead to prioritise those who actually had something to bring to the table over those who were gaining the most attention. Gallup might not have become a household name, but he introduced Beck to many of the attitudes and elements he’d bring into his own work, absorbing the greatness of others, no matter the reputation of the actual source.
