Which member of The Rolling Stones introduced Jeff Beck to the blues?
In the spring of 1963, an 18-year-old Jeff Beck was learning the six strings of a guitar at Wimbledon College of Art. His main guitar hero at the time was none other than Les Paul himself, as well as various rockabilly, including Cliff Gallup of Gene Vincent’s band. Meanwhile, The Rolling Stones were starting out their recording career with an R&B of Chuck Berry’s minor single ‘Come On’.
Beck was from the suburb of Sutton in Surrey, west of London, but his time studying in Wimbledon allowed him to venture further into Britain’s capital and dive into the local music scene. His older sister Annetta was already frequenting central jazz venues like the Marquee Club, where she introduced her brother to a young guitarist by the name of Jimmy Page. Beck would have likely seen the Stones performing there, too, along with their performances during a residency at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, which was just across the park from his college.
Around that time, he got to know one of the Stones especially well, who happened to be a fellow native of Sutton, along with Page. The Rolling Stone in question was a few years younger than these two budding guitarists, though, with a wider palette of musical tastes and an extensive knowledge of the blues. He played Beck some of his records, including those of Chess Records bluesmen Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Howlin’ Wolf. From that moment, the aspiring musician was mesmerised by the blues.
He paid close attention to the Muddy Waters songs in particular, listening closely to the guitar work of Buddy Guy, who became the primary influence on Beck’s career. He’d later record Waters’ blues classic ‘You Shook Me’ for his debut solo album Truth in 1968. The newfound influence of African-Americans inspired Beck to start his first band, and he was soon a regular on the south London scene before joining the band of proto-rocker Screaming Lord Sutch in 1964.
So, who played him his first blues records?
It was Stones pianist Ian Stewart who introduced Beck to the electric blues of Chess. Stewart might have been hidden from public view as the sixth member of his band at the time, but he was actually the founder of the Rolling Stones alongside Brian Jones and was an encyclopedia of modern music. As Beck later remarked, “Stewart could have had the most incredible record shop ever.”
The Scottish-born keyboard player had a house in Epsom, the town neighbouring Beck’s own Sutton, in the Stones’ early days. He’d invite the teenage Beck over and play him his latest finds from across the pond, blowing him away every time.
Without Stewart’s intervention, we might never have seen Beck’s game-changing contributions to the Yardbirds, his genre-spanning solo career or his incalculable influence on modern guitar music. One more reason why Stu doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.
