“He is my hero”: The song Brian May wrote about Jeff Beck
In the 1950s, rock’ n’ roll pushed the guitar to the forefront of popular music. As the classic rock era ensued through the 1960s and ’70s, a flourish of one-upmanship and creative dynamism provided the perfect breeding ground for some of the finest guitarists of all time. During the psychedelic rock wave of the late 1960s, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton were a trinity of British virtuos who encountered a new rival when Jimi Hendrix arrived from the US.
“Greatest guitarist” ranking lists tend to favour famous rock stars as opposed to unknown session musicians, jazz savants or that kid on YouTube who can play faster than Stevie Ray Vaughan. This phenomenon requires very little explanation, but principally, two major parts of becoming a “great” guitarist are showmanship and creative ingenuity.
Using Jimi Hendrix as an example, not only was the American star a technically gifted guitarist, but he understood the demands of the time. As a proponent of the psychedelic rock movement, he used fuzzy distortion to elevate his instrumental voicings. Throw in some on-stage pyrotechnics and some tooth-picking stunts, and you have yourself an immortal icon.
Following Hendrix’s tragic death in 1970, the decade ensued with a vast array of rock guitarists emerging from the woodwork. In the prog-rock lane, Robert Fripp, David Gilmour and Jimmy Page grew towards the light of perfect complexity. Meanwhile, as punk reared its head, Johnny Ramone and Steve Jones stripped things back to the basics.
Somewhere amid this chaotic moment for music, Queen defied categorisation with Freddie Mercury’s glam-rock affinity, the progressive allure of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and Brian May’s heavy yet colourful guitar command. By the time Queen embraced funk and disco inclinations in 1980, May was revered on the level of some of his 1960s heroes. His instantly recognisable silhouette, topped by a mop that would make Samuel Pepys blush, only added to his iconic stature.
Whether rocking hard to ‘We Will Rock You’ or dancing a jig to ‘It’s a Kind of Magic’, May always found a way to ground the Queen catalogue with some discerning guitar work. Throughout the band’s diverse catalogue, May leant on cues from some of his longtime idols, including George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.
Landing a cut above all of these classic influences, however, was May’s all-time favourite guitarist, Jeff Beck. The British legend’s career successes may not have outshone those of his fellow Yardbirds alumni, Page and Clapton, but among many guitarists, he’s considered among the finest soloists. It is easy to see the appeal to May as a gifted soloist in his own right.
In a 2006 interview with Classic Rock, Beck claimed that the 1980s was the worst decade for music he could remember. “I liked Prince and ZZ Top’s Eliminator, and that was about it,” he said. Adding, “The whole musical playground was a joke. The record label execs were more important than the acts.”
From this admission, one can assume Beck might not have enjoyed much of Queen’s more dance-inspired ’80s material. All the same, he had plenty of mutual respect for the band’s guitarist. Following Mercury’s death in 1991, May embarked on a solo career. While creating his second album, Another World, he wrote a song about Beck and asked him to join the recording session.
After hearing about May’s touching tribute, ‘The Guv’nor’, a humble Beck agreed to meet May at Allerton Hill Studio. “I wrote the track all about him and took it to him. He was sort of in disbelief,” May once recalled. “He’s like, ‘No, no, it’s not about me!’ I sketched out the places where I wanted him to explore but, of course, gave him free rein of what he could play, and then once he came into the studio, plugged in.”
May had been a fan of Beck since seeing him in action at one of his first shows with The Yardbirds at the Marquee Club. Naturally, this session marks one of the proudest moments of his career. “Jeff is a phenomenon,” May added, “an absolute phenomenon of the world, and it was extraordinary for me to be able to interact with him in this way and I’ve said that he’s the governor, he is my hero and I would stand by that.”
