The worst decade of music, according to Jeff Beck: “A joke”
In the 1960s, Jimi Hendrix put most guitarists firmly in their place, but hot on his heels in the London scene was the searing Yardbirds trio: Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.
This sensational holy trinity of electric guitar virtuosity never played for the Yardbirds simultaneously, and neither were their most significant contributions to the music world made under that pioneering, formative banner. All the same, the band was a fertile breeding ground for talent, paving the way to Led Zeppelin, Cream and The Jeff Beck Group.
The Jeff Beck Group never rose to such heights of success as Led Zeppelin or the comparatively short-lived Cream. Yet the bandleader’s unique guitar command ensured worldwide respect and an immortal legacy. With The Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice, the guitarist established a reputation as the “guitarist’s guitarist” thanks to his eclectic instrumental approach, encompassing blues rock, heavy rock, and jazz fusion.
Beck maintained a strong presence throughout the 1970s as a solo act, achieving peaks of success with the mid-decade instrumental albums Blow by Blow and Wired. Guitar playing had defied music since the illuminating down of rock ‘n’ roll, and Beck was one of its proudest innovators.
However, approaching the 1980s, Beck took a back seat, shirking the limelight and quietly deriding the synth-pop wave from the studio. His blues approach had been replaced by a rather more commercial structure, and he wasn’t willing to engage all that enthusiastically.
Jeff Beck on music’s “joke” decade
Discussing this quiet patch in a 2006 interview with Classic Rock, Beck noted that the 1980s just wasn’t to his taste. “I liked Prince and ZZ Top’s Eliminator, and that was about it,” he admitted. “I wasn’t going to try to sell anything about me, whether it was old, new, or surreal, tomorrowland music, because it was hopeless. The whole musical playground was a joke. The record label execs were more important than the acts; even the bloody retailers were snorting coke and telling you how to play guitar. Bollocks to that.”
During the 1980s, Beck released the successful albums There And Back, Flash and Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop, but only embarked on one major tour. “I kept out of the way,” Beck admitted. “And I think there will be a time soon when I’ll have to pull hard. That will mean a proper album – a seriously good album to let them know I’m about.” That was the fighting talk that defined him. And he always had it up his sleeve (despite his penchant for vests).
The Observer polled some of the most revered guitarists in 1990 to decide the greatest living guitarist, the guitarist’s guitarist. Beck came out on top by a fair margin, with Brian May and David Gilmour among those who appreciated his unique virtuosity. “Those sort of remarks are what keeps me going, really,” Beck reflected.
He boldly continued, “Brian May, who is just an incredible technician and a masterful recording artist – the things he’s said about me. I don’t really care who trashes me in the papers, people with less qualifications, it just goes over straight my head now.”
Before his death in January 2023, Jeff Beck enjoyed one final career flourish, recording the studio album 18 alongside Johnny Depp and heading out on a final tour with the actor. His scintillating style was still evident to all, as he continued to innovate right up until the end. In many ways, his hatred of he ‘80s may well have positively informed this, playing into a mantra that always kept Beck dignified: being a great artist is also about knowing what not to do.
And while the ‘80s might not have been entirely to his taste, there were still some classic blues-tinged tracks like Tom Petty’s minimalist ‘The Waiting’ and Dire Straits’ always catchy classic rock offering ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to prove the genre never dies. How could it?
