- Born
- Died
- Birth nameGeoffrey Arnold Beck
- Nickname
- The Guv'nor
- Height5′ 9½″ (1.77 m)
- Jeff Beck was born in Surrey in 1944. He grew up in a suburban street in Carshalton. When he was about 10, he wanted to play the guitar. His mum, however, wanted him to play the piano because she didn't approve of the guitar. When he was in his late teens, he joined "The Tridents" on lead guitar. In 1965, he replaced Eric Clapton in The Yardbirds. He played with them until 1967 when he decided he'd had enough and wanted to go solo. In the same year, he released his first solo effort "Hi-Ho-Silver Lining", which was the only one of his tracks he ever sang on. In his backing group, he had Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, who later went on to form The Faces. Thoughout the rest of the 60s and 70s, he continued to record instrumental albums. In 1983, three former The Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, got together to do one-off charity concerts. In 1984, he contributed lead guitar on Mick Jagger's first solo album "She's the Boss". The same year, he released his next album "Flash", which was voted best instrumental album. In 1989, he released the album "Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop", which was also a big success. Throughout the 90s, Jeff Beck still toured around and, in 1998, played a sellout date in Mexico. In early 2001, he released yet another album "You had it Coming", which he toured to promote.
- IMDb mini biography by: Richard Baker
- SpousesSandra Cush(July 23, 2005 - January 10, 2023) (his death)Patricia Brown(1963 - 1967) (divorced)
- Fender Stratocaster
- Tortuous guitar whammy bar action
- Sleeveless (usually white) top, neckerchief and boots when performing
- Unlike most of his contemporaries, Beck does not use a guitar pick to coax licks from his instrument. Instead, he uses a combination of his thumb and fingertips to pluck his guitar strings.
- David Bowie said that when he first heard Mick Ronson play, he thought "that's my Jeff Beck".
- Was scheduled to appear at Woodstock with The Jeff Beck Group but the band broke up shortly before the festival.
- Sustained permanent facial scarring after a car accident in 1969 for which he had to be hospitalized
- Named as an inspiration by many guitarists including Ritchie Blackmore, Steve Lukather, Brian May, Mick Ronson, Slash, Gary Moore, Joe Perry, Richie Sambora and Steve Rothery.
- I'm weird, I really don't play a lot. Most people think that I probably go home to some guitar shop in the sky and practice all day.
- Hank (Hank B. Marvin) has such a dangerous tone, which is only safe in the hands of a master. You can see why he spends so much time tuning up because, when you play the way he plays, you simply cannot make any mistakes. There's no bullshit runs - it's always straight-ahead, simple solos, every one a beauty.
- You can do a lot more with bare fingers than with a plectrum. You don't get that clunking sound on a heavily amplified guitar. It's also a more personal sound, with more control.
- John McLaughlin has given us so many different facets of the guitar. And introduced thousands of us to world music, by blending Indian music with jazz and classical. I'd say he was the best guitarist alive. When the band I had with Rod Stewart broke up, I was left wondering what to do. While the charts were full of stuff like "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep", I became aware of this underground music scene. And what hit me right between the eyes was John's playing on Miles Davis's "A Tribute to Jack Johnson". That changed everything. After that, a new chapter of rock music was formed, with his blistering performances with The Mahavishnu Orchestra and everything else. And John's been at it ever since. He's a hard one to keep up with!
- [he dates his enthusiasm for electronica all the way back to the early 1960s, when he and Jimmy Page heard an EP by the Dutch synth pioneer Tom Dissevelt] It was just fantastic. Pete Townshend was the only other person I ever met who'd heard it, and he couldn't believe that we had. It's like other-world music, white noise and heavy bass lines... it screwed my head up for good.
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