Have Guitar Will Travel

What to say about Jeff Beck, guitar slinger extraordinaire?

Over the years, he released loads of albums, 35 according to Discogs, and his work has been compiled even more, especially his early bluesy stuff…

Here's a brief overview for those who really don't know him:

Some consider him one of the most influential and technically adventurous guitarists in rock history, due to his extraordinary versatility, innovative use of feedback, distortion, and the whammy bar.

Unlike other guitar heroes, Beck rarely relied on speed or conventional technique alone; he often used his fingers rather than a plectrum.

He first became known by replacing Eric Clapton in the British blues-rock band The Yardbirds.

In 1967 he formed The Jeff Beck Group, featuring a young Rod Stewart on vocals and Ronnie Wood on bass.

Later, as a solo artist, he explored instrumental rock, jazz fusion, blues, electronic music and experimental guitar sounds.

Jeff worked with many artists, ranging from Stevie Wonder and Tina Turner to Jon Bon Jovi and Johnny Depp.

He won eight Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: with the Yardbirds (1992) and as a solo artist (2009), on the whole quite an impressive career!

The reason he’s featured here is because of fellow blogger, the one and only Farq’s latest (firmly tongue-in-cheek) post about Jeff’s signature range of music gear-themed Jeff Beck™ Croc© Buttons®!

As usual, Farq 'interviews' Jeff and asks this question: "Why not try to make one great album before you die? Just one fucking album that doesn't make us cover our face with our hands?"

Considering that Jeff died 3 years ago, chances of any new album are a bit unlikely, although they probably could dust off some unreleased tracks and demos from over the years...

Despite that, I decided to have a closer look at his output and noticed a 'gap'; there is no compilation of his work as a guest/collaborator!

This I had to rectify, and (for better or worse) the result you can see here...

Since Jeff guested on countless albums, I had to be very selective; otherwise this compilation would have had twice as many tracks.

Musical styles vary from ballads, blues, covers, funk, rockabilly, and rockers, but I stayed away from covers that sounded (to my ears at least) too close to the originals, e.g., his Gene Vincent tribute.

That said, I would have loved to see him playing those songs live ;-)