His career resembled his playing: absolutely free yet not directionless.
Half a year before Led Zeppelin released its debut album, Jeff Beck invented Led Zeppelin’s sound.
Now I’m not throwing shade at Zep. Page, Plant and company went on to successfully, triumphantly change its sound over and over again. But Beck’s first solo record – 1968’s Truth – got there first. Go listen to “Let Me Love You” or “You Shook Me,” which Zeppelin would also cover on its debut, and you can hear Beck expanding on and exploding the blues.
Beck, who passed away on Wednesday, got to a lot of places first and never stopped exploring.
Way back in early 1966, when psychedelia had just started to emerge, Beck recorded “Shapes of Things” with the Yardbirds. The guitar break transcended anything previously laid to wax: an Eastern-tinted string of notes warped by feedback and fury that would influence Jimi Hendrix.
Half a decade later, Beck would herald the coming of funk and jazz fusion with groovy and sleazy guitar work on 1971 single “Got the Feeling.
