THERE’S NO OTHER ME
The guitar world has been shaken to the core at the loss of one of its most original voices and many players wanted to share a personal note of loss, an anecdote, or a tribute to a man who played such an important role in their musical lives
“Jeff Beck was a miracle… But the thing that struck me the most was his teenage-like sense of humour. He loved to laugh” STEVE VAI
MARTIN BARRE
“I first met Jeff when I was recording music with Hilton Valentine of The Animals in around 1967 in London. We didn’t know he was putting a solo on the song, so when he walked through the studio, my jaw hit the floor. He borrowed my guitar, found an old amp in a corner of the room and the room came alive!
“Tull played with Jeff and Rod Stewart in the States in 1969 and, again, I was very much in awe of his presence. To hear him play and then have to follow on the same stage was one of the hardest lessons that I ever learnt. He inspired me and, unknowingly, helped me come to terms with performing alongside the best musicians on the planet.
“To be unique in the world of guitar playing is a very special quality and he had that and more. It speaks volumes that he could be immediately recognised by his sound, his technique and his understated approach to music. I share his passion for vintage cars, but will never come close to sharing his ability to create the magic and majesty he had playing guitar. Jeff took English rock guitar to the States and the impact he created will reverberate forever.”
JENNIFER BATTEN
“We were playing a double bill in Rio with Wayne Shorter. We were in the middle of the glorious Where Were You duet – just the two of us. I was triggering Tony Hymasesque synth pads when Jeff broke a string. His tech always had an eye on him and immediately brought him a new guitar while I sustained a chord. He started to carry on with the song when the new guitar went belly up with a horrendous jack buzz. He got so upset with the failure because he was so deeply emotionally invested in the tune, that he took off the faulty guitar and smashed it into the stage. There were seconds there where my life flashed before my eyes as I once again sustained the harmony wondering what came next, until he stormed off the stage in defeat.
“I’d heard about this behaviour from his early years but had never been a part of it. Soon it was obvious it was over and I put down my guitar and headed backstage to find him extremely upset. It’s that kind of vested emotion and sensitivity that made him the best vessel for music possible. I do know how lucky I was to have been a part of his life and music.”
JOE BONAMASSA
“Without Jeff Beck, none of us would play the guitar the way we do. My introduction to the blues was through the song Let Me Love You off a record called Truth that was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in 1968. I have met Jeff a few times and he was always gracious and funny, but, most importantly, he was such a brilliant musician.”
“A true original, a free spirit, a teacher and a true artist of the highest achievement. Let’s follow his example and have the fun we saw him having. Big love, big respect. Thanks, Mr Beck!” TOMMY EMMANUEL
TOMMY EMMANUEL
“It was my brother, Phil, who brought my attention to the wonders of Jeff Beck. He sat me down in front of his stereo, turned on Blow By Blow and blew my mind, causing me to search for a better tone, better ideas, to find every Beck recording I could find and soak it into my body and soul. Nobody has ever, will ever, play guitar like Beck. A true original, a free spirit, a teacher and a true artist of the highest achievement! Every time I’ve seen him play I saw that he gave it all for his audience and for his own needs. He left it all out there. Let’s follow his example and have the fun we saw him having. Big love, big respect. Thanks, Mr Beck!”
JOHN ETHERIDGE
“I saw Jeff Beck for the first time just after he’d joined The Yardbirds in 1965 at the Windsor Ricky Tick. He was playing a Telecaster with Vox AC30. The Yardbirds specialised in extended ‘freak out’ jams that would build to a furious crescendo. This suited Jeff, I think. He was basically the same player as in 2022 – the combination of bluesiness, tangential phrasing, feedback, slide, subversive melodic turns was all there. He wanted to mess up your expectations! After that I saw him many times, with the great group with Rod Stewart, the There And Back tour and most recently at The O2.
“I did actually play alongside him at The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball in 1981. He was supposedly playing Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers with Clapton as a duet. But in the rehearsal, when it came to the D/C chord in the bridge, Eric wasn’t up for it and pointed at me to say, ‘You do it.’ So I did. (I’m a vague silhouette on a YouTube clip!) Jeff was playing the Tele, sounded fantastic and with so little gear – a Roland Space Echo and Boss Super Overdrive. There can never be anyone like that again.”
STEVE HACKETT
“Jeff Beck’s passing is a huge loss. He was the greatest innovator of our time and a huge influence on myself and many others. He transformed the guitar into a multi-faceted instrument, sometimes sounding like a voice, at other times like a sax with his explosive approach and complete mastery of tone. He constantly blew us all away with each new offering. His original use of distortion and echo often gave an eerie quality. Just when you thought the guitar could do no more, he would manage to push the boundaries further each time. He could thrill you, make you laugh, spook you and challenge you to stretch beyond your own limitations. Whether he was playing a Les Paul or a Stratocaster, the sound was always uniquely his own. There will never be another like him.”
DARREL HIGHAM
“Jeff had not long bought a new Corvette. It was a modern monster of a car. I had poodled down to Jeff’s house in my ’61 Ford Zodiac and Jeff was laughing at how slow it was. He said, ‘Come on, jump in my new car and I’ll take you for a spin around the country lanes.’ So in I got and immediately Jeff floored this beast and we went hurtling down the lanes around his village. I was absolutely terrified, genuinely terrified at that. He pulled over and said, ‘Right, your turn.’ I was horrified that he wanted me to drive this bloody thing and politely declined. He wouldn’t have it and eventually I got out of the passenger seat and sat behind the wheel. I very gingerly pulled out of the lay-by and was driving like a blind old man when Jeff shouted over at me, ‘Floor it, for fuck’s sake.’ So I did and terrified myself even more.”
STEVE LUKATHER
“I have said this many times in my life: that I think Jeff was God’s guitar player. Now he really is. Too soon. His playing hit me so hard and has stayed with me my whole life. No-one will ever be close to him. The most original voice on guitar I have ever heard and loved by us all. We did a few tours together years ago in Japan and I got to see it up close every night. Blew minds every time. Ask any of us guitar players who the man is: the answer is always Jeff Beck. I am honoured I could call him an old friend as well. He shall be so missed.”
“Without Jeff Beck, none of us would play the guitar the way we do. He was gracious, funny… such a brilliant musician” JOE BONAMASSA
“His playing made the guitar a voice in the fullest meaning of the word – in his hands it could communicate every emotion” BRIAN MAY
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN
“Yet another immense loss. Jeff was one of the greatest guitarists ever. He was beyond genre, simply a marvellous guitarist. Not only, he was also a delightful human being. I’m grieving…”
HANK MARVIN
“Where Were You by Jeff Beck is a haunting composition, beautifully played. Go the whammy bar! I’ve never tried it – I know my limitations. But it was really inspirational, reaffirming how expressive a Strat can be in the right hands. Thank you, Jeff.”
BRIAN MAY
“I feel a profound sadness at losing him from our lives – and a profound regret at not staying closer the last few years. Jeff was a master magician, mysterious and unfathomable. Much more than a guitar player, he made the guitar into what sounded like a different instrument altogether. His playing made the guitar a voice in the fullest meaning of the word – in his hands it could communicate every emotion. I just don’t have the words to describe what a presence he was for us all and I will never really understand how he did what he did. I’ve often felt it must have been similar to watching Mozart at work, and wondering where that genius came from. Jeff ’s exquisite tone, expression and invention will haunt us all forever.”
DOMINIC MILLER
“I got to know Jeff when he opened for us on Sting’s Brand New Day tour of 2000. I stood side stage every night marvelling at the sounds coming from his hands, which were nothing short of supernatural. He was also a very kind man and extremely funny. It’s almost unthinkable that we’ll never hear him play again in real time. The guitar community bows its head.”
JOE SATRIANI
“Jeff Beck’s music is part of my foundation as a guitarist. He was an innovator whose musicianship will always be a source of joy and inspiration for me.”
MARTIN TAYLOR
“When I was in Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings, we played a concert at the Royal Festival Hall and Ronnie Wood was on it. As I was heading back to the stage after soundcheck, Ronnie was standing there with Jeff and he introduced us and we started talking about jazz guitar. I was playing in London about a week after that at a theatre in Bloomsbury and Jeff came along and I figured he was gonna sit in because when I got there to do the soundcheck, there was a small Marshall amp and a white Strat on the stage! So I played a solo set, and then he came up and we played Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. I remember asking him about playing with Stevie Wonder on the Talking Book album. He told me that he went to the studio in New York, sat down and played that famous solo on Lookin’ For Another Pure Love and when Stevie says, ‘Do it, Jeff…’ during the solo, Jeff told me, ‘I knew that my career was safe forever.’”
STEVE VAI
“Jeff Beck was a miracle. I see him as the chosen one. His touch on the instrument created profoundly beautiful soundscapes that held the heart of the listener in its intoxicating heaven. No other guitar player has evolved so dramatically past their prime as he did, and at 78 years of age he played as if he was still in his prime. It’s impossible to quantify his hallucinogenic wizardry.
I was fortunate enough to have met him four or five times and he was always so kind, warm and engaging. But the thing that struck me the most was his teenage-like sense of humour. He loved to laugh. Jeff was 78 but also 17.”
“Just when you thought the guitar could do no more, he would manage to push the boundaries further each time” STEVE HACKETT