Still On The Run: The Jeff Beck Story

EaglE Rock Blow-by-blow account of a frustrating genius. Jeff Beck is a documentary maker’s dream. In Still On The

Run, the guitarist’s guitarist enlivens what could have been a cradle-to-dotage plod, spraying dry wit over his back-story, plainly bewildered at the fuss (“Hi Ho Silver Lining,” he says, “was like being asked to wear a pink frock and stand on top of a bus going down Oxford Street”).

Beck’s own modesty is offset by the cast of A-list axe-folk, who pay amusingly purple tribute (capped by Slash’s observation that he’s “the

Pablo Picasso of guitar”). All true. But, to its credit, the film doesn’t gloss over the Beck’s infuriating capacity for missed opportunities, whether that’s bailing on Woodstock, letting the Jeff Beck Group dissipate, or failing to find another Rod Stewart (as Jennifer Batten says: “He’s an unsung hero to the masses… due to many of the albums not having vocals”).

By the end, for all the backslaps, Still On The Run leaves the impression that this supreme talent should have made it bigger.

Henry Yates