Beck’s on Tap
JEFF 1 BEC 2 K’S GREATEST STUDIO COLLABORATIONS
FROM STUDIO sessions with Stevie Wonder all the way to a surprising reggae runout with Toots & The Maytals, here are some of Jeff Beck’s greatest collaborative credits
STEVIE WONDER
“Lookin’ for Another Pure Love”
Talking Book (1972)
Stevie Wonder’s sultry groove is the stuff of legend, but it comes as no surprise that Beck managed to go toe-to-toe with the soul man with a demonstration of his own formidable musicality on this cut from Talking Book. Not only does he raise Wonder’s keyboard musings with some silky noodles of his own; he also manages to steal the show with a crystalclean solo halfway through proceedings — an unfiltered lens into his brilliance.
JON BON JOVI
“Blaze of Glory”
Blaze of Glory (1990)
We could take or leave the title track’s hokey cowboy references, but Beck’s peach of a slide solo was essential, taking an already epic song and turning it into something that was defiantly his — in just 30 seconds. Punch it into Google and you can find an isolated version: just the guitar solo, in all its “glory.”
THE PRETENDERS
“Legalize Me”
At first, one wonders if Beck is even playing on this song — until just around the 2:14 mark, when he boldly announces his presence with one of his freakish trademark whammy-bar moves... and it just gets better from there.
TOOTS & THE MAYTALS
“54-46 Was My Number”
This Toots album is packed with guest appearances by big-name guitarists, including Eric Clapton, Trey Anastasio, Bonnie Raitt and Keith Richards. But, as always, Beck stood out in a crowd, delivering a cool, weirdo solo
that almost makes it sound as if his part were tracked backwards (It wasn’t). It was also a nice change of pace to hear Beck in a reggae setting.
PAUL RODGERS “I Just Want to Make Love to You”
Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters (1993) Beck’s evil tone on the intro riff alone is enough to earn a spot on this list. He appeared on three songs on this Muddy Waters tribute album by the beloved Bad Company and Free frontman.
PAUL JONES “The Dog Presides”
Insane Times (1968)
Here’s the early Jeff Beck Group-era Beck sounding very much like his former Yardbird self on this song’s opening riff, fills and solo. The recording even features another former Yardbird, Paul Samwell-Smith, on bass, not to mention the Beatles’ Paul McCartney on drums.
NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN “Saint and the Rascal”
Garden of Love Light (1976)
This catchy, funky, hooky instrumental can almost be considered an outtake from Wired, Beck’s 1976 album. After all, Narada Michael Walden played drums on Wired and wrote four of its songs, including “Play with Me.” Beck returned the favor in marvelous fashion by recording with Walden.
JIMMY COPLEY “Everyday I Have the Blues”
Slap My Hand (2008)
For fans who were a bit turned off by the heavy-handed production on Beck’s 1986 album, Flash, it’s a treat to hear him play with such a small, stripped-down band here; in fact, all you really hear are the drums (the late Copley was a U.K. session drummer with impressive credentials) and Beck’s chunky-sounding Strat. And that’s fine, because you get to hear him turn a simple three-chord blues shuffle into a showcase for his whammy-bar hijinks and bizarro-world bits and pieces.
ROD STEWART “Infatuation”
Camouflage (1984)
Listen to how Beck contributed something special and unique to what could’ve been just another catchy mid-Eighties pop hit. Beck also appeared in the music video — as does actor Mike Mazurki, who can be spotted in the films Some Like It Hot (1959) and
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963).
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN “Django”
The Promise (1995)
This one gives you lots of bang for your buck: you get Jeff Beck trading off with John McLaughlin on a seven-plus-minute rendition of John Lewis’ Django, a musical elegy for Django Reinhardt. Beck starts things off with the basic melody, and things pretty much get more and more interesting as the song moves forward.
STANLEY CLARKE “Hello Jeff”
Journey to Love (1975)
When the star of the show — in this case, bassist Stanley Clarke — incorporates his session guitarist’s name into the title of the track he played on, you can expect some memorable fretwork. Such is the case on this mid-Seventies instrumental gem, which features impressive playing by everyone involved, including the brilliant Clarke.
ROGER WATERS “What God Wants, Pt. III”
Amused to Death (1992)
Roger Waters is singing about vultures, bullets and soldiers, when, all of a sudden, a Strat bursts into the mix just before the two-minute mark, playing a powerful, emotional solo. Is it an outtake from Pink Floyd’s
The Wall? Nope; it’s one of a handful of Beck-enriched songs from Waters’ Amused
to Death. Check out Beck’s solo — how he uses every inch of real estate Waters gives him. If nothing else, the song answers the rarely asked question, “What would Pink Floyd have sounded like if Jeff Beck were in the band?”
“I still don’t know how he does it,” Waters once said of Beck. “He’s incredibly technically gifted in ways the rest of us can’t even begin to think about. He also has incredible pitch. When you play a harmonic and then play a melody on the whammy bar, it’s quite extraordinary to listen to.”