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Surely there were nights when a certain group all happened to be present at the same time.
Back then, few besides their immediate friends and family would have recognized them.
Today, theyre household names.
He eventually joined the Yardbirds.
The original Yardbirds had a serious front man in Keith Relf.
But the bands were fighting a rearguard action.
One by one, the doctrinaire defenses fell.
Clapton was a blues diehard.
He didnt like a pop single the band had recorded, so he left.
The Yardbirds, looking to replace Clapton, turned to Page.
He passed and referred them to Beck.
Recalled Relf:
Our manager … told us to audition Jeff.
We did, and wow!
What a wreck he looked.
His hair hung matted below his shoulders, his jeans were torn open.
[We] muttered, Oh, no!
The Yardbirds recorded their next single with Beck.
Others, like the Yardbirds, werent so lucky.
Everyone in the band was unhappy.
Beck bought bigger and bigger amplifiers, drowning out Relf onstage.
Refl quickly fell victim to alcoholism and insecurity.
Beck grew more surly and began destroying equipment at the end of shows.
He became very, very moody.
And in fact, at times, it was quite unpleasant because it wasnt part of the performance.
… And that was embarrassing and stressful for everybody else.
Suddenly the Yardbirds had two of the best guitarists in rock fronting their act.
But the two friends never jelled, and Beck would eventually split.
By 1967, he had put together the Jeff Beck Group, with Stewart and Ron Wood.
The period was all the more difficult for Beck because his pal Page was then launching Zeppelin.
After that, Beck embarked on a wild, and sometimes quizzical, solo career.
(Both albums eventually went platinum.)
Hes also known for awide variety of session appearances.
Thats Beck delivering a scorching solo in the middle of Jon Bon Jovis otherwise highly silly Blaze of Glory.
He could also guest comfortably on albums by Walden or Stanley Clark.
you might hear him delivering less-than-stellar work on the long version ofTina Turners Private Dancer, too.
Becks personality, so many years on, remained somewhat opaque.
Few of the memoirs of the time leave a good impression of him.
Becks relationship with Clapton seems to have been a bit distant.
Rod Stewart emanates ambivalence about Beck as well.
Behind him, often, was bassist Tal Winkenfeld, whose calm lines prowled musically behind Becks wild excursions.
He remained the guitar heros guitar hero, as Guitar World called him, to succeeding generations of players.
Vernon Reid, after tweeting FUCKING NO!
In this way there was always space for him to grow.
About the size of a garage.
