Jeff Beck – Blow By Blow - Mott the Dog's Rock Music Reviews

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*The lovely artwork by John Collier for Blow By Blow catching Jeff Beck in a classic pose.*

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If Jeff Beck was lucky enough to be a dog, he’d probably be a whippet: fast, intelligent, dangerous and highly strung.

He came to prominence in the mid-sixties. Then, his guitar slinging capabilities were put to the test when he successfully replaced Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds. After blowing his mind (and everyone else’s) whilst on tour in America, Mrs. Beck’s bad boy spent the next few years searching for his musical kennel. First of all there was the blues rock of the Jeff Beck group, which sensationally contained Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, and Nicky Hopkins on keyboards (who turned down Led Zeppelin to join this outfit). Then there was a second edition of the band, with Cozy Powell, which went nowhere.

After that he forged a union with ex-Vanilla Fudge rhythm section Tim Bogart and Carmine Appice (British dogs & American cats obviously don’t mix!), after which he made this all instrumental album, which was an incredible success all over the world.

Jeff Beck cradles his guitar. Actually, there is no need to say that as in every picture of Jeff Beck he is holding his beloved guitar. The only time he doesn’t is when he is working on his hot rods, in which case there is grease everywhere and a spanner in his hand.

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Supported by Max Middleton on keyboards, he also had the fifth Beatle, George Martin, producing the whole thing. “Blow By Blow” finds young Mr. Beck with a bass-drums-keyboards outfit which was augmented by some tastefully unobtrusive string arrangements. But don’t let that fool you, the guitar is right up there in your face throughout. All his trademark licks, fierce attacks, thick tones, micro-tonal bending, distortion, screaming feedback, vibrato, sustain, sonic hoodoo, and splatter blasting are all still there.

*A recent photo of Jeff Beck with man of the moment Captain Jack Sparrow, aka Johnny Depp.*

Within the concept of Martin’s superb production, Jeff Beck is still let loose on such crazy workouts as ‘Air Blower,’ ‘Scatter Brain’ and the supersonic ‘Freeway Jam,’ where the sound effects department are put to the test.

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Jeff Beck also proves that he can structure a melody and turn it into something of great beauty. ‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers,’ written by Stevie Wonder is Beck’s gorgeous tribute to his own guitar hero, the sadly departed Roy Buchanan. The final track, ‘Diamond Dust’ is the guitarist at the absolute peak of his powers, clocking in at nearly nine minutes. It’s guaranteed to send shivers up and down your spine.

*Jeff Beck on stage performing a mixture of rock/jazz/blues/funk—you name it, if the fancy takes him, Jeff Beck can turn a pick at anything he chooses.*

Blow By Blow was certainly Jeff Beck’s finest hour but, to get the full blown story, you should also buy the three-CD Beckology, which will take you with Jeff Beck from the very beginning with the Tridents in 1963 to his Solo album Guitar Shop in 1989, an impressive collection.