When discussing the most influential bands of all time, it doesn’t take long to mention The Beatles. Rightly so, too. The way that they played, acted, gigged and their innovation in writing all set the groundwork for bands today to build upon. There is no escaping that music would have been very different without The Beatles. But this applies to other bands too—for instance, The Yardbirds.
Though The Yardbirds’ lineup changed frequently, and they never reached the same level of fame that the former band members would reach in their projects after leaving the band, without The Yardbirds, the formula for the modern guitarist wouldn’t exist. All members, such as Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, contributed to this, but nobody was more important to guitar music than Jeff Beck.
This is because of his playing and his attitude on stage. Jeff Beck revolutionised what people thought of the guitarist. It went from being all about the lead singer to being all about the person shredding on guitar. He brought the six-stringed experts to the front of the stage, playing extravagantly so the audience couldn’t take their eyes off them.
This playing style paved the way for other artists to start doing something similar. Even though Beck was always incredibly complementary of Jimi Hendrix and put the Seattle-based guitarist’s leagues ahead of him, Hendrix wouldn’t have played the way he did if it had not been for Beck.
“He came on, and I went, ‘Oh, my God’,” said Beck, recounting when he first saw Hendrix perform, “He had the military outfit on and hair that stuck out all over the place. They kicked off with (Bob Dylan’s) ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, and I thought, ‘Well, I used to be a guitarist.’”
Of course, Jeff Beck is doing himself a disservice here. His antics and style of playing were influential, but they can only get someone so far; he needed to have the skill as a guitarist to back these actions up. Beck always had this skill. Whether in The Yardbirds or during his solo career, he won over audiences everywhere, thanks to how much effort he put into his playing.
Queen guitarist Brian May is a particularly big fan, always keen on preaching about the guitarist’s power and the depth of his playing. “If you wanna hear his depth of emotion, sound and phrasing, and the way he could touch your soul, listen to ‘Where Were You’ of the Guitar Shop album… sit down and listen to it for four minutes.”
May concluded: “It’s unbelievable; it’s possibly the most beautiful bit of guitar music ever recorded, alongside Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Little Wing’. So sensitive, so beautiful, so incredibly creative and unlike anything you’ve ever heard anywhere else.”
