name	Beck
background	solo_singer
birth name	Bek David Campbell
birth date	July 08, 1970
birth place	Los Angeles, California, US
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, producer
genre	Alternative rock, anti-folk
instrument	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, harmonica, percussion, sitar, banjo, slide guitar, twelve-string guitar, glockenspiel, vocoder, kalimba, melodica, beatboxing
years active	1988–present
label	DGC, Interscope, Geffen, XL, Bong Load|
associated acts	The Flaming Lips, Devendra Banhart, Charlotte Gainsbourg, The White Stripes, JSBX, Thurston Moore
website
notable instruments	1962 Silvertone Danelectro Danelectro Dano Pro }}

Beck Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck. With a pop art collage of musical styles, oblique and ironic lyrics, and postmodern arrangements incorporating samples, drum machines, live instrumentation and sound effects, Beck has been hailed by critics throughout his musical career as being amongst the most creative and idiosyncratic musicians of 1990s and 2000s alternative rock.

The four-time platinum artist rose to underground popularity with his early works, which combined social criticism (as in "MTV Makes Me Want to Smoke Crack" and "Deep Fried Love") with musical and lyrical experimentation. He first earned wider public attention for his breakthrough single "Loser", a 1994 hit.

Two of Beck's most popular and acclaimed recordings are ''Odelay'' (1996) and ''Sea Change'' (2002). ''Odelay'' was awarded Album of the Year by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone'' and by UK publications ''NME'' and ''Mojo''. ''Odelay'' also received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. Both ''Odelay'' and ''Sea Change'' appeared on ''Rolling Stone'''s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Early life

Beck was born in Los Angeles, California, to David Campbell, a Canadian musician, and Bibbe Hansen, a visual artist and former Warhol "star". His maternal grandfather was Al Hansen, a visual collage artist of the Fluxus school of art. Beck's paternal grandfather was a Presbyterian minister, while his matrilineal great-grandmother was Jewish; Beck's mother also has Norwegian and Swedish ancestry. When his parents separated, Beck stayed with his mother and brother in Los Angeles, where he was influenced by the city's diverse musical offerings—everything from hip hop to Latin music and his mother's art scene—all of which would later reappear in his recorded and published work.

Career

Early performing and first releases (1985–1993)

After dropping out of high school in the mid-1980s, Beck traveled to Europe and developed his musical talent as a street musician. In Germany, he spent time with his grandfather Al Hansen. The late 1980s found him in New York City, involved in the punk-influenced anti-folk music movement.

In 1988, Beck recorded a cassette entitled ''Banjo Story'', which has since become available in bootleg form. He returned to Los Angeles at the turn of the decade. He lived in a shed and took a variety of low-paying, dead-end jobs (at one point working as a leaf blower operator), all the while continuing to develop his music. Beck also sought out (or sneaked onto) stages at venues all over Los Angeles, from punk clubs to coffee shops and playing on the streets. During this time, he met Chris Ballew (founder of The Presidents of the United States of America). They performed on the streets as a duo for a while.

In 1993 Beck released his first studio album, ''Golden Feelings'', on Peter Hughes's Sonic Enemy label. It was initially released only on cassette (though later on CD in limited quantities). It has been estimated that only between 500 and 750 copies were made, making it a rare artifact. AllMusic.com would later describe the album as "an extremely interesting, entertaining, and humorous document that proves that from the start, Beck had his heart set on making experimentation his only gimmick".

"Loser", ''Mellow Gold'', and independent albums (1993–1995)

1993 saw Bong Load Custom Records (owned by Tom Rothrock, Rob Schnapf, and Bradshaw Lambert) sign Beck to their fledgling label. His first release for Bong Load was "Loser", a collaboration between hip hop nuance producer Carl Stephenson and Beck. The song created a sensation when radio host Chris Douridas played the song on ''Morning Becomes Eclectic'', the flagship music program from Santa Monica College radio station KCRW. That exposure and a subsequent live performance on the show July 23, 1993, led to a bidding war among labels to sign Beck. Eventually, he chose Geffen Records, who offered him terms that included an allowance for the release of independent albums while under contract. Of all the record labels to offer Beck a contract, Geffen offered him the least amount of money, but the greatest amount of creative freedom.

On February 22, 1994, Flipside Records released ''Stereopathetic Soulmanure''. A sprawling 25-track album, it contained the fan favorites "Satan Gave Me a Taco", "Rowboat", and "Thunderpeel", as well nonsensical spoken tracks, noise (such as leafblowers), and live recordings. Johnny Cash would later record "Rowboat" and include it on his 1996 album ''Unchained''. Cash later said that the song "sounded like something I might have written or might have done in the [1960s, when] I was kinda going through some weird times." "Satan Gave Me a Taco" was acknowledged by Allen Ginsberg to be one of his favorite contemporary works of pop poetry.

In March 1994, Geffen released Beck's major label debut, ''Mellow Gold''. The album, created with Bong Load's Rothrock and Schnapf, as well as Carl Stephenson, turned Beck into a mainstream success. The record received the best ratings possible from ''Spin'', Robert Christgau, ''Rolling Stone's Album Guide'' and AllMusic.

On June 27, Olympia, Washington–based independent label K Records released Beck's third album of 1994, ''One Foot in the Grave''. The recording featured a number of notable musicians from the independent music scene, including Beat Happening's Calvin Johnson, The Presidents of the United States of America's Chris Ballew, and Built to Spill members Scott Plouf and James Bertram.

Beck took his act on the road in 1994 with a worldwide tour, followed by a spot on the main stage of the 1995 Lollapalooza tour.

''Odelay'' (1996–1997)

When the time came to record his follow-up to ''Mellow Gold'', Beck enlisted Rothrock and Schnapf as producers and began recording an album of moody, low-key acoustic numbers to showcase his songwriting. Eventually, Beck shelved the album and pursued a more upbeat approach. Beck was introduced to the Dust Brothers, producers of the Beastie Boys' album ''Paul's Boutique,'' whose cut-and-paste, sample-heavy production suited Beck's vision of a more fun, accessible album.

The result, 1996's ''Odelay,'' would put the "one-hit wonder" criticisms to rest. The lead single, "Where It's At", received much airplay, and its video was in heavy rotation on MTV. Within the year ''Odelay'' received praise from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, appeared on countless "Best of" lists (it topped the Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for "Album of the Year"), and earned a number of industry awards, including two Grammys. Besides "Where It's At", three other singles were released from the album: "Devils Haircut", "Jack-Ass" and "The New Pollution".

Beginning in 1993, Beck contributed to Forest for the Trees, an experimental trip hop project by collaborator Carl Stephenson. The project released a self-titled record in 1997, followed by an EP in 1999. Beck added spoken word, harmonica, and various other instruments.

''Mutations'' and ''Midnite Vultures'' (1998–2001)

''Odelay'' was followed in 1998 by the release of ''Mutations''. Though the album was originally slated for release by Bong Load Records, Geffen intervened and issued the record against Beck's wishes. The artist then sought to void his contracts with both record labels, and in turn the labels sued him for breach of contract. The litigation went on for years and it remains unclear to this day if it has ever been completely resolved. ''Mutations'' was produced by Beck and Nigel Godrich (frequent producer and collaborator with Radiohead) and is believed to have been intended as a stopgap measure before the proper next album. Recorded over two weeks, during which Beck recorded one song a day, the sessions produced fourteen songs. ''Mutations'' was a departure from the electronic density of ''Odelay'' and shows heavy folk and blues influences. Tracks on the album consisted of older songs, some dating back as early as 1994.

In 1999, Beck was awarded Best Alternative Music Performance for ''Mutations'' at the 42nd Grammy Awards.

In November, Geffen released the much-anticipated ''Midnite Vultures'', which was supported by an extensive world tour. For Beck, it was a return to the high-energy performances that had been his trademark as far back as Lollapalooza. The live stage set included a red bed that descended from the ceiling for the song "Debra", and the touring band was complemented by a brass section. ''Midnite Vultures'' was nominated for Best Album at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. Beck released a number of B-sides and soundtrack-only songs as well, including "Deadweight" from the ''A Life Less Ordinary'' soundtrack, "Midnite Vultures" (curiously, not on the album of the same name), David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" from ''Moulin Rouge!'', and a cover of The Korgis' "Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime", which appeared in two memory-alteration-themed productions: the 2004 movie ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' and the last episode of the first season of ''Dollhouse''. He is also credited on the French band Air’s 2001 album ''10 000 Hz Legend'' for vocals on the songs "Don't Be Light" and "The Vagabond" (as well as harmonica on the latter). He sang a duet with Emmylou Harris on ''Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons'', performing "Sin City".

''Sea Change'' (2002–2003)

In 2001, the ''Beck'' EP, which consists of B-sides from the ''Midnite Vultures'' era, was released. The EP was only available from Beck's website, and only 10,000 copies were printed.

In 2002, Beck released ''Sea Change'', which, like ''Mutations'', was produced by Nigel Godrich. It became Beck's first US Top 10 album, reaching #8. The album also received critical acclaim, earning five stars from ''Rolling Stone'' (the magazine's highest rating) and placing second in the Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 2002. ''Sea Change'' was conceptualized around one unifying theme: the end of a relationship. The album featured string arrangements by Beck's father, David Campbell, and a sonically dense mix reminiscent of ''Mutations''. Although some radio singles were released, no commercial singles were made available to the public. In August 2002, prior to the release of ''Sea Change'', Beck embarked on a solo acoustic tour of small theaters and halls, during which he played several songs from the forthcoming album. The post-release ''Sea Change'' tour featured The Flaming Lips as Beck's opening and backing band.

A song Beck co-wrote with William Orbit, "Feel Good Time", was recorded by pop singer Pink for inclusion on the soundtrack of the 2003 film ''Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle''. Beck also covered the Bruce Haack song titled "Funky Lil Song" for Dimension Mix, a tribute album dedicated to the music of electronic music pioneer Haack and his Dimension 5 Records, which his long time friend and collaborator Ross Harris produced to benefit Cure Autism Now.

''Guero'' and ''The Information'' (2004–2007)

In 2004, Beck returned to the studio to work on his sixth major-label studio album. The record, ''Guero'', was produced by the Dust Brothers and Tony Hoffer and features a collaboration with Jack White of The White Stripes; it marked a return to ''Odelay''-era sound. The album was released in March 2005 and enjoyed critical acclaim from most mainstream press, earning four of five stars from ''Rolling Stone'', as well as a "Critic's Choice" recognition from ''The New York Times''. The album received a less enthusiastic response from ''Pitchfork Media'', which ran a lukewarm and disappointed 6.6 out of 10 review; it was also given poor reviews by ''Q'' magazine, ''Dusted'' and ''Mojo''. The album debuted at #2 on the ''Billboard'' charts, pushing 162,000 copies in the first week and giving Beck his best week ever in terms of commercial sales and chart position. Since the release of ''Guero'', the album's first single, "E-Pro" (which samples the drum track from the Beastie Boys hit "So What'cha Want"), has been well received by the mainstream rock community, receiving significant play time on mainstream radio. The second single, "Girl", received decent play time on mainstream radio and heavy airplay on college and independent radio. The third and final single of the album was "Hell Yes." The deluxe edition DVD version of the album featured more than 100 videos. Viewers could use the two additional video streams and four subpicture streams to create their own visual remixes for each track. The DVD package was so advanced that a small percentage of DVD players were unable to access certain tracks, due to the complicated nature of the technology used by video artists D-Fuse.

On February 1, 2005, Beck released an EP featuring four remixes of songs from ''Guero'' by independent artists who use sounds from various early 8-bit video game devices like the Game Boy. The EP, ''GameBoy Variations'', featured "Ghettochip Malfunction" [Hell Yes] and "GameBoy/Homeboy" [Que' Onda Guero], both remixed by the band 8-Bit, and also had "Bad Cartridge" [E-Pro] and "Bit Rate Variation in B-Flat" [Girl], the last two being remixed by Paza {The X-Dump}. The EP cover art shows a long-haired person headbanging to his Game Boy, which is plugged into an amplifier like an electric guitar. This EP was featured in an issue of ''Nintendo Power''. A music video for "Gameboy/Homeboy" was made by Wyld File. Also at this time, Beck released ''A Brief Overview'', a promotional retrospective album featuring tracks from ''Guero'', ''Sea Change'', ''Mutations'', ''Midnite Vultures'' and ''Odelay''. This compilation also features "Ghettochip Malfunction" and two versions of "E-Pro," the lead single from ''Guero''.

Beck performed at the music and arts festival Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee on June 17, 2006, with a set that featured many songs from ''Guero''. In addition to his band, Beck was accompanied by a group of puppets, dressed as him and members of his band. Live video feed of the puppets' performance was broadcast on video screens to the audience. The puppet show was included throughout his 2006 world tour. On December 6, 2005, the remix album Guerolito was released, featuring the entire Guero album remixed by acclaimed musicians as well as cover art by Marcel Dzama.

Beck's seventh major-label studio album, ''The Information'', which again reunited him with Nigel Godrich, was released on October 3, 2006. The release marked the first time in seven years that Beck released studio albums in consecutive years. The album reportedly took more than three years to make and has been described as "quasi hip-hop". It came with a sheet of stickers, which were to be used to "make your own album cover." Because of this, ''The Information'' was disqualified by the Official Chart Company from entering the UK Albums Chart, but in the US it gave Beck his third straight Top 10 studio album peak on the ''Billboard'' 200, reaching #7. The lead US single, "Nausea," officially went to radio on September 5, 2006. In the UK, the first single was "Cellphone's Dead".

A non-album single, "Timebomb", was released on iTunes on August 21, 2007, and the limited edition vinyl 12" was released on November 2, 2007, with an instrumental version of the song on the B-side. In December, 2007, it was announced that "Timebomb" had been nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance.

''Modern Guilt'' and ''Scott Pilgrim'' soundtrack (2008–present)

In February 2008, Beck stated in an interview with ''Rolling Stone'' that he had been working on a new album "with an unnamed producer" and that he expected it to be released by the end of the year. In early March 2008, the unnamed producer was revealed to be Danger Mouse. The new album ''Modern Guilt'' was released on Interscope in North America and on XL Records in the rest of the world. The single "Chemtrails" was made available on Beck's MySpace and website. In early June, Beck performed several songs from the new album at The Echo in Los Angeles. ''Modern Guilt'' was released in July 2008. A complete acoustic version of ''Modern Guilt'', recorded in Japan, was featured as videos on Beck's website in 2009.

In an August 2010 interview with Pitchfork Media, Beck revealed that he wanted to release at least a song by the end of the summer. That culminated in Beck-written songs for fictionalized band Sex Bob-omb on the ''Scott Pilgrim'' movie soundtrack.

On December 13, 2010, RCRD LBL premiered a Beck remix of Lykke Li's "Get Some."

Collaborations and contributions

On June 18, 2009, Beck announced that he was starting an experiment called Record Club, in which he and other musicians would record cover versions of entire albums in one day. The first album covered by Beck's Record Club was ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Starting on June 18, the club began posting covers of songs from the album on Thursday evenings, each with its own video. On September 4, 2009, Beck announced the second Record Club album, ''Songs of Leonard Cohen''. Contributors included MGMT, Devendra Banhart, Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother and Binki Shapiro of Little Joy. In the third Record Club venture, Wilco, Feist, Jamie Lidell and James Gadson joined Beck to cover Skip Spence's ''Oar''. The first song, "Little Hands", was posted on Beck's website on November 12, 2009. The Record Club has since covered albums by INXS and Yanni

On June 19, 2009, Beck announced Planned Obsolescence, a weekly DJ set put together by Beck or guest DJs. Soon after, on July 7, Beck announced that his website would be featuring "extended informal conversations with musicians, artists, filmmakers, and other various persons" in a section called Irrelevant Topics. Then, on July 12, he added a section called Videotheque, which he said would contain "promotional videos from each album, as well as live clips, tv show appearances and other rarities".

Also in 2009, Beck collaborated with Charlotte Gainsbourg on her album ''IRM'', which was released in January 2010. Beck wrote the music, co-wrote the lyrics, and produced and mixed the album. The lead single, "Heaven Can Wait", is a duet by Beck and Gainsbourg.

In late February 2010, it was announced that electronic artist Tobacco of Black Moth Super Rainbow had collaborated with Beck on two songs, "Fresh Hex" and "Grape Aerosmith", on his upcoming album ''Maniac Meat''. Tobacco revealed that in making the album, Beck sent the vocal parts to him, and that they had never actually met.

In March 2010, Beck revealed that he had produced songs for the new Jamie Lidell album, ''Compass''.

In the summer of 2010, Beck contributed songs to both ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'' soundtrack, with "Let's Get Lost" (a duet with Bat for Lashes), and ''True Blood (HBO Original Series Soundtrack, Vol. 2)'', with "Bad Blood". He also contributed songs to soundtrack of the movie ''Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'', which was released in August 2010. Two of the songs that Beck specifically wrote for the film appeared in its theatrical trailer.

In 2011, he collaborated with Seu Jorge on a track entitled Tropicália (Mario C. 2011 Remix) for the Red Hot Organization's most recent charitable album "Red Hot+Rio 2." The album is a follow-up to the 1996 "Red Hot + Rio." Proceeds from the sales will be donated to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues. He also contributed on the song "Attracted to Us" on Turtleneck & Chain, the newest album from The Lonely Island.

Also in 2011, Beck produced a solo album by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth called ''Demolished Thoughts''. An album he produced for Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, ''Mirror Traffic'', was released in August 2011.

Musical style

Beck's musical style has been considered alternative and indie. He has been known to play many of the instruments in his music himself. He has also done some remixes for fellow artists, notably David Bowie and Björk. Beck has been known to synthesize several musical elements together in his music, including folk, Latin, hip hop, funk, many types of rock and blues. He has also taken music from Los Angeles as a reference point in his songs.

Pitchfork Media applauded ''Midnite Vultures'', saying, "Beck wonderfully blends Prince, Talking Heads, ''Paul's Boutique'', 'Shake Your Bon-Bon', and Mathlete on ''Midnite Vultures'', his most consistent and playful album yet." The review continued to comment on Beck, saying that his mix of goofy piety and ambiguous intent helped the album. '' A Beck song called "Harry Partch," a tribute to the composer and his "Corporeal" music, employs Partch's 43-tone scale.

Art career

During 1998, Beck's art collaborations with his grandfather Al Hansen were featured in an exhibition entitled "Beck & Al Hansen: Playing With Matches", which showcased solo and collaborative collage, assemblage, drawing and poetry works. The show toured from the Santa Monica Museum of Art to galleries in New York City and Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Canada. A catalog of the show was published by Plug In Editions/Smart Art Press.

Personal life

From 1991 to 2000, Beck was in a relationship with designer Leigh Limon. Their breakup is said to have inspired his 2002 album, ''Sea Change''. He wrote most of the songs for the album in one week after the breakup. Beck married actress Marissa Ribisi, the twin sister of actor Giovanni Ribisi, in April 2004, shortly before the birth of their son, Cosimo Henri. Ribisi gave birth to their daughter, Tuesday, in 2007.

Scientology

Beck has been involved in Scientology for most of his life; his wife, Marissa, is also a second-generation Scientologist. Marissa and her twin brother, Giovanni, were delivered by Beck's mother, Bibbe. Beck publicly acknowledged his affiliation with Scientology for the first time in an interview published in ''The New York Times Magazine'' on March 6, 2005. Further confirmation came in an interview with the Irish ''Sunday Tribune's'' ''i Magazine'' on June 11, 2005, where he was quoted as saying, "Yeah, I'm a Scientologist. My father has been a Scientologist for about 35 years, so I grew up in and around it." When questioned by the interviewer about Scientology's core beliefs, he replied:

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Appearances in media

The 1986 punk rock musical ''Population: 1'' features a young Beck in a small nonspeaking role alongside Tomata du Plenty of The Screamers. Beck also appeared in ''Southlander'' (2001), an American independent film by Steve Hanft and Ross Harris.

Beck has performed on ''Saturday Night Live'' six times; these shows were hosted by Kevin Spacey, Bill Paxton, Christina Ricci, Jennifer Garner, Tom Brady and Hugh Laurie. During his 2006 performance in the Hugh Laurie episode, Beck was accompanied by the puppets that had been used on-stage during his world tour. He has made two cameo appearances as himself on ''Saturday Night Live'': one in a sketch about medicinal marijuana, and one in a VH1 ''Behind the Music'' parody that featured "Fat Albert & the Junkyard Gang."

Beck performed a guest voice as himself in Matt Groening's animated show ''Futurama'', in the episode "Bendin' in the Wind". He performed in episode 10 of the fourth season of ''The Larry Sanders Show'', in which the producer character Artie (Rip Torn) referred to him as a "hillbilly from outer space". He also made a very brief voice appearance in 1998 cartoon feature film, ''The Rugrats Movie'', and guest-starred as himself in a 1997 episode of ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' entitled "Edelweiss."

Beck has also made appearances in the Adult Swim show ''Mission Hill''. Accepting an award, he comes up on stage wearing the new "Spicy pants" trend. In consequence the main character begins throwing all of his "Beck" albums out his upper-story window.

In an episode of ''Celebrity Deathmatch'', Beck was featured fighting Björk in a "battle to be the best monosyllabic musician of all time", which ended with both of them slain by Bach, who appeared via a time machine.

On January 22, 2010, Beck appeared on ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'''s last show as a backup guitarist for a Will Ferrell–led rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" alongside ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, Ben Harper, and O'Brien himself on guitar.

Discography

;Studio albums

''Golden Feelings'' (1993)

''A Western Harvest Field By Moonlight'' (1994)

''Stereopathetic Soulmanure'' (1994)

''Mellow Gold'' (1994)

''One Foot in the Grave'' (1994)

''Odelay'' (1996)

''Mutations'' (1998)

''Midnite Vultures'' (1999)

''Sea Change'' (2002)

''Guero'' (2005)

''The Information'' (2006)

''Modern Guilt'' (2008)

References

External links

Whiskeyclone.net, large, informative Beck site

Stewoo.net, the largest Beck fan forum

Beck at ''Rolling Stone''

Category:1970 births Category:American alternative country singers Category:American alternative rock musicians Category:American buskers Category:American folk guitarists Category:American folk singers Category:American male singers Category:American multi-instrumentalists Category:American music video directors Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:American musicians of Norwegian descent Category:American musicians of Scottish descent Category:American musicians of Swedish descent

Category:American rock singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American Scientologists Category:Anti-folk musicians Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:K Records artists Category:Living people

Category:Musicians from Los Angeles, California Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists Category:XL Recordings artists

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background	solo_singer
birth name	Geoffrey Arnold Beck
born	June 24, 1944Wallington, England
instrument	Guitar, bass, talk box, vocals, trumpet, drums, flute, contrabass
genre	Blues rock, jazz fusion, instrumental rock, hard rock, electronica, progressive rock
occupation	Musician, songwriter, actor
years active	1964-present
label	EMI, Epic (punch)
associated acts	The Yardbirds, The Jeff Beck Group, The Honeydrippers, Beck, Bogert & Appice, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Big Town Playboys, Upp, Eric Clapton, Duff McKagan
website
notable instruments	Fender Jeff Beck Signature Model StratocasterJeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood }}

Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists, to have played with The Yardbirds. (Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page are the other two.) Beck also formed The Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice.

Much of Beck's recorded output has been instrumental, with a focus on innovative sound and his releases have spanned genres ranging from blues-rock, heavy metal, jazz fusion and most recently, an additional blend of guitar-rock and electronica. Although he recorded two hit albums (in 1975 and 1976) as a solo act, Beck has not established or maintained a broad following or the sustained commercial success of many of his collaborators and bandmates. Beck appears on albums by Mick Jagger, Kate Bush, Roger Waters, Stevie Wonder, Les Paul, Zucchero, Cyndi Lauper, Brian May and ZZ Top. In 1988, he made a cameo appearance in the movie ''Twins''.

He was ranked 14th in ''Rolling Stone's'' list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and the magazine has described him as "one of the most influential lead guitarists in rock". He was also ranked second greatest rock guitarist of all time in Digital Dream Door, a site that ranks movies and music. MSNBC has called him a "guitarist's guitarist". Beck has earned wide critical praise and received the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance six times. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: as a member of The Yardbirds (1992) and as a solo artist (2009).

Biography

Early life

}} Beck was born in 1944 to Arnold and Ethel Beck at 206 Demesne Road, Wallington, England. As a ten year old Beck sang in a church choir. As a teenager he learned to play a borrowed guitar and made several attempts to build his own instrument, first by gluing and bolting together cigar boxes for the body and an unsanded fence-post for the neck with model aircraft control-lines and frets simply painted on. When fabricating a neck for his next try he attempted to use measurements for a bass guitar.

Beck has cited Les Paul as the first electric guitar player who impressed him. Cliff Gallup, lead guitarist with Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps was an early musical influence, followed by B.B. King and Steve Cropper.

Upon leaving school he attended Wimbledon College of Art, after which he was briefly employed as a painter and decorator, a groundsman on a golf course and a car paint-sprayer. Beck's sister introduced him to Jimmy Page when both were teenagers.

Early career

Beck began his career in the 1960s. He joined "The Rumbles" a Croydon band in 1963 for a short period as lead guitarist, playing Gene Vincent and Buddy Holly songs, displaying a talent for mimicking guitar styles. His first appearance on vinyl was as a session guitarist on a 1964 Parlophone single by The Fitz and Startz entitled 'I'm Not Running Away' c/w 'So Sweet'.

In March 1965 Beck was recruited by The Yardbirds to replace Eric Clapton on the recommendation of fellow session man Jimmy Page, who had been their initial choice. The Yardbirds recorded most of their Top 40 hit songs during Beck's time with the band, which was short (but significant), allowing him only one full album, ''Yardbirds'' which became known as ''Roger the Engineer'', released in 1966. From September to November 1966 he shared lead guitar duties with Page, who initially joined as bass player in June of that year.

In February 1967, after recording the one-off "Beck's Bolero" (with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Nicky Hopkins and Keith Moon) and two solo hit singles in the UK, "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and "Tallyman", Beck formed The Jeff Beck Group, which featured Rod Stewart on vocals, Ronnie Wood on bass, Nicky Hopkins on piano and, after a series of drummers, eventually Micky Waller.

The group produced two albums for Columbia Records (Epic in the US): ''Truth'' (August 1968) and ''Beck-Ola'' (July 1969). ''Truth'', released five months before the first Led Zeppelin album, features "You Shook Me", a song written and first recorded by Willie Dixon that was also covered on the Led Zeppelin debut. It sold well (reaching number 15 on the ''Billboard'' charts). ''Beck-Ola'', while well-received, saw drummer Micky Waller replaced by Tony Newman, and was less successful both commercially and critically. Resentment, coupled with touring incidents, led the group to dissolve in July 1969.

Nick Mason recalls in his autobiography that during 1967 Pink Floyd had wanted to recruit Beck to be their guitarist after the departure of Syd Barrett but "None of us had the nerve to ask him".

After the break-up of his group Beck took part in the ''Music From Free Creek'' "super session" project, billed as "A.N. Other" and contributed lead guitar on four songs, including one co-written by him. Next he teamed up with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, the rhythm section of Vanilla Fudge in September 1969, when Bogert and Appice came to England to resolve contractual issues, but when Beck fractured his skull in a car accident near Maidstone in December the plan was postponed for two-and-a-half years, during which time Bogert and Appice formed Cactus. Beck later remarked on the 1960s period of his life: "Everyone thinks of the 1960s as something they really weren't. It was the frustration period of my life. The electronic equipment just wasn't up to the sounds I had in my head.''

In 1970, when Beck had regained his health, he set about forming a band with drummer Cozy Powell. Beck, Powell and producer Mickie Most flew to the US and recorded several tracks at Motown Studios with Motown session men, but the results remained unreleased. By April 1971 Beck had completed the line-up of this new group with guitarist/vocalist Bobby Tench, keyboard player Max Middleton and bassist Clive Chaman. The new band performed as the "Jeff Beck Group" but had a substantially different sound from the first line-up. ''Rough and Ready'' (October 1971), the first album they recorded, on which Beck wrote or co-wrote six of the album's seven tracks (the exception being written by Middleton), included elements of soul, rhythm-and-blues and jazz, foreshadowing the direction Beck's music would take later in the decade.

A second album ''Jeff Beck Group'' (July 1972) was recorded at TMI studios in Memphis, Tennessee with the same personnel. Beck employed Steve Cropper as producer and the album displayed a strong soul influence, five of the nine tracks being covers of songs by American artists. One, "I Got To Have A Song", was the first of four Stevie Wonder compositions covered by Beck. Shortly after the release of the ''Jeff Beck Group'' album the band was dissolved and Beck's management put out the statement that: "The fusion of the musical styles of the various members has been successful within the terms of individual musicians, but they didn't feel it had led to the creation of a new musical style with the strength they had originally sought."

Beck then started collaborating with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, who became available following the demise of Cactus but continued touring as Jeff Beck Group in August 1972, to fulfil contractual obligations with his promoter, with a line-up including Bogert, Appice, Max Middleton and vocalist Kim Milford. After six appearances Milford was replaced by Bobby Tench, who was flown in from the UK for the ''Arie Crown Theatre'' Chicago performance and the rest of the tour, which concluded at the Paramount North West Theatre, Seattle. After the tour Tench and Middleton left the band and the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice appeared: Appice took on the role of vocalist with Bogert and Beck contributing occasionally. They were included on the bill for ''Rock at The Oval'' in September 1972, still as the "Jeff Beck Group", which marked the start of a tour schedule of UK, the Netherlands and Germany. Another US tour began in October 1972, starting at the Hollywood Sportatorium Florida and concluding on 11 November 1972 at The Warehouse, New Orleans. In April 1973 the album ''Beck, Bogert & Appice'' was released (on Epic Records). While critics acknowledged the band's instrumental prowess the album was not commercially well received except for its cover of Stevie Wonder's hit "Superstition".

On 3 July 1973 Beck joined David Bowie on-stage to perform "The Jean Genie"/"Love Me Do" and "Around and Around". The show was recorded and filmed but none of the released editions included Beck. During October 1973 Beck recorded tracks for Michael Fennelly's album ''Lane Changer'' and attended sessions with Hummingbird, a band derived from The Jeff Beck Group, but did not to contribute to their eponymous first album

Early in January 1974 the band played at the Rainbow Theatre, as part of a European tour. The concert was broadcast in full on the US show ''Rock Around the World'' in September of the same year. This last recorded work by the band previewed material intended for a second studio album, included on the bootleg ''At Last Rainbow''. The tracks ''Blues Deluxe'' and ''BBA Boogie'' from this concert were later included on the Jeff Beck compilation ''Beckology'' (1991). Beck, Bogert & Appice dissolved in April 1974 before their second studio album (produced by Jimmy Miller) was finished. Their live album ''Beck, Bogert & Appice Live in Japan'', recorded during their 1973 tour of Japan, was not released until February 1975 by Epic/Sony.

After a few months Beck entered Underhill Studio and met with the group Upp, whom he recruited as backing band for his appearance on the BBC TV programme ''Guitar Workshop'' in August 1974. Beck produced and played on their self-titled debut album and their second album ''This Way Upp'', though his contributions to the second album went uncredited. In October Beck began to record instrumentals at AIR Studios with Max Middleton, bassist Phil Chen and drummer Richard Bailey, using George Martin as producer and arranger. ''Blow by Blow'' (March 1975) evolved from these sessions and showcased Beck's technical prowess in jazz-rock. The album reached number four in the charts and is Beck's most commercially-successful release. Beck, fastidious about overdubs and often dissatisfied with his solos, often returned to AIR Studios until he was satisfied. A couple of months after the sessions had finished Martin received a telephone call from Beck, who wanted to record a solo section again. Bemused, Martin replied: "I'm sorry, Jeff, but the record is in the shops!"

Beck put together a live band for a US tour, preceded by a small and unannounced gig at The Newlands Tavern in Peckham, London. He toured through April and May 1975, mostly supporting the Mahavishnu Orchestra, retaining Max Middleton on keyboards but with the new rhythm section of Wilbur Bascomb (bass) and noted session drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. In a May 1975 show in Cleveland, Ohio (Music Hall), he became frustrated with an early version of a "talk box" he used on his arrangement of The Beatles "She's A Woman," and after breaking a string, tossed his legendary Yardbirds-era Stratocaster off the stage. He did the same with the talk box and finished the show playing a Les Paul and without the box. During this tour he performed at Yuya Uchida's "World Rock Festival," playing a total of eight songs with Purdie. In addition he performed a guitar and drum instrumental with Johnny Yoshinaga and, at the end of the festival, joined in a live jam with bassist Felix Pappalardi of Mountain and vocalist Akira "Joe" Yamanaka from the Flower Travellin' Band. Only his set with Purdie was recorded and released.

He returned to the studio and recorded ''Wired'' (1976), which paired the drummer and composer Narada Michael Walden and keyboardist Jan Hammer. The album used a jazz-rock fusion style which sounded similar to the work of his two collaborators. To promote the album, Beck joined forces with the Jan Hammer Group, playing a show supporting Alvin Lee at The Roundhouse in May 1976, before embarking on a seven-month long world tour. This resulted in the live album ''Jeff Beck with The Jan Hammer Group - Live'' (1977).

At this point, Beck was a tax exile and took up residency in the US, remaining there until his return to the UK in the autumn of 1977. In the spring of 1978, he began rehearsing with bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Gerry Brown towards a projected appearance at the Knebworth Festival, but this was cancelled after Brown dropped out. Beck toured Japan for three weeks in November 1978 with an ad-hoc group consisting of Clarke and newcomers Tony Hymas (keyboards) and Simon Phillips (drums) from Jack Bruce's band. Work then began on a new studio album at The Who's Ramport Studios in London and continued sporadically throughout 1979, resulting in ''There and Back'' in June 1980. It featured three tracks composed and recorded with Jan Hammer, while five were written with Hymas. Stanley Clarke was replaced by Mo Foster on bass, both on the album and the subsequent tours. Its release was followed by extensive touring in the USA, Japan and the UK.

1980s

In 1981 Beck made a series of historic live appearances with his Yardbirds predecessor Eric Clapton at the Amnesty International-sponsored benefit concerts dubbed ''The Secret Policeman's Other Ball'' shows. He appeared with Clapton on "Crossroads", "Further On Up The Road", and his own arrangement of Stevie Wonder's "Cause We've Ended As Lovers". Beck also featured prominently in an all-star band finale performance of "I Shall Be Released" with Clapton, Sting, Phil Collins, Donovan and Bob Geldof. Beck's contributions were seen and heard in the resulting album and film, both of which achieved worldwide success in 1982. Another benefit show, the ARMS Concert for Multiple Sclerosis featured a jam with Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. They performed "Tulsa Time" and "Layla". This is the only time all of the Yardbirds lead guitarists appeared on stage together.

In 1985 Beck released ''Flash'', featurng a variety of vocalists, but most notably former bandmate Rod Stewart on a rendition of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready".

After a four year break, Jeff made a return to instrumental music with the album ''Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop'' (1989), the first album to feature Beck as a fingerstyle guitarist, leaving the plectrum playing style. It was only his 3rd album to be released in the 1980s. Much of Beck's sparse and sporadic recording schedule was due in part to a long battle with noise-induced tinnitus.

1990s

In the 1990s, Beck had a higher musical output. He is featured on lead guitar on Roger Waters' 1992 concept album ''Amused to Death'', and on Kate Bush's 1993 album ''The Red Shoes''.

He recorded the instrumental soundtrack album Frankie's House (1992), as well as Crazy Legs (1993), a tribute album to 50's rockabilly group Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps and their influential guitarist Cliff Gallup.

Beck rehearsed with Guns N' Roses for their concert in Paris in 1992, but did not play in the actual concert due to ear damage caused by a Matt Sorum cymbal crash, causing Beck to become temporarily deaf. The Yardbirds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. In Beck's acceptance speech he humorously noted that:

}} He accompanied Paul Rodgers of Bad Company on the album ''Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters'' in 1993. Jeff's next release would not be until 1999, his first foray into guitar based electronica, ''Who Else!'' The album also marked Beck's first collaboration with a female musician, Jennifer Batten, in touring, writing, and recording as well as the first time he had worked with another guitarist on his own material since playing in The Yardbirds. Beck continued to work with Batten through the post-release tour of ''You Had It Coming'' in 2001.

2000s

Jeff Beck won his third Grammy Award, this one for 'Best Rock Instrumental Performance' for the track "Dirty Mind" from ''You Had It Coming'' (2001).

The song "Plan B," from the 2003 release ''Jeff,'' earned Beck his fourth Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, and was proof that the new electro-guitar style he used for the two earlier albums would continue to dominate. Jeff Beck was the opening act for B.B. King in the summer of 2003 and appeared at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2004.

In 2007, he accompanied Kelly Clarkson for her cover of Patty Griffin's "Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)", during the Idol Gives Back episode of ''American Idol''. The performance was recorded live and afterwards was immediately released for sale. In the same year, he appeared once again at Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, performing with Vinnie Colaiuta, Jason Rebello, and the then 21-year-old bassist Tal Wilkenfeld.

Beck announced a world tour in early 2009 and remained faithful to the same lineup of musicians as in his tour two years before, playing and recording at Ronnie Scott's in London to a sold out audience. Beck played on the song "Black Cloud" on the 2009 Morrissey album ''Years of Refusal'' and later that year, Harvey Goldsmith became Beck's Manager.

Beck was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 4 April 2009, as a solo artist. The award was presented by Jimmy Page. On 4 July 2009, David Gilmour joined Beck onstage at the Albert Hall. Beck and Gilmour traded solos on "Jerusalem" and closed the show with "Hi Ho Silver Lining".

Beck's latest album, ''Emotion & Commotion'', was released in April 2010. It features a mixture of original songs and covers such as "Over the Rainbow" and "Nessun Dorma". Joss Stone provides some of the guest vocals. Two tracks from ''Emotion & Commotion'' won Grammys in 2011: "Nessun Dorms" won the Best Pop Instrumental Performance and "Hammerhead" won the Best Rock Instrumental Performance".

Beck's 2010 World Tour band features Grammy winning musician Narada Michael Walden on drums, Rhonda Smith on bass and Jason Rebello on keyboards. Beck collaborated on "Imagine" for the 2010 Herbie Hancock album, ''The Imagine Project'' along with Seal, P!nk, India.Arie, Konono N°1, Oumou Sangare and others. He has also released a live album titled Live and Exclusive from the Grammy Museum on October 25, 2010.

In 2011, Beck received two honorary degrees from British universities. On 18 July 2011, he was honoured with a fellowship from University of the Arts London in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to the field of Music". He was also presented with an honorary doctorate from University of Sussex by Sanjeev Bhaskar, the university's chancellor for “an outstanding musical career and celebrated the relationship between the university and the Brighton Institute of Modern Music (BIMM)" on 21 July 2011.

Influences

One of the most influential guitarists in the history of rock music, Jeff Beck has cited his major influences as Les Paul, The Shadows, Cliff Gallup, Ravi Shankar, Roy Buchanan, Chet Atkins, Django Reinhardt, Steve Cropper and Lonnie Mack. Of John McLaughlin, he said: "he has given us so many different facets of the guitar and introduced thousands of us to world music, by blending Indian music with jazz and classical. I'd say he was the best guitarist alive."

While Beck was not the first rock guitarist to experiment with electronic distortion, he nonetheless helped to redefine the sound and role of the electric guitar in rock music. Beck's work with The Yardbirds and The Jeff Beck Group's 1968 album ''Truth'' were seminal influences on heavy metal music, which emerged in full force in the early 1970s.

Technique and equipment

Beck stopped regular use of a pick (plectrum) in the 1980s. He produces a wide variety of sounds by using his fingers and the vibrato bar on his signature Fender Stratocaster, although he frequently uses a wah-wah pedal both live and in the studio. As Eric Clapton once said, "With Jeff, it’s all in his hands". Along with Fender Stratocasters, Beck occasionally plays Fender Telecaster and Gibson Les Paul models as well. His amplifiers are primarily Fender and Marshall. In his earlier days with the Yardbirds, Beck also used a 1954 Fender Esquire guitar (now owned by Seymour W. Duncan, and housed in the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) through Vox AC30s. He has also played through a variety of fuzz pedals and echo-units along with this set-up and has used the Pro Co RAT distortion pedal.

He is noted for changes of musical style and direction throughout his career. Ritchie Blackmore once praised this aspect of Jeff in an interview to Martin K. Webb, when the interviewer asked him what he means by "chance music", he replied:

During the ARMS Charity Concerts in 1983 Beck used his battered Fender Esquire along with a 1954 Fender Stratocaster and a Jackson Soloist. On the Crazy Legs (1993) he played a Gretsch Duo Jet, his signature Fender Stratocaster and various other guitars. Recently Fender created a Custom Shop Tribute series version of his beat-up Fender Esquire as well as his Artist Signature series Stratocaster.

Personal life

Beck has been married to Sandra Cash since 2005. Beck describes himself as a vegetarian. He has an interest in classic Ford hot rods, performing much of the work on the exteriors and engines of the cars by himself.

Discography

See also

List of rock instrumentals

Bibliography

Carson, Annette. ''Jeff Beck: Crazy Fingers''. Backbeat books (2002). ISBN 0-87930-632-7

Horjt, Chris and Hinman, Doug. ''Jeff's book : A chronology of Jeff Beck's career 1965-1980 : from the Yardbirds to Jazz-Rock''. Rock 'n' Roll Research Press, (2000). ISBN 0-9641005-3-3

Foster, Mo.''17 watts?: The Birth of British Rock Guitar''. Sanctuary (1997 and 2000). ISBN 978-1-86074-267-5

References

External links

Press conference and master class by Jeff Beck in Moscow 2010

Jeff Beck Official Site

''Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame: Jeff Beck'' FuseTV

Jeff Beck at Epic Records

Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood

Jeff Beck unofficial website

Category:English blues guitarists Category:English songwriters Category:English rock guitarists Category:Lead guitarists Category:English vegetarians Category:Musicians from London Category:People from Wallington, London Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:The Yardbirds members Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Fingerstyle guitarists Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:Blues rock musicians Category:Musicians from Tunbridge Wells Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians

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