Carmine Appice recounted for me recently a conversation he had with Jeff some years back. The subject was talking about touring and how he (Carmine) thought it was improtant as careers were approaching later life that one should get out and play live as much as possible as long as the ability was still there. He said Jeff's reaction was initially that it was nice to tour with a few years in between. Carmine then said he pointed out to Jeff that they were approaching the time in their lives where there were less "fewer years in between" that were left and that he (Jeff) should get out and play more. Whether conciously or not Jeff has indeed toured much more frequently of late years to the joy of all his fans.
One man that Jeff admires has spent one night a week for years still playing live up to this year at the age of ninety, Mr. Les Paul. Although many have cited him as an influence, it was Jeff's admiration that has most caught Les's ears and eyes over the years. Les has said publicly and in print that of all the modern rock guitarists that Jeff most closely displays the range of human emotions that Les himself aspires to in his playing. This recognition most recently culminated in a video taped congratulation to Jeff for the new catagory at the Mojo Magazine annual awards....the Gibson Les Paul award. I'm sure Jeff would have loved to have been there for Les's birthday tribute. However Jeff was in the midst of doing something that Les truly understands and that is getting ready for the "show" ie: in this case Jeff's imminent appearance at the Meltdown Festival and the subsequent tour of Japan.
Jeff will appear on "Good News" on the forthcoming Les Paul Tribute Lp due out soon. The real test of whether or not Jeff truly embodies the Les Paul spirit lies in the future. No one knows how long Jeff will keep touring. Surely at this point he probably doesn't have any idea himself. It would be nice someday to see Jeff playing hot licks on a TV show and playfully pull the plug on some young accompanying hot shit guitarist just as Les did to Jeff on that magic performance on the NBC TV rock show that night in 1983.
Be seeing You!
A few "Don't share this with anybody" copies got distributed to a few friends and.....you know how the rest goes. Anyways the DVD starts out with Goin Down with Billy Gibbons orchestrating the timing of where Jeff and he would trade licks on measures and who would solo when. Our hero is dressed in his battle fatigue pants that he wears a lot these days reminding him of his special camoflague strat that he premiered to a couple of fans back in the last UK tour. "See issue 11"
At first the videographer is walking around so there are a few audio parts that don't have the camera glued on Jeff for the guitar afficianados. However for the next number, a stone cold blues jam, all lenses are on Jeff and Billy for the most part. Here's where a classic deja vu happens. Remember the 1984 CBS convention video where Jeff puts his hand in his back pocket after the blues solo which Stevie Ray commented about on the MTV plugs before their tour together. What amazed Stevie Ray was repeated with ZZ Top. Jeff coaxed exquisite hot rodded blues licks from his strat so much that at one point Billy Gibbons just dropped his hands, turned around and put his hands on his hips staring in utter disbelief at what he was hearing come from Jeff's hands. Finally, there is the ZZ classic "Buck Naked" which Jeff is enjoying the changes and the ending.
Not to be forgotten are the few comic moments in the seventeen minute video. There were a few stage hands, friends, and Cotton BOwl workers witnessing this incredible event and all were quiet as mice not wanting to disturb the stars. Billy motioned them at the end of Goin Down that it was OK to clap! Also at one point he got Jeff to fein a retreat behind the amps as he said "Jeff's gonna sing now." Hah! (remember Jeff got a vocal credit on ZZ's last lp) This is a must see for all fans who are patient enough to wait a bit for the natural order of things to happen. Just pretend it's time like in Jeff's world and the days, months,years, and centuries will pass quickly. Hah!
Be seeing you!
Flashback one night to June 9th........The Yardbirds, having a day off from the tour booked a small intimate gig at the famous Freebird Cafe Live(owned by Skynnard family survivors) in Jacksonville Beach, FL. EXACTLY ONE MILE IN A STRAIGHT LINE DOWN THE STREET FROM MY HOME!!!!!!!! A quick call to Carmine landed me Polo, Jim McCarty's drum tech for the tour. I arrived at the club at about 4pm, spotted the tour bus, and went up to the club doors. Inside I spotted Chris walking the stage area ever the total professional "mother" Yardbird making sure everything looked copacetic. I knocked on the door and he opened it with a big smile. I introduced myself and Chris exclaimed, "Oh, should I go and get Jim (McCarty)? I told Chris that would be fine but that I had waited over forty years to meet him too. He said, "That's not such a long time now is it?" As he went to get Jim......................................
Meanwhile another guy had slipped inside. This guy brought with him the most amazing collection of Yardbird lps and reissues worldwide that I had ever seen and for that matter that Chris or Jim (they agreed the next night in WPB) had ever seen. His name is Johnny and if you are reading this dude get in touch as I recall you live in Jax Beach too. Chris and Jim respectively spent the next half hour solid signing every friggin one of those lps, ep's, cd's etc..... Finally Jim smiled and shook my hand. After photo ops I asked Jim and Chris if they would mind if I sat through the soundcheck. They both graciously agreed and what a treat! The band put together a rather psychedelic Yardbirds sounding primal soundbyte followed by a voice instructing the audience not to worry it's just the Yardbirds.....kind of like the don't touch that dial it's just your TV set style of The Outer Limits sci-fi back in the sixties. Detroit John Idan has taken over all the lead vocal duties as well as the bass duties on his homemade Hofner body looking Gibson electronics bass. Wall of sound....lovely. Chris Dreja exudes the lost art of rythym guitar. .....Knows just when to play a three note chord or barre chord or drop it all off and pick up and shake the maracas.....Jim is the most understated drummer ever. His carreer has always been looking to the edge of cultural sounds. I am enthralled with Don't Tell Me 'bout The News with it's big band New Orleans style swing. You expect Jim Carey to come out of the woodwork with The Mask saying "Sammmmokkkin!!! I told him that after the soundcheck. He grinned and said, "You like that one eh?" Jerry Donahue has to be heard to be believed. While not accustomed to the historical stage movements of his early predecessors, his fingers do all the talking. He pulls off strings and bends in new imaginative ways yet always comes back to the hook at the right time to say "I'm just continuing Yardbirds history." Finally Billy Boy, the new harp player, is definately one of the top if not the top blues Harpist in the world. He has honed his chops in Europe having played with even the reclusive but blues brilliant Paul Jones (Manfred Mann...Dog Presides collaborator with Jeff, McCartney, and Samwell Smith in 68) Anyways on the Box OF Frog classic Back Where I started From Billy Boy cups his harp and sways just right to get that low frequency harp vibe that so many shrill harpists miss.
The setlist (Polo gave me Chris's so it's 100% accurate) is as follows:
I'm Not Talking Over Under Sideways Down Don't You Tell Me 'bout The News Crying Out For Love Train Kept A Rollin Certain Girl Heart Full Of Soul My Blind Life Dream Within A Dream Shapes Of Things Mystery Of Being Rack My Mind Back Where I Started From For Your Love Still I'm Sad I'm Confused Encores: I'm A Man Smokestack Lightning
The venue itself is an acoustic model for warmth and richness. Yet there was sadly only 60 people that attended the show. Nevertheless by I'm a Man and Smokestack EVERYONE was having a rave up at the stage and pounding on the stage monitor buffer. I stared right at Jim and he cracked a big grin. GREAT SHOW! After the show I told Jim I would see them the next night and maybe sit and relax afterwards as there is no lounge area at the small club and I hate tour buses. On to WPB!
Skirting an approaching Tropical Storm, the heavens parted just in time for the Strange Days Festival at The Sound Advice Amphitheatre in WPB on the evening of June 10th. I arrived with an old friend, Dana, and we hung outside the gates until I reached the Yardbirds tour manager Keith who got us tickets. However the Yardbirds had no aftershow passes so I phoned Carmine. He managed to get us one pass as Mark Stein had hogged most of the rest of the Fudge's allocation as he is from that area. Carmine wa so great with us. He got the tour manager to come get us and we went onstage behind the drums to do a couple of photo ops with Carmine. Then he took us over to the Fudge's pavillion to relax and chat. Timmy was still sleeping on the tour bus. Carmine told us that he and Jeff had a discussion a few years back on the need to do more touring as carreers wound down because time flies. I asked Carmine if he had found the Blow By Blow original five tracks. He said he knew they were with a friend on a computer and would try to get a hold of them in the fall. I gave him a taped interview of he and Jeff from 73 done by Patti Smith's guitarist Lenny Kaye. Also bestowed on Carmine was a Japenese mastered live BBA show different from the released one. He thanked us for them and asked if we wanted to hear opening act Pat Travers (who has released a joint venture with Carmine. Check out Carmine Appice's website) Of course we agreed and went to stage left with Carmine. After Travers Carmine left us to our own devices. We stayed about half the Yardbirds set and then were kicked out front by a bunch of nasty security people.
After listening to most of the Fudge's set which contained unusually extra brilliant vocals and my two fave's She's Not There and You Keep Me Hangin' On, we phoned Keith who rescued us from watchful security eyes and he led us back to the Yardbirds pavillion apartment. After about five minutes Jim McCarty came out and escorted us inside where Keith opened up a Heiniken or two and Jim offered us food. Dana brought his Beckology book to sign. Jim was interested in that as he had never seen some of the Yardbirds photos in that publication. He mentioned that the Yardbirds were planning an official DVD. I gave Jim a present from myself, John Walsh, and Richard MacKay. It was a cd copy of The Holy Smoke single "if You've Got A Little Love To Give" which we interviewed Jim about in a previous issue of the bulletin. Jeff Beck played lead on that one off rare session. Jim didn't have a copy and was very appreciative. "You know I'm going to his wedding don't you!" Jim suddenly burst out. Oh well if anyone is actually reading this far they can now put two and two together with the mention of the superstar jam mentioned in What's New and the photo and wallpaper color of this issue! (Ed. Note..Hey I'm just a journalist reporting a quote!) I asked Chris if his hip was better as Bill had ascertained in London last year that he was thinking about surgery. Chris said it was much better, didn't need the surgery and said with a voice of an angel "Thanks for asking!".
We thanked Keith, Polo, Jim, Chris, Billy Boy, and Jerry (John was out in the audience strolling about meeting fans and listening to the show which I understand he did a lot so thank you John in posthmus) and headed back out to the world of security goons. Luckily Carmine was right outside the walkway and spotted us again. "Hey Dick, you wanna meet Phil Chenn?' He beckoned us over to the backstage door where after tilting my head downwards spotted a tiny thin bassist with a combo West Indian/American Indian hair makeover tuning up with ear pods on a Fender bass that I swear was as big as he was. Carmine shook Phil's shoulder. Phil looked up with a big grin an siad "Hey compadre" as they both hugged. "Phil, Carmine said. You have to meet Dick. He's the Jeff Beck Webpage guy." I shook hands with Phil who I reminded about our phone interview years earlier. He said he couldn't find the initial Blow By Blow takes with Carmine at his mothers hourse in London. I wished him well and went on to the Fudge meet and greet. After that we listened to a couple of Doors tunes. I can understand why Jeff never took Phil on the road. Don't get me wrong. Both Jeff and I think he is a great bass player with great feel and tone. However for a Jeff road show the tone is not what Jeff needed at the time. He needed and got Wilbur Bascombe who was much more into filling the gaps and attack fusion playing. When you got far enough away from the stage it looked like there was a bass swinging back and forth by itself with no one behind it. Phil is that small. Great bassist though..... richest tones on Blow By Blow ever!
One night......five live Beckbirds........Great shows.....Great commraderies. Thanks to all......and who was that Jim spotted sitting in the front row? Only he knows for sure. email me oh 'Dangerous One."
Be Seeing You!
Having worked with Mark Knopfler, Dave Stewart and others was of no consequence when working with Jeff. He's very hands-on for a start, I'd been used to taking care of all the backline stuff, amp settings equipment configuration etc but Jeff has his own way. He hates wireless for a start and says the only way you can achieve the right sound is to be plugged directly into the amp (well, maybe via the effects). Trouble with that is you end up having to use a very long high impedance cable which does for the tone what Rockwool does for the volume. (A way round this I've used a lot in the past is two in-line impedance converters (usually Shures, can't remember the model numbers off-hand) back to back with a mic cable in between. This way you can have a very short jack cable into the amp and a regular length guitar cable the other end. I know you have two transformers in the signal path but listening tests show it to be infinitely preferable to a 30 foot guitar jack).
His effects I patched in similar fashion through the FX loop on the back of the Marshall. Again this reduces the damage to the low level guitar signal. The first thing I noticed about Jeff's playing close up is that he plays ALL of the guitar. I don't think I've ever seen anyone play in such a fashion. Strings are on the heavy side - he told me that Jimi Hendrix once told him to get rid of the thin cheese wires he was using back then and put on heavier gauge strings, otherwise he's not gonna get the tone, man! I think only Jimi could have told him that... (He had other Jimi stories too).
Aside story: One day in sound check I was standing by the amps when Jeff came over to adjust the sound. As I watched him (closely) fiddle with the amp controls he suddenly pulled off this incredible, and I mean incredible, lick with one hand. I swear what I saw him do didn't match what I heard. He looked at me and must have seen the expression on my face because he just grinned and winked - he knew he'd just blown me away! In 25 years I've stood next to Knopfler, Clapton, Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards and a dozen other top guitarists and I can tell you I have no idea what Jeff did on that day!
During the show it's, as you might imagine, very intense. Jeff almost gets lost in the music and does, in fact forget where he is the tune sometimes. Luckily the other guys help him back on those rare occasions. He's almost the antithesis of a pop star, wandering around comparatively shy and self-effacing when out amongst the punters. Although as we know he can be a bit of a tyrant sometimes with those around him...
Aside story: In Tokyo, night off, so a bunch of us road crew trot off to Roppongi district, the errm, 'interesting' part of town, to find a bar etc. On the way I happen to notice tucked away in a side street a bar called The BBA Bar (yes), I said to the others this is too much of a coincidence, surely, they scoffed at me. So I went in to look - it was a shrine to Jeff Beck!! I called the others and with our backstage passes, ahem, visible, we walked in. Well, all I can tell you is we got very very drunk and none of us spent a penny. We went back there a couple of nights later with some of the band (not Jeff, unfortunately) and gave the bar owners some tickets - don't remember much after that...
More later...
Be seeing you.
Tony Hymas may just be the king of experimentation when it comes to mixing musical forms. In early ' he set out to do a presentation in France called Ursus Minor which featured an ad hoc group of top musicians, a French R&B diva, and some young French rap stars. Little is known of the full presentation (readers are encouraged to contribute details) but what has been memorialized on tape is seven minute ending of show presentation of "Superstition" which featured Tony's friend and our guitar hero Jeff Beck contributing solos and fill once again onstage with different musicians on the Steveie Wonder penned song for Jeff Beck. After a female soul vocal burst similar to Patti Labelle's rendition at The Rainforest Tribute, Jeff once again took center stage. Instead of the melodic flow off of Labelle, Jeff sensed the youth primal urgency of the rappers to come and simply snasrled with the most amazing dirty low and truly earthy growls off his Strat. It was more similar to the studio take off the BBA lp with much more bite as this "producer" did not turn down Jeff's sound. As the rappers came in to mix with Jeff, Tony,and the band, it got me to wondering what would have happened if some rapper had offered Jeff a duet the way it came out with Joe Perry and the rapper that was released a couple of years ago......One wonders......
Seems that Ursus Minor not only did a live French gig but was a conceptually mastered studio project by Tony Hymas as well. Released only in Europe this summer, Zugzwang is the most ambitious Hymas project yet. His base band including a great guitarist named Jeff Lee Johnson joined the English and French rappers and the Diva Ada in a totally left leaning political statement on a world view according to the rappers. Zugzwang is a supposedly irretrievable position that really isn't so there is some light in this gloomy music/rap. The light is shed by the female vocalist Ada who adds vocals of hope rather than despair. THe other hopefull side is the inclusion of Jeff Beck who brings sonic snarls to the political babblings of the rappers on Lists, and the greatest three way guitar/keyboard/guitar jam since the live Full Moon Boogie of Keyboard/violin/guitar jam of Hammer, Kindler, and Jeff Beck on the Jeff Beck Live w/ Jan Hammer lp.
That tune is called Square Dance Rap and after the rappers poke fun at white country socializing via square dancing,Jeff Lee Johnson, Tony, and Jeff barnstorm a vicious jam based on a two strum chord two note base...Finally Beck contributes to the ever hopeful "we are the world "type chant called "The Letter", and the opening song"Won't Stop Raining."
A side note......"She Can't Explain" provides the melodic base that Jeff borrowed from Tony for "Why Oh Lord Why" on Jeff's last lp..done around the time of those sessions. The political cartoons on the liner sleeve are most disturbing and sometimes sicklly comical.....emotions that Jeff easily translates sometimes on guitar......Again we say put Jeff with an American rapper and let Jeff wail. 'twould be an advancement from what Joe Perry tried to pioneer a couple of years ago.
Be seeing You.
A few goood recordings made will memorialize forever the treatment of Hendrix at this year's festival by Jeff Beck. Hosted by Patti Smith, she introduces the last act of the festivities as "The jewel of our crown......Jeff Beck." Starting off with Hey Joe, Jeff and his new touring line-up of Vinny Calaiuta (drums), Jason Robello (keyboards), Pino Palladino (bass), and Jimmy Hall (vocals), interpreted 4 out of the five Hendrix catalougue as it should have been.....straight ahead. With the exception of Manic Depression in which the 1991 arrangement by Jeff and Seal was reprised, it was like listening to a modern day Hendrix band with all the emotion, spontanaiety, and rock on vivre that it deserved. Jimmy Hall added a nice flavor to the lyrics since he is a great vocalist and Hendrix never intended to be. On Hey Joe, Jeff Beck drove home that low Hendrix Strat bass line really effectively. The highlight of the set was Red House. Here Jeff is playing what Hendrix would have wanted that being Jeff to freak out in Jeff's own personal style. Once again folks Jeff continues to amaze with his stellar and crisp straight ahead blues performances reinforcing the fact that although not known for a ton of straight ahead twelve bar blues, when he does do it HE DOES IT UP BETTER THAN ANYONE!!!!!! All Along the Watchtower found Patti Smith back onstage with the band. After a hard driving Manic Depression which Jeff again reared back and rocked the crowd at the Royal Festival Hall, the crowd clamored for the encore minute after minute.........Jeff and his band were joined by Patti's own band now featuring Robin Hitchcock on guitar. Unfortunately Patti chose to preface the encore with a lot of poltical babbling rhetoric but that's punk....that's Patti. Castles Made Of Sand was the finale and here Jeff was content just to lay back, enjoy the moment, and contribute little riffs and rhythm in the background.
All in all a great set, a preface to part of the ensuing Japanese tour shows(being the same band and portions of the Hendrix set used on the tour) and Jimi smiling from rock Heaven at his friend and peer....Jeff Beck. Audio note: Don't settle for recordings with a chopped up Manic Depression, There are A-1 recordings out there. Good hunting.
Be seeing you.
Carmine,
Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you, your girlfriend, and
your family are well. We added another stage pic of
you in issue 13 of The Jeff Beck Bulletin link on
our site.
YO DICK..YOU CAN USE PHOTOS FROM MY SITE..OK..CA
I'm gonna make it easy for you to talk about the BxB
pre history as I'll just lead in with some questions
if you would be gracious enough to answer. Write as
little or as much as you like. Also have you had any
progress in locating the BxB demos?
STILL TRYING TO GET THE CDS
How soon after the last failed attempt to get the
third BBA lp done with Sly Stone did Jeff contact
you about doing another project?
I WENT OVER IN AUG 74 TO SEE WHAT JEFF WANTED TO DO
SINCE BBA WAS OVER...SO I WAS DONE PLAYING WITH TIM AT
THE TIME BECAUSE OF HIS WEIRD ATTITUDE GOING ON
THEN... ME AND JEFF STARTED PLAYING WITH PHIL CHEN AND
MAX..TO BE EITHER A JEFF SOLO ALBUM OR A BECK APPICE
ALBUM..THIS WAS NOT CONFIRMED UNTIL WE WERE RECORDIBG
THE TRACKS..THEN ERNEST AND EPIC DECIDED IT TO BE A
BECK SOLO ALBUM...
Did you guys specifically settle on 5 initial
tracks? I mean had Jeff been formulating stuff with
Max and play you demos or exactly how did all that
come about?
NO THESE TRACKS WERE ALL PUT TOGETHER AT THE
REHEARSALS WE WERE DOING..ALL BRAND NEW SONGS...WE HAD
A GOOD AMOUNT OF REHEARSALS IN LONDON TO GET THIS
ACCOMPLISHED...I DON'T THINK JEFF WAS FORMULATING
ANYTHING BEFORE THESE REHEARSALS
Of the initial tracks I know of three. Scatterbrain
(which has wonderful drums that you told me you
wrote for that instrument), Shes A Woman (which Max
had arranged into reggea style with Maggie Lewis)and
Constipated Duck (which Phil Chenn had hummed to me
over the phone on another interview). What were the
other two and did you guys fool around with anything
else that didn't come out on BxB?
I ACTUALLY CAN'T REMEMBER THE OTHER 2 MAYBE "YOU KNOW
WHAT I MEAN"?...I'D HAVE TO HEAR THEM...CAN'T REALLY
REMEMBER THAT FAR BACK
Was George Martin in the studios at that time?
OH YES HE WAS WHAT A GREAT PRODUCER...HE MADE
EVERYONE RELAX.ESPECIALLY JEFF....AND THE SOUNDS ON
THE TRACKS WERE AMAZING..MY DRUM SOUNDS WERE GREAT!!
REALLY TIGHT BUT BIG AND GREAT PRESENCE...
Describe the best you can remember the daily routine
during those sessions and anything else you can
recakk that would be interesting to both your and
Jeff's fans.
THIS WAS TOO LONG AGO TO ACTUALLY REMEMBER...BUT IT
WAS THE USUAL I WOULD THINK...
GO IN AT ABOUT 12 NOON..
1-TEA FIRST THING...
2-SCREWING AROUND
3- GETTING DOWN TO DOING TRACKS
4- BREAK FOR FOOD MAYBE 4 PM
5- MORE TRACKS ...WORKED TO ABOUT 10-11 PM
i THINK THAT'S HOW IT MIGHT HAVE GONE..
THERE WAS AN EXCITING VIBE BECAUSE THIS WAS A NEW KIND
OF MUSIC FOR ALL OF US..ESPECIALLY ME AND JEFF WHO WAS
LISTENING TO ALOT OF JAZZ ROCK RECORDS AT THIS
POINT...
Thanks Carmine. Good luck with sales from your
project with Pat Travers, future Fudge gigs, and let
me know when your back in FL.!
Best, Dick
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ed. Rick Brown is well known British bassist, his career extends back to Cyril Davies
and The All Stars.)
Hi Dick
My first memory of Jeff Beck was at the Redcar Jazz and Blues Festival in
the late 60s, where he was appearing with the Yardbirds. On that particular
day Jeff seemed to be having a bad time... well, what seemed like a minor
nervous breakdown. However, he went on stage and played heroically - or was
persuaded to go on by the group's manager, the swashbuckling Georgio
Gromulski.
A couple of years later Jeff had made a name for himself and was forming a band with Cozy Powell. I went along for an audition at the house they were living in at the time - Noel Redding's mansion in the peaceful countryside. Jeff said his style was 'Hooligan Music' which is the perfect description for his playing. He plugged in to a mountain of amplifiers and proceeded to shatter all decibel levels ever experienced in those parts. I'll never forget looking out of the window and seeing a herd of cattle half a mile away stampeding in absolute panic!
Anyway I wasn't what they wanted, so that was the end of that.
I last saw Jeff two or three years ago at the record sessions with the Carlo Little Allstars. I enjoyed his playing and he made a great contribution to the band. But he took all the master tapes home with him and deleted every note he'd played. I suspect the sessions hadn't come up to his expectations. They didn't come up to mine, either.
What's interesting about Jeff is that he's a well-spoken, well-mannered clean living person - and when he plays he really is an outrageous hooligan!
I also hear that rather than going out playing he'd prefer to stay at home tinkering with and renovating old cars.
I don't blame him, really. I myself have made the decision never to play in a band again.
Well, that's it.... I hope this has been some use to you.
Regards,
Rick Brown ~~~~
The Crossroads Festival was not the only festival that Jeff Beck didn't appear as much as originally billed. Besides the fabled Woodstock 69 non appearance the biggest one would have to be the 1992 performance of Guns and Roses and Aerosmith in Paris broadcast worldwide on Pay Per View. Slash got word to Jeff's management that they would love him to guest with them and Aerosmith at that gig. MTV originally broadcast the tiniest of snippets of the soundcheck and Kurt Loder's interview with Jeff. The night of the concert however found Jeff in a hospital with a bad bout of Tinnitus.
Fortunately as in the case with the ZZ Top/Jeff Crossroads Festival soundcheck, decent quality DVD has surfaced of the rehearsals. Jeff is in prime form on Locomotion, and is clearly enjoying a literal roundtable jam with Guns/Aerosmith on Train Kept A Rollin. The best part of the DVD is the whole Kurt Loder/MTV News video with Jeff. The polite Mr. Beck explains how the meeting came about and then tongue in cheeks how he came about listening to Guns and Roses lp.."I went out and bought a copy......(turning his face to the camera)..."No, Actually someone sent me a copy." Earlier in the year at the Yardbirds Hall OF Fame Induction Jeff let the tinnitus cat out of the bag to a reporter. Here on camera with Kurt, Jeff Beck details his problem and predicts the same doom for all his contemporaries including the guests at hand. Video is about 17 minutes long. Happy Hunting.
Be seeing you!
Grinning from ear to hear she got out her laptop and shoved it in my lap and ordered me "Watch this but don't ask for a copy or I'll have to have you killed." Three minutes of part of Train Kept A Rollin from the star studded wedding jam with Page, McCartney, McCarty, Jeff and a couple of the Big Town Playboys. The other highlight before the show was when Jennifer tested the mic by jivin in LA gang style like you would not believe!!
Demonstrating the wonderous Digitech 300 effects box, Jennifer gave numerous instances of stunning guitar feel and chops during the seminar. Going over the various typecast sounds she quipped things as she changed effects like "There's (particular guitarists) in a box." Several tunes were played from her forthcoming lp which is based on humerous cultural circumstances set to guitar like the Valley Girl style funky piece called appropriately "Whatever". At one point during her interpretations she was jammin up a storm and the author tried to stand up with a standing ovation at the end. I was summarily ordered by Jennifer to "Sit down!" At the Q and A at the end of the clinic she talked about experiences with Jackson and Beck. When asked how Jeff tunes she replied, "He never tunes. He just bends to pitch.!" Finally when asked about her first experiences touring with Jeff she quipped "I found out very fast I was the keyboard player!" Buy her lp when it comes out, take a look at her stunning guitar jewelry on www.jenniferbatten.com, and hope she and Jeff play together again real soon!
Be seeing you!