Jeff Beck: Live at B.B. King's Blues Club
by Brian Hay
This could have been a difficult disc to review. It's a disc that has to be listened to as if all of the material is new, which is hard to do. All of the material is familiar. But, listening to it thinking you know what to expect is a mistake. I know. I did that and ended up feeling disappointed after listening to it for the first time. It was familiar but unfamiliar at the same time. It was unsettling.
And then I listened to it a few more times ...
Beck, joined by keyboard whiz Tony Hymas and drummer Terry Bozzio, drew from most areas of his catalogue for this show. "Roy's Toy" and "Nadia" draw from his year 2000 release, "You Had it Coming". "Psycho Sam", "Angel (Footsteps)" and "Brush With the Blues" come from his 1999 release, "Who Else". "Seasons" and "My Thing" are on his current release, "Jeff". Older pieces such as "Freeway Jam" and "Scatterbrain" from "Blow by Blow" along with "Good-bye Pork Pie Hat" from Wired" also found their way to the set.
All of the numbers played sound more raw in this performance than they did originally. "Roy's Toy" and most of the other recent cuts stay pretty close to their roots. "Nadia" gets a reading that is absolutely cutting though. It was an excellent piece to begin with. It promises to grow well with time. Older numbers such as "Freeway Jam", "Scatterbrain" and "Good-bye Pork Pie Hat" from Wired" differ considerably from their original renderings. "Scatterbrain" is played with a lot more of its edges left rough. This rendition of "Freeway Jam" is an up tempo take on the original. It has a heavier sound as well. "Good-bye Pork Pie Hat" becomes less of a ballad and more of an edgy blues rocker with a jazzy thread running through it. The changes on all the numbers numbers take some getting used to but they sound as right for the works as the original arrangements do. In some cases (such as with "Pork Pie Hat") they may have grown into something even better.
I can't really draw comparisons for "Savoy", "Big Block" and "You Never Know" because I haven't heard the original recordings for years*. The way they appears here is great to listen to. "People Get Ready" is presented as an instrumental and it works well. Beck has covered the work of (Curtis) Mayfield before and he obviously loves it. The original cover with Rod Stewart singing was a smash hit. This instrumental take has all the feeling and reverence for the song the previous version had. Hymas adds a beautiful keyboard line to it. This rendition won't leave anyone wanting. The same is true of Beck's take on Lennon and McCartney's "A Day in the Life". He presents it in a way that is right for the music.
Ultimately that may be the greatest aspect of Beck's gift. He searches for new ways to approach things relentlessly but what he does always works in the service of the music. The change in my outlook after listening to this release a few times was astonishing. Each song began to sound as if that was the way it should always be played. Feelings of being let down were, for the most, replaced by feelings of acceptance and awe. Everything here is familiar. Much of it is old but it all becomes new again: this is an astonishing display of musicianship by a man who defines the term.
This is one to have. It's only available online but don't let that be a deterrent. It is an official release that's linked to the record label's own page and the service I received from these people was excellent.
*"Savoy" and "Big Block" come from "Guitar Shop" while "You Never Know" comes from "There and Back". These recordings (to the best of my knowledge) have yet to be re-mastered. The sound on early CD releases stunk. They had all the dynamic range of a kazoo and that's being polite about it. Early transfers from analog to digital were poor. Any loss of dynamic range the transfer failed to inflict was completed by excessive file compression. Improvements in the technology have fixed the problem but these releases have to be re-mastered before the original quality of their sound will be intact.
A Note about this recording. It used to be available from Beck's official website. It isn't now. It's still available through Amazon.com but only as an import. The price, close to fifty bucks now, is just too damn high. This recording is good but it's not worth that much. That said, it is worth having and can probably be downloaded somewhere. If it can be found, grab it. It's a treat.
This line acts as a space bar.
Jeff Beck:
One of The Great Guitarists
Jeff Beck:
Wikipedia Information
Jeff Beck:
Official Site
