Jeff Beck’s favourite guitarist of all time: “We all wondered what we were going to do”
The late Jeff Beck was a visionary and the ultimate guitarist’s guitarist. Like Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, Beck cut his teeth as a member of The Yardbirds before embarking upon a storied career which cemented his status as one of the finest virtuosos the world has ever seen.
Through his work with the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appic, the guitarist pioneered a style that put his instrument’s mellifluous legato front and centre. Thanks to his magical touch, Beck could make his guitar sing unlike anyone before and, with his largely instrumental recordings, achieved a sound bordering on the sublime.
Beck is a name that almost always appears on lists when artists are asked to reveal their favourite guitarists, and his influence on rock music is irrefutable. Nevertheless, in his heart, he was a fan like the rest of us and, indeed, had his own favourites.
While due to the impeccable talent that coursed through his veins, it seems absurd to imagine Beck worshipping another guitarist. However, he did once name his favourite guitarist of all time, an individual who appeared to be bound to his instrument that many imagined he had started practising in utero.
The guitar hero Beck named is more myth than man. His legendary status is well deserved, having wholly altered the trajectory of rock ‘n’ roll and invented a unique approach to electric guitar in one fell swoop. Over half a century later, he is an artist still unmatched in the world of guitar playing and, to many, stands as a symbol of musical excellence. He is, of course, the great Jimi Hendrix.
Beck was introduced to Hendrix just before he released the album that would make his name: Are You Experienced? Beck once recalled those halcyon days when London was in the midst of the swinging ’60s, explaining: “Just before this came out, I saw Jimi live at an underground club. Dollybirds in Biba clothing were probably expecting a folk singer, but he came on and blew the house down,” he reminisced.
Beck added: “It shook all of us – me, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page. He was so good, we all wondered what we were going to do for our living.”
From that moment, it was clear that Hendrix was destined for superstardom. The three Yardbirds alumni knew more about rock ‘n’ roll than the rest of Britain combined, and for them to all be blown over in disbelief, something extraordinary must have gone down.
They were all at the pinnacle of the British music scene upon Hendrix’s grand arrival, but after one performance, it was evident that he deserved a seat at the top table alongside them. While guitarists like Beck, Page and Clapton took in influences from their contemporaries, Hendrix seemed to be entirely self-generating, taking influences from some higher, invisible realm.
For example, when Hendrix was asked if he revered Beck as much as Beck admired him, he replied: “I wasn’t really influenced by Beck. I only heard one record by him, ‘Shapes of Things,’ and I really dug it. I just listened to it, and I liked it. You’ve got to dig everything and then get your own ideas. Too much digging and not enough doing will set you spinning.”
That quote single-handedly defines the genius of Hendrix. The American’s style was honed by years of performing in backing bands, during which time he meticulously cultivated his musicianship, developing an individualistic approach completely untethered from any obvious influences. Whereas Clapton played his electric guitar in the same way he would an acoustic, Hendrix played the electric guitar in the way it was designed to be played, exploiting its unique sonic properties in a way that greatly influenced Beck’s own work.
In ‘Shape Of Things’, for example, Beck makes great use of feedback to create lush sonic textures that take on the spiritual potency of the drones used in classical Indian ragas. Yes, without Hendrix, the expansive and exploratory sound Beck pursued throughout his career may have sounded very different indeed.
The outpowering of love that Beck received following his passing in 2023 speaks volumes about the legacy that he left. Notably, Page said: “The six-stringed Warrior is no longer here for us to admire the spell he could weave around our mortal emotions. Jeff could channel music from the ethereal. His technique unique. His imaginations apparently limitless. Jeff I will miss you along with your millions of fans.”
Sadly, many don’t receive the respect they deserve until they depart, and Beck’s position as a musical great has been firmly cemented. Nonetheless, by his own admission, Hendrix existed in a realm different from that of mere mortals such as himself.