Always one with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, Beck once remarked: “If I don’t break the rules at least 10 times in every song, then I’m not doing my job properly…”
PHOTO BY JOBBY SESSIONS
Among the golden generation of British guitarists who rose in the sweatbox clubs of 60s London, Jeff Beck was the great magician and lifelong contrarian. While peers such as Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page certainly boasted an eyepopping virtuosity and knack for melody, their playing was not unfathomable but squarely rooted in the American blues, revving up its stock vocabulary of slides, bends and pentatonics.