Blow By Blow
His guitar-slinging contributions to the Yardbirds having dwarfed those of Eric Clapton or Jimmy Page, Mrs. Beck's bad boy spent the next several years playing blues-rock (the Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart), soul-rock (the second edition of that band), and leading a power trio. Then, he made this all-instrumental album, which was a huge 1975 success. Produced by George Martin, the nine-song session finds Beck fronting a keyboards-bass-drums outfit, augmented by some tastefully unobtrusive string arrangements. Call it a jazz-fusion album at your own risk. While Beck's playing is less in-your-face than his previous efforts, all the fierce attack, thick tone, microtonal bends, distortion, feedback, vibrato, sustain, sonic hoodoo, and rhythmic and harmonic creativity that the man's fans have come to know and love can be heard here. "Freeway Jam" boasts the most memorable melody and thus remains a Classic Rock staple to this day. "Cause We've Ended As Lovers"--written by Stevie Wonder--is Beck's gorgeous tribute to one of his own guitar-heroes, the now-deceased Roy Buchanan.--Don Waller