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But it's still Jeff Beck. and so, I bought the Jeff Beck/Jan Hammer LIVE CD.Blow by Blow is a studio recording which I find a little "dry" when compared to the energy of the LIVE CD. Blow by Blow - The CD is what I remember from the past, which is what I was wanting. After listening to the CD, I realized that I used to LOVE the LIVE version of some of these tunes.
Jeff Beck was the warm-up act (ha). I think that collaboration rubbed off on both of them for subsequent albums. I used to own the vinyl LP of this album, later the CD, then it was stolen. At the end of the concert both guitarists jammed for a half-hour together and blew us all away. What a night. I must replace it. I saw a concert of John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra back in 1975 when "Visions of the Emerald Beyond" was just released.
Those who play guitar have probably seen every track transcribed in a guitar mag at some point. This is the best place to start when it comes to Beck's solo work. Check this out. It's hard to pick a highlight from such a monster album, but if I had to, I'd say the emotion drenched guitar on the superbly executed "We've ended as Lovers." Ever wondered why Beck is mentioned in the same breath as Hendrix, Clapton, Gilmour etc. The material is top grade (including Stevie Wonder compositions like "We've Ended as Lovers" and Beatles' "She's a woman), with great production by the legendary George Martin, a top notch band, and most of all: tasteful, brilliant guitar by Jeff Beck. Each and every track--yes all of them-- is a fusion/instrumental guitar classic.
An extremely elegant recording and perhaps the first that showed me how beautiful the electric guitar can be in the right hands. With this recording all of Becks contemporaries fell by the wayside. A must. I got this on lp when it came out in '75. It was so exciting hearing this back then.
A beautiful album. He's the greatest, and this album offers ample proof. There is no other guitarist I can think of that can make the instrument communicate on such a Vocal level as Jeff Beck. On this album - and particularly on "Cause We're Ended as Lovers" - he plays with such soul and depth, phrasing as if his instrument is really breathing and singing for him.As for the rest of the album: George Martin's production (and string arrangement on "Diamond Dust") is sympathetic and always on the right level to carry every part of Jeff and his band's playing.Speaking as a singer, I can only rave that Jeff makes the guitar communicate so richly.
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