![]() Nobody ever guested with Cream, and Clapton was accepted as the king of rock guitar. Clapton had moved on from the post Yardbirds blues jag and was redefining ‘heavy’ in the window rattlingly loud power trio, Cream when he ill advisedly invited the then unknown Hendrix to sit in with Cream in his first ever UK appearance. Hendrix redefined what was possible (and impossible) on guitar, and the rest of the world took notice. Let that one sink in for a second.īeck, like other guitarists in Britain, was overwhelmed by the sea change that was created in music by the appearance of Jimi Hendrix. Three of the most legendary guitarists in the history of rock. Jimmy Page came onboard and eventually replaced Beck in 1966. He was only in for a few months short of two years, but oversaw the peak of the band’s output, in particular the stunning Over Under Sideways Down. This paved the way for Beck to enter in early 1965 and the Yardbirds had their most fruitful era. Eric Clapton was the founding guitarist in 1963, but soon strayed from the fold due to musical differences (pop vs blues purist-today one may not guess which fold Clapton cleaved to). It is odd that three of the four pillars of the rock guitar world passed through the gates of one single legendary early 60’s band, the Yardbirds. That Beck finally freed himself of any vocalists and hit his stride in the 70’s as an instrumental band is a testament to how far he was able to drive the definition of guitarist beyond the contemporary boundaries of decorum and expectations in the rock world. Along with Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck helped redefine the guitar as an instrument of mayhem, destruction and revelation from its humble origins as ‘accompaniment to a singer’. Beck was one of the big four of the British guitarists that took the world by storm in the wake of the Beatles invasion-still to this day considered the best guitarists to ever strap on an electric guitar. The foundation pillars of a monolithic overarching philosophy, what those of us who have lived, breathed and preached rock n roll for most of our lives took a mighty hit this week with the very sudden passing of Jeff Beck. But now with the recent news, it’s not sub-genres any more, they are coming for all of us. Add in Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream a while ago, and a whole sub-genre of late 60’s and 70’s rock is nearly wiped out. You know, the backbones of Hawkwind, Solo 70’s synth artists and Ash Ra Tempel respectively. Space rock for instance saw the departure of Nik Turner, Klaus Schulze and Manuel Gottsching this year. Things have not been well in rock n roll for a while now. Beck teaching a Les Paul what it means to be a guitar
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