a guitar virtuoso who pushed the boundaries of blues, jazz and rock 鈥榥鈥� roll, influencing generations of shredders along the way and becoming known as the guitar player鈥檚 guitar player, has died. He was 78.
Beck died Tuesday after 鈥渟uddenly contracting bacterial meningitis,鈥� his representatives said in a statement released Wednesday. The location was not immediately known.
鈥淛eff was such a nice person and an outstanding iconic, genius guitar player 鈥� there will never be another Jeff Beck,鈥� Tony Iommi, guitarist for Black Sabbath wrote on Twitter.
Beck first came to prominence as a member of the Yardbirds and then went out on his own in a solo career that incorporated hard rock, jazz, funky blues and even opera. He was known for his improvising, love of harmonics and the whammy bar on his preferred guitar, the Fender Stratocaster.
鈥淛eff Beck is the best guitar player on the planet,鈥� Joe Perry, the lead guitarist of Aerosmith, told The New York Times in 2010. 鈥淗e is head, hands and feet above all the rest of us, with the kind of talent that appears only once every generation or two.鈥�
Beck was among the rock-guitarist pantheon from the late 鈥�60s that included Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix. Beck won eight Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice 鈥� once with the Yardbirds in 1992 and again as a solo artist in 2009. He was ranked fifth in Rolling Stone magazine鈥檚 list of the 鈥�100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.鈥�
Beck played guitar with vocalists as varied as Luciano Pavarotti, Macy Gray, Chrissie Hynde, Joss Stone, Imelda May, Cyndi Lauper, Wynonna Judd, Buddy Guy He made two records with Rod Stewart 鈥� 1968鈥檚 鈥淭ruth鈥� and 1969鈥檚 鈥淏eck-Ola鈥� 鈥� and one with a 64-piece orchestra, 鈥淓motion & Commotion.鈥�
鈥淚 like an element of chaos in music. That feeling is the best thing ever, as long as you don鈥檛 have too much of it. It鈥檚 got to be in balance. I just saw Cirque du Soleil, and it struck me as complete organized chaos,鈥� he told Guitar World in 2014. 鈥淚f I could turn that into music, it鈥檚 not far away from what my ultimate goal would be, which is to delight people with chaos and beauty at the same time.鈥�
Beck career highlights include joining with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice to create the power trio that released 鈥淏eck, Bogert and Appice鈥� in 1973, tours with Brian Wilson and Buddy Guy and a tribute album to the late guitarist Les Paul, 鈥淩ock 鈥榥鈥� Roll Party (Honoring Les Paul).鈥�
Geoffrey Arnold Beck was born in Surrey, England, and attended Wimbledon Art College. His father was an accountant, and his mother worked in a chocolate factory. As a boy, he built his first instrument, using a cigar box, a picture frame for the neck and string from a radio-controlled toy airplane.
He was in a few bands 鈥� including Nightshift and The Tridents 鈥� before joining the Yardbirds in 1965, replacing Clapton but only a year later giving way to Page. During his tenure, the band created the memorable singles 鈥淗eart Full of Soul,鈥� 鈥淚鈥檓 a Man鈥� and 鈥淪hapes of Things.鈥�
Beck鈥檚 first hit single was 1967鈥檚 instrumental 鈥淏eck鈥檚 Bolero,鈥� which featured future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, and future Who drummer Keith Moon. The Jeff Beck Group 鈥� with Stewart singing 鈥� was later booked to play the 1969 Woodstock music festival but their appearance was canceled. Beck later said there was unrest in the band.
鈥淚 could see the end of the tunnel,鈥� he told Rolling Stone in 2010.
Beck was friends with Hendrix and they performed together. Before Hendrix, most rock guitar players concentrated on a similar style and technical vocabulary. Hendrix blew that apart.
鈥淗e came along and reset all of the rules in one evening,鈥� Beck told Guitar World.
Beck teamed up with legendary producer George Martin 鈥� a.k.a. 鈥渢he fifth Beatle鈥� 鈥� to help him fashion the genre-melding, jazz-fusion classic 鈥淏low by Blow鈥� (1975) and 鈥淲ired鈥� (1976). He teamed up with Seal on the Hendrix tribute 鈥淪tone Free,鈥� created a jazz-fusion group led by synthesizer player Jan Hammer and honored rockabilly guitarist Cliff Gallup with the album 鈥淐razy Legs.鈥� He put out 鈥淟oud Hailer鈥� in 2016.
Beck鈥檚 guitar work can be heard on the soundtracks of such films as 鈥淪tomp the Yard,鈥� 鈥淪hallow Hal,鈥� 鈥淐asino,鈥� 鈥淗oneymoon in Vegas,鈥� 鈥淭wins,鈥� 鈥淥bserve and Report鈥� and 鈥淟ittle Big League.鈥�
Beck鈥檚 career never hit the commercial highs of Clapton. A perfectionist, he preferred to make critically well-received instrumental records and left the limelight for long stretches, enjoying his time restoring vintage automobiles. He and Clapton had a tense relationship early on but became friends in later life and toured together.
Why did the two wait some four decades to tour together?
鈥淏ecause we were all trying to be big bananas,鈥� Beck told Rolling Stone in 2010. 鈥淓xcept I didn鈥檛 have the luxury of the hit songs Eric鈥檚 got.鈥�
Beck is survived by his wife, Sandra.
鈥擬ark Kennedy, The Associated Press
