It was 1965 when a young guitarist named Jeff Beck joined the ranks yard birds, at the urging of the then session musician in London, Jimmy Page, replace it Eric Clapton.

It sounds almost anecdotal that a handful of those who have since been considered the masters of the “six-string goddess” played … musical chairs in a British blues children’s group, where they each had a dress rehearsal of their own “invention”. “in the guitar planet.

The then 22-year-old Jeff Beck, who once fell in love with the guitar by watching and listening You say Paul and started making his own guitars at age 13, he was there to take the band beyond the blues, as evidenced by the very first single he recorded with the Yardbirds. “A heart full of soul.”

But after a highly productive four-year stint with the Yardbirds, his general inconsistency caused the rest of the band to decide that the end of Jeff Beck in the Yardbirds had arrived. Something the guitarist probably never forgave them, judging by the fact that “They kicked me out … Fuck them,” he joked during their entry into the group. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 but also from his statements in later interviews (the institution still recognized him as a solo artist 2009).

“Since then I’ve been writing other music,” said Jeff Beck that evening, and indeed, after the album “Truth” in 1969, it was officially released with Jeff Beck Group in “Bek-Ola”, the sound was heavier now, you could find something here that would be studied by those who would later create a new genre called heavy metal. Plus, Jeff Beck has now joined forces with a young singer named Rod Stewart and the guitarist they called Ronnie Wood Both need no introduction today.

Jeff Beck has never been shy about trying his luck between genres, on the contrary, he has pursued it. 1973 with the band he formed with him Tim Bogert and Carmine Apis edit this “Superstition” from Stevie Wonder, in 1985 tried something more poppy on his solo album “Flash” with his blessing Nile Rogers taking over as producer 1993 decided to record only with his tracks Jean Vincent, while 1999 he also included electronic music in the equation for the needs of the album. “Something else!”.

Even though Jeff Beck “played in the same league” as fellow guitarists like Eric Clapton or Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck always seemed to be a step behind commercially. Probably because the musician was not up to it: “He never “hooked” the girl, fortunately. If you look around and see who has become huge, you will see that everything is rotten there,” he told Rolling Stone in 2018.

Last year we saw the name of Jeff Beck in the “tired” news about his new collaboration with Johnny Depp, which sounded more like an actor’s cry of desperation to keep the momentum going from a still-fresh legal dispute with Amber Heard.

And then we found out that Jeff Beck died suddenly from bacterial meningitis January 10, his family announced. In his lifetime, he managed to do what all musicians who write a chapter in history do: learn the rules of the game and subvert them. To put it in his own words: “If I don’t break the rules at least 10 times in one piece, then I’m doing my job wrong.”

And he wanted so much to be sure that he would do his job right that one day insured his fingers for £7 million.