After she replied it was an electric guitar and was all tricks, he said, 'That's for me'. Beck said that he first heard an electric guitar when he was six years old and heard Paul playing ' How High the Moon' on the radio. īeck cited Les Paul as the first electric guitar player who impressed him. He attended Sutton Manor School and Sutton East County Secondary Modern School. As a ten-year-old, Beck sang in a church choir. I just had to have one.īeck was born on 24 June 1944 to Arnold and Ethel Beck at 206 Demesne Road, Wallington, Surrey (now in Greater London). The electric guitar seemed to be a totally fascinating plank of wood with knobs and switches on it. I was interested in the electric guitar even before I knew the difference between electric and acoustic. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: first as a member of the Yardbirds (1992) and secondly as a solo artist (2009). In 2014, he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. īeck earned wide critical praise and received the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance six times and Best Pop Instrumental Performance once. Although he recorded two successful albums (in 19) as a solo act, Beck did not establish or maintain commercial success like that of his contemporaries and bandmates. Rolling Stone described him as 'one of the most influential lead guitarists in rock'.

He was often called a 'guitarist's guitarist'.

In 1975, he switched to an instrumental style with focus on an innovative sound, and his releases spanned genres and styles ranging from blues rock, hard rock, jazz fusion and a blend of guitar-rock and electronica.īeck was ranked in the top five of Rolling Stone and other magazines' lists rankings of the greatest guitarists. He rose to prominence as a member of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English guitarist.

Jeff beck eric clapton