Jeff Beck’s Influence on Indian guitarists

There are two words that stood out when we talked to premier Indian guitarists about the influence that Jeff Beck – the English virtuoso who passed away today aged 78 – has had on them. Those two words are ‘fearless’ and ‘innovative.’ They encapsulate the career of a man who pretty much chucked the rule book out of the window, since it’s impossible to pigeonhole Beck into one box. He’s hopped across genres like a person on a pub crawl hops from one watering hole to another. And throughout, he’s accepted change with the willingness of a mother accepting her newborn into her arms. No wonder, then, that he’s impacted fellow guitarists across the world, including India, as the following testimonials go to show.

Rudy Wallang

I was introduced to Jeff Beck in the early 80s through Arjun Sen, the guitarist for The Great Society, the band I used to play bass for back then. AJ, as we call Arjun Sen, is one of the biggest Jeff Beck fans ever. We’d try and play a few of his songs in between gigs and his early albums, like Blow by Blow and Wired, are still fresh in my memory.

His approach to the instrument was different from that of any other guitar player, in terms of his tone, guitar voice and melody. For example, while others used the tremolo bar for effect, he used it as a tool to construct his melodies. Others would bend their strings, but Jeff Beck would use his tremolo bar for the same thing, though it sounded totally different. It was almost as if he was singing through his guitar. Very few people could do that.

Beck was fearless. He was adventurous. He took us to unchartered territories. And that sense of adventure and melodic approach to playing has always stuck with me.

Randolph Correia

There is this album called Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop that has a garage kind of vibe, which I heard at a friend’s place. That is my first memory of his music, though I didn’t know who he was. That friend of mine was encouraging me to get into the guitar, and I was just starting to listen to Metallica, shifting from Bon Jovi to Whitesnake. That was when my friend influenced me and a full circle happened when Beck later made an album with Bon Jovi.

After that initial introduction, I researched what his story and journey were like, and it surprised me that a lot of guitar players had played in that same era, including Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. But they pretty much stayed within the same style, while Beck was innovative by miles. He’s in fact one of those uber-innovative players who constantly stayed current, and it’s thanks to him that I have learnt to accept changes and to move gracefully through time.

Bruce Lee Mani

It was quite a long time ago that I first heard Jeff Beck. There was this fab guitar player called Colin Fernandes and we were playing a gig together. He made me listen to “Cause We Ended As Lovers,” Beck’s instrumental version of a Stevie Wonder song. When I first heard it – and this is what happens to any guitar player who hears Beck for the first time – I thought, ‘How is he getting that tone, that sound?’ That started my journey with discovering his music. He’s unafraid and a relentless innovator, though he’s supposed to be a difficult guy to work with because of his perfectionism and since he apparently had a short temper. There’s a story that when Syd Barrett left Pink Floyd, the other members wanted Beck to join the band. But they couldn’t gather the nerve required to even approach him!

In terms of guitar innovation, he was on a par with Jimi Hendrix. His tenure with The Yardbirds was short and he drifted through various bands. He didn’t grab the limelight like Eric Clapton or Richie Blackmore did, but he was doing things with effects and whammy bars that others weren’t. He didn’t stick to one genre, he hopped around. I was on a flight this morning and was listening to Jeff Again. It’s wild, it’s got electric riffs, and it’s hard to believe that this is the same guy who used to play with The Yardbirds and jazz fusion.  

Rohan Ganguli

I was in my early 20s when I first heard Jeff Beck. The song was called “Seasons” and I’d never heard any guitar sound like that. I didn’t even know that it was the guitar, I thought it’s some other instrument. Or was it a voice? It sounds like that sometimes. I later followed up and learnt that it was indeed the guitar. It was shocking. I didn’t even know that it was possible. I then heard his other albums and he opened up my world to a new kind of music, because he is so experimental.

There’s nothing he does that a normal guitar player does. He doesn’t take the traditional route, he plays music that no one else will. And he was not just a musician. He would also build hot rods (modified classic cars), so he had more sides to him than just the guitar.

But the thing about him as a guitarist is that there’s so much to learn from him, but it’s actually difficult to use. Even if he plays a simple tune, it sounds new and fresh, and it’s hard to pick up. You can discover what he does watching his videos, but to actually be like that person is impossible. He came from another place altogether.

Adil Manuel

Blow By Blow is hands-down one of my all-time favorite albums, not just in terms of instrumental ones. My favorite song in it is “Scatter Brain” and all the tracks still sound fresh to me, from the first one to the last. Jeff Beck is one of those rare guys who has his own style and does his own thing, from the way he used his fingers to his use of whammy bars. His sound had such a vocal quality to it that it was almost like listening to a singer. The emotional depth that his music had was a different thing altogether. And what you learn from people like him is to be yourself. It’s important to transcribe the solos of the masters, but it’s also important to hone in on your own sound and keep exploring to find out who you actually are.

That’s what I learnt from Jeff Beck, and with his passing, we’ve lost one of the last of the Mohicans.