Thursday, September 26, 2013

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Jeff Beck

Artist:Jeff Beck f/Rod Stewart
Song:People Get Ready
Album:Original Album Classics





Of course Jeff Beck is a guitar legend. For the most part, he has never been interested in pop stardom with the exception of the 1985 album Flash which spawned the hit single People Get Ready. Of course Beck worked with Rod Stewart in the 60s on the albums Truth and Beck-Ola. When the group split up, Stewart became a pop star and Beck formed The Jeff Beck Group with drummer Cozy Powell and then Beck, Bogert & Appice after Cactus split up. In the mid-70s, Beck recorded a very successful series of jazz rock fusion albums including Blow By Blow in 1975 and Wired in 1976. And then he went on the road with Mahavishnu Orchestra keyboard player Jan Hammer. After the 1980 album There and Back, Beck took a break. He returned with the 1985 album Flash. The album was produced by Nile Rodgers of Chic and was a clear attempt by Beck to record a pop album. In retrospect, Beck has disdain for the album and has described it as a record company goof. Most of the vocals on the album are by Wet Willie lead singer Jimmy Hall. But Beck was able convince Rod Stewart to sing on the Curtis Mayfield classic People Get Ready. That was a major coup because Stewart was a big star at the time. People Get Ready was a hit single and a hit video on MTV. And though Beck says he doesn't like Flash, he still performs People Get Ready in concert. Beck's then regular keyboard player Tony Hymas did the arrangements with Beck. Hymas worked with Jack Bruce in the late 70s. Jan Hammer and Carmine Appice also appear on the album. There is no Jeff Beck comp available right now but this 5CD box set has five Beck albums from the 80s including Flash. People Get Ready is also on the Rod Stewart box set Songwriter. After a four year break, Beck returned with the 1989 instrumental album Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop which was more typical of the kind of music he likes to do. Jeff Beck was inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2009. His latest CD Emotion & Commotion was released in 2010. He has been working on Brian Wilson's new album and plans to tour with him. Here's the video for People Get Ready by Jeff Beck featuring Rod Stewart.

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