Jeff Beck’s love for Jimi Hendrix was well known in his lifetime. He frequently mentioned Hendrix in interviews, sharing stories about their interactions and their occasional adventure jamming or hanging out.
It’s been equally well established that Beck felt Hendrix sidelined his career and took the shine off his rising star when the American guitarist arrived in London in late 1966. In seemingly no time at all, Hendrix was the player everyone was talking about.
Meanwhile, Beck was struggling to find his groove in the wake of his departure from the Yardbirds.
“It was a horrible time, really,” he told Guitar Player associate editor Barry Cleveland in 2003. “Not because of him, but because of the fact that he swept us all aside and put us in a bin. I think that was more the case for us than for the public at large, who were happy to have us all.
“But I know how it felt having a girl ring up and ask, ‘Did you hear Jimi Hendrix?’”
Despite the difficulty Hendrix caused him, Beck was filled with admiration for his talent and nearly obsessive commitment to electric guitar .
In 1989, Beck had an opportunity to work with another iconic Strat slinger: Stevie Ray Vaughan. Five years after they performed “Jeff's Boogie” at a CBS Records convention in Hawaii, the two legends were paired up on the Fire Meets the Fury tour, which saw them co-headline a 30-date stint put together by their label, Epic Records. The tour was as sensational as it sounds today and became one of the highest-grossing music road shows of 1989.
As it was wrapping up, Beck and SRV sat down with Guitar Player’s Matt Resnicoff and Joe Gore for a historic interview, a meeting made all the more significant when Stevie Ray died not long afterward.
The interview is filled with great moments, and as often happened where Beck was concerned, the subject of Hendrix came up. It was here that Beck made a comparison between Hendrix and SRV that was especially meaningful given his familiarity with Jimi.
Jeff, what was it like to jam with Hendrix?
STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN Yeah, good question.
JEFF BECK What was it like? Well... it was awful! [laughs] The first time, I felt like a peanut, like a fucking hole would have opened up and swallowed me.
The thing that puts it right is the fact that there’s a genuine love Jimi had for my style as well, which I couldn’t believe. Then I realized that Jimi was not a messiah; he was a very genuine, dyed-in-the-wool, music-loving person. He didn’t give a damn about the reputation, the showbiz razzmatazz.
All he was interested in were the licks and what you were feeling like…. It was just sadness that we couldn’t nurture the friendship a bit more. In those days, life was just totally crazy. He would be off in a 24-hours-a-day lifestyle, and I couldn’t keep up with it. I had to have my sleep. He was a boogier — a club here, club there — and he’d be jamming ’til 5:00 in the morning.
My lifestyle was never destined to be like that, so I just had to say, “Adios, Jim, I gotta go to bed!”
I felt very amateurish alongside him, because he lived and breathed it. You’re very similar to Jimi in that way. I’m just a part-time employee.
SRV I don’t know about that one. [laughs]
BECK I’m not in love with the guitar as much as you are or Jimi is — was. I just pick it up and play it sometimes. [laughs]
Beck wasn’t exaggerating about his on-again-off-again relationship with the instrument. Much of his free time was spent working on his collection of vintage hot rods and Corvettes.
“I feel really guilty,” he continued on. “Whatever I choose to do, it always robs me of something. The guitar robs me of my time building rods, and the rods take their toll on the playing.
“But the payoff is the refreshment on both sides. By building, I’m able to completely steep myself in physical things, and all the time I’m doing that, I’m thinking of licks and music, which I’m not able to do sitting with a guitar.
“That’s probably the reason I’m able to maintain a modicum of interest in music after 30-odd years.”
Sadly, SRV would — like Hendrix — die early, leaving a void in the guitar world, and a legacy that remains vibrant to this day.
As for Beck, he would renew his solo career in earnest near the turn of the millennium and continue to amaze us all with his ability to make his guitar speak in ways no other could, using his fingers —no pick — volume control and whammy bar. Not bad for “a part-time employee” of the guitar.
