Paul McCartney has never found himself part of the virtuoso conversation — his focus is on songwriting, not on fireworks.
As his foil, Brian Ray recently told Guitar World, his preference for memorability over technicality is what made him such a success.
“Paul's bass lines, while they're iconic and memorable and musical, they're not really technically challenging,” says Ray, whose first gig with the Liverpudlian icon was the 2002 Super Bowl.
“Because they're so listenable, they're easy to understand. Let's face it — they're in our bloodstreams. Even if you're not a bass player, you know these parts.”
As it turns out, McCartney has a similar point of view when it comes to guitarists who resonate with him. And it’s with that mindset that the former Beatle singled out one player as someone who is unparalleled when it comes to what they can do with an electric guitar.
“His unique style of playing was something that no one could match,” McCartney said of the late Jeff Beck.
“Jeff had immaculate taste in most things,” he added, noting that “his no-nonsense attitude to the music business was always so refreshing”.
Beck, who briefly starred alongside Jimmy Page in the Yardbirds, once had a shot at being in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, a band at that point that was a springboard for success.
But, as McCartney says, Beck was his own man. He wanted to do things his way.
As it happens, McCartney’s adoration for all things Beck led to the pair working together in 1994 on the track that fused their musical talents with their shared passion for environmental activism.
The instrumental appeared in a public service message about the dangers of rainforest devastation. Although it’s driven by a decidedly McCartney-like groove, enlivened with acoustic guitars, it features an instantly recognizable Jeff Beck guitar solo also features.
But it was only released 30 years later, after Beck's death, when McCartney posted it along with a memoriam.
“With the sad passing of Jeff Beck — a good friend of mine, and a great, great guitar player — it reminded me of the time we worked together many years ago on a campaign for vegetarianism,” he wrote. “It’s great guitar playing because it’s Jeff.
“Jeff Beck was a lovely man with a wicked sense of humor who played some of the best guitar music ever to come out of Great Britain," Sir Paul added. "He was a superb technician and could strip down his guitar and put it back together again in time for the show. Jeff Beck has left the building, and it is a lonelier place without him.”
In related news, Mick Rogers has also revealed he owns the last recording Beck ever made but fears it may never see the light of day. They cut the track after Rogers spent a day with Beck, as arranged by the guitarist's manager.
“We played a track called ‘Lucille’ by Little Richard," Rogers explains, "but nothing came of it because Jeff was playing through his dodgy Marshall and didn’t like the sound.
"He said: ‘We’ll do it again, later on.’"
Later on never happened, as Beck promptly went on tour with his guitar-slinging pal Johnny Depp.
"When I listen to the track now, I think, Jeff, there’s nothing wrong with your sound," Rogers says. "He could have played through a paper cup and it still would have sounded like Jeff Beck! He was just wonderful.”
