Jeff Beck
DVD
Jeff Beck’s Rock ’n’ Roll Party:
Honoring Les Paul
Eagle Rock Entertainment
ALBUM
Jeff Beck’s Rock ’n’ Roll Party:
Honoring Les Paul
ATCO
Jeff Beck’s latest release,
Rock ’n’ Roll Party,
is just that—a loud, fun-filled celebration
of the music, life, and legacy of Beck’s biggest
influence, Les Paul. For two nights
last September, Beck descended
to the underground stage of the Iridium
in New York City where Paul held court
almost every Monday night right up until
his death in August of 2009. Backed by the
Imelda May Band, Beck chose to interpret
a collection of tunes made famous by Paul
in addition to rockabilly and early rock ’n’
roll tunes that inspired him as a youngster.
Both nights were shot and recorded for
independent CD and DVD/Blu-ray releases,
with the CD featuring 20 songs and
the DVD/Blu-ray adding seven more and
some cool bonus features to the mix.
Dressed in blue—reminiscent of the
cover to Gene Vincent and His Blue
Caps’ self-titled album—Beck kicks off
the DVD with “Baby, Let’s Play House,”
a tune made famous by Elvis Presley during
his Sun Sessions. Standing in front of
several small Fender combo amps, Beck
tears into his blonde Gibson L-5 with the
unbridled power of a teenager and a Zen
master’s touch. Rhythm guitarist Darrell
Higham strums his Epiphone Jumbo
acoustic with gusto and
totally cops a ’50s
vibe in both look and sound with his
vocals that channel Bill Haley. The rhythm
section of Al Gare on bass and Stephen
Rushton on drums gives the tunes a solid
foundation without becoming too heavy
handed. Early on, Beck digs into “Train
Kept A-Rollin’,” a staple from his years
with the Yardbirds. The tone on Beck’s
solo is so fuzz-laden that you would think
Paul Burlison himself sliced up the speaker
cones with a rusty knife.
Playing the Mary Ford role to Beck’s
Les Paul, Imelda May gives an intensely
understated performance on “Cry Me a
River.” The tune begins with Beck playing
a chord melody intro that is equal
parts Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass.
His jazz fills fill the spaces between May’s
phrases perfectly and makes me want to
hear him stretch out on more jazz tunes.
They switch gears to head into Ford
and Paul’s signature song, “How High
the Moon.” To replicate the overdubbed
vocals on the original, May sings to some
pre-recorded tracks while Beck’s guitar
plays a solo that combines his signature
tone with elements of old-school bebop
that serve as the most direct tribute to
Les Paul’s style and catalog.
The special guests—Brian Setzer,
Gary “U.S.” Bonds, and Troy
“Trombone Shorty” Andrews—do
exactly what guest players should, they
add to the energy without stealing the
show. Setzer does a great job playing
the Eddie Cochran role on “Twenty
Flight Rock” and then returns for the
blowout finale of “Shake, Rattle, and
Roll.” On the DVD, Beck mentions in
an interview that he invited Bonds to
sit in on “New Orleans” after he heard
Bonds was playing around the corner.
The DVD and Blu-ray version contain
some excellent bonus features that were
clearly directed at the guitar nerds that
hang on Beck’s every note. The included
30-minute interview with Beck touches
on everything from his first memories
of hearing Les Paul’s music to a meeting
arranged by Billy Squier that led to
a lifelong friendship. You can tell that
the interviewer hadn’t spent much time
locked away in her bedroom trying to figure
out the bridge to “Cause We Ended as
Lovers” as the questions were a bit clichéd
and over-rehearsed. Luckily, Beck’s irreverent
personality kept things interesting.
Also included is a short video of
Beck in what seems to look like an
attic at his English estate where he
goes through some of the highlights
of his guitar collection. Make sure
to check out the story behind the
“TeleGib” that involved trading the
Fender Esquire that he used in the
Yardbirds to Seymour Duncan and
some (momentary) regret. He also
touches on the white Strat he used on
Wired—which was a gift from John
McLaughlin—and a plastic Maccaferri
that came by way of Jimmy Page. The
other included features are a behind the
scenes montage from the Iridium shows
and some vintage footage from a mid-
’80s Billy Squier show where Beck and
Paul jam through a few blues tunes.
Beck clearly wanted to pay tribute to
Les Paul and the early rock axe-slingers
that made him want to pick up the guitar.
And you can hear the lineage that goes
from early American rock ’n’ roll over to
the British blues artists and back again.
It’s hard to imagine another living artist
who could accurately and authentically
pay tribute to Les Paul, his music, and the
spirit of innovation that he represented.