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The Jeff Beck Group - Beck-Ola Audio CD

A fair review of the The Jeff Beck Group "Beck-Ola" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Jeff Beck Group reviews here, or go back to the The Jeff Beck Group tabs.

The Jeff Beck Group Band: The Jeff Beck Group
Title: Beck-Ola
Rating:
Release Date: 2006-10-10
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: All Shook Up 2: Spanish Boots 3: Girl from Mill Valley 4: Jailhouse Rock 5: Plynth (Water Down the Drain) 6: Hangman's Knee 7: Rice Pudding 8: Sweet Little Angel [Live][#][*] 9: Throw Down a Line [#][*] 10: All Shook Up [#][*][Version] 11: Jailhouse Rock [#][*][Version]

a great hard rock album
They don't make music like this anymore. simply a great rock album with top vocals ,guitar,bass and drums. .


hidden gem
Any fan of early Led Zep or British 60's Psychedelic Rock should have this CD as well as "Truth", the other JBG cd with this lineup. At its best this CD is among the best work Jeff has done.

Rod Stewart has never sounded better. A band format has always been best for Rod.


Beck's Best
The only weak track from the original release is Nicky Hopkins' "Girl From Mill Valley", which, regardless of how pretty it may be, just doesn't belong on this album: it's like finding a daisy growing in the midst of a bunch of huge boulders. For my money, this recording presents Jeff Beck at his best and represents an extension of the work he did with the Yardbirds, except that it's even tougher sounding thanks to the contributions of the other band members: Rod Stewart's wonderfully raspy vocals always draw praise, but the pile-driving drumming of Tony Newman also deserves notice, and the value of Ron Wood's energetic bass playing can't be over-estimated (he should have stuck with the bass). Aside from that, everything else pretty much rips, and their version of "Jailhouse Rock" may be the single best thing Beck has ever recorded: it's absolutely KILLER stuff (with "Rice Pudding" coming in a close second). Also of value here is a very nice booklet with interesting, informative, and amusing commentary by Beck regarding these recordings and what the band was going through in general at that time.

Now the bad news: I was excited by the prospect of hearing some additional tracks from this time period, but my excitement was sadly misguided. "Sweet Little Angel" may be the absolute worst blues I have ever heard: eight minutes of slop; "Throw Down A Line" is a mediocre bit of pop/rock performed by a band that sounds like they're completely indifferent to it; "All Shook Up" is totally inferior to the original album version; "Jailhouse Rock": if you had never heard the blistering album version, you would probably think this was pretty good, but once you hear that version, this one becomes pointless. I'd give this CD 5 stars, but I feel I need to take one away because of these weak tracks. .


Beck To The Future
From his pile-driving days with the Yardbirds through the two Jeff Beck Group efforts, (this is the second), and various collaborations afterwards, Beck has been a fearless innovator, axe murderer, and prototypical rock and roll monster. If there is anyone who doubts Jeff Beck deserves a seat at the table with Hendrix and Clapton in the pantheon of rock-guitar deities, s/he should get a grip on this CD right quick - after putting on asbestos gloves. Much has been made of the Yardbird guitar troika - Clapton, Beck, Page - and while it makes an interesting rock footnote, Beck was responsible for their highest highs, the Clapton/Page contributions were far less interesting. Beck was as much of a pioneer as he was technically overpowering.

The first Jeff Beck Group album, Truth, is an absolute essential. Rod Stewart's vocals suit the material perfectly, Nicky Hopkins on piano is ideal, Ron Wood holds down the bass, and Mick Waller kicks skins. Songs like Blues De Luxe and I Ain't Superstitious pretty much define the Brit-blues-band sound. (Beck-Ola has one song that would have fit there - a bonus track - Sweet Little Angel. ) However, for the most part, Beck-Ola is an entirely different animal, a wild studio jam made in an atmosphere of rage. Wood, Waller, and Stewart were getting ready to break up TJBG by jumping ship to form Faces. Worse still, the least worthy guitarist to play with the Yardbirds, Jimmy Page, was stealing Beck's thunder as their mutual management helped assemble an absolutely awful group destined to pollute the airwaves for years under the name Led Zeppelin. Beck was furious, and you can hear it in the music.

Two Elvis hits, All Shook Up and Jailhouse Rock, are amped-up and slapped around so rudely as to be unrecognizable; both are highlights. Spanish Boots, Plynth, Hangman's Knee, and Rice Pudding are originals. All are rude enough to kick a hole in the barn, Hangman in particular grinds raw and hard. Stewart should get a Purple Heart for his ability to sing over this mayhem; his raspy, harsh insistence is superb. While everything here demands listening - even the oddly melancholic Nicky Hopkins number - Girl From Mill Valley - which seems to belong on a different album - Rice Pudding will actually change your life. The level of intensity and raw rock energy are at the point where you're quite certain your speakers - and head - will explode. It's as though Beck won't be satisfied until he has pushed his fellow musicians, and the music itself, right to the point of no return, the vanishing point.

After a particularly dazzling flute solo, Roland Kirk would sometimes say, "Try that Herbie Mann. " Listen to this CD a few times and imagine Jeff Beck Saying, "Try that Jimmy Page. " It's a quirky one, granted, but Beck-Ola is a must-have all the same.


Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart at their RAW BEST!!
Iconic, glorious, just plain, wow. Bless My Soul, What's Wrong With You???? If you never heard this, what a treat for you! Rod Stewart, early (1967?), cool, raw, balsy and with Jeff Beck getting down and dirty with energy and the absolute BEST "Jailhouse Rock" ever! Extras are great. . . . !.


You can see a complete list of all The Jeff Beck Group discography, or go back to the The Jeff Beck Group tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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