BECK, JEFF

While Cream and Led Zeppelin are considered the top bands to have emerged from the British blues explosion of the 1960s, there is another outfit that gets overlooked, and that was the original Jeff Beck Group. Featuring the great Mr. Beck on guitar, the group also included a pair of talented chaps who unfortunately went on to do little else -- singer Rod Stewart and bassist Ronnie Wood (yes folks, this writer's tongue is planted firmly in his cheek). The group only issued a pair of albums (albeit mucho classics), 1968's Truth and 1969's Beck-Ola, before imploding right before a prime spot at the Woodstock festival (which probably would have broken the band commercially). And these aforementioned two titles serve as the basis for the 16-track collection The Best Of. Numerous subsequent hard rock bands have nicked a thing or two from this Beck era, and after hearing such great tracks as "You Shook Me," "Shapes of Things," "I Ain't Superstitious," "Spanish Boots," and "Jailhouse Rock," you'll understand why. Hindsight is always 20/20, but it's too bad that the original Jeff Beck Group didn't stick it out just a little longer. They sure had the sound, the look, and the tunes, as exemplified on The Best Of. ~ Greg Prato, AMG

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