Jeff Beck: The Complete 1980 "Guitar Player" Interview (Audio)

A Poolside Conversation With A British Guitar Legend

This was only my fourth cover story interview for Guitar Player magazine and, to be honest, I was nervous about interviewing Jeff Beck. I’d heard that he was a no-nonsense kind of guy who could be a tough interview. So I hunkered down with every album he’d played on and every article I could find about him and prepared a long, detailed list of questions.

Our meeting was originally scheduled to take place at Epic Records in Los Angeles. On the morning I was scheduled to fly down to do the interview, I awoke with laryngitis. I called the publicist and cancelled. A couple of days later, she called me back and said, “You’re in luck. There’s a hot rod show in San Jose that Jeff wants to go to, so he’s flying up there tomorrow. He says you can interview him at the hotel.” Praise God!

The next afternoon I met Jeff at the side of the pool at the Holiday Inn and we sat down to do the hour-long interview. As you’ll hear, there are the occasional sounds of people diving in the pool and children playing, so this is, in essence, a true field recording.

I am happy to say that the reports I’d heard about Jeff being difficult proved to be unfounded. He accommodating and easy to talk to as we covered a wide array of subjects. These include his time with the Yardbirds and the early Jeff Beck Groups, his move into fusion with Blow by Blow and Wired, and his about-to-be released There and Back album. As we spoke, Jeff offered a wealth of insight into his personality, playing, techniques, gear, and changing relationship with the guitar. I hope you enjoy the conversation!  

A transcription of this interview ran in the October 1980 issue. Five years later I interviewed Jeff again, this time in a quiet Beverly Hills hotel room. Stay tuned for this one.

Thanks for Nik Hunt for engineering and producing this podcast, and to Steve Weiss, the staff of UNC’s Southern Folklife Collection, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their roles in digitizing all of my interviews.

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ⓒ Jas Obrecht 2023. All rights reserved.