Customer Reviews

Beck-Ola

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This a great jam band--the 2nd album with Jeff and Rod Stewart--great remaster of this album--great sound and liner notes on the making of the album and the apparent riffs between the band members-Beck, Stewart, and Wood. Extra cuts include a 7 minute live blues song-Sweet Little Angel-which sounds like it should have been on the 1st album-Truth and another song written by Stewart (studio cut) which sounds great-also should have been on the 1st album. Then there are two other versions of Jailhouse Rock and All Shook up which are also excellent-- fans of this group should definitely buy this CD for the extra cuts-well worth it--I saw this group in July 1969 at the Fillmore West in San Francisco--Rod Stewarts first trip to the US--they blew the headliner--Moby Grape off the stage--and I love Moby Grape--Get this album NOW!

"Truth" was a forward looking, meticulously recorded excercise in hard rock blues power, folk and exquisitely controlled dynamics, a template for Led Zeppelin's debut the following year sonically, and structurally, with its exploration of hard rock and acoustic contrasts (Pages's famous 'light and shade' phrase comes to mind) and Beck and Stewart's guitar/voice call and response, not to mention riffs and rhythms(play "Ain't Superstitious" right after "How Many More Times," or "Shapes Of Things" after "Good Times Bad Times") and even actual songs ("You Shook Me" is all Beck guitar raunch, with deep supple bass, but fleet and under three minutes). The JBG, after a year-an-a-half of nonstop gigs and schizoid Mickie Most-produced singles, created an exciting and powerful statement,and even more than Cream wrote a blueprint for the direction hard rock would take in the next two decades, not just Led Zep, who clearly borrowed heavily but did forge their own identity while Beck's greatest lineup was allowed to fall apart in acrimony, but others later in the '70s such as Bowie (Beck's playing clearly influenced Mick Ronson and the pair used "Truth" engineer Ken Scott to capture the vivid sound of their early '70s classics) to lesser lights AC/DC and Van Halen.
1969's "Beck Ola" is something else, almost unbelievably wild, with its pedal to the floor and sometimes veering off the highway in a crash of ripped metal and glass shards. The sound is all grungey guitar skronk, vast, deep, rumbling bass from Ron Wood, and wry, witty lyrical variations on usual blues-rock themes from Rod Stewart, who had certainly evolved into a more confident lyricist and singer. They reinvent a pair of Elvis classics, stunning in an era of rote rock and roll nostalgia (recall Cat Mother or Sha Na Na or the countless Chuck Berry covers revisited by less inspired bands) and everyone plays with such unrestrained intensity and abandon they inspired Hendrix ("In From The Storm") and somehow made a record that recalls the Stooges for sheer incendiary impact. New drummer Tony Newman attacks his kit, in contrast to the stylish minimal funk of Motown influenced Mick Waller, a classy musician for any drummer to replace. The sound on the second album is harsh, dense, its amphetimine energy focused and astonishing and chaotic, exuding the go-for-broke feel before the music and the band implode a month after the album's release, unable to even pull something together for Woodstock. Rod Stewart and Ron Wood had clearly developed a partnership (extended into the Faces' great career and Rod's absolute best-ever solo work), and wrote the majority of the material, sometimes abetted by pianist Nicky Hopkins, Newman, or Beck himself. The closing "Rice Pudding" is a tour-de-force of hard riffing, lyrical passages, and a stunning range of guitar comping and effects, yet it's never self-indulgent, and the band more than keeps up with Beck. The tape-splice ending, of course, was famously appropriated by the Beatles for "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" a few months later. The one quiet, almost meditative moment, a gorgeous soul-ballad, a lovely and slow-simmering instrumental courtesy of Hopkins, is one of the late pianist's most accomplished creations - and that's something for a guy who played on classics by the Stones, Beatles, Kinks, Who, and Airplane to name a few. Norman Whitfield's work with the Temptations likely influenced the congas and hard funk of "Plynth," which the Faces revisited as a slashing slide guitar feature. The 2005 U.K. remaster (on EMI) is a superior transfer to the US version for detail and color and overall excitement, though I'll admit the dryer sounding US edition an interesting contrast - it may may be mastered from an original U.S. master. EMI's reissue of Donovan's "Barabajagal", featuring three collaborations with this edition of the JBG group, has a noteably different feel (and even some different mixes) from the US edition. Both artists were produced by Mickie Most, and both had their work issued by Epic in the U.S.
Finally, the bonus cuts are most welcome: an 8-minute slow blues (B.B. King's "Sweet Little Angel,") highlighted by truly scorching guitar - a massive and awsome sound - was recorded in November 1968, in between the band's two albums, with Mick Waller still on drums. Hank Marvin's "Throw Down A Line" is a fascinating track, evidence of Beck & co.'s interest in Motown and contemporary r&b and funk. The lyric has some understated social commetnary not unlike Norman Whitfield's work of the period ("Plynth" from "Beck-Ola" suggests the Group's Norman Whitfield influence, but with a harder, more aggressive approach. "Throw," has a more deliberate pace, a brooding track with slow burning guitar coming to the fore during the last minute. "All Shook Up" (recorded in January 1969 - "Beck - Ola" was recorded that April) again is less ferocious than the later take, funky rhythm and a cleaner sound with splashes of Beck's edgy guitar. Finally "Jailhouse Rock" is even more absurdly low-end than the album version, a fat rubbery bass rattling the windows, a great one to have but not superior to the take the band chose for the final cut.

This a superb remaster of the original LP. Noisy an raucous, maybe the first "heavy metal" LP ever recorded.
Got this CD specially for the bonus selections, far superior to the original tracks.
But for the Beck fans, for completion sake.

I must admit I am very biased toward Jeff Beck. There are many fine guitarists, but to me Jeff Beck is the best. With Rod Stewart on vocals and Ron Wood on bass, you've got a supergroup that puts all the rest, to shame. Backed up with the battery of Nicky Hopkins on piano, and Tony Newman on drums, there are no bad tunes on this fantastic album.

While the World focused its attention on Led Zeppelin, the Jeff Beck Group was afforded little attention in its short shelf life. With tunes like "Jailhouse Rock", "All Shook Up", "Plynth", and "Rice Pudding" it's flying by the seat of the pants time. My only gripe is the recording sounds a bit "ragged" around the edges. However, it stands the test of time. I'll take Beck, to Clapton, Page, Holdsworth or Van Halen any day. Buy this CD, and you won't be sorry. And while you're at it, listen to how Nicky Hopkins genius augments their sound beautifully.

On one hand, there's little original material here, but on the other: "The Plynth', perhaps the best thing Beck -or- Stewart have done, let alone done together...and although many find the instrumental "Rice Pudding" to be a bit meandering, I don't, and find it's loose structure to contain some of the best band interaction in all of rock. These two tracks alone bring this project up to '5'.

BECK-OLA. Possibly the first Heavy Metal LP ever. I was blown away by this, the EMI import version. I was steered to this version over the Epic Legacy version by a prior review, and I'm glad I was! The liner notes are informative with a couple of photos to boot. THIS, is the one to own!

This is an album you've probably been waiting to purchase forever. Don't hesitate, it is as good as advertised. Jeff Back & Rod Stewart together in a matchup that did not last long enough. I saw Jeff Beck in a medium-sized club two years ago : still awesome after all these years.

The main selling point here are the bonus tracks (especially Sweet Little Angel) and the overall excellent remastered sound. I hadn't listened to this record for many years. Upon further review it is a letdown from the first JBG release, TRUTH. All the promise shown on TRUTH doesn't really materialize into a step forwared with Beck-Ola. I understand it was recorded very quickly after months of steady touring. But, the immediate raw sound is actually one of its strengths. The problem I see and what ultimately doomed this original incarnation of the JBG is the lack of quality original material. With no quality songwriting within the band there just doesn't seem to be anywhere else for them to go beyond the loose, jam interpretation of mostly well known songs. One could say 2 cover versions of Elvis Presley songs is at least 1 too many, but there's no denying the power in these interpretations. So, I like the record for what it is, but I can't help but thinking what this band might have been if they could have evolved a bit more along the lines of Led Zeppelin from Zep I to II. Of course, the big difference there is Page and Plant were able to find their voices as songwriters which for me is ultimately the main reason Beck-Ola just doesn't stand up to the quality of Led Zeppelin II. Tis a shame since TRUTH showed so much promise and actually preceded Led Zeppelin I. The good news as we know is both Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart moved on and did some of their best work after Beck-Ola. We'll never know what they might have been able to accomplish if they had been able to spend some time developing their sound in the studio and possibly writing some fresh material to go along with their incredible vocal and guitar power.

This is when Rod was a hard rock belter and Jeff was a crazy wildman of the Gibson Les Paul. The energy here makes up for the lousy sound, I think they blew a few microphones here with the volume.

This album is classic beck but its to short.and most of the material is not original.but there are some great led zep style songs but this is much better guitar.and the jeff beck group was out before led ripoff zeppelin.