Customer Reviews

Jeff Beck: Crazy Fingers (Reference Book) Softcover

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Having been a massive fan of the great one since 1965, I was pleasantly suprised to read the many stories behind his more published achievements and musical milestones. A nicely assembled biography with a good balance of interview clips (many humorous), technical guitar talk and tons of tales surrounding sessions, performances, misunderstandings, artistic dilemas and so on. Annette has done a good job of focusing on what's important about this treasure of a guitarist. A discography and many good photos round out the book. What came over most strongly was just how much this man is respected and how he has largely avoided compromise. Most fans will find new and little known facts in this book.

If you want to read about drugs, groupies and gossip, don't buy this book. Although Jeff Beck has influenced countless guitarists for the last 40 years, the average person doesn't recognize his name. He always preferred to restore his collection of antique cars, instead of recording new albums or touring. In my opinion, he is probably the most versatile and innovative electric guitarist ever recorded. Beck has played on sessions for artists including Tina Turner, Stanley Clark, Mick Jagger, Paul Rodgers, Jon Bon Jovi, Wynonna Judd, Chrissie Hynde, Donovan, and Stevie Wonder. His solo albums have always broken new ground and his playing has never gotten stagnant. Beck's only weakness has been choosing inferior songs to fill out his albums. Carson describes one incident when Beck seriously injured his thumb while working on one of his cars. Instead of immediately going to a doctor, he fell asleep and was fortunate not have had any permanent damage done to his hand.

Writer Annette Carson provides a detailed account about one of rock's most unique and talented guitarists. No boring musicology chord structures here. I especially appreciated how the author tread lightly on the subjects of drug abuse, sexual adventures and tales of groupies used by most authors who chronicle twentieth century rock guitarists. Instead the author tells a great story about Jeff Beck. I recommend this book highly to anyone who might want to learn about rock music.

This book contains a wealth of information. I first came in contact with Jeff Beck and his music back in 1989 (Guitar Shop) and I've been a fan ever since. This little tome added greatly to my knowledge of the man and his music.

The only fault I can find in this book is that its author (Annette Carson) seems to be a big JB fan and she cannot knock any of his work even those parts, which even JB find highly questionable. A little more critical balance and a little less cheerleading would have been nice.

"Crazy Fingers" suffers from a disease in common with most unauthorized biographies, in that endless personal gushes combined with magazine interview snippets don't make up for the lack of in-depth access to the subject. However, it is a comprehensive look at Jeff's career, and fortunately gives equal press to early, mid-year and recent history, all the way up through Guitar Shop. Nice binding, too.

Annette Carson's incisive,comprehensive and interesting Jeff Beck biography, unveils the reasons why Jeff Beck is so enigmatic. Even though Brian May, David Gilmour, Slash, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page have stated that Jeff Beck is the greatest living guitarist, he remains relatively obscure. This is because he prefers working on hot rods amidst his majestic British estate that is home to countless dogs, cats and Mr. Beck's female companion. However, Beck's volatile and magnificent music career is thoroughly covered by the author. She does a great job via enumerating all the guest appearances Jeff Beck has made on other artists albums. It is amazing how ageless Jeff Beck is and his last three albums are just as spellbinding as "Blow By Blow" and "Wire". He can perform a 110 minute captivating concert without a vocalist and without saying a word to the audience. It was interesting to learn that Jeff Beck has been vegetarian since the late 1960's and that he recorded an animal rights song titled "Skin Thieves". It is no surprise that Jeff Beck is Chrissie Hynde's and Brian May's guitar hero.

This book is a great read for any Jeff Beck fan. Annette Carson is a wonderful writer, and I've wanted to read the book more than once. It portrays Jeff's carrer and playing quite well. I don't care about drugs and sex...I'm interested in Jeff's guitar playing. And this book delivers it on a solid platter.

This is the best book on Jeff Beck. Annette Carson is a most excellent writer, and she brings us down to the music. No sex, no drugs. It's about the guitar.

This book is a very good read and a must for any fan of the greatest guitarist ever: Jeff Beck. You have to read it a few times to be able to absorb all the info! The pictures included are also a very nice touch. If you read nothing else this year, or on Jeff Beck, read this.

This is a great book about Mr Crazy Fingers himself. I highly recommend this book to all Jeff Beck fans.

"Crazy Fingers" is a no-frills kind of biography. Focusing mostly on Jeff's career and gear, as opposed to an obsessive character study, the author gives a nice overview of the artist and his work. If you are a long time fan of Mr. Beck, there is probably not a ton of new material here regarding his playing, although some of Carlson's speculative narrative is interesting regarding Jeff's career choices. The best aspect of this book is the detailed discography included at the end and a very enlightening documentation of Jeff's guest appearances on various sessions throughout. Be that as it may, it is the best text that I know of about one of the true giants of electric guitar.