Customer Reviews

Truth

5 star:		(96)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Jeff Beck's debut solo album has never sounded better in this mid-price expanded/remaster.As you know,this album was the first full-length recording of Rod Stewart.The group was a supergroup;guitarist Jeff Beck,vocalist Rod Stewart,bassist Ron Wood,Keyboardist Nicky Hopkins and drummer Micky Waller(who later played on some of Rod's best solo albums).For this release,EMI gives you all the expected bonus tracks and then some.You get previously unreleased outtake versions of "Blues DeLuxe" & "You Shook Me"(both remixed from the original multitracks),the original UK mono single version of "Beck's Bolero"(yes,as we're aware,there's no stereo mix of this track,which was recorded in 1966,shortly after Jeff's previous band The Yardbirds had completed their "Roger The Engineer" album,but the Uk single version has a backwards guitar coda which was edited off all album and previous CD releases of the song).Incidentally,"Beck's Bolero" was recorded with Keith Moon,John Paul Jones,Jimmy Page & Nicky Hopkins.Also,you get first-time-in stereo 2005 remixes of "I've Been Drinking","Hi Ho Silver Lining" & "Rock My Plimsoul"(the first version;the single take with Aynsley Dunbar on drums).The new remix of "I've Been Drinking" corrects a problem present on the original mono mix which caused a rejected,alternate lyric Rod Stewart vocal to leak through in the part of the song after the guitar solo.The unwanted vocal has now been 95% squelched.The stereo remix of "Rock My Plimsoul" is fine and musically identical to the mono single,however,it should be cautioned that due to some live-during-mono mixdown guitar & vocal overdubs on the original mono single mix of "Hi Ho Silver Lining",that the new stereo remix is missing one of the three lead guitar parts during the guitar solo,and the high vocal harmonies are missing during the song's choruses.The disc also includes the original mono single mixes of "Tallyman" & "Love is Blue".My guess is that either EMI couldn't find the multitracks for those two selections,or they did find them,but found a sitation similar to the situation on "Hi Ho Silver Lining";that musically identical(to the original single) stereo mixes weren't possible.There's long been talk that EMI funded further Jeff Beck recording sessions after Jeff's contract with EMI had ended,but before Jeff signed wih EPIC worldwide,but that there's uncertainty about whether EMI can legally release the recordings.When Jeff's manager has enquired about the recordings,EMI's Abbey Road Studios tape vault has denied holding them,though compilers who have done projects for EMI have said otherwise.I hope that someday that ownership issue will be resolved.Until then,EMI/UK's new expanded reissues of "Truth" & "Beck-Ola" give us more Jeff Beck outtakes than we'd ever thought we would hear.Jeff has always been anti-nostalgia & anti-outtakes,but his rigidness seems to be softening.He's even cooperated and been interviewed for the (fine) liner notes which accompany both discs.Highly recommended.

After leaving the Yardbirds in late-1966, Jeff Beck hooked up with popmeister Mickie Most (Herman's Hermits, Donovan) but had little luck with the UK singles chart. By 1968, Beck enlisted vocalist Rod Stewart, bass player Ron Wood, and drummer Mickey Waller. Their debut Truth would would be the most consistently satisfying album of Beck's career.

The album kicks off with a reworking of the 1966 Yardbird's hit "Shapes of Things" and from there presents a string of blues-based songs that would become the framework for heavy metal in general and Led Zeppelin in particular. The only serious misstep is the inclussion of "Old Man River" from the 1951 musical Show Boat. It may help show us Stewart's range as a vocalist, but it's not much of a showcase for Beck's virtuosity as a guitarslinger. The only other out-of-character tune is Beck's solo rendition of the traditional "Greensleeves." But as he remarks in the liner notes, "Aye that's a lovely 'toon'," and his acoustic reading is a reflective counterpoint to most of the rest of the material contained on the album.

Highlights include "You Shook Me," "Rock My Plimsoul" and the guitar workout "Beck's Bolero," but the standout track is "I Ain't Superstitious."

As a bandleader, Beck could be temperamental and his bands tended to not last for more than one or two albums. [The follow-up "Beck-Ola" featured a diferent drummer plus the addition of keyboardist Nicky Hopkins and would be that group's last.] Beck's post-Sixties work always showed flashes of brilliance and as such I would highly recommend the 3-CD Beckology as a terrific overview, but Truth belongs in any serious music collector's library. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I highly recommend this version with the extra tracks. The sound is excellent. I hear a lot more than on the Remastered Epic version. And I really like the bonus cuts. I think I prefer the alternate versions than the ones used for the record, especially Blues DeLuxe. The definitive version!! A must have for your collection.

With a sound that could slice through steel, a mod haircut framing his slightly surly face, and a thorough immersion into the Yardbirds' blue-based rock, Beck was one tough muthuh, and he wasn't shy about letting us know that he could play "flash." His pyrotechnical effects on "Truth" would be distracting if they weren't so spot on, almost always lifting the song to new, dazzling heights. It's a dazzling, exhilarating display of power, speed, showmanship, electronic effects, and simple good taste.

This new reissue has all the core elements of the original "Truth," (and here I diverge from the majority of reviewers), some mostly unnessary alternative versions--as well as songs not on the original. For example, it has the sublimely ridiculous, commercial, and pandering "Love is Blue" -Not even JEFF BECK can salvage this syrupy mosh. I believe that record producers were more powerful back then. You get two pretty awful tracks at the end of the album, and two good additons, "The Drinking Song," (later popularized by Bette Midler), and a version of "Beck's Bolero" where the bubbling background guitar contrasts superbly with what today we would call "power chords." It's both more evanescent and straightforward than the original, and worth a couple of dollars extra (though the "complete" Truth sells at about the same price as the 12-song original).

Face it, though, this album is a classic on the basis of three rock classics, a re-working of the Yardies' "Shapes of Things" (Bowie does a more pop, but excellent version on "Pin-Ups"), with Rod Stewart's imaginative pronunciation and Beck's powerfully electric, piercing lead; "Morning Dew," an apocalyptic number applicable to your choice of atom bombs, naplam, or greenhouse gases (Wikipedia will tell you that, indeed, it was a Bomb-inspired song written by Canadian Bonnie Dobson) with its combination of melodic and tempo-dissonant guitar licks as well as Stewart's best singing; and Beck's version of the great Howlin' Wolf's "I Ain't Superstitious," a Beck-fest of wa-wa laden special effects that has never been equaled, with a bass run by the uncredited Ron Wood that was quite influential over the years. These are the standouts, and they're why this album is cherished and being picked up by a new generation.

That popularity is NOT because this is the "Birth of Metal," as some critics, anxious to sell something that doesn't need selling, will claim. This is the high point of blues-based rock, and the glorious, glorified guitar solo (is it only Prince these days who keeps that tradition alive?). The album is too blues-laden to fit the "metal" category, and the playing blows away most metal bands anyway. Besides, "Truth" includes "Greensleeves" and "Old Man River"; the former is a sweet, but not necessary, and the latter is a showboat (pun intended) for Rod Stewart's intense and generally very effective singing.

If you can get past later associations with Stewart (for example, the sickenly Playboy juvenalia of the "French girl" murmurs on his much later and much worse "Tonight's the Night") and his smug self-absorption, you can appreciate the raspy voice and confident swagger that make him a rich man's Joe Cocker. He shows nice restraint during the solos, adding a well-timed exclamation or improv here and there (e,g, "Listen!") which adds to the spontaneity. Stewart shows his R and B chops (and strong influences) on "Rock My Plimsoul" and his solid performances on Howlin's Wolf's "You Shook Me" and 'Ain't Superstitious" are solid performances that appropriately lay out for Beck's insane guitar.

One of my favorite moments occurs during Beck's solo during the live performance of "Blues De Luxe." THe audience politely applauds him at first, but after he tears into an incredibly tight and intense solo, they lose whatever reserve they had and give him the frenzied appreciation he deserves. It's an electirc guitar analogy to John Mayall's harp solo on "Room to Move."

Maybe you need an ego like Beck to play so well for so long. He states that Superstitious was stolen from a Howlin Wolf "riff" (with, we are told, Wolf's explicit permission). Well, really, he pretty much stole the whole song, although it's definitely a Jeff Beck treatment. He implores us to play the longs loudly "for maximum effect," perhaps while having the "Vicar over for tea." The boy is rude--I once heard a story about him screaming at an airplane steward for amother screwdriver (it might even be true), and he rocks like no one else. I'll take Hendrix as my favorite (and the best) rock guitarist, but flashy, stylish, slashing Jeff Beck is not too far behind. Definitely in my top ten rock albums ever; one I play nearly every day at work.

Having recently discovered that this classic album was available as a remastered import with bonus tracks, liner notes, etc., I jumped, nay, I LEAPED at once to purchase it. If only Epic had bothered to offer such an excellent product when that company remastered Beck's first solo lp, doubtless their sales would have been even better. Other reviewers have indicated they feel the import's sound is better than Epic's; I cannot exactly hear a great deal of difference, though I will admit I hear a bit more punch in the bass.

I can only finally offer this advice: For you who have not heard this since we all had turntables and lava lamps, buy it now! And those of you too young to know what the fuss is all about, buy it now!

Was my advice redundant? Ah well, there you are.

In the era of Hendrix, Cream, and Michael Bloomfield, Jeff Beck's first release was a landmark album. Truth (and the superb follow-up of Beck-Ola) showcased Jeff's raw & intense playing and clearly his best Blues ever. Jeff's discovery of then-unknown Rod Stewart was providencial as his voice was an amazing compliment to Jeff's style; it was totally unique and ideally suited for the Blues. (Too bad he abandoned this direction and instead opted for the 'Do you think I'm sexy/Hot Legs' rubbish). Truth contains 'Blues Deluxe' which seems to have been plagiarized from the Blues classic 'Gambler's Blues,' but it stands on its own nonetheless. Although in the same genre as Led Zeppelin's early releases, Truth pre-dates Zep I by six months. Interesting that both include the great Blues track 'You Shook Me.' The Jeff Beck Group obviously never attained the same commercial success as Zeppelin which was painfully ironic and likely caused some resentment since Jeff was pushed out by the Yardbirds and replaced by Jimmy Page. (For nostalgic's sake, check out the 1966 film Blowup which includes a scene near the end with the Yardbirds w/Jimmy Page & Jeff Beck performing 'Stroll On,' until Jeff smashes his guitar à la The Who. You can see it on Youtube).

Hard rock albums don't come any better than this one. "Truth" came out sometime in 1968, right after Jeff Beck's stint with the Yardbirds. A great band in their own right who featured 3 great guitar aces in Clapton, Page, and Beck. But it was Beck who was miles ahead of these guys in his knowledge and confidence with the six string. He makes sounds come out of his guitar on "Truth" that I've never heard before or since. What adds fuel to the fire is the singing of a young Rod Stewart, who is in top form on here. He has that good gritty voice that, for my money, is cut out much more for singing this type of music than his later pop material. Some of the outstanding tracks here: "SHAPES OF THINGS", a reworking of the old Yardbirds song with a little different arrangement, and a meaner and better version. "LET ME LOVE YOU" is a nice heavy blues rock tune with a riff in it that's probably been copied a thousand times since. But it's a Beck original. Great singing by Stewart too. "YOU SHOOK ME" is one of the rudest blues songs ever thrown on vinyl. It's 2:28 of pure angry guitar work. "OL' MAN RIVER" A great slow reworking of the old gospel song. Everyone sounds super on this one. Great drumming by Mick Waller, and quite possibly the best singing performance of Rod Stewart's career. Turn this one up to get the full affects. It's great. "ROCK MY PLIMSOUL" is a good mid-tempo blues shuffle that will never be improved upon from this version. The guitar of Beck and the voice of Stewart trading licks with each other is something to behold. "BECK'S BOLERO" easily makes my top 10 list of best instrumental songs ever. Very heavy stuff. "I AIN'T SUPERSTITIOUS", what can I say about this old Willie Dixon tune. I still hear it to this day played on the radio from time to time. It's timeless. I think it's the best reworking of a standard blues song that's ever been made. I've never heard a guitar reach out and talk to me the way this one does. Beck's an absolute showoff here. And a genius with a six string. I would lay money that Jimmy Page was giving a close listen to this album before starting his venture with Led Zepplin. Along with most of the other 70's rock acts. I'm always surprised when my music loving friends tell me they've never heard of this album. It's a true classic, and Beck's best work. For me, it's the best blues rock record of the 60's. Fans of classic rock should give "Truth" a listen. I promise it'll knock your socks off.

When I was a younger guy, worshipping at the temple of Aerosmith and Joe Perry, hungrily devouring every little snippet of info about them, I would always come across Perry's idoltry of Jeff Beck and how influential Beck and the Yardbirds (among others obviously) were to his sound and devotion to music. Like any good history student, I did some research and came across a double lp of this album and the follow-up Beck-Ola. It didn't take long to figure out what all the fuss was about.
This is a Beck tour de force from the simple elegance of Greensleeves to the galloping intensity of Beck's Bolero, the sheer sickness of You Shook Me, and the blues workouts on Blues De Luxe, Let Me Love You, Rock My Plimsoul, and I Ain't Superstitious, this is a lethal collection of Beck's genius and guitar mastery. The bonus edition was worth replacing my old cd with because of the rarity of Beck outtakes and the frank commentary provided by the man himself in the liner notes. I know some have slagged it off, but I really enjoy the cheesy Love is Blue most of all!
The man is one of a handful of guitarists from the rock world to have influenced guitarists across the genres and his refusal to go quietly into that good night of laurel resting, blues retreading, or commercial banality, proves more and more that Jeff Beck remains as fresh and vital as he did in his groundbreaking days over four decades ago. If you really want to know why this guy is (or should be) mentioned in the same breath as Jimi Hendrix, give this a listen. Thanks for the tip, Joe Perry.

Jeff Beck made his name as a guitar virtuoso in the seminal English rock group The Yardbirds. Striking out on his own, he enlisted the aid of a young Scot, an unknown Rod Stewart and future Stone, Ron Wood to create a real 60's gem. The opening track is a remake of his previous band's "Shape Of Things" and it shows off his furious guitar work as well as Mr. Stewart's whiskey-soaked vocal prowess. The album moves between blues tracks like "You Shook Me", "Blues Deluxe" & "I Ain't Superstitious" to traditional stuff like the folksy "Greensleeves" (Mr. Beck shows he can play the acoustic guitar with the same skills as the electric) and the traditional "'Ol Man River". A truly adventurous album that may well be the peak of Mr. Beck's career.

While most chose Jim Morrison, my youthful Dionysian fantasies took me to Jeff Beck. WIth a sound that could slice through steel, a mod haircut framing his slightly surly face, and a thorough immersion into the Yardbirds' blue-based rock, Beck was one tough mothuh, and he wasn't shy about letting us know he could play "flash." His pyrotechnical effects on "Truth" would be distracting if they weren't so spot on, almost always lifting the song to new, dazzling heights.

This new reissue has all the core elements of the original "Truth," (and here I diverge from the majority of reviewers), some mostly unnessary alternative versions as well as songs never on the original "Truth." If you've ever wanted to an aural definition of the word "sell-out" then you've got to hear the ridiculously commercial, pandering "Love is Blue" -Not even JEFF BECK can salvage this syrupy mosh, and one may specualte that record producers were more powerful back then. YOu get three pretty awful tracks at the end of the album, and two good additons, "THe Drinking Song," (later popularized by Bette MIdler), and a version of Bolero where the bubbling background guitar contrasts superbly with what today we would call "power chords." It's both more evanescent and straightforward than the original, and worth a couple of dollars extra (though the "complete" Truth sells at about the same price as the 12-sing original.

Face it, though, this album is a classic on the basis of three rock classics, a re-working of the Yardies' "Shapes of Things" (Bowie does a more pop, but excellent version on "Pin-Ups"), with Rod Stewart's imaginative pronunciation and Beck's powerfully electric, piercing lead, "Morning Dew," an apocalyptic number that applicable to your choice of atom bombs, naplam, or greenhouse gases (Wikipedia will tell you that, indeed, it was a Bomb-inspired song written by Canadian Bonnie Dobson) with its combination of melodic and tempo-dissonant guitar licks as well as Stewart's best singing, and Beck's version of the great Howlin' Wolf's "I Ain't Superstitious," a Beck-fest of wa-wa laden special effects that has never been equaled, with a bass run by the uncredited Ron Wood that was quite influential over the years. These are the standouts, and they're why this album is cherished and being picked up by a new generation.

That popularity is NOT because this is the "Birth of Metal," as some critics, anxious to sell something that doesn't need selling, will claim. This is the high point of blues-based rock, the glorious, glorified guitar solo (is it only Prince these days who keeps that tradition alive?), an era whose unfortunate macho posing would at least have filtered out such "rock" groups as Dave Matthews, to name just one. There's too much blues, and too much note for note perfection to consider this metal. Besides, "Truth" includes "Greensleeves" and "Old Man River"; the former is a waste of time, and the latter is a showboat (pun intended) for Rod Stewart's intense and generally very effective singing.

If you can get past later associations you may have with Stewart (for example, the sickenly Playboy juvenalia of the "French girl" murmurs on his much later and much worse "Tonight's the Night") and his smug self-absorption, you can appreciate the raspy voice and confident swagger that make him a rich man's Joe Cocker. He shows nice restraint during the solos, adding a well-timed exclamation or improv here and there (e,g, "Listen!") which adds to the spontaneity. His work on Howlin's Wolf's "You know you Shook Me" and 'Ain't Superstitious" are solid performances that appropriately lay out for the Beck's insane guitar.

Maybe you need an ego like Beck to play so well for so long. He states that SUperstitious was stolen from a Howlin Wolf "riff" (with, we are told, Wolf's explicit permission)--well, really, he pretty much stole the whole song, although it's definitely a Jeff BEck treatment. He implores us to play the longs loudly "for maximum effect," perhaps while having the "Vicar over for tea." The boy is rude--I I was heard a story about him screaming at an airplane steward for amother screwdriver--it might even be true), and he rocks like no one else. I'll take Hendrix as my favorite (and the best) rock guitarist, but flashy, stylish, slashing Jeff Beck is not too far behind.