Retro Review: Jeff Beck-Blow by Blow, Wired

Jeff Beck is known for the Yardbirds, for Blues, and for putting Rod Stewart on the map. But in the mid-'70s, he put out a couple of albums that I never tire of listening to. Blow by Blow and Wired are amazing jam albums, very jazzy, very fusiony, with no vocals anywhere to be heard; these are just pure celebrations of the guitar.

They make a perfect set. Wired (1976) seems like a continuation of Blow by Blow (1975). They are a double album separated by a year. The mix, the construction, the phrasing are all impeccable. I can't praise these albums highly enough.

Jeff Beck released a passable live version with Jan Hammer, but it somehow doesn't come together for me like the studio releases. He then tried again in 1980 with There and Back, but, while this is a very good album, he had lost the magic, and the relentless pop sound of the '80s was starting to dominate. He then went back to more mainstream, vocal-based rock, and the moment was gone forever.

I would have a hard time picking one of these as one of the proverbial Desert Island 10. I think I'd have to cheat, call them a double album, and sneak them both along under my inflatable rubber duck floaty ring.