THE JEFF BECK GROUP

The second studio album by legendary British Jazz Fusion/Progressive Rock guitarist.
After the dissolution of the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice (BBA) in spring 1974, Beck took time for session work with other bands. In December, a half-hearted "audition" for The Rolling Stones took place, Beck jamming Blues with the band for one day, before realizing their musical styles were not compatible. During this period, Beck decided to record an all-instrumental album, bringing back keyboardist Max Middleton from the second Jeff Beck Group. He hired George Martin to produce after hearing his work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra's 1974 album "Apocalypse". According to Carmine Appice, who played with Beck in BBA, he was involved in the writing and recording process of "Blow By Blow", but Appice's parts were edited out after a dispute with Beck's management. The fourth key contributor to "Blow By Blow" after Beck, Middleton, and Martin was Stevie Wonder, who gave Beck his songs "Cause We've Ended As Lovers" and "Thelonius", with Wonder playing clarinet on the latter uncredited. The former song appeared on Wonder's 1974 album "Stevie Wonder Presents: Syreeta", made with then-wife Syreeta Wright, while Wonder never recorded "Thelonius" himself. A cover of the Beatles song "She's a Woman" was selected, as well as the composition "Diamond Dust" by Bernie Holland of the band Hummingbird, consisting of musicians from the second Beck Group. The other five tracks were band originals with Beck and Middleton the main writers, and the last track on each side featured string arrangements by Martin. Beck dedicated "Cause We've Ended as Lovers" to fellow guitarist Roy Buchanan, with an acknowledgement to Wonder.
An instrumental album "Blow By Blow" was recorded in October 1974 and released via Epic Records in March 1975. It was a hit in the US, reaching No. 4 on the American Billboard 200 album charts, and was certified Platinum by the RIAA for a million copies sold. It remains Beck's highest-charting album.
A live version of the track "Scatterbrain" was featured in the video game Guitar Hero 5.
CBS Inc./Epic Records, 1975/1979 (PE 33409). Made in USA. Third press. Used (cover/disc): EX+/NM (looks EX, sounds M).


Tracklist:

Side One
1. You Know What I Mean 4:02
2. She's A Woman 4:28
3. Constipated Duck 2:50
4. Air Blower 5:07
5. Scatterbrain 3:39

Side Two
1. Cause We've Ended As Lovers 5:51
2. Thelonius 3:17
3. Freeway Jam 4:57
4. Diamond Dust 8:24

Total playing time: 42:35 min.

The debut full-length studio album by legendary British Blues Rock/Hard Rock band.
It's the second studio album by English guitarist Jeff Beck, which was released in June 1969 by Epic Records in the United States and the following August by Columbia Records in the United Kingdom.
Jack Beck and his band released their first album, "Truth", during 1968 and by the end of the year drummer Micky Waller was replaced by Tony Newman, as Beck wanted to take the music in a heavier direction, and he viewed Waller as more of a finesse drummer in the style of Motown. Pianist Nicky Hopkins, who had also played on "Truth", was asked to join the band full-time for his work in the studio.
Recording sessions for the "Back-Ola" took place over six days in April 1969. Two covers of Elvis Presley tunes were chosen, "All Shook Up" and "Jailhouse Rock", as well as "Girl From Mill Valley", an instrumental by and prominently featuring Hopkins. The remaining four tracks consist of band originals, with the instrumental "Rice Pudding" ending the album dramatically cold.
Following the sessions for this album, the Jeff Beck Group toured the United States. They were scheduled to play Woodstock and are listed on posters promoting the festival, but by then internal friction had reached the breaking point and both Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart were out of the band. Stewart and Wood would form the Faces with members of the Small Faces in 1969, while Hopkins played Woodstock with Jefferson Airplane, joined Quicksilver Messenger Service, and toured the world with the Rolling Stones in 1971, 1972 and 1973. Beck himself would be out of action by December due to an automobile accident.
The album peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard 200, and at No. 39 on the UK Albums Chart. The album's title puns on the name of the Rock-Ola jukebox company.
Although a short album at half an hour, it is regarded, along with its predecessor, as a seminal work of Heavy Metal due to its use of Blues toward a Hard Rock approach and the squaring off of Beck's guitar against Stewart's vocals, duplicated the same year by Beck's good friend Jimmy Page with his singer Robert Plant in Led Zeppelin.
Epic Records, 1969/1987 (PE 26478). Made in USA. Used (cover/disc): NM/NM.

 
Tracklist:

Side A:
1. All Shook Up 4:53
2. Spanish Boots 3:35
3. Girl From Mill Valley 3:48
4. Jailhouse Rock 3:16    
    
Side B:
5. Plynth (Water Down The Drain) 3:07
6. The Hangman's Knee 4:48
7. Rice Pudding 7:28        
    
Total playing time: 30:55 min.