Ritchie Blackmore on how Jeff Beck would wrestle with self-doubt: “He was always reaching for something he couldn’t find”
Few guitarists have left a mark quite like Jeff Beck. The late Yardbirds icon was the kind of player other legends looked up to – your guitar hero’s guitar hero. Even now, his influence looms large, and the staggering $1.33 million sale of his 1954 “Oxblood” Les Paul earlier this year is proof of just how deep that legacy runs.
But according to Ritchie Blackmore, Beck didn’t always see himself that way. In fact, the Deep Purple legend says the late guitarist was often blind to his own brilliance.
READ MORE: “I said to him, ‘Why don’t you use a pick?’”: The hilarious real reason Jeff Beck didn’t use a pick, according to Hans Zimmer
Speaking in a new interview with Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen And Shane McEachern, Blackmore opens up about his longtime friend and their shared history, recalling both Beck’s brilliance and his quiet struggle with imposter syndrome.
“Jeff was a great guitar player. That was a big blow – him going,” he says. “I mean, he’s vegetarian and he didn’t take drugs particularly or anything. I was very shocked to hear about him dying that way. That was terrible.”
The pair first crossed paths back in the mid-’60s when they were both working as session players, even appearing together on a track produced by Jimmy Page, who’d soon go on to form Led Zeppelin. Blackmore says he always made a point of catching Beck live whenever he could.
“He had a very special way of playing. It was so different from anybody. I always used to go and see him play, because I found him very refreshing.”
Still, for all the admiration Beck inspired, Blackmore says the guitarist was rarely satisfied with his own work.
“He would always put himself down,” Blackmore recalls. “I’d say, ‘How is your latest record, Jeff?’ And he’d go, ‘Oh, it’s a lot of rubbish.’ He would always say that about anything he put out. He was always reaching for something he couldn’t find.”
Jeff Beck passed away in January 2023 at 78 from a sudden case of bacterial meningitis, leaving behind a storied career that continues to inspire guitarists worldwide. And earlier this year, his personal archive – including 130 guitars, amps, and other gear – went under the hammer at Christie’s, fetching nearly £9 million.
The post Ritchie Blackmore on how Jeff Beck would wrestle with self-doubt: “He was always reaching for something he couldn’t find” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
