Mike: All right, welcome everyone to another edition of the Sideshow. My name is Mike Bloom. Mark Bloom: And I am Mark Bloom. Mike: And we are going to be talking today, I believe for the first time on the sideshow, about Jeff Beck, who is one of the better regarded guitarists in the classic rock era over the years. He recently passed away within the last year, 18 months or so, can't remember when, but he relatively recently passed away. And he continued to perform. Mark Bloom: back. Mike: until the very end. he still, you could tell he looked old, but he could still play. I mean, he's a guitarist's guitar player and always has been. And we're gonna be talking about one of his solo albums from the mid 70s, which is called Wired, which came out in 1976. And it was the middle album of three Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mike: ⁓ instrumental albums that were kind of in the jazz rock fusion. Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Mike: sort of genre for lack of a better way of describing it. ⁓ But that was not really how ⁓ Jetbeck started out or I think even the music that he really wanted to be known for. this album wired along with the album preceding it, which is called Blow by Blow, and the album that followed it, which was called There and Back, ⁓ were all ⁓ instrumental and had what I'm choosing to label it as a kind of a jazz fusion sort of area to it, although more on the rock side of the ledger than the jazz side. And fusion kind of covered a lot of ground, but in any event. ⁓ But Jeff Beck is an artist, mean, he's very interesting character. his original claim to fame was he was one of the Mark Bloom: Yeah. Yeah. Mike: of the Yardbirds, an English band ⁓ from the mid-1960s. And the Yardbirds spawned three of the, some of the more ⁓ classic hard rock guitar players from that whole era, ⁓ Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page, all were members of the yard birds at one point. Mark Bloom: Somewhat notable guitar players, I would say. Mike: notable guitar players, ⁓ players I think whose first love was blues music, but who all became major innovators in sort of the morphing of rock and roll, blues, and sort of the heavier music that was coming out in the late 60s, following artists like Jimi Hendrix and whatnot, which basically came to be heavy metal. ⁓ But in any event, Jeff Beck was, ⁓ mean, Eric Clapton was in the Yardbirds' earliest incarnations with songs like For Your Love. ⁓ When Jeff Beck was sort of the guitarist of the Yardbirds, that was heart full of soul, shapes of things, and then, and the final, the final, ⁓ Yardbirds era was Jimmy Page was the was sort of the the head honcho guitar wise of the Yardbirds, but so I mean big well-known influential Seminole mid-60s ⁓ London band the Yardbirds was how Jeff X started out and Mark Bloom: Yeah. Yep. Mike: His first foray as a solo artist was an album from, I believe it was 1968, ⁓ called Truth. And that was ⁓ a, I believe it was a Jeff Beck solo album, but it was really a group, it was a band. And the lead vocalist was Rod Stewart. And that was, I believe, his earliest high profile gig was as the singer for the Jeff Beck. And playing bass was Ron Wood, who eventually went on, he was a member of the Faces with Rod Stewart ⁓ and ⁓ Ian McClegan, an English keyboardist. ⁓ ⁓ What was the guy's name? He was the replacement drummer ⁓ in the Who for Keith Moon. ⁓ Played for the Faces. But then Ron Wood went on to become a member of the Rolling Stones, eventually. ⁓ And it was Ansley Dunbar and Mickey Waller played drums with this group. But what this was was heavy blues with loud distorted guitars. Mark Bloom: Yeah. Mike: and did a cover of the Howlin' Wolf song, ⁓ You Shook Me, which had been written by Willie Dixon, kind of one of the classic ⁓ chess records blues ⁓ artists who was best known as a songwriter. He also played bass. ⁓ And this album came out ⁓ a few months before Led Zeppelin's first album. And Led Zeppelin also did a cover of You Shook Me. And some of the initial critical reactions to Led Zeppelin's debut album were, recycled Jeff Beck. Recycled Jeff Beck group. ⁓ And so this initial foray ⁓ into music after the Yardbirds was very much Mark Bloom: Yeah, you shook me. Mike: There were people at the time thought very much like Led Zeppelin. Mark Bloom: Yeah. Well, and I mean, and the, you know, you had with Led Zeppelin an expectation that they were going to be good, like as they formed because of Jimmy Page's previous work and he'd already been successful in the Yardbirds and is a critical studio musician as well. Jeff Beck also incredibly respected in the music industry. mean, he was approached by Pink Floyd to replace Sid Barrett. which David Gilmore eventually took, he was approached by the Rolling Stones to replace Brian Jones. So, I mean, people wanted him. Mike: Yeah. Mark Bloom: to play ⁓ at the time. I think we'll find over his career that he had trouble working with people. ⁓ Let's just leave it at that for now. Maybe we'll talk a little bit about that later. he was identified and recognized as an awfully goddamn good guitar player. Mike: Well, the- Well, this group of guys that ⁓ put out this first solo album called Truth, they did another album called Backola, which was similar but not as successful. then that sort of collection of guys, whoever's fault it was doesn't necessarily matter, but they didn't hang together. Jeff Beck ended up playing with a bunch of different kind of collections of guys. And there were a couple more albums in the early 70s that came out. Beck Ola was 1969. In 1971, he came out with an album called Rough and Ready. And then it was, I believe, 1972 that he came out with another album called Jeff Beck Group. And similar, you know, personnel on those, you know, Ruff and Ready and Jeff Beck group, but they didn't, the group as a whole didn't hang together. Now one of the guys that played with that group was a guy named Max Middleton, who was a keyboard player, played like Clavinet, like Fender Rhodes, piano type thing. And he kind of stuck around for a little while. Mark Bloom: Yeah. Mike: And, and. Mark Bloom: And he was a very jazz kind of guy. ⁓ Mike: And ⁓ but Jeff Beck also got hooked up around that time in the early 70s with two former members of Vanilla Fudge, the band that it did the, you know, the slow down cover of You Keep Me Hanging On ⁓ and whatnot. But that was the ⁓ Tim Bogart, who I believe played bass and Carmen Apiece, who was a drummer. So Beck, Bogart and Apiece. know, BBA to some were playing off and on. And he just, was doing a lot of things with a lot of different people. And, oh. Mark Bloom: But but to your point, not really sticking together with like a single band for you know, for for several years in a row. I mean, let's face it, the really successful as talented as Jeff Beck was the really successful groups were able to kind of hang together and work together and build build something ⁓ until they were really kind of clicking and playing together and and he seemed to kind of wander. Mike: Yeah. Mark Bloom: between these different groups, his own solo work, continued putting out music. That's for sure. mean, there was albums coming out every year in one form or another from Jeff Beck. Mike: And well, in any case, come, I believe it was 1975, he ended up in the studio and the producer for the sessions was George Martin, who had produced The Beatles. And Jetbeck ended up releasing an instrumental album called Blow by Blow. Mark Bloom: of Beatles, of Beatles, I think. Mike: And it was sort of the older brother to this album that we're going to talk about today, Wired. ⁓ it's, ⁓ know, side two of ⁓ Blow by Blow, I'm sure, is going to be a podcast at some point. ⁓ it was his most successful album ⁓ that he had had up to that point. and he never did another album that did as well after. But it really had kind of caught the attention of the sort of mid-70s rock audience, you know, not unlike the, if you like Santana. you'd kind of like this sort of Jeff Beck and the instrumental stuff that he was doing. If I had to kind of pigeonhole it, I'd say it's that jazz rock fusion emphasis on the rock, ⁓ guitar-oriented music. Because boy, the guy could play guitar. mean, if whatever... Mark Bloom: Yeah. Yeah. Mike: Whatever anyone thinks of Jeff Beck or his music or his personality or whatever, the guy knew how to get different sounds out of his instrument. And in a way that could be light and delicate, that could be emotionally compelling, or that could just be in your face heavy, to just spectacular. Mark Bloom: Yeah. Yeah. Mike: know, blues-based guitar leads. I mean, just the whole ball of wax he could do. ⁓ And I think that he, as an artist or as a guitarist, preferred more like earthy rock and roll, you know, kind of down and dirty, more like the Led Zeppelin, Yardbirds type music. But what really became, you know, his greatest success, Mark Bloom: Yeah. Mike: was this string of instrumental kind of fusion-y ⁓ albums in the mid-70s ⁓ and 1980. But come the next year, 1976, he recorded this album, Wired. And Max Middleton was around, George, George Martin still produced. And... ⁓ Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mike: A couple guys came in ⁓ from the Maha Vishnu Orchestra, which was one of the original jazz rock fusion groups in the 70s. And the head honcho of that band was a guitarist named John McLaughlin. he was originally a jazz ⁓ guitarist. And he played on ⁓ Miles Davis, ⁓ Davis' album. ⁓ Bitches Brew. He may have played on in a silent way, but in any case, played with Miles Davis. And then Mahavishnu Orchestra was formed shortly thereafter. And the keyboard synthesizer player was a guy named John Hammer. And then also there was a drummer who drummed with Mahavishnu Orchestra who was ⁓ named Narada Michael Walden. Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mike: And both of those guys played on some of the songs on this album, including the first two on side one, which is what we're going to talk about. And John Hammer had an interesting synthesizer sound. And he went on, after playing with Jeff Beck, to play with a guitar player named Al DiMiola, who was sort of your real fusion nerds. Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Okay. Mike: guitar player. And he put out a bunch of albums in the late 70s and early 80s, which were really pretty good. And John Hammer played on a number of those. ⁓ And I went through a phase where I was really into al di miaula. And I don't pull that out much anymore. interesting musician, John Hammer. ⁓ Mark Bloom: ⁓ huh. Mm-hmm. You Mike: But in any case, there was a variety of different styles on this record, not unlike the previous one, know, the jazz rock fusion, emphasis on the rock, with the exception of one of the tunes. And it had struck a chord with the audience back then. And I think if you got on the internet and checked it out, I think Blow by Blow and Wired would be his two biggest sellers. Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Mike: ⁓ And then, so this is 1976, his next solo album wasn't until 1980, and that was another ⁓ instrumental, fusion-y record called There and Back. John Hammer played on a number of those songs as well. ⁓ that was similar in feel, George Martin wasn't producing. ⁓ And so Wired is kind of the middle, the middle edition of his big three in my humble opinion. Mark Bloom: Yeah. Well, and I'd agree with you. I mean, and there is and as well, I'm sure here in some of these you can you can hear the jazz part of the jazz fusion in these in these songs. But you know, you mentioned a couple jazz guitarists, you know, kind of in, you know, people that that had worked with. But, you know, this is not a jazz guitarist playing jazz. This is absolutely a rock guitarist. that is playing the jazz. I think the combination just kind of caught hold with a certain niche of music lover people that enjoyed guitar and enjoyed kind of the feel of this jazz fusion. But his quality as a guitar player certainly came out. just kind of in pulling this back out and getting ready for this, really the first thing that I thought of ⁓ as listening to these songs again was yeah, we've got some rock guitar with some jazz. as opposed to a jazz guitarist playing rock or the other way around. Really, really interesting stuff. And just one last note, you you mentioned a number of these, these players that were doing this. Most of these songs were written by those guys, right? ⁓ Max Middleton and Narada, you know, they wrote a lot of the songs on this, this album. Beck wasn't a writer, right? He was a, he was a player, right? In what was going on. Mike: Yeah. And this music took hold with a rock audience. ⁓ because Jeff Beck is primarily a rock and roll rock artist, whereas like Aldi Mjolnblod was more like a jazz artist ⁓ who had some rock elements. And jazz people were more likely to look to him and sort of tolerate Mark Bloom: Yes, absolutely. Mike: the rock aspects of his music. And rock fans were to go to a guy like Jeff Beck and tolerate the sort of jazz frills that some of his music had. Mark Bloom: Yeah. Absolutely. I think a big component of that was, was his background. I mean, we talked, you know, coming up through the yard birds playing with, you know, a lot of, you know, big rock and roll people. mean he was well established as a very formidable rock guitarist before getting into into these these areas and he still comes through as a rock guitarist in these you know in these songs. Again there's some more than others a very jazzy feel to it but awfully good guitar that comes through in this. Mike: Yeah. So let's get out of it. I got the album here. ⁓ It's him playing guitar, a white Fender Stratocaster, very simple on the back. ⁓ It's four pictures of him on stage, list of songs, list of personnel on each of the songs, et cetera. There's no dust sleeve, pretty straightforward. And the first track. Mark Bloom: Sure. Yeah. Mike: is called Lead Boots. ⁓ There's some significance to the name, and we can talk about that in a second. But let's play about a minute and half or so of this, and then pick up the discussion on the other side. Mark Bloom: All right, sounds good. Mike: All right, ⁓ I said that the name of the song was Lead Boots and lead is spelled L-E-D not L-E-A-D. And you listen to that clip there and behind what eventually is some scream and guitar from Jeff Beck is this riff heavy bass line and drum beat. And Lead Boots, is also a lyric from the black Sabbath song, Iron Man. It mentions with his lead boots. you know, sort of the conventional wisdom was, well, this was sort of a, this piece was ⁓ sort of a pay-on to Led Zeppelin. And I think what it was, it was just a riff heavy composition that ⁓ Max Middleton came up with. And ⁓ because both Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath played this plotting riff heavy music, that ⁓ he sort of a nod to both of them. Mark Bloom: Yep. Yeah. Mike: ⁓ because so I don't think I think it was something that was an after-the-fact connection rather than an inspiration from Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath because because while this is a riff heavy piece it doesn't sound like either of them really it's it's it it doesn't Mark Bloom: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I'd agree. does. It. ⁓ And I don't mean this in a negative way, but it's kind of not really a structured kind of song. It's almost like you're you've got like a lot of kind of what what on the outside might sound like improvisational type jazz stuff. It's not an improvisational song. mean, there's a there's a definite certainly to the guitar. repetitive type rhythm that they're going through. A rhythm, by the way, that was ripped off by the Jacksons in the song, Shake Your Body Down to the Ground, right? That, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da. I mean, that's, you know, you'll hear that again if you've heard that Jackson song. But it, this, I'd agree with you, the first thing that grips you is this kind of, this kind of, you know, funky riff that gets the song going. And then the guitar just layers over the top of it and kind of a funky way to get the side started. Mike: Well, and at first when you listen to it, it sounds almost kind of ham-fisted. It's just a sort of repetitive riff. But boy, when Jeff comes in with the guitar, I mean, he's playing some screaming guitar. And it illustrates the fact that whatever jazzy influence is present in these songs, it Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Mike: It is overpowered by the just rock guitar feel, at least on this track. Mark Bloom: Yeah. And you also get this sense that I will be honest, I don't know if I've ever I never saw Jeff Beck live and I don't know if I've ever seen a Jeff Beck music video. I've heard the music from days gone by and all the different incarnations, but incarnations that that he's he's worked in. But you get a sense that he was one of those guys that was almost like he was born with the guitar in his hand. He just has to think and it goes into the guitar. Someone like a like an Eric Clapton or a Carlos Santana that just can do anything that they want with the guitar. And as you're listening, especially to this song, you get that feeling. He knows what he wants to do and it just comes out of his hands into the guitar. Very, very comfortable with this instrument. Like it's just another part of his body. And a lot of his music, I get that sense. Mike: the, ⁓ well, and he, and some of his best music, it takes a little while to get the stew boiling. ⁓ And he kind of understands how to do so. ⁓ And it's fairly meat and potato stuff. mean, we're talking here drums, guitar, ⁓ and there's synthesizer and clavinet in there, but it's... Mark Bloom: Yeah. Yeah. No. Yeah. Mike: It's not cluttered music. And the guitar is really where the primary energy comes from. ⁓ So in any case, Lead Boots is the opening track. And the second track is called Come Dancing. And this is one of the standout tracks on the side. Mark Bloom: Yeah, I'd agree. I'd agree. Mike: in my opinion. And this is a little more of ⁓ a ⁓ less hard rock, more kind of mid 70s funky, but not in too deep of a way. ⁓ And it kind of captures the sound and feel to some extent of what nightlife was like. Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Mike: in the mid 70s when disco was starting to kind of come into the picture, although it hadn't achieved the sort of mass popularity that it would later in the decade. ⁓ But again, it doesn't stop Jeff Beck from establishing that he is the one holding the guitar and he is the one that is sort of in charge. ⁓ Mark Bloom: Yeah, yeah, I'd agree. This song really has a groove to it. And the name is very appropriate as you listen to it. Even from the very beginning of the song, you have a kind of desire to move, know, kind of dance in your chair a little bit while you're listening to it. I mean, this is, you know, one of the criticisms of jazz fusion type music is you don't get, you know, a continual kind of beat that you can really dance to. It has a more improvisational feel. This song, that is not the case. mean, this is one that you feel like you want to want to dance along with. So appropriate title and it really does kind of get you moving. Mike: Yeah, so why don't we listen to some, know, about a minute and a half or so, and then we can continue our discussion ⁓ thereafter. Mark Bloom: Yeah! Is that right? Mike: All right, well, you and you could hear that one part of the song where that almost, it's an almost horn-like effect on, and that's synthesizer. ⁓ know, Max Middleton plays a clavinet, Jan Hammer plays synthesizer, but otherwise it's drums, drums, bass, and guitar. And so that you got the da, da, da, da, da, da. Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Mike: And then when Beck comes in with that guitar, mean, there is a lot of blood flowing through those guitar notes that he comes out with. And ⁓ again, at that point of the song, he starts getting the stew boiling. And it's sort of like, yeah, this is sort of nightlife-y, kind of funky. This is fucking Jeff Beck, you know? ⁓ Mark Bloom: Yeah. And as you know, as I said, there's a, you know, there's a feel to this song, you've got that, again, that kind of groove background that's going on. And then you don't necessarily picture like a rock guitar layering over that that's able to maintain this kind of bouncy, you're right, early 70s, mid 70s kind of groove that is going on, but Beck does it. and the way that this song plays out, you're listening to this rock guitar, but at the same time, you're back kinda like, shika bow, shika bow wow, in the background going on. this is a fun song to listen to, and like I say, mean, Come Dancing is just a perfect title for this. Mike: Ha And this song goes, it's almost six minute song. it's a song, it's a track, I guess a better, it's an instrumental piece of music. ⁓ But if you're just sitting back and listening, when you get into the second half of this song and there's a little bit more interplay between John Hammer, or Yon Hammer, I think is more properly how his name is pronounced, and Jeff Beck. And the synthesizer never ⁓ really takes front and center, but it's just more of an interplay with the guitar. And it's good instrumental music that, in my opinion, isn't boring. Mark Bloom: Yeah. Mike: And you know, there's some people that just the whole idea of this kind of, you know, fusion-y rock music they disapprove of, you know, on doctrinaire grounds and, you know, whatever. But ⁓ I find this very, very engaging music that is, if you like guitar, if you don't like electric guitar, I mean, Jeff Beck probably isn't the guy for you. Mark Bloom: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mike: ⁓ And so guess that's a qualifier that should kind of, you know, not let get lost in the shuffle. But if you do... Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. You'll find this enjoyable. Mike: You'll find this awfully good. ⁓ so in any case, ⁓ moving on to track number three. Now this, this isn't really jazz fusion, jazz rock fusion. This next song is just an actual jazz song. And it's called, the song is called Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. And this is the high point of the side in the album, again, in my humble opinion. And it's a cover song ⁓ from a track written by Charles Mingus. He was ⁓ a straight jazz artist. He played upright bass. Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Mike: And he released an album in 1959 called Mingus Ah Um. And I don't know what that means. But it came out in 1959. And 1959 was a big year for jazz albums. Miles Davis, Kind of Blue came out in 1959. Time Out. Mark Bloom: Yeah. Mike: by the Dave Brubeck, which had Take Five and Blue Rondo a Terp. John Coltrane's Giant Steps came out in 1959, and this album. Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Mike: came out in 1959. And all of these albums I mentioned are regarded as kind of major classics. ⁓ as far as that kind of what was called at that time modal, and probably still is, modal jazz, which was ⁓ an innovation that I believe Miles Davis really heralded ⁓ for playing improvisational jazz with a quartet or a quintet. Mark Bloom: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mike: ⁓ And ⁓ the title of the song refers to a saxophone player named Lester Young, who is really a fabulous jazz saxophone player. And for anyone who ⁓ is even mildly interested in jazz, I would say you should check out Lester Young. In any case, ⁓ Lester Young had died within Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Mike: a few months of the recording of this Charles Mingus album from 1959 and this was a piece that was written by Charles Mingus sort of as a requiem for Lester Young who apparently wore kind of a broad brimmed pork pie hat. Mark Bloom: for a paya, yep. Mike: And ⁓ why don't we play about a minute and a half or so of this ⁓ to give the listeners a taste and we can pick up the conversation on the other side. Mark Bloom: Alright, goodbye pork pie hat. Mike: Now, right in the middle of that clip where he plays those repeating guitar lines and it just kind of builds up, I mean, that is just some of the most beautiful electric guitar music that I can think of. This is a very calm, relaxing, but yet spectacular rendition of, and if you listen, if you listen to the original Charles Mingus version of the song from 1959, this is a fairly faithful ⁓ rendition just with different instrumentation. ⁓ Mingus's band, was basically drummer, bass player, piano, and two saxophones. Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Mike: And here it was, and no, John Hammer does not play on this or the next track. ⁓ And they brought in a different drummer than Narada Michael Walden, had, ⁓ from the, one of the other Maha Vishnu Orchestra ⁓ artists for this song and the next song. So it's got, doesn't, like I say, this doesn't have, it doesn't feel like rock, it doesn't feel like fusion. This song is jazz. Mark Bloom: Yeah. Yeah. Well, and this is actually the song I mentioned that kind of thought I had about a rock guitar playing jazz. This is actually the song that was playing that popped into my head because this is clearly a jazz song. This is a jazz standard. This is the type of any jazz band with any chops is going to have this in their line up somewhere. It's really kind of a jazz standard. It's been covered by number of other people, just, you know, not just, I think Joni Mitchell ⁓ did ⁓ a ⁓ version of this. She put some lyrics on it and that kind of thing. So this is not like a deep, you know, a deep track from jazz. This is a known jazz song, but you're hearing that electric guitar that's in there. He's not, you know, he's not changing his... Mike: Yeah. Mark Bloom: his style or anything like that. He's layering it on top of a jazz song and it just comes off as a jazz song but it's got that back electric guitar in Mike: a jazz piece that is played in a way that is very palatable to a rock audience. ⁓ sometimes, know, screaming guitar isn't what you're looking for when you want to sort of sit and have the more contemplative, relaxing sort of frame of mind. ⁓ Mark Bloom: Yeah, yeah. Mike: when I'm gonna listen to something like some 1959 jazz. But this works. I guess that's the best way. It works. Jeff Beck makes it work. He's able to combine that energy of a loud rock guitar sound with the flow of this very jazz piece. Mark Bloom: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Mike: And I can't, I mean, it wouldn't be honest to say that this song I used kind of as a stepping stone to jazz. But ⁓ when I started to listen to stuff like Miles Davis, Kind of Blue and whatnot, it made me appreciate this track, which I'd already been exposed to more so. Mark Bloom: Yeah, yeah, exactly. it's it's it is you talked about that, you know, there's times when jazz is for your with these contemplative moods or whatever. Whereas, I mean, this album, you're playing that song. But now this works at a party. You know, it's got that your point that that that electric guitar energy that that makes it work at a party. and you know nice song on the background there's that the energy and then and then the pleasant sound of the jazz behind it which you know you can't just makes it a song with some pleasant energy to it Mike: Well, know, and ⁓ when I was tending bar in Milwaukee, ⁓ they had a turntable at the bar and there were times where I'd unplug the jukebox and play records. Used to really piss people off. if someone actually came up and complained, I'd go plug it in or I'd take care of it. But ⁓ no, this music went fairly well. ⁓ in a bar for little people who wanted some music in the background but weren't necessarily focused on the music. ⁓ Mark Bloom: Yeah. ⁓ huh. So are you saying every now and then you'd see a table come in and sit down and you're like, those guys are gonna wanna play REO Speedwagon. I'm gonna unplug this thing here and put on some Beck. Yeah. Mike: was a little different than that. There was only so much elbow room I had to just know. I never put a sign up out of order when it really wasn't. Never did that. ⁓ Thought about it. ⁓ Mark Bloom: Yeah. Yeah. Right. Mike: So I mean, I guess that's a, you know, I hadn't necessarily been thinking about that, you know, those days, you know, coming into the podcast, but I know that this is one of the albums that I brought in and would play because it was, you know, maybe a little, know, like Lead Boots is maybe a little in your face, but the rest of it, it just sounded like kind of cool music to people who weren't familiar with it. And so... ⁓ Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm, sure. Mm-hmm. Yep. Sure. Mike: That brings us to the final track on the side, is written by ⁓ the bass player who plays bass on, I believe, all of the tracks on this side. His name is Wilbert Bascom, and it's called Head for Backstage Pass. And it starts out with ⁓ kind of a bass solo, and then just goes into a relatively throwaway. Jam. It's not a lengthy piece, but let's listen to about a minute and a half of it, and then we can talk about it after. Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Okay. Mike: Like I say there, mean, know, and we didn't hear, ⁓ you know, first half a minute or so of the bass solo to open it up, but you know, it kind of goes into this jam and then Beck starts to come in with the guitar. It's like a three minute song. It's not real long and it's kind of up, but not as heavy as Lead Boots, but not as sort of... Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mike: mean, Come Dance, it almost has kind of pop, almost kind of feel to it. whereas this is more, this is more like a couple of guys who like after the tape machine was off, let's just kind of blow and just play something. ⁓ And. Mark Bloom: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, this has a much more improvisational kind of kind of feel to it. Again, it's not it's not an off doing improvisational experimental riffs or anything like that. But that feel of that kind of jazz is is more present with with this particular song. And I just read I also just real quickly. There's, know, the name head for backstage pass. I just I it's it's I have no idea how that related to this particular song with them. But it is kind of reminiscent of a different era. You know, nowadays, everything is monetized everything. If you want to go backstage, you buy the backstage pass experience and you know, Everything is monetized now. In concerts back in the 70s, know, people, a lot of them were general admission concerts where people were just standing on the floor and people from the band would wander through the audience and they'd find attractive chicks, tap them on the shoulder and give them a backstage pass. It's like, see you around back after it's... ⁓ after it's gone. I know that is true. It happened to my ex-wife, Maureen, at a concert one time. We were at a Gary Moore concert in Germany and this guy... you know, gives her the pass so she went back to ⁓ spend a little time with the band before we headed home. Not before they invited her to come back to the hotel for ⁓ a little after part of it they were going to have. But the backstage pass experience was different back in the back. And again, that's before everything was monetized and you needed these different ticket experiences. you know, a backstage pass was a big deal to get your hands on. So just seeing the title of it, it's kind like yeah that reminds me of a of a little bit different time ⁓ that we had. Doesn't necessarily connect me to anything in the song itself but I had those thoughts going through my mind as I was listening to it. Mike: Well, and that's a, I guess I wasn't planning on bringing that up, but it's a good point because the title suggests kind of a cross between Spinal Tap and Pink Floyd the Wall. I mean, ⁓ or ⁓ just some of the more tawdry excesses of bands like Led Zeppelin. Mark Bloom: Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ Yes. Mike: or Motley Crue and that kind of thing. And so the title is really kind of incongruous with the actual music that's here. Now that doesn't mean that when Jeff Beck and whoever he was playing with were knocking around playing shows around the world, because I mean they played in Europe, they played in the United States, they played in Japan. ⁓ Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Mike: mean, Jeff Beck was, he was an international performing guitarist and sort of major figure in the rock world. So, I mean, it's no doubt there were hangers on and groupies ⁓ and young ladies who were willing to do various things to get to come backstage and hang out with the band, you know, after the concert. But I think it's fair to say that just listening to the music, Mark Bloom: Yep. Mike: on this album, that isn't the atmosphere that's evoked. Because I think that these guys were all serious musicians. And while the stuff that they're playing isn't necessarily the most complex or virtualistic ⁓ music out there, I think it's fair to say these were serious musicians ⁓ looking to do good stuff. ⁓ Mark Bloom: Yeah, I'd agree. Mm-hmm. Mike: In any case, Head for Backstage Pass is the name of the song and it's the closing track and it kind of wraps it up. I you start out with kind of know, kind of a boot stomping on your toes kind of opener with lead boots. Then you have the two primo tracks kind of in the middle and then, I mean, this isn't a throwaway jam, but this is just kind of a fun jam. Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yep. Mike: to sort of wind out the side. ⁓ You mentioned earlier that you'd never seen ⁓ Jeff Beck perform live or seen a lot of video. There's a fair amount of video of Jeff Beck available on the internet, particularly stuff that was recorded ⁓ more recently. And ⁓ the guy could still play guitar really well. ⁓ I mean, I haven't seen clips of like in just a few years before he passed away so much, but there's stuff out there. So if people are interested in Jetpack or like what they heard from the clips from this album, there's plenty of material out there to check out. ⁓ for example, ⁓ recently the band Rush toured. Mark Bloom: Mm-hmm. Sure. Mike: and their original drummer, ⁓ Neil Pert, or their longtime drummer, Neil Pert, having passed away, ⁓ they needed someone to fill in the spot, and they chose a female ⁓ drummer. I don't recall her name off the top of my head, but ⁓ you can see video of her playing drums for Jeff Beck. so she had some... Mark Bloom: ⁓ fuck. Mike: So, and Jeff Beck determined that she was worth his time. And he was a relatively, as we were talking about earlier, know, he had to really like, he had to really like you if you were gonna end up hanging around with him, playing with him for long time. But any case, Jeff Beck, a very worthy guitar player, very worthy recording artist from the classic rock era, and ⁓ one of my favorites. Mark Bloom: Demanding. Yeah. Yeah, and this, you know, you pointed out this was kind of in a particular period of his musical production where as a solo artist, he got the most traction. So this is a pretty good starting point if people want to listen to some of this. This is a good place to start because... Mike: you Mark Bloom: Very important, successful musician, two-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, once with the Yardbirds and once as ⁓ a solo artist. So a very important, critically acclaimed ⁓ musician with this album kind of right in this time period when he was cranking and a great side of music and as always, Mike, a great conversation. Mike: Definitely, definitely. All right, Mark, we will talk to you next time.