Jeff Beck Remembers George Martin: ‘He Gave Me a Career’
On his first day recording with the late George Martin, Jeff Beck sensed what the Beatles producer — who died March 8th at age 90 — could bring to his music. With his three-piece band, Beck laid down a version of Stevie Wonder’s “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers” that left him indifferent. “I didn’t think we were laying down much of interest, but then we went to lunch break and heard the quality of the sound,” Beck recalls. “I thought, ‘This sounds like we’re playing in the room — it’s clear and fabulous.’ That first album was a joy.”
That record, Blow by Blow, would turn out to be a milestone for Beck and Martin. Beck’s first all-instrumental record, it revived his stalled career, hitting Number Four on the pop chart in 1975, and it was also one of the high points of Martin’s studio adventures after the Beatles. “To work with someone of that caliber … he gave me a career,” Beck says now. “Without him, who knows what would have happened.”
In 1974, Beck was at a professional and artistic crossroads. His previous band, the power trio Beck, Bogert and Appice, had collapsed, and Beck wasn’t sure he wanted another singer for his next band: “There were no more Rod Stewarts on the planet,” he says, referring to his one-time Jeff Beck Group frontman. In what he calls “a last-ditch attempt” to convince someone to make an album showcasing his guitar, not a voice — a risky proposition at the time — he had his manager reach out to Martin. “I thought he’d be too busy,” Beck says. To Beck’s surprise, Martin agreed to meet, and Beck brought along a tape of demos with what he calls “snippets of melodies.” As Beck recalls, “I was expecting to leave with a red face, but he said, ‘This is very interesting stuff — let’s start recording.'”
Although both men had been toiling in the British music industry for a decade — Beck dating back to early bands like the Tridents and eventually the legendary Yardbirds — the planned collaboration would be the first time they’d worked together. Like many, Beck was also aware of Martin’s pre-Beatles career producing comedy records (like with Beyond the Fringe, the ensemble that included Peter Cook and Dudley Moore). “I thought, ‘What an odd choice for the Beatles,”’ Beck recalls. “But EMI were in charge of the Beatles and they wanted a guy to corral their talents, and they landed on their feet with George. He saw their harmonies and their potential. I think ‘She Loves You’ showed that. It’s not the kind of thing they would have done without him. George could take a melody and embellish it with the right chords, and then you’ve got Sgt. Pepper.”
Years later, Beck heard firsthand what Martin could bring to the Beatles. Arriving at a studio to meet with Martin, he arrived to find the producer sifting through outtakes and sounds from the “Day in the Life” sessions. “I got there and heard John’s voice — it was so clear, I thought maybe he’s still alive,” Beck says. “I just stood for 20 minutes listening to George talking to John suggesting this that and the other. It was surreal.”