Jeff Beck
Blow by Blow

I first heard Jeff Beck during the end of a Saturday night like many others. I was sitting in a friend's car, on the back seats of an Opel Tigra, cramped like all the back seats of sports cars, but at that moment nothing could counter my sense of relaxation and mental abandonment, not even a small and uncomfortable space like that; synapses completely ruined, under the influence of liters of comforting alcohol, a faithful "companion" of evenings without too much meaning to impart; the car stereo in operation: first a song by Depeche Mode, but in that context not much, then the next track, and we begin to feel cradled by a background organ and by a continuous and unique guitar verse, almost a lament or a faint whisper, so tenuous yet so resonant in the surreal nocturnal silence of a car with three dazed people inside, with nothing to say, completely flooded by that melody so full, intense, and dreamlike.

In a magical context of notes that seem to have suddenly arrived from another world, the dream world to be clear, chains of memories faded by time reemerge, sensations belonging to a distant past that suddenly reappear affirming their vivid presence, imaginative thrusts on probable future situations, and so on. Then the guitar starts to emit distorted and aggressive sounds, raises the tone, begins to scream its desperation, becomes more furious and uncontrollable under the push of an intrinsic whirlwind of emotions and desires, a perpetual motion of nostalgia and grudges, while organ, bass, and drums come in more prominently, but always at a respectful distance from the irascible emotional chaos of the six-string instrument. A moment of turmoil, and finally the guitar gently returns to bestow caresses, as if to say that there is nothing more welcoming than a dream, even when, at some moments, it seems to be a claustrophobic place from which there’s no immediate escape.

The next day I discovered that the track in question was "Cause We've Ended As Lovers" (a cover of a Stevie Wonder song) from the album "Blow By Blow" dated 1975, the first album in the solo career of the former Yardbirds guitarist.

A work decisively fusion, albeit directed with greater concreteness towards a Funky-Jazz line, without refusing however the incursion into more Rock and Blues territories, due to Jeff Beck's previous compositional experiences. A record where space is reserved for frantic sounds and noteworthy exercises of style ("Scatterbrain"), lively and energetic funky compositions ("You Know What I Mean", "Constipated Duck", "Air Blower"), a cover performed with the usual personal and impactful guitar touch ("She's A Woman", by John Lennon and Paul McCartney), and notable orchestral thrusts under the guidance of the guitar, the indisputable protagonist of the foreground ("Diamond Dust" cover by Brian Holland).

Ultimately, "Blow By Blow", besides being a very significant album for me, showcases a sensational Jeff Beck in the role of arranger and director of his orchestra of sounds, exalting him as one of the most influential musicians of the 60-70 scene.