Why All the Fuss about Jeff Beck?

Why all the fuss about Jeff Beck? My short answer is because he was an astonishing musician.

My most personal answer deals with the first encore of his concert in St. Louis in May of 2015.

Long story short: BB King had died two days before. Jeff hit the first note of a BB King classic song as a memorial and I was suddenly a 7th grader sitting in my dad’s blue Chevy. We had just pulled into the parking lot of the Tri-City grocery store not far from our home. We sat and listened to that song all the way to the end.

Fast forward to that concert: I was sitting next to Patty. Jeff hit the first note of that same BB King classic song and I literally fell back into my seat. Suddenly and unexpectedly, that song was speaking to me and speaking for me. It was saying what I’d been trying to articulate for a long time. What I’d been avoiding. What I’d been afraid of acknowledging. Now there it was, in all its unavoidable and liberating truth.

Why all the fuss about Jeff Beck? My short answer is because he was an astonishing musician.

My most personal answer deals with his role in a pivotal epiphany.

And I’ll stop right there.

And be grateful.

Hope to see you back here tomorrow.