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 Beck's Best British Blues Nov 22, 2009
Long before he recorded avante-garde techno guitar, Jeff Beck was in the vanguard of the late 1960s heavy blues boom. You won't find any of Jeff Beck's typical whammy bar adventures here, but you will hear a lot of heavy, flashy, and usually tasteful guitarwork that compares very favorably to Jimmy Page's playing on the first couple of Led Zeppelin albums. This will probably surprise Jeff Beck's newer fans, who know him solely in his current context. An even greater surprise is lead singer Rod Stewart's performance throughout. Yes, it's THAT Rod Stewart and back in the day he could belt out soul and blues with the very best of them. He comes very, very close to stealing the show.
There are enough out-takes and alternate versions here to virtually double the original album's length. Usually I can't stand bonus tracks but in this case, almost all of them have something to recommend them. It's nice hearing 'Beck's Bolero' in true mono and with its backwards guitar tagged on as the song's coda, the faster version of "Rock My Plimsoul," and an alternate version of "Blues Deluxe" without the overdubbed audience sound effects. Of course, "I've Been Drinking" which has a powerful Rod Stewart vocal, should have really been on 'Truth' in the first place. You'll definitely want to listen to these, and they are just as good as the original tracks on the LP. (Avoid "Love is Blue" if possible).
The best comparison I can make to this CD would be the 'Beano' album John Mayall's Bluesbreakers recorded with Eric Clapton. If only there had been some truly original compositions here - rather than blues covers disguised as original tunes - 'Truth' would be well-known as one of the absolute high points of the late 1960s/early 1970s. How I wish Jeff Beck had held this group together just a little longer so that their sound and songwriting could have developed more. All I can say is, snatch this CD up now while it is still in print and prepare to be dazzled!
Why did I wait this long to hear this? Oct 19, 2009
I can't believe that I or my friends weren't listening to this back in the 70s. Well, I think I have an idea.
First, I am very impressed by this music, and I'm not all that knowledgeable about "its place in rock history." Truthfully, I could care less about things like that. This is just plain great heavy blues rock that pre-dates Led Zeppelin. Jimmy Page must have based his vision for Led Zeppelin on this LP. Of course, if we are mindful of our rock history, Beck's group disintegrated about the same time Pagey's group was introduced. And the rest is indeed history. And that is why my friends and I were totally unaware of this great music, but we weren't unaware of Jeff Beck. Zep were a working band releasing new music. Jeff Beck had turned to fusion by the time we were in high school. And yes, I did own both Blow By Blow and Wired in the 70s, and my friends did too, and I have both on CD at home, and I listen to both occasionally. So again, I have to wonder, how did we miss this? If we had, I'm sorry to say that in our teenage ignorance we would have accused Beck of trying to imitate Led Zeppelin, when in fact, it was the other way around!!
Beck even did the blues right. Most of the songs on the LP are covers, yet unlike Page, Beck actually gives credit to the originals. Page just rearranged the songs, stole some lyrics, and put his name on them. According to the liner notes, Beck even asked Howlin' Wolf for permission to re-arrange I Ain't Superstitious. That proves the amount of respect Beck had for his influences.
If you are a fan of British blues-based heavy metal, there really is no excuse for you not to hear this. Now that I have, I am forced to rethink some of my assumptions about Led Zeppelin.
Great Playing, Great album May 01, 2009
The LP version of this album suffered somewhat from ordinary production values. I have distinct recollections of craning into the speakers to hear what Jeff's guitar was doing on a number of tracks. This has been fixed with this re-mastered version and you can hear every slide of Jeff's fingers.
The bonus tracks should sate any curiosity about Jeff's early solo singles but there's nothing really outstanding there. Still, the original album tracks are superb. Let Me Love You in particular features spectacular playing well ahead of its time. Bolero has lost nothing and the cover version of the Yardbirds' Shapes of Things showcases the capability of this lineup, featuring as it does Ronnie Wood on bass, Mickey Waller on drums and Rod Stewart on vocals.
I had to have it, and now I have to keep playing it.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Blueprint for heavy rock Apr 20, 2009
The first version of the Jeff Beck Group existed in a transitional period in time, before bands like The Faces and Led Zeppelin came into being, and after Jeff Beck's ejection from the Yardbirds. It's all in the timing because it also followed the folding of bands like the Shotgun Express and the Birds, from which he recruited Rod Stewart and Ron Wood, then both still relatively unknown. Mick Waller on drums had known Rod Stewart from earlier Steampacket days and came to the band from the Brian Auger Trinity.
Truth was the first album by the group although it was released under the name Jeff Beck, who was simultaneously "enjoying" a solo career, masterminded by producer Mickie Most, and having hits with songs such as Hi Ho Silver Lining, Tallyman and Love Is Blue (shudder).
The truer heart of Jeff Beck was to be found on the B-sides and on this debut album, which was mostly left to Ken Scott, the engineer, to handle, whilst Mickie Most no doubt dreamt of one day discovering elfin girls in black leather cat suits with bass guitars.
After eighteen months of grafting on the road the band were pretty hot. It is a classic album, though the shortage of material does show, with versions of Ol' Man River and a throwaway filler in Greensleeves. This was inspired by Chet Atkins' version, though Mick Waller had previously recorded a rocked-up version of it for Joe Meek with the Flee-Rekkers back in 1960 as Green Jeans. Carrying on that tradition, several of the tracks are thinly disguised rewrites of well-known blues songs. Let Me Love You is essentially Buddy Guy's Let Me Love You Baby; Rock My Plimsoul is clearly BB King's Rock Me Baby (although BB himself nicked it from Lil' Son Jackson) and Blues De Luxe owes more than a little to BB's Gambling Blues.
There's also a reworking of Shapes Of Things, a Yardbirds hit that Jeff played on; a cover of Tim Rose's arrangement of Morning Dew; a version of Muddy Waters' You Shook Me with John Paul Jones (soon to be of Led Zeppelin) guesting on Hammond; and a rip-roaring rendition of Willie Dixon's I Ain't Superstitious, as recorded by the great Howlin' Wolf.
The album set a sort of blueprint for a genre that came to be known as heavy rock, made possible by developments in the technology of electrical musical instruments, amplification and recording equipment, of which Jeff and his sidemen were early adopters and experimenters. In the Yardbirds, of course, he had been a pioneer of feedback. The sound was developed on the second album, Beck-Ola, but with less light and shade than is found on Truth.
Rounding out the album is the instrumental Beck's Bolero, an earlier recording from July 1966. It had previously appeared on the B-side of Hi Ho Silver Lining and has the unique line-up supporting Jeff of Jimmy Page (12-string electric guitar), Nicky Hopkins (keyboards), John Paul Jones (bass) and Keith Moon (drums)! The tune is credited to Jimmy Page, though Maurice Ravel may have had a hand in it. On the album it is shorn of the backwards guitar part at the end but is newly mixed into rudimentary stereo.
This edition of the CD comes with 16 pages of booklet notes including an informative essay by Charles Shaar Murray, and a number of bonus tracks (all stereo except where stated): I've Been Drinking had been the B-side of Love Is Blue, and so was unlikely to have been heard by legions of Jeff Beck fans who would have avoided the single like the plague, and was an adaptation of Dinah Washington's Drinking Again. There are the first takes of All Shook Up and Blues De Luxe, the latter without the fake live effects that were overdubbed to the eventual master; the excellent 1967 single Tallyman (in mono) and its B-side, an earlier recording of Rock My Plimsoul, both from a time when Aynsley Dunbar was the drummer; and Hi Ho Silver Lining, first recorded by the Attack, and its B-side, the original mono, backward guitar mix of Bolero.
Finally, it includes the dreaded Love Is Blue (in mono). Where to begin with this blot in Jeff Beck's discography? It began life as L'Amour Est Bleu by the Paul Mauriat Orchestra, and with words added became Luxembourg's 1967 entry in the Eurovision Song Contest as sung by Vicky Leandros. It came fourth but was popular enough to be recorded by the likes of Andy Williams and Claudine Longet. It falls way outside Jeff Beck's comfort zone and suggests that Mickie Most must have had a very persuasive tongue.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 The Holy Grail of Rock Guitar Jan 04, 2009
Released in 1968, "Truth" set the stage for what was to come in Rock music, setting a plethora of musical precedents that many tried to imitate. Following his glory days with the Yardbirds, this was Becks first solo album release. Jeff's: screaming Les Paul/Marshall, rude guitar playing, tone to die for, innovative use of feedback and effects, as well as melodic lines foretold what British Rock would soon become. However, no other player could create the 'Beckisms' that set his playing apart from the rest of the pack. "Truth" features some of the naughtiest guitar licks ever recorded in Rock; the accent is on HEAVY, nothing lightweight about this set. Furthermore, Jeff's Blusy and soulful playing has never been topped. Released later the same year-Led Zeppelin's copycat album "Led Zeppelin I" only captured a wee bit of Jeff's magic, nice try, but no see-gar. This musicality and taste cannot be taught nor copied - sheer brilliance! Jeff's guitar tone is just awesome, this is what a good Les Paul plugged into a Marshall Major is capable of sounding like in the right hands. While still keeping a sense of melody, Jeff's schizo bends, tasteful licks, killer slide guitar, and twisted imagination is showcased here. "Truth" has inspired several generations of Rock Guitar players. What Monet and Van Gogh did for painting, Jeff single-handedly did for Rock guitar: created something totally new and refreshing that inspired countless thousands of guitarist and bands and forever changed the face of Rock music.
This album is the epitome of the London Blues/Rock era of the late 60's. Featuring a phenomenal and talented supporting cast: Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, Micky Waller, Jimmy Page, Nicky Hopkins, Keith Moon, and John Paul Jones, "Truth" blazed a new path that left most of the other guitar hero's and bands in it's wake. It doesn't get any better than this: Rod Stewart singing his heart out (before he turned into a disco/pop star), the late Micky Waller's inspirational and original drumming (have you ever heard a better shuffle?), and Ronnie Wood's raw bass playing are what British Rock was all about. This set is incredible; amazingly creative and spontaneous, highlighting the versatile styles and abilities of the musicians. Recorded in just a few days with the primitive recording gear of the time, and mixed in one week; it still amazes. "Truth" covers: Blues Shuffles, slow Blues, instrumentals, classic songs, Heavy Rock, progressive pop, and even an acoustic Renaissance piece; nevertheless, "Truth" delivers the goods. Moreover, Heavy Metal was invented during these sessions and Jeff was the 'mad scientist' who created this new genre in Rock. Back in the day when artistic music ruled the roost, or even today, what more could you ask for in a Rock album? Beck covers all genres with total command, his original and tasteful guitar playing on "Truth" is legendary,
The release of the remastered British version is welcome and long over due. With added tracks and far better audio, it's a must have for fans of Classic Rock or any Rock guitarist who is seeking the "Holy Grail" of Rock guitar. This was the 'Shape of Things' (pun intended) in 1968. Even if they did not know it, later generations of guitar players and Rock bands were following Jeff, he drew the blueprint for a new beginning in Rock. Even today, "Jeff Beck's Truth" is still a valid musical statement and well worth the price of admission. There is no doubt in my mind: Beck is the Gov!
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