Jeff Beck: Crazy Fingers - Annette Carson

Of course, Jeff Beck has always been a fave guitarist of mine, from his Yardbirds days (their biggest hits, which are what I knew the Yardbirds for in my youth) to his days in the revolutionary, pre-heavy metal Jeff Beck Group (some of his finest work, in my opinion, and still breath taking to this day) and I have even been known to enjoy some of his later, jazzier instrumental work. I even got a chance to see him a few years ago and while the music that he is doing these days is not neccessarially of my taste, he is still a spectacular player.

This book looks at his career right up until the late 90's (the time of the writing) and gives a good overview of his work, with lots of cool equipment and technique notations.

This is not a "tell-all", gossipy book. It essentially simply talks of his work and very little of his personal life. Of course, Annette speaks of his youth in England and his friendships he forged as a result of his love for music in general and rock'n'roll in particular (Gene Vincent is an early influence), but does not get into any sordid story of sex of drugs (though it sounds like Jeff rarely indulged). Despite (or because of) this, it is a very entertaining story. Of course, I love to read about his early excitement at hearing r'n'r - I still feel these thrills when listening to great rock - and the 60' and 70's are especially enticing as those are Beck's highest musical points (again, this is just me speaking), but it is fun to hear about the projects that he has pursued over the years - many, or most, that I was not familiar with.

A great book on a great artist!