If any true fan of blues-based rock and roll could pick a time and place to go back to and experience firsthand it would have to be London and its suburbs during the 1960s. Imagine walking into the music clubs of Surrey, Middlesex, Kent, or even Liverpool, and seeing the likes of The Beatles, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, or Jimi Hendrix on any given night, on any given stage.
The mere thought of it truly boggles the mind. And while secondhand accounts usually satisfy a casual observer’s interest in this classic era, diehard fans relish the opportunity to listen to stories from the musicians that actually lived through it.
That’s why this interview with guitarist Jeff Beck is so precious. Gibson is currently honoring this legend by offering the
Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood from Gibson Custom, which is a painstaking recreation of the guitar Beck played in the early 1970s on such classic albums as
Blow by Blow.
Now listen to Jeff Beck describe – in his own words – what it was like growing up in such a timeless period in music history, and why the Les Paul played such an important role during those early days of the British Invasion.