Credit: Tom RejzekJeff Beck recently released a limited-edition coffee-table book called BECK01 that focuses on the blues-rock legend’s passion for both guitars and fast cars. The publication is packed with rare and captivating photos from throughout the lauded musician’s life.
“Every one’s a rarest picture that we can get,” Beck tells ABC Radio about the images that appear in BECK01. “[There’s] pretty amazing stuff in there.”
Among the pics featured in BECK01 are some warts-and-all images that Jeff says he wish weren’t in the book.
“There’s some nasty pictures of the ’60s, when I was not on top of the world, you might say,” he explains, adding that “they encapsulate the misery I was going through at the time.”
The 72-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer says he’s “a sucker for photo albums, because your mind is actually interpreting things without the text.”
That being said, BECK01 features a 350-page manuscript that includes Jeff’s recollections about his childhood, his years with The Yardbirds and the various Jeff Beck Group incarnations, his solo endeavors and his many star-studded collaborations. It also boasts anecdotes about Beck’s love of vintage American cars, which he collects and personally works on.
Beck tells ABC Radio that his love for rock ‘n’ roll music led directly to his interest in hot rods, and was tied to his fascination with American culture in general. He cites Rebel Without a Cause and the 1958 movie Hot Rod Gang as major inspirations, particularly the latter flick.
“I’d never had the chance to even think about going to America,” he points out, “and then to see this on my local cinema, with these hot rods racing through the streets…I thought, ‘This is me, thank you.'”
For more information about BECK01, visit JeffBeckBook.com.
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