It was all in his hands.
I don't need to do a recap or explanation of Jeff Beck's career as a legendary guitar innovator, an anti-rock star, a rock and roll outlaw. Many profound and informative tributes have been published since he passed last week that do a much better job than I could of summarizing and contextualizing his amazing musical accomplishments and guitar artistry. Jeff blazed a career trail over a shifting, unexplored landscape - always a leader, not a joiner - and left one hell of a rock and roll biography. The New York Times did an especially fine job summing up if you'd like to check out the obituary here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/11/arts/music/jeff-beck-dead.html
For me, one of the watershed moments in his brilliant career happened in the 1980s when he decided to wean himself off of guitar picks and developed one of the most expressive electric guitar playing styles in music history, regardless of genre. He hit the strings of his signature white Stratocaster with his thumb, rolled the volume knob with his index or ring finger, and kept the vibrato bar close at hand with his pinkie. When he hit a note he would make subtle adjustments with the volume and vibrato to make his guitar truly sing. It was a technique that was remarkable to hear and fascinating to watch, elevating his already legendary playing to a new level of virtuosity. He had never relied on lead singers much in his celebrated career, and now he had even less need for one.
The photo above is taken from a YouTube video of his performance of the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London. It was a song he played regularly in his live shows and the version here is breathtaking. The show was filmed for a DVD release with a lot of closeups of his hands, showing how he was re-creating the song's "vocals" with his fingers. I'm leaving the link below so you can see it for yourself. If you watch to the end, you'll catch a brief glimpse of Jimmy Page in the audience, applauding and grinning ear-to-ear in appreciation. A fitting tribute to the maestro.
”…make his guitar truly sing.” YES! Geri asked me the other night why I thought Jeff Beck was greater than even Hendrix or EVH. I had to think for a minute but then it dawned me, he made his guitar literally sing. Not just notes played fast or skillfully but full songs with lyrical structure, syllables and the equivalent of vocal nuance. Incredible. Another prime example is his take on “Over the Rainbow”
Anyway, I just used a lot of words to say the same thing you did. He’d make it sing like an angel and then come roaring out of the traps like a Top Fuel dragster with “Hot Rod Honeymoon” or “Grease Monkey” or the like.