Jeff Beck, virtuoso rock guitarist, dies at 78 - The Washington Post

Widely considered 1 of the top guitarists successful history, Mr. Beck was a maestro instrumentalist, shifting seamlessly betwixt genres portion signaling albums that incorporated hard rock, dense metal, jazz fusion, blues, funk and physics music. Playing a Fender Stratocaster with the amps turned mode up, helium helped unleash caller sonic possibilities with the guitar, on with contemporaries including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and his person Jimmy Page.

“I don't attraction astir the rules,” helium erstwhile said. “In fact, if I don't interruption the rules astatine slightest 10 times successful each opus past I'm not doing my occupation properly.”

During his little tenure with the Yardbirds, Mr. Beck helped pioneer the usage of feedback and distortion, processing a hard-edged caller dependable that informed hits specified arsenic “Heart Full of Soul,” “Shapes of Things” and “Over Under Sideways Down.” He aboriginal formed the Jeff Beck Group, a rotating radical of musicians that initially included vocalist Rod Stewart and bassist-guitarist Ronnie Wood. That lineup was featured connected his 1968 solo debut, “Truth,” which peaked astatine No. 15 successful the United States and showcased his blues-influenced playing style, notably connected a psychedelic screen of Willie Dixon’s “I Ain’t Superstitious.”

“At each break, Beck’s aqueous wah-wah code makes his instrumentality dependable similar it’s talking — Chicago blues upgraded for the property of the atrocious trip,” Rolling Stone aboriginal wrote, including the opus connected its database of the 100 top guitar tracks.

Mr. Beck seemed to hold with that assessment, erstwhile telling the magazine: “That’s my full thing, trying to research the blues to the maximum, really. It’s successful the blood.”

Mr. Beck received 8 Grammy Awards and was doubly inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, archetypal as a subordinate of the Yardbirds successful 1992 and then arsenic a solo artist successful 2009. But his lasting arsenic a superb and inventive instrumentalist was shadowed somewhat by his estimation arsenic a moody egotist, a bandleader who struggled repeatedly to support his bands together. “My occupation is that I’m not precise professional,” helium said. “I get bored precise quickly, past I get irritable.”

After collaborating with Stewart, Mr. Beck worked with singers arsenic varied arsenic Macy Gray, Buddy Guy, Wynonna Judd, Cyndi Lauper and Luciano Pavarotti. He besides recorded predominantly instrumental albums specified arsenic “Blow by Blow” (1975), which reached No. 4 connected the Billboard chart, and joined supergroups including Beck, Bogert & Appice, a powerfulness trio that featured bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice. In the 1980s helium played with the Honeydrippers, a stone radical that included Page and his erstwhile Led Zeppelin bandmate Robert Plant.

Mr. Beck continued to marque music, partnering with histrion and instrumentalist Johnny Depp past twelvemonth to grounds the workplace medium “18.” But helium besides fell retired of the limelight portion avoiding interviews and turning down firm sponsorships, cherishing his privateness and seeking to debar distractions. When the creators of the video crippled “Guitar Hero” asked him to beryllium an avatar successful their philharmonic world, helium was uninterested, telling the New York Times successful 2010: “Who wants to beryllium successful a kid’s game, similar a artifact shop?”

Still, adjacent erstwhile helium faded from view, his fans and his peers ne'er doubted his greatness. “Jeff Beck is the champion guitar subordinate connected the planet,” Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry told the Times. “He is head, hands and feet supra each the remainder of us, with the benignant of endowment that appears lone erstwhile each procreation oregon two.”

Geoffrey Arnold Beck was calved successful Wallington, successful London’s confederate suburbs, connected June 24, 1944. When helium was 6, helium heard electrical guitarist Les Paul play “How High the Moon” connected the vigor and asked his parent to archer him the sanction of the instrument. “That’s for me,” helium said successful response.

Mr. Beck learned connected a borrowed guitar and made crude attempts arsenic a teen to make his own, erstwhile trying to bolt unneurotic cigar boxes for a body. At the Wimbledon School of Art, present portion of the University of the Arts London, helium played successful R&B and stone bands, refining his method portion experimenting with genres.

His interruption came via different young instrumentalist connected the London scene, Page, who turned down an connection to articulation the Yardbirds arsenic a replacement for Clapton, recommending Mr. Beck instead. Mr. Beck went connected to execute connected their lone U.K. workplace album, which became known arsenic “Roger the Engineer” (1966). He lasted lone 20 months with the set earlier moving connected to enactment arsenic a solo artist, portion struggling to construe his ideas into music.

“Everyone thinks of the 1960s arsenic thing they truly weren’t,” helium said. “It was the vexation play of my life. The physics instrumentality conscionable wasn’t up to the sounds I had successful my head.”

His endowment and property were specified that members of Pink Floyd considered asking Mr. Beck to articulation the band, according to drummer Nick Mason’s 2004 memoir, “Inside Out,” but “none of america had the nervus to ask.”

Survivors see his wife, Sandra Cash, whom helium joined successful 2005.

Emily Langer contributed to this report.