Word: zeppelin
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...Zeppelin had its ups and down. First they released III that was without a doubt their worst work. Their U.S. tour was something less than successful and a long-promised fourth album was not released until the end of the year. Led Zeppelin IV, however, turned out to be one of the best albums of the year...
Several major collaborations of this sort were released last year. My favorite is Blue Memphis Suite (Warner Brothers), which features the incomparable singer-pianist Memphis Slim, backed by guitarist Peter Green (Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Fleetwood Mac), organist John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Duster Bennett on harmonica, Chris Spedding, Pete Winfield, and others. The performance of everyone, especially producer Philippe Rault, is absolutely flawless; the juxtaposition of early Forties blues structure with ultramodern instrumentation and arrangement completely transcends the concept of mere revival. It is a tour de force of textural and harmonic complexity within the blues idiom. On side...
...Jeff Beck Group released its album simply entitled Truth. Till this day, Truth stands as the epitome of the hard rock album. Featuring Rod Steward (Beck's personal discovery) on vocals, Truth influenced just about every hard rock album that followed it, including Led Zeppelin I. A combination of classic blues ("I Ain't Superstitious" and "You Shook Me") given a new breath of life, and innovative rock ("Shapes of Things" and "Beck's Bolero"), Truth was Beck at his best...
Disillusioned by the success of imitators like Led Zeppelin and Cream when they themselves could not achieve commercial success, the Jeff Beck Group dissolved. Lead singer Rod Stewart and bassist Ron Wood joined the Small Faces where they both became rich and famous, and pianist Nicky Hopkins took to hanging around the Rolling Stones, eventually joining the Quicksilver Messenger Service. Beck was invited to join the Vanilla Fudge but he never had a chance to accept the invitation. Early in 1969 he was involved in an auto accident that was to keep him inactive for almost three years...
Well, Beck's back. His new album, while though not the best he's done, shows that he is still the English guitarist. With Led Zeppelin breaking up, Eric Clapton playing as a studio musician somewhere in London, and many other former competitors dead from heroin overdose, Beck should gain the commercial success he has long deserved. Remember, Jeff Beck discovered Rod Stewart; not the other way around...