“Blow by Blow” - Jeff Beck

While at City College of San Francisco from ‘73-’75, I used to shop at Warehouse Records on Ocean Ave. In the spring of ‘75 I walked into that record store and plucked Blow by Blow off the wall of “new releases”. Again, I don’t recall where I heard it first. Probably on KSAN radio. Regardless, it was another album that caught my attention immediately. I had no other Beck albums, but of course knew who he was. This was a must have. The album actually charted reaching a peak at #4 (I said 6 in the video).

“Freeway Jam” highlighting his volume modulation and whammy technique

The album has an eclectic mix of songs that highlight Beck’s innovative guitar style. This could be one of the first albums to showcase his use of the guitar volume nob to modulate the guitar’s volume. That would become a signature of his through the next four decades. He covers Stevie Wonder on two songs; “‘Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers” and “Thelonius”. There is also a unique take on the Lennon/McCartney song “She’s a Woman”, using a Talk Box to mimic the vocal. All in all a phenomenal classic album produced by George Martin of Beatle fame.

When Terri and I ended up in the Grand Canyon that June, we found that it was regularly played at the employee pub, where beer was .35. That little pub was the only place employees could gather in groups to unwind with beer, pizza and music.