JEFF BECK

While he was as innovative as Jimmy Page, as tasteful as Eric Clapton, and nearly as visionary as Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck never achieved the same commercial success as any of his contemporaries, primarily because of the haphazard way he approached his career. After Rod Stewart left the Jeff Beck Group in 1971, Beck never worked with a charismatic lead singer who could have helped sell his music to a wide audience. Furthermore, he was simply too idiosyncratic, moving from heavy metal to jazz fusion within a blink of an eye. As his career progressed, he became more fascinated by automobiles than guitars, releasing only one album during the course of the '90s. All the while, Beck retained the respect of fellow guitarists, who found his reclusiveness all the more alluring.

Jeff Beck began his musical career following a short stint at London's Wimbledon Art College. He earned a reputation by supporting Lord Sutch, which helped him land the job as the Yardbirds' lead guitarist following the departure of Eric Clapton. Beck stayed with the Yardbirds for nearly two years, leaving in late in 1966 with the pretense that he was retiring from music. He returned several months later with "Love Is Blue," a single he played poorly because he detested the song. Later in 1967, he formed the Jeff Beck Group with vocalist Rod Stewart, bassist Ron Wood and drummer Aynsley Dunbar, who was quickly replaced by Mickey Waller; keyboardist Nicky Hopkins joined in early 1968. With their crushingly loud reworkings of blues songs and vocal and guitar interplay, the Jeff Beck Group established the template for heavy metal. Neither of the band's records, Truth (1968) or Beck-Ola (a 1969 album which was recorded with new drummer Tony Newman), were particularly successful, and the band tended to fight regularly, especially on their frequent tours of the U.S.. In 1970, Stewart and Wood left to join the Faces, and Beck broke up the group.

Beck had intended to form a power trio with Vanilla Fudge members Carmine Appice (drums) and Tim Bogert (bass), but those plans were derailed when he suffered a serious car crash in 1970. By the time he recuperated in 1971, Bogart and Appice were playing in Cactus, so the guitarist formed a new version of the Jeff Beck Group. Featuring keyboardist Max Middleton, drummer Cozy Powell, bassist Clive Chaman, and vocalist Bobby Tench, the new band recorded Rough and Ready (1971) and Jeff Beck Group (1972). Neither album attracted much attention. Cactus dissolved in late 1972, and Beck, Bogert and Appice formed a power trio the following year. The group's lone studio album -- a live record was released in Japan but never in the U.K. or U.S. -- was widely panned due to its plodding arrangements and weak vocals, and the group disbanded the following year.

For about 18 months, Beck remained quiet, re-emerging in 1975 with Blow by Blow. Produced by George Martin, Blow by Blow was an all-instrumental jazz fusion album that received strong reviews. Beck collaborated with Jan Hammer, a former keyboardist for Mahavishnu Orchestra, for 1976's Wired, and supported the album with a co-headlining tour with Hammer's band. The tour was documented on the 1977 album, Jeff Beck With the Jan Hammer Group -- Live.

After the Hammer tour, Beck retired to his estate outside of London and remained quiet for three years. He returned in 1980 with There and Back, which featured contributions from Hammer. Following the tour for There and Back, Beck retired again, returning five years later with the slick, Nile Rodgers-produced Flash. A pop/rock album recorded with a variety of vocalists, Flash featured Beck's only hit single, the Stewart-sung "People Get Ready," and also boasted "Escape," which won the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental. During 1987, he played lead guitar on Mick Jagger's second solo album, Primitive Cool. There was another long wait between Flash and 1989's Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop With Terry Bozzio and Tony Hymas. Though the album sold only moderately well, Guitar Shop received uniformly strong reviews and won the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental. Beck supported the album with a tour, this time co-headlining with guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. Again, Beck entered semi-retirement upon the completion of the tour.

In 1992, Beck played lead guitar on Roger Waters' comeback album, Amused to Death. A year later, he released Crazy Legs, a tribute to Gene Vincent and his lead guitarist Cliff Gallup, which was recorded with Big Town Playboys. Beck remained quiet after the album's release prior to resurfacing in 1999 with Who Else!. You Had It Coming followed two years later.

Gary Moore Biography

Gary was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on April 4th 1952. Like many others, he was turned on to rock and roll first through hearing Elvis Presley, and then via The Beatles. Seeing the likes of Jimi Hendrix and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in his hometown in the mid-60s opened up to him the rich world of The Blues. Hearing the art of the Blues guitar performed by such lauded exponents as Peter Green fired Moore's nascent talent, and it wasn't long before he was being hailed as a teen musical prodigy. Indeed, it was Green himself who helped foster Moore's career, a debt that was repaid handsomely when Gary cut his warm and heartfelt tribute to his mentor, the 'Blues For Greeny' album, released in 1995.

Gary's first band of note, the power trio Skid Row, secured a record deal with the CBS label in 1970. By this time, Gary had moved to Dublin, and befriended Phil Lynott, who filled the vocal role with Skid Row until shortly before the CBS deal was signed. Gary cut three albums with the band, and toured the USA supporting The Allman Brothers Band, and Mountain amongst others, before he split Skid Row to embark on a solo career. This proved short-lived, as Gary was soon to reunite with Phil Lynott as replacement for Eric Bell in the Thin Lizzy line-up. Although he was in the band for a relatively brief tenure, he would rejoin their ranks following the departure of Brian Robertson in 1977, and again, finally, for the 'Black Rose' tour in 1978.

In 1979, Gary's solo career began in earnest with the evocative hit single, 'Parisienne Walkways', which pitched Gary's tasteful, blues-soaked lead guitar with a moody Phil Lynott guest vocal. The single reached the UK Top Ten in April of that year, and the subsequent album, 'Back On The Streets' was similarly well received. The late 1970s and early 80s were characterised by Gary's restless search for the best musical settings for his talents; a reunion with Phil Lynott produced the powerful 'Out In The Fields' hit single (1985). He explored his Celtic roots on the album 'Wild Frontier' (1987), but it was with the 1990 album, 'Still Got The Blues', that Gary arrived at a rich musical vein within which his creativity could flow freely. This and its successor, 'After Hours' saw cameo appearances from the likes of such Blues guitar greats as Albert King, BB King, and Albert Collins, and it is a testament to Gary's own remarkable talents that he more than held his own amongst such august company. In 1994, Gary worked alongside Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce in the band BBM, cutting one accomplished album, before resuming his solo career.

The, 'Back To The Blues' (2001) album saw this consummately talented musician revisit The Blues with renewed vigor and determination, after the more experimental 'Dark Days In Paradise' (1997) and 'A Different Beat' (1999) albums. A ten-track collection that mixes excellent Moore originals with gritty and intense covers of standards such as 'Stormy Monday', 'You Upset Me Baby' and 'I Ain't Got You', the album is nothing less than a resounding return to form. Gary effortlessly mixes and matches contrasting styles within the idiom whilst displaying awesome feel for the music and dazzling technique. 'Back To The Blues' swings and rocks, and shows Gary Moore to be a True Keeper of the Blues Flame.

But, in the tradition of keeping his fans and critics guessing, 2002 saw Gary Moore crashing back onto the music scene with what has to be his heaviest collection of songs to date, once again forcing people to reassess any opinions and preconceptions they may have of him. That time round though, Moore had decided to share the limelight, joining forces with ex-Skunk Anansie bassist Cass Lewis and Primal Scream drummer Darrin Mooney to form "Scars", a true power trio in every respect. The "Scars" album was completed in early 2002 and that line-up, then went on to record the "Live at the Monsters of Rock" 2003 live CD and DVD, which featured the band's set as performed on two separate nights on the UK Tour of the same name in May 2003. That live set encompassed a diverse range of material, from across Gary's playing career.

2004, saw possibly the rawest album yet from Gary Moore, "Power of the Blues". The 10-track set, recorded mostly live in the studio, ranged from the hard rock/blues of the title track, via the upbeat swing of "Can't find my baby", to the haunting "Torn Inside".

Taking time out in August of last year, for a brief reunion with some of his old Thin Lizzy pals, for a one off concert in Dublin. The evening was filmed for a 2006 DVD release. "Gary Moore and Friends, One Night in Dublin, A Tribute to Phil Lynott" (for UK release March 27th, 2006).

Gary's new album "Old New Ballads Blues" (for UK release April 24th, 2006), features 5 new original songs, including the up tempo "Ain't Nobody", the poignant ballad "Gonna rain today", the country influenced "No reason to cry" and the driving instrumental "Cut it out".

Also included are rerecorded versions of the classic "Midnight Blues", which originally appeared on Gary's multi million selling, 1990 album "Still Got The Blues", Otis Rush's "All your Love", which was the song which turned Gary onto the blues, when he first heard it on the Bluesbreakers "Beano" album, in 1966 and blistering covers of Willie Dixon's "You know my love" and Elmore James's "Done somebody wrong".

Richie Blackmore

Born in Weston-Super-Mare (a seaside town on the west coast of Britain), April 14th 1945. Blackmore moved to Heston, in Middlesex when he was two. At school he joined The 2I's Coffee Bar Junior Skiffle Group on wash-board. He then bought a Framus acoustic and took classical lessons for a year.

At 15 Blackmore left school to work at Heathrow and with school-friend Mick Underwood, formed The Dominators. They then joined The Satellites before Blackmore moved on to Mike Dee and The Jaywalkers, becoming accomplished technically as a result of rigorous practising. He bought a cherry red Gibson ES335 and took lessons from Big Jim Sullivan, guitarist with The Wilde Cats.

In early 1962 Blackmore joined Screaming Lord Sutch's Savages and at the end of the year he and Underwood joined The Outlaws, working for producer Joe Meek on their own records and as session musicians for three years for artists like Heinz, Tom Jones, Burr Bailey, John Leyton, Glenda Collins, Deke Arlon, Mike Berry, Davy Kaye, Freddie Starr, Gunilla Thorne and many more. The Outlaws also played live for Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent. Blackmore joined Heinz & The Wild Boys in May 1964, cut a solo single in 1965, produced by Derek Lawrence, before returning to Lord Sutch. He then toured Germany and moved to Hamburg.

In late 1965 he formed The Three Musketeers who did just one concert, and then joined Neil Christian's Crusaders for six months before playing in Italy with The Trip, then joining Sutch's latest band The Roman Empire in 1966. Blackmore got a band together at the end of 1967 in Hamburg, called Mandrake Root. It was at this time he was contacted by manager Tony Edwards and returned to the UK to be in at the start of Deep Purple.

Blackmore stayed with Deep Purple from 1968 - 1975 (Mk 1, 2, 3) before starting his own band, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. In 1984 Deep Purple reformed with Blackmore (Mk 2, 5) but he quit in 1993. He briefly reformed Rainbow for one album before moving on to acoustic based music with his girlfriend, in Blackmore's Night. Their first album was issued in 1997.

my favorite guitarist

Some people seem as if they were born to be great players. The minute an instrument is thrust into their fledgling hands,they take to it like a second skin, shedding the darkness of ignorance in favor of the light of musical prowess.No so for Ritchie Blackmore. Although he had strong motivation to improve ("When I was eleven I had an acoustic guitar,and my father threatened me with it. He said, ‘If you don’t learn this instrument, I’ll smash it over your head!’"), his firstfew years were a struggle. Classical lessons didn’t help much either. But at 13, he was drawn to the fretting prowess of English artists like Hank Marvin of the Shadows, and Gene Vincent’s guitarist Cliff Gallup. American rockers Duane Eddy, Buddy Holly, and others also caught his ear. Hours spent learning
their guitar parts paid off, and he began to get the hang of it.

The real turning point, though, was his discovery of country pickers: Chet Atkins, Speedy West, Jimmy Bryant and their compatriots impressed young Blackmore with their speed and adept flatpicking techniques. He worked hard to develop the same qualities in his playing, and thus acquired much of the quick picking and double note riffing that characterizes his style to this day.
Although it still wasn’t easy, he worked hard, coming home from school as soon as possible and putting in up to eight hours of practice every day. He even slept with his guitar. "I didn’t know whether it was safer to keep the guitar in the bed or underneath it," Blackmore recalls. "Either way I was afraid I’d break the thing." By the time he reached 16, the devotion to and subsequent mastery of fast, complex riffing led to session work – often sharing studio dates with Jimmy Page – and stints with the theatrical rock group Screaming Lord Sutch. He eventually tired of session work and moved to Hamburg, playing with several bands, and meeting organist Jon Lord and drummer
Ian Paice, with who he would form Deep Purple.

At first the band (which included bassist Nicky Simper) was fronted by lead singer Rod Evans. Their first album, Shades of Deep Purple, gave them a Top Five hit in the US in 1968: "Hush," a Joe South cover; they scored another US hit in 1969 with Neil Diamond’s "Kentucky Woman" from The Book of Taliesyn, released only in the States. Following their third album, Deep Purple, their American label folded and the group made the first of their many personnel changes. After seeing a young Robert Plant singing in a club, Blackmore decided, "We’ve got to have a singer who can compete with this guy," and Evans was replaced by Ian Gillan, while Simper was replaced by bassist Roger Glover. Following 1970’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra, the new lineup began moving away from the more classical organ sound of their early albums and towards a more guitar-driven, aggressive-vocals "metal’ sound, which was evident on their 1970 release, Deep Purple in Rock and 1971’s Fireball, both successful albums. It was 1972’s Machine Head that
earned them their place in rock history, with the enduring hit "Smoke on the Water," as well as "Space Truckin’" and "Highway Star." Who Do We Think We Are in 1973 gave them the hit "Woman From Tokyo," but Gillan and Glover left the band, to be replaced by David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes for 1974’s Burn and Stormbringer.

In 1974, Blackmore left Deep Purple and formed Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow with a New York band called Elf and its lead singer, Ronnie James Dio. Deep Purple endured for another year or so before officially disbanding. For nearly ten years Rainbow was a fairly successful band, especially in the UK, and endured many personnel changes, but in 1983 Blackmore dissolved it to reform Deep Purple with Gillan, Glover, Paice and Lord, and they recorded their comeback album, Perfect Strangers, which went platinum. Blackmore continued with Deep Purple through several more albums, during which Gillan left and returned (replaced by Rainbow’s Joe Lyn Turner in the interim), but Ritchie left the group during the supporting tour for 1992’s The Battle Rages On…, citing displeasure with Gillan’s performance. Following his second departure from Deep Purple, Blackmore reformed Rainbow in 1994, recording and touring with them throughout 1995, 1996 and 1997. In ’96 he began moving in a new direction, without Rainbow. Teaming up with vocalist and lyricist Candice Night, they released the acoustic Renaissance album Shadow of the Moon as Blackmore’s Night, and followed it up in 1999 with Under a Violet Moon and 2001’s Fires at Midnight. Taking a decidedly different turn from the usual rock tour, Blackmore’s Night has instead undertaken "castle tours" of Europe, in which they play special evenings in medieval and Renaissance castles, as well as fairs and smaller venues.