I wanted the Sammy Hagar book, what I got was typical paint-by-numbers rock biography that delivered information, some of which I wanted to know, but didn’t answer the true question that motivated me to read this book in the first place…

WHO EXACTLY WAS JEFF BECK!

This is why I don’t read most music books. Because the people who write them don’t think about the audience, don’t know how to write a book. A book isn’t about information, it’s about READABILITY! People have to want to read it, otherwise, they won’t.

These are some of the tricks of the trade, that not only rock critics overlook, but too many of the products of the MFA world too, who are so busy rewriting their tomes as to make them so dense as to be unfathomable. You’re writing fiction? PLOT IS FIRST AND FOREMOST! Doesn’t matter what fancy words you use, analogies, it’s all about story, story, story…not so hard, right? Well it seems for many it is. Which is why when people find something good, they tell everybody about it. Kinda like “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” or “Daisy Jones & The Six.” If you sat down with them, you found that they intrigued you and cut like butter, unlike “Blow by Blow.”

Jeff Beck is the best rock guitarist who ever lived. Funny how now that he’s dead, more people are coming around to this take.

I was convinced at the 1983 A.R.M.S. concert at the Forum. It featured sets by Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. And Beck blew the other two off the stage, it was no contest.

And Jeff had peaks, but…

Rep on him was that he was difficult. But the two times I connected with him I was stunned how humble and open and direct he was, the antithesis of most musicians, never mind stars. He looked me in the eye and connected first as a person, there was no attitude and no issue of status.

But I barely had this brush with fame…

So who was this guy?

Everybody was surprised when Sammy Hagar’s autobiography (well-written in Hagar’s voice by Joel Selvin), became a national bestseller. A true bestseller, as in the “New York Times” chart. That’s one thing about entertainment, people will always tell you how high their work is on the chart… But it turns out that the chart is for sales in Antarctica for Bulgarian goose farts.

Now Sammy’s book jumped right into his life, his story. Of course we wanted to know all about working with Ronnie Montrose and Eddie Van Halen, but first and foremost, who is Sammy Hagar, and how did he find himself in these circumstances?

This book…

I was eager to know more, since so much of what Beck did happened on the less than commercial fringe.

And I got each and every band and people he worked with and I learned stuff, definitely, but who Beck was???

There is mention of his significant others, but other than one flight instructor, the details of how they met and what brought them together and what the relationships were like… I read the entire book and Beck remained an enigma.

And after finishing I’m still not sure of my take on Jeff…

Did it all just come down to personality, did Jeff have trouble staying the course, was he his own worst enemy, or was he always in search of the next thing, trying to keep it interesting for himself?

Now both of those are in play here…

But there’s a bigger story, why did Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton become so big and Jeff didn’t? After all, Beck shared Peter Grant as manager with Page and Zeppelin for a while.

I mean you’ve got to laud the guy for constantly changing it up. Or was it that he just couldn’t keep it together?

He gets rid of a lot of people, but a lot of people abandon him too. They work with him for a while and then move on, especially after he cancels dates.

There’s reference to head problems after physical accidents… But that does not ring true, not without more evidence.

Now if you ever saw Jeff Beck…you were stunned, you’ll never get over it. Especially the latter days, when he played without a pick…which they mention here, but not exactly why he made this transition.

And if you want to know more…

I read this book, I finished it, that’s how hungry I was for information.

There’s a slew of these books. Written by fans, rock journalists, who cobble together all the data, all the information from the act’s history, but they end up feeling external, they don’t know these people.

And believe me, knowing a bunch of them, especially the icons, so often they’re completely different from the public rep and perception.

You see when you reach the top, people are gunning for you. They want to tear you down. Most of the time because they think they deserve your job, but they don’t have the skills and perseverance to put themselves in position, never mind get it.

And then you meet these people and they’re upbeat and friendly and…

Some of those with legendary reputations, that the media lauds, are absolute pricks.

So who was Jeff Beck? Prick or tortured artist?

I still don’t know.