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R/E/P => R/E/P Archives => Whatever Works => Topic started by: smj on March 11, 2010, 04:45:08 PM

Title: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: smj on March 11, 2010, 04:45:08 PM

Now here is one album I would love to hear!

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/02/25/j eff-beck-on-his-legendary-unreleased-1970-motown-album/

James Jamerson on bass... wow.  A fascinating read even if I never get to hear it.

Sean Meredith-Jones
http://www.seanmeredithjones.com

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: Bob Olhsson on March 11, 2010, 06:19:31 PM

There's a whole LOT more to the story than that...

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: jetbase on March 11, 2010, 06:26:30 PM

Bob Olhsson wrote on Fri, 12 March 2010 10:19

There's a whole LOT more to the story than that...

Oh Bob, you're just going to leave us hanging?

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: PRobb on March 11, 2010, 09:54:14 PM

jetbase wrote on Thu, 11 March 2010 18:26

Bob Olhsson wrote on Fri, 12 March 2010 10:19 There's a whole LOT more to the story than that... Oh Bob, you're just going to leave us hanging?

Seriously, sir, you can't just say that and leave!

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: Waltz Mastering on March 12, 2010, 10:14:39 AM

Bob Olhsson wrote on Thu, 11 March 2010 18:19

There's a whole LOT more to the story than that...

Do tell..... when you have time of coarse.

His new album "Emotion and Commotion" is due out April 13th.
http://hesawhore.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-jeff-beck-cd-emoti on-and-commotion.html

Also highly recommend "Live at Ronnie Scott's" DVD

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: Bob Olhsson on March 12, 2010, 11:41:52 AM

It's a long story.

First, I absolutely loved Cozy Powell's drumming but Beck's playing was a train wreck. He had been in the middle of a contract dispute with Mickey Most for months. Basically they were not speaking to each other but couldn't pass up coming to Motown and pretending to be recording.

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: Waltz Mastering on March 12, 2010, 12:15:26 PM

I've read he was a big fan of the Motown sound, which probably him them there.

Was that around 70 -71 or so? Do you remember any of the other musicians on the dates? Max Middleton?

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: McAllister on March 12, 2010, 07:20:20 PM

This got me thinking.
Does anyone use that room for recording anymore?

If not, why not?

Chess used to be a museum & a working room - is it still?

hmmm

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: Bob Olhsson on March 13, 2010, 09:56:21 AM

Only Beck and Powell came along with Mickey Most. As soon as our musicians figured out that there wasn't going to be any serious recording done, most of them felt insulted and bailed. They wound up calling in Babbitt and it was just him, Powell and Beck jamming. Meanwhile Mickey Most was partying in the control room.

Beck wanted Babbitt to return to England with him but Bob had recently signed a recording contract with the rest of a new band and couldn't get out of it. Think of the sea change in both rock and R&B history that would have created!

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: Waltz Mastering on March 13, 2010, 11:00:18 AM

smj wrote on Thu, 11 March 2010 16:45

Now here is one album I would love to hear!

Cool article.  Thanks for the 411 Bob.

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: zmix on March 13, 2010, 04:05:29 PM

Bob Olhsson wrote on Fri, 12 March 2010 11:41

It's a long story.

Indeed.  Jeff Beck told me about those sessions when I worked with him in 2003.
He said that at that time Cozy Powell had an enormous drum kit and that while they were hauling out some gear to make room for the kit, a guy walked up to Jeff and asked him:

"You come here to get the Motown sound, right?"

Jeff said "Oh, yeah! Sure!"

The man, pointing at the studio's small drum kit as it passes out through the door in the hands of Cozy's roadies, replied: "Well, there it goes!"

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: smj on March 13, 2010, 06:05:37 PM

Bob Olhsson wrote on Fri, 12 March 2010 16:41

It's a long story. First, I absolutely loved Cozy Powell's drumming but Beck's playing was a train wreck.

Beck's train wrecks are probably better than my best days!

Sean Meredith-Jones
http://www.seanmeredithjones.com

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: RSettee on March 13, 2010, 09:06:14 PM

I'm still waiting for Neil Young and Rick James' Motown album to come out.

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: Bob Olhsson on March 14, 2010, 01:04:21 AM

There was only a single. It was folk rock, more like what you'd expect from Neil than from Rick James.

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: RSettee on March 15, 2010, 12:33:59 AM

Bob Olhsson wrote on Sun, 14 March 2010 00:04

There was only a single. It was folk rock, more like what you'd expect from Neil than from Rick James.

Did you record it? I've always thought that was one of the more interesting pairings on paper....

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: Steve Folta on March 15, 2010, 01:48:57 AM

Bob Olhsson wrote on Sat, 13 March 2010 22:04

There was only a single. It was folk rock, more like what you'd expect from Neil than from Rick James.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crm7gqK0OeY.  It's "Boys Don't Cry" a decade and a half early.

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: Bob Olhsson on March 15, 2010, 07:00:25 PM

That is a different song than what I was thinking of, less Byrds-like. Maybe there is more that I wasn't aware of. We had pressings of what I thought was everything in the mastering room.

Title: Re: Jeff Beck's Unreleased Motown Album.
Post by: RSettee on March 16, 2010, 10:30:29 PM

Steve Folta wrote on Mon, 15 March 2010 00:48

Bob Olhsson wrote on Sat, 13 March 2010 22:04 There was only a single. It was folk rock, more like what you'd expect from Neil than from Rick James. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crm7gqK0OeY.  It's "Boys Don't Cry" a decade and a half early.

Wow, that's great! Love the chorus, the minor key changes, the backing vocals. I'd call that a truly great long lost classic, kinda Them/ Stones.

Looks like the connection between Bruce Palmer and "Ricky" James (based on the pictures) led to Bruce's involvement with Neil in Buffalo Springfield.