Beck's Bolero

"Beck's Bolero" is a short, rock-based instrumental piece heavily influenced by Maurice Ravel's Bolero, recorded by Jeff Beck with Jimmy Page on guitar, John Paul Jones on bass, Nicky Hopkins on piano, and Keith Moon on drums. This song is considered by many critics to be an important work in the early development of both the Heavy Metal and progressive rock genres.

The song is roughly divided into three parts. The first part being two lead guitars playing separate melodies over a bolero rhythm; the first a rock lead in a moderately overdriven tone; the other playing a slide piece in a clean slinky tone resembling a steel guitar. A simultaneous drum break and vocal scream is heard at halfway (courtesy of Moon, who knocked over his recording mic in the process, resulting in his crash cymbal being heard over the other percussion for the rest of the piece), after which the band begins playing a powerful blues-rock section. The first fuzzbox-distorted lead guitar eventually emerges from the sonic sludge along with the bolero rhythm, this time being played with percussive flourishes. Shortly thereafter, another lead guitar playing its own melody. The song is then brought to a very abrupt end as the band simply stops playing.

There are differing accounts of the events leading to this recording; one account refers to a recording session in May 1966, when Beck was still with The Yardbirds, while others suggest that the session took place after Beck had left the Yardbirds in November 1966. The latter version indicates that Beck's Bolero was originally going to be the name of a supergroup which these players intended to form, but Jimmy Page was unavailable due to contractual obligations with The Yardbirds.

The song was first released as the b-side of a Jeff Beck solo single in March 1967, and was later on released on the 1968 album Truth.

Although Page is officially credited for the arrangement, Beck has also claimed to be the primary creator of the piece. This has remained a point of contention between the two. Page later incorporated parts of it in Led Zeppelin's "How Many More Times" as an inside joke referencing the dispute.

In an interview he gave in 1977, Page commented:

You see on the “Beck’s Bolero” ... thing I was working with that, the track was done and then the producer just disappeared. He was never seen again; he simply didn’t come back. (Simon) Napier-Bell just sort of left me and Jeff to it. Jeff was playing, and I was in the box (recording booth). And even though it says he wrote it, I wrote it. I’m playing the electric 12-string on it. Beck’s doing the slide bits, and I’m basically playing around the chords. The idea was built around (classical composer) Maurice Ravel’s’ “Bolero.” It’s got a lot of drama to it; it came off right. It was a good lineup too, with (the Who’s drummer) Keith Moon and everything.

In a separate interview, also given in 1977, Page expressed his recollections more bluntly:

[I] wrote it, played on it, produced it... and I don't give a damn what [Beck] says. That's the truth.

Cover versions

Les Fradkin & Get Wet released a very close cover version of the song on their "A Day At The Beach" CD in 2004.

Eric Johnson covered the song on the "Freeway Jam: To Beck and Back" Jeff Beck tribute CD in 2007.

External links

• The Guitar Magazine interview with Jeff Beck about "Beck's Bolero" (1993)