Jeff Beck: Beck Bogert & Appice Live In Japan 1973 Live In London 1974

Will the real Jeff Beck please raise his guitar strumming hand? Will it be the musician who's recognized as one of only a handful of Brit Invasion guitar gods from the 1960s that includes Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page? Will it be the man who absorbed a gritty blues "message in a bottle" that floated across the ocean from the States to the UK? Will it be the musician who, post Yardbirds, went on to create a short-lived rock super group? Or would it be the man who mastered jazz inflected jams and, a few years later, jazz fusion? The answer is all of the above.

Beck's continued to define the phrase "rock guitar legend" for decades. But beyond rock, Beck always seemed to have an affinity for free from jams and jazz. As jazz fusion began to percolate into the charts during the late 1960s / early 1970s via units such as Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, Weather Report and others, Beck enlisted the talents of several musicians who had one foot in jazz and one in rock including Jan Hammer and Narada Michael Walden. But before that chapter, there was the Beck/Bogert/Appice contingent.

BBA may not have come together as a message in a bottle but the power trio was very much the result of two Yanks from the rock groups Vanilla Fudge and, later, Cactus—Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice -joining forces with one stubborn Brit. They had originally met in 1967 and talked about performing together but delayed consummating the union until record contacts were resolved and other obstacles were cleared. Yet another delay was the result of an auto accident Beck had and the time he needed to recover. Although conversations were held with several A-List vocalists, the trio ultimately decided to combine their powerful instruments—guitar, bass, drums—and boldly put them front and center. As musicians, Bogert was often aggressive and forceful while the fierce Appice not only had a passion for rock but he was also influenced by jazz veterans including Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa. The vocals of the new group were mostly the result of a tag team approach between Bogert and Appice with some help from Beck. After late 1972 and early 1973 recording sessions, the trio finally debuted on vinyl in the spring of 1973 with a collection that was dominated by authentic, 'real' rock. With only one official studio album released during their brief time together (less than a year and a half, even less than the time Beck stayed with the Yardbirds,) newly available live sessions from 1973 and 1974 are now offered as a four LP box set.

This box set is smartly packaged. Start with a dramatic black and white enclosure which, when opened, reveals a reproduction of a Japanese playbill, a full-size repro of a vintage BBA poster, an amazingly well researched 40-page hardcover book authored by veteran music archivist/manager Bruce Pilato and, oh yeah, four vinyl LPs. Although both Beck and Bogert both passed away before the official release, all three members were fully involved in the project and shared a common vision (with mixing help from Ben Findlay.) Time to load disc one / side one onto the turntable of your choice.

Stevie Wonder had offered to let Beck release "Superstition" before Wonder did but, as the booklet explains, there were several versions of why Wonder jumped the gun and came out of the gate with it before Beck did. As for this box set, Beck led the May 1973 Japanese LPs with the song, complete with an early use of the vocoder. That was followed by "Lose Myself with You" featuring some good nature bass noodling by Tim Bogert before Beck jumped in with "Jeff's Boogie" as he did just that, boogied with verve and passion. It's the first full on jam and jazz portion of the collection. They quickly jumped onto a hard driving locomotive heading into southern rock territory with "Going Down," followed by another improv boogie cut. That was followed by an extended version of "Morning Dew" in which the group transitioned from boogie to bashing as Appice took a fierce and focused drum solo. They headed south once again with the opening cut of side three and then mixed things up with a pair of BBA originals as well as a Curtis Mayfield cut, "I'm So Proud." Yet another southern rocker—"Black Cat Moan" -opened the fourth and final side from Japan. The evening drew to a close with a "Plynth/Shotgun" medley (note—just so you don't have to pause and run to the nearest dictionary, 'plynth' is an alternate spelling of 'plinth,' the lowest level or base of a column that, like the blues, is pretty low!)

One self-titled album was the only studio release of the short-lived band. As Appice confirmed in the live box set book, "We had recorded the second album in England twice, but Jeff didn't like it, and we never even bothered to mix it." Ultimately "That made up the majority of the (London) Rainbow sessions" Appice revealed. But Beck was now back on home turf that week of January 1974 and they collectively upped their game. Instead of the Japanese concert where they played a combination of early Beck music, Vanilla Fudge and Cactus songs -material they "knew"—the Rainbow show was mostly "new" material. The concert at the 2800 seat Rainbow was presented by a mature trio that had played together many times so it was energized, more creative and ultimately made for a memorable evening. Side one opens with a trio of BBA originals, all three straight up rockers. Beck was confidently presenting flashes and flurries on guitar, Bogert was bold on bass and Appice was powering forward with his drums. When they announced, "we're going to do something from the new album," you realized you're listening to much of a lost BBA album that never was. The second side opened with "Lady," a more confident and vibrant take than the one offered to the Japanese audience. Then the trio put the pedal to the metal on a pair of free form instrumentals—"Solid Liffer" and "Jizz Wizz" (don't ask)—featuring a dramatic Appice solo and full participation from a chanting hometown crowd. There were some jazz inspired improv exchanges on the third side of the London sessions before BBA offered the crowd the trio's updated presentation of "Superstition" which was tighter and more enticing than the earlier version. The final side opened with "Blues De Luxe / You Shook Me" as Beck twists and turns the strings in classic blues tradition while the vocals are drenched to the bone with blues. The final track, "("Rainbow) Boogie" was a thunderous storm that rumbled into the Rainbow as all three musicians' were locked in from start to finish.

As the last of the audience members headed for the exit signs, the trio of musicians barely made it backstage before disagreements between Beck and Bogert began to boil over once again. Appice remembers that "It was just a lot of tension at the Rainbow." It was soon lights out at the Rainbow—and for the band. Bogert and Appice headed back to the States. Bogert would work with a variety of musicians and Appice would team up with yet another Brit—Rod Stewart. There was even a brief reunion of both Vanilla Fudge and Cactus that both Bogert and Appice were involved in. As for Beck, he resumed his solo career and released albums dominated by guitar powered instrumentals. Many Beck discs during the rest of the 1970s and early 1980s focused on his growing passion for jazz fusion jams before shifting back to rock and blues. There was even his stunning 2010 recording of classical composer Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" confirming, yet again, the complex versatility of Jeff Beck.

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