Paul McCartney: Jeff Beck played some of the best British guitar music ever

Sir Paul McCartney said Jeff Beck “played some of the best guitar music ever to come out of the UK” following the 78-year-old rock guitarist’s death.

Former Beatles member Sir Paul, 80, called him “a lovely man with a wicked sense of humor” when Sir Brian May of Queen and Pete Townshend of the Who’s and Roger Daltrey, among others other rock legends, paying homage to one of their rock legends. own.

Beck, who died after contracting bacterial meningitis, is known for his work with the Yardbirds and Jeff Beck Group and for performing alongside musical heavyweights including Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.

In an Instagram post on Thursday, Sir Paul said: “Jeff Beck is a lovely man with a wicked sense of humour, who has played some of the best guitar music ever. of the United Kingdom.

“He was an excellent technician and was able to take his guitar apart and put it back together just in time for the gig.

“His unique style of play was second to none, and I will always remember the great times we had together.

“He will either come to dinner at our place or he and his wife, Sandra, will host an evening at their home.

“Jeff has impeccable taste in almost everything and is an expert at rebuilding his auto collection. His candid attitude towards the music business was always fresh and I will forever cherish the moments we spent together.

“Jeff Beck has left the building and it’s a lonelier place without him.”

Sir Brian told his followers on Thursday in an Instagram video: “This is an extraordinary loss and what an extraordinary person he is.

“Jeff is a completely and utterly unique, indefinable kind of musician and I admire him so much.”

Sir Brian said he has been Beck’s “hero” and “huge inspiration” since his school days because Beck “did” “extraordinary things” in Tridents and later The Yardbirds.

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He said Beck’s Where Were You was “unbelievable” and “possibly the best guitar piece ever recorded” alongside Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing.

Sir Brian added: “(It’s) very sensitive, very beautiful, incredibly creative and unlike anything you’ve heard anywhere else.”

He also said: “I’ve watched him play so many times, I always have my mouth wide open thinking, how can he do that?

“I often think it must be like being around Mozart and seeing that incredible genius at work and wondering where that could come from? How can he be so great?

Sir Brian said he often felt “embarrassed” around Beck and wrote the song The Guv’nor about him for his solo album.

He added: “Jeff Beck is so unique, so influential to every guitarist I’ve ever met in my life. The loss is incalculable.

“It is sad that they are no longer in the world. I still can’t figure it all out.”

In a statement, guitarist Who Townshend said in tribute: “Miles Davis of rock guitar, he will never be forgotten, and his friends among us feel fortunate to have known him. he.”

He added: “Above all, Jeff is very approachable, very natural as a musician whose ears are sensitive to the melody, as soon as he hears something he can play it, it belongs to him. about his finger.”

Townsend and Beck last worked together when Beck played an ensemble version of the hit Who’s Love Reign O’er Me for a BBC concert in London in 2012.

“Jeff was my favorite lead guitarist, always original and a huge loss to the music scene,” Daltrey said.

Beck’s family statement announcing his death, posted to Twitter and Instagram on Wednesday, read: “On behalf of his family, we are deeply saddened and deeply saddened by the news. about the passing of Jeff Beck.

“After suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, he passed away peacefully yesterday.

“His family asks for privacy while they process this tremendous loss.”