The Jeff Beck Group

First group[edit]

The first Jeff Beck Group formed in London in early 1967 and included guitarist Jeff Beck, vocalist Rod Stewart, and rhythm guitarist Ronnie Wood, with bass players and drummers changing regularly.^[1][2] Early bass players were Jet Harris and Dave Ambrose, with Clem Cattini and Viv Prince trying out on drums. The lineup went through months of personnel changes, notably no fewer than four drummers, before settling on Aynsley Dunbar and switching Wood to bass. This lineup spent most of 1967 playing the UK club circuit and appeared several times on BBC Radio. Beck signed a personal management contract with record producer and manager Mickie Most, who had no interest in the group, only in Beck as a solo artist.


During 1967 the band released three singles in Europe and two in the United States, the first, "Hi Ho Silver Lining", being the most successful, reaching No. 14 on the UK singles chart; it included the instrumental "Beck's Bolero" as the B-side, which had been recorded several months earlier. The lineup for that session included guitarist Jimmy Page on rhythm guitar, John Paul Jones on bass, Keith Moon on drums, and Nicky Hopkins on piano.^[3] Frustrated that the band were not playing a strict enough blues set for his taste, drummer Dunbar left and was replaced by Roy Cook for one show, before Stewart recommended Micky Waller, a bandmate of his from Steampacket. Waller went on to play with the band all through 1968 and early 1969, and was their longest-lasting drummer.^[4]


Peter Grant, a road manager at the time, had been to the U.S. with the New Vaudeville Band, and was aware of the new concert and album-oriented rock FM radio format developing there. It was now possible to break out a band without using the "hit single" formula. Grant realised that Beck's band was ideal for this market and tried several times to buy Beck's contract from Most, who refused to let Beck go. By early 1968 the band was ready to throw in the towel and, again to his credit, Grant convinced them not to break up, and booked a short U.S. tour for them. Beck is quoted as saying "We were literally down to one change of clothing each". Grant's first stop for them was in New York City, for four shows at Fillmore East, where they played second on the bill to the Grateful Dead. They apparently took the town by storm. The New York Times ran a Robert Shelton article, "Jeff Beck Group Cheered in Debut", with the secondary headline "British Pop Singers Delight Fillmore East Audience," proclaiming that Beck and his group had upstaged the Grateful Dead. The reviews from The Boston Tea Party were as good or better: "By the time he got to his last number ... (the fans) were in a state of pandemonium the likes of which hadn't been witnessed since the Beatles hit town." By the time they wrapped up the tour at San Francisco's Fillmore West, Peter Grant had secured them a new album contract with Epic Records.