Ben Poole

Jam With Jeff Beck!

Last week I had the absolute pleasure of jamming with legendary guitarist Jeff Beck. I have always loved Jeff's playing and so to stand up on stage with him was an incredible experience. We had a bit of a blues jam just myself and him playing our guitars, before being joined by a full band, including Jeff's awesome Keys player Jason Rubello. One of the songs we played was a song that I have been playing live with my band for the past year or so 'Cause We've Ended As Lovers'. As soon as I heard this song several years ago i fell in love with it - the chords and melody sound beautiful on their own but when combined it is something else. I've even had my version of this song up here on my myspace page for a few months (it's still up if you fancy a listen), so to play it with the man who made it famous was very special.
We also jammed a slow blues number called 'Blues Deluxe' which Jeff and Rod Stewart had written for the incredible 1966 'Truth' album (some people might know this tune from Joe Bonamassa covering it). I also sang the song while Jeff filled in the gaps with his guitar wizardry!
Jeff was blown away by the performance of the whole band, stating that we were "f***ing amazing!" Jeff and his tour manager invited me to come along to his soundcheck later that day, as he and his band were playing a sold out gig at the Brighton Dome to 2000 people that night. I was also given a pass to get into the show for free.
Little did I know, but Gary Moore had been watching Jeff and I jamming and I ended up going to the pub with Gary for a few beers. He was a lovely bloke and we chatted for ages about lots of different things - mainly guitars!
I had to leave Gary at the pub and shoot off to meet Jeff Beck, Jeff's incredible band and also his extemely friendly tour manager Peter. I was invited on stage to check out all of Jeff's gear up close which was very cool.
After going to grab some food I returned to the venue and went around the back to the artist entrance and bumped into Jeff's drummer, the legendary "drummers drummer" Vinnie Colauita. He was a top bloke too and we chatted for a while before I went inside to grab a seat. I went and sat in the VIP section to the side of the stage....and sat next to none other than Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin! It was actually Jeff Beck's birthday and Jimmy, who was an old pal of Jeff's since the mid 1960's when they played together in 'The Yardbirds', had come down to suprise Jeff.
As I'd expected Jeff and the band were amazing and at the end of the set the entire audience of 2000 people sang happy birthday to Jeff....it was amazing!
After this, (as if I hadnt been privelaged enough!) I was invited to the private after party where Jeff was to celebrate his birthday with his close friends.
I bumped into Gary Moore again here and we had another couple of nice chats at the end of which he gave me his number and suggested we meet up for a jam at his house sometime.
I also met Tal Wilkenfeld (Jeff's 23 year old Australian female bass player extroardinaire!), who was a very sweet girl and very modest, before the lights went out and in came a big cake full of candles while everyone sang happy birthday to Jeff...again!
I can now say that I have eaten a slice of Jeff Beck's birthday cake!
I had another chat with Jeff and have to say that the guy is an absolute laugh! A very funny, easy going guy who is game for a laugh completely!
He commented on my playing saying he "loved it", "really loved it," especially my "Tex Mex style." I was buzzing!
After several beers I said goodbye to the few who were left including Gary Moore, Vinnie Colauita and Jeff Beck and headed home....very happy indeed...