The Three Guitar Players Jeff Beck Called “The Three Kings”
The Three Guitar Players Jeff Beck Called “The Three Kings”
To call Jeff Beck a guitarist is an understatement. For more than half a century, he was an inventor, a sonic explorer who treated his guitar not just as an instrument, but as a conduit for sounds no one had ever imagined. He made it weep, scream, and sing with a voice that was entirely his own. But even a player as fiercely original as Beck stood on the shoulders of others. This is a look at the players Jeff Beck considered the three kings. The rock and roll architect, the master of minimalist
soul, and the virtuoso with a flawless touch, who together shaped the musical philosophy of one of the greatest guitarists the world has ever seen. [Music] Hey, [Music] are [Music] In the gray postwar landscape of Wington Surrey, the future was something to be imagined rather than seen. For a young Jeffrey Beck, that future arrived through the speaker of a wireless radio, crackling with a strange and thrilling energy from across the Atlantic. It was the sound of American rock and roll, a cultural force that felt like it was
being broadcast from another planet. And at the absolute epicenter of that explosion was Elvis Presley. You ain’t knocking my hand. But for Beck, a boy already bewitched by the possibilities of a six string instrument, the true magic wasn’t just in the swagger of the voice, but in the sharp, elegant, and impossibly sophisticated guitar lines that drove the songs. The man playing those lines was Scotty Moore. To hear tracks like Heartbreak Hotel or Blue Suede Shoes in the mid 1950s was to hear the sound of a
new world being born. But so did Scotty Moore. I mean, I don’t know what it was about those rockabilly records. I was more impressed with the the solos than there was the singing. I’d used to listen for the guitar breaks. Beck was utterly transfixed, and Moore became his first true guitar hero, the primary architect of a language he would spend his life learning to speak. He saw in Moore’s playing an extraordinary kind of perfection that had little to do with speed or overt complexity, but
everything to do with taste, tone, and placement. Every note felt chosen, every phrase a deliberate and powerful statement. Beck later recalled the seismic impact of those early Sun and RCA recordings, stating with absolute clarity, “The first guitarist that really turned me on was Scotty Moore.” “I heard Heartbreak Hotel, and I just couldn’t believe the sound and the simplicity and the power of it.” Moore used a Gibson ES295 and later a Super 400, often running it through a Raybutts
echosonic amplifier that had a tape echo built right in. This was the source of the mesmerizing slapback echo that defined those records. A sound so revolutionary that countless guitarists, Beck included, would spend years trying to replicate it. [Music] It wasn’t just the gear, it was how Moore used it. His style was a unique blend of country fingerpicking influenced by Merl Travis and sharp blues phrasing. It was a hybrid, something new. That potent combination of simplicity and power became a
foundational lesson for Beck. In a world that would later become saturated with guitarists playing faster and louder, Beck was struck by how much emotional weight Moore could convey with so few notes. [Music] He would sit for hours listening intently, realizing that Moore’s guitar parts were as catchy and essential as Presley’s vocal melodies. This wasn’t just background noise. It was a vital part of the song’s architecture. The concise stabbing solo on Jailhouse Rock wasn’t a technical Everest, but it was
pure distilled attitude. Everybody, [Music] you could sing every single note of it. Beck recognized this innate musicality, this genius for crafting a part that served the song above all else as the highest form of artistry. He understood that the silences Scotty Moore employed the spaces he left between the phrases were just as impactful as the notes themselves. It was an early profound lesson in arrangement, dynamics, and the power of restraint that would subconsciously anchor Beck’s own playing
for the rest of his life, even during his most wildly virtuosic and experimental phases. [Music] [Applause] This deep-seated appreciation for a player who put the song first, who always played with immaculate taste rather than untethered ego, established a critical pillar of his musical philosophy and laid the groundwork for his admiration of another master of musical economy. The effect of Scotty Moore’s songerving architectural style was now a permanent fixture in Beck’s musical DNA. It
directly led him to develop a profound and lasting admiration for another American guitarist who was arguably the ultimate master of that craft, Steve Craropper. [Music] As the in-house guitarist for Stax Records in Memphis and a founding member of the legendary Booker T and the MGs, Cropper didn’t just play on soul records. He co-wrote them, produced them, and fundamentally defined their sound with his famously sparse licks played on a Fender Telecaster. [Music] Beck, a guitarist who could unleash a
furious torrent of notes seemingly at will, was completely captivated by Craropper’s unwavering discipline and minimalist philosophy. Where other players saw a space and felt the need to fill it, Cropper saw its value and chose to preserve it. Beck heard in Croer’s playing the ultimate form of musical confidence, the ability to make a massive, funky, and soulful statement with just a handful of perfectly timed, perfectly placed notes. [Music] It was the absolute antithesis of the flashy, look at me, gunslinger ethos
that was so prevalent in British rock. Beck often pinpointed one classic example of this sublime economy to explain his reverence. Steve Craropper, he just does a jab in Green Onions, and it’s so cool, he would say, the admiration evident in his voice there. They’re the kings, just wonderful players. That single sharp jab in the iconic instrumental was a complete education in music. It was a lesson in dynamics, in the value of a clean tone, in timing, and in texture. More than anything, it taught him that a
guitarist’s most important job, especially within a great band, was to listen. Booker T and the MGs were the engine room of stacks, one of the tightest and most intuitive backing bands in history. And Craropper’s genius was his telepathic ability to weave his guitar parts into the very fabric of the rhythm section. He would lock in with Al Jackson Jr.’s drums and Duck Dun’s bass, leaving space for Booker T. Jones’s Hammond organ, creating a conversation where every musician had a voice.
Beck absorbed this philosophy whole. You can hear it clearly in his own work. Even on a track like his instrumental epic Freeway Jam, which is essentially one long, glorious guitar solo, there’s a deep, funky sense of groove and a solid melodic structure holding it all together. [Music] That was the croper influence in action. the understanding that even when you are the lead instrument, you are still fundamentally part of the ensemble. This wasn’t just hero worship from afar. Beck eventually got the chance to express his
profound admiration directly to the man himself. He recalled making a transatlantic phone call to Cropper, a moment where the legendary Jeff Beck was reduced to a Starruck fan. I just had to call him, Beck explained. I said, I’ve got to tell you, man, what you did for me just by being you is immeasurable. He was very humble, but I was telling him that the space is as important as the notes you play. The two finally met and performed together on stage during a Staxs reunion show at the Montro Jazz
Festival in 1991. For Beck, sharing a stage with his hero was a treasured moment. The respect he discovered was mutual. Craropper was well aware of Beck’s almost mythical status among guitar players and was genuinely humbled by his praise. For Beck, however, Cropper’s understated brilliance, his absolute commitment to the groove and the song, represented a musical truth that he would always aspire to. This focus on listening and interplay learned from his deep study of Craropper’s work was a vital skill that
enabled him to transition so successfully into the complex conversational world of jazz fusion. [Music] The profound effect of studying masters of restraint like Moore and Craropper gave Beck a unique perspective on virtuosity. He held a deep and abiding respect for sheer unadulterated technical skill, but only when it was delivered with genuine musicality and soul. In that regard, one British guitarist stood in a class of his own, a player whose talent frequently left Beck in a state of awe, Albert Lee.
[Music] Lee was and remains a phenomenal musician, a country and rock and roll virtuoso, revered by fellow guitarists for his lightningast hybrid picking style, his pioneering use of the bbender and his pristine melodic lines. For Beck, Lee’s playing was a source of constant wonder, a beautiful and dizzying combination of speed, accuracy, and heartfelt musicality that seemed almost superhuman. He saw Lee as a player who possessed a level of technical command that was simply off the charts. Yet, it was never
empty or ostentatious. It was always in service of the music. In the very same breath that he praised the minimalist kings Moore and Cropper, Beck would consistently make a point to include Lee among the greats, stating plainly, “I’ve been heavily influenced by Scotty Moore and people like that and Albert Lee cuz he just plays beautifully.” That word beautifully is the key to understanding Beck’s admiration. He didn’t just admire Lee’s astonishing speed, he admired the quality, the tone,
and the elegance of his playing. It was exceptionally clean, articulate, and deeply expressive. I’m all for locking in, you know, locking it into whatever you want. It’ll be a very, very long time before there is a guitarist to match Albert’s ability. Every guitarist I’ve ever known, myself included, model their style on somebody. He doesn’t borrow anything off anyone. It’s all his own. That’s what makes him so special. While Beck was busy pushing the limits of amplification, exploring feedback,
distortion, and conjuring otherworldly sounds from his Stratacastaster, Lee was on a parallel path, perfecting a more traditional but no less demanding style of playing with his trusty Telecaster. Has to be real uh crisp notes to to make it work effectively. Now, this is the same thing, but a lot slower. [Music] They were two different sides of the same coin, both pushing the instrument forward with relentless dedication. They had been aware of each other for years, contemporaries on the fiercely
competitive London music scene of the 1960s, where Lee was already building a reputation as a guitarist guitarist with his band Heads, Hands, and Feet. The mutual respect between them was finally showcased on a global stage in the early 1980s. Ronny Lane, the beloved former basist of the small faces and faces, was suffering from multiple sclerosis and a series of benefit concerts known as the Arms Charity concerts were organized in London and America to raise money for research. The concerts brought together
a holy trinity of British guitar heroes from the Yard Birds, Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Paige. [Music] For several of the shows, Albert Lee was also an integral part of the star-studded backing band. It gave audiences the rare chance to see these masters on stage together. And for Beck, it was an opportunity to stand alongside a player he held in such high esteem. On stage, their contrasting styles were a perfect match. Beck, with his fluid, vocal-like phrasing and dramatic use of the whammy bar, would trade solos with
Lee, who would respond with a cascade of impossibly fast, crystalclear, country inflected lines. The presence of a player like Lee undoubtedly pushed Beck, as playing with any great musician does. The influence wasn’t about Beck trying to copy Lee’s style, but rather a profound appreciation for the discipline, dedication, and perfection that Lee represented. He was a living benchmark for a certain kind of excellence and his beautiful playing inspired Beck to continually hone his own craft until the very end.