SPILL BOOK REVIEW: BRAD TOLINSKI & CHRIS GILL – BLOW BY BLOW: THE JEFF BECK STORY

BRAD TOLINSKI & CHRIS GILL – BLOW BY BLOW: THE JEFF BECK STORY

DA CAPO

BOOK REVIEW BY GERROD HARRIS

For his legendary status, Jeff Beck remains an understated and misunderstood tour de creative force among guitarist and popular music alike. While his early innovations through The Yardbirds and The Jeff Beck Group left him as a pioneering classic rock artist, this fails to properly serve his career and, more importantly, sound that delved deep into soul music, jazz fusion, rockabilly, and more, in addition to a wide range of collaborations as a featured soloist. Despite common misconceptions, authors Brad Tolinski and Chris Gill, both of whom have interviewed the titular guitarist on multiple occasions, set the record straight in Blow By Blow: The Jeff Beck Story.

Tolinski and Gill tell a fascinating story as they follow Beck’s through a life’s worth of twists and turns, pursuing his creative musings in different directions. To do so, they have pulled from a wealth of research, including their own interviews and conversations with Beck, to deliver a critical biography that seeks to remove the mystique that often shrouds the legacy of Beck. The incredibly well researched book feels as authentic to Beck as it does groundbreaking to lifting the veil, as they hone in on his days with The Yardbirds, the many iterations of The Jeff Beck Group, and the many collaborations that defined his career and sound.

The result is a puzzling narrative that ultimately paints a brilliant portrait of an artist who spent his life in a near constant state of flow, change, and becoming. Beck would pivot unexpectedly, sometimes disappearing for extended periods, only to resurface in a new form unlike anything he had previously done. What separates Tolinski and Gill’s work from other biographies is their attempt to understand the motivations, challenges, influences, and personal revelations that guided Beck through these many turns. By seeking to understand why one of the ‘60s most prominent rock guitarists would dive headfirst into jazz fusion a decade later, they also addressed a sound line of thinking to justify why Beck would turn down immeasurable wealth and fame by refusing to join both Elton John and The Rolling Stones. This is where both Tolinski and Gill soar as some of the greatest rock writers of our time; their ability to craft a compelling narrative that unfolds through thematic emphasis is remarkable.

Tolinski and Gill’s Blow By Blow: The Jeff Beck Story is an exceptional book that seemingly does the impossible feat of setting the record straight on Beck’s artistry and paying homage to the late musician. The authors paint Beck as a larger-than-life titan and an underrated icon overshadowed by the work of his peers. Through both lenses, Beck stands as a lifelong sonic innovator, one who refused to stay still or ever rest upon the weight of his previous achievements. As such, Blow By Blow is the definitive telling of the Jeff Beck story.

ISBN-10: 0306836580
ISBN-13:‎ 978-0306836589

PURCHASE BLOW BY BLOW: THE JEFF BECK STORY VIA