Jeff Beck: Truth (Remastered + Expanded) CD Track Listing

A list by checkmate

Jeff Beck Truth (Remastered + Expanded) (1968)
Truth (Remastered + Expanded)\n2006 Epic/Legacy\n\nOriginally released August 1968\nCD Edition Released 1991\nRemastered CD Edition Released July 4, 2000\nUK Remastered + Expanded CD Edition Released May 24, 2005\nUSA Remastered + Expanded CD Edition Released October 10, 2006\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Jeff Beck's Truth -- which was already regarded as the pioneering heavy metal blues album of its era, beating Led Zeppelin to the punch by about six months -- got a lot better with this British import remastered reissue, which puts all prior editions of the CD to shame. EMI Records have remastered the original LP in 24-bit digital, which puts Beck's guitar and John Paul Jones' organ on "You Shook Me" practically in your lap, and the amp on the former almost up against your ear, and Mickey Waller's drums and Ron Wood's bass on "Shapes of Things" into a position of similar intimacy, so you can almost hear the action on the bass strings. And Rod Stewart's voice is not only close but flows out with a resonance that can't entirely be covered by his rasping delivery -- "Ol' Man River" now seems like an ideal choice for him (as well as a distant precursor to his later recordings of standards), and Keith Moon's timpani performance is totally larger-than-life here. Beck's guitar sounds like it's in the room with you on "Rock My Plimsoul," and Stewart's singing is presented in such detail, that his nuances now seem fine and intimate. There are so many details revealed in the playing here in this remastering, that even longtime listeners are certain to find nuances in the playing and the different parts that are new to them -- and that's just the established album. The original ten songs have been very judiciously augmented with a brace of killer bonus tracks, starting with "I've Been Drinking," where Rod Stewart first treaded into Sam Cooke territory stylistically, which somehow never got included on the LP and ended up relegated to the B-side of the Beck single "Love Is Blue" in mono (it's in stereo here, natch); there's also the undubbed, stripped-down first take of "You Shook Me," filled with instruments that are nice and close and crunchy (especially the guitar); the early, single-take of "Rock My Plimsoul," remixed to stereo here; "Beck's Bolero" in its original mono single version; the previously unissued first take of the shattering "Blues De Luxe"; and the early single A-sides "Tallyman," "Love Is Blue," and "Hi Ho Silver Lining," the first and last featuring Beck's own singing (a decision imposed by producer Mickie Most over the guitarist's vociferous objections) the latter in its unedited form with a "wee surprise" at the very end. It's worth the upgrade -- you may well find yourself practically getting high off the raw invention and passions oozing from virtually all of the music, and even playing it once for some younger friends who've heard it before will make a few converts to its cause. -- Bruce Eder\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Despite being the premiere heavy metal album, Jeff Beck's Truth has never quite carried its reputation the way the early albums by Led Zeppelin's did, or even in the manner of Cream's two most popular LPs, mostly as a result of the erratic nature of the guitarist's subsequent work. Time has muted some of its daring, radical nature, elements of which were appropriated by practically every metal band (and most arena rock bands) that followed. Truth was almost as groundbreaking a record (and as influential) as the first Beatles, Rolling Stones, or Who albums. Its attributes weren't all new -- Cream and Jimi Hendrix had been moving in similar directions -- but the combination was: the wailing, heart-stoppingly dramatic vocalizing by Rod Stewart, the thunderous rhythm section of Ron Wood's bass and Mickey Waller's drums, and Beck's blistering lead guitar, which sounds like his amp is turned up to about 13 and ready to short out. Beck opens the proceedings in a strikingly bold manner, using his old Yardbirds hit "Shapes of Things" as a jumping off point, deliberately rebuilding the song from the ground up in tempo and timbre so it sounds closer to the work of Howlin' Wolf than to its Yardbirds origins. There are lots of unexpected moments on this record, which must've astounded listeners in 1968 and still hold up today in their own terms: a bone-pounding version of Willie Dixon's "You Shook Me" sounding like little that had been heard before (Beck deliberately seems to tear the guts out of his guitar in a way that Eric Clapton wouldn't have with Cream; a version of Jerome Kern's "Ol' Man River" done as a slow electric blues (with Keith Moon, uncredited, playing drums), a universe away from Paul Robeson or Showboat; a brief plunge into folk territory with a solo acoustic guitar version of "Greensleeves" (which was intended as filler but audiences loved); "Rock My Plimsoul"'s searing guitar and surprisingly subtle yet powerful Stewart vocals; the progressive blues of "Beck's Bolero," a track that's sort of the serious follow-up to the guitarist's Yardbirds-era instrumental "Jeff's Boogie"; the extended live "Blues Deluxe"; and "I Ain't Superstitious," a blazing reworking of another Willie Dixon song. It was a triumph, and a number 15 album in America, an astoundingly good debut for a band that had been utterly unknown in the United States just six months earlier, and a very improbable success; Beck and his band had suffered through a year of dubious early singles (courtesy of manager/producer Mickie Most who planned on turning Beck into a movie star, among other things), on some of which the guitarist was prevailed upon to sing, worked their own kinks out in public (including the departure of their original drummer), and then were rescued, turned loose in America by Most's partner Peter Grant (another Led Zeppelin connection). Truth was one of the last classic '60s guitar albums to get upgraded on CD; its early '90s compact disc edition was a shadow of the original album. The July 2000 remastering (catalog number 66085) captures the luster of the original's sound and expands on it, boosting the volume and sharpening its stereo separation. -- Bruce Eder\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Possibly Jeff Beck's most influential recording, Truth takes the amped-up blues-rock of the Yardbirds and the guitarist's psychedelicized sonic experimentation to the next level. Beck enlisted a powerful hard rock band featuring Rod Stewart on vocals, Ron Wood on bass, and Mick Waller on drums; the interplay between all the musicians is tremendous, especially Stewart and Beck trading vocal and guitar lines, respectively, a motif that would later become a heavy metal staple. The repertoire is quite varied, composed of heavy, loud blues standards ("You Shook Me," "I Ain't Superstitious"), folk songs, largely instrumental guitar showcases (including the shattering "Beck's Bolero"), and a few originals, plus a reworked "Shapes of Things." Truth laid down the blueprint for early heavy metal, foreshadowing Led Zeppelin in particular, and Beck's inventive guitar playing and hard-rocking band have kept it a rich, rewarding listen today. -- Steve Huey\n\nAmazon.com Editorial Review\nAt first glance, the first group effort helmed by guitar god Jeff Beck upon his rocky departure from the Yardbirds has more than a few striking parallels with the debut of fellow ex-Yardbird Jimmy Page's Led Zeppelin. But the blues-rock of the Rod Stewart-fronted Jeff Beck Group's freshman effort far outshines Zep's riff and wail, infusing its guitar heaviness with subtle jazz and R&B shadings that foreshadow much of Beck's later work. Kicking off with a drastic, almost mournful rethink of the Yardbirds staple "Shapes of Things" and veering as far afield as Gershwin's "Ol' Man River," Truth was one of the late 1960s' most promising debuts. The laconic roadhouse booziness of "You Shook Me," the blues standard also covered with shrill abandon on Zeppelin's debut, best points up the stark differences between Beck and Page, making one wonder whether the '70s weren't dominated by the wrong supergroup. --Jerry McCulley \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nTasty indeed, January 9, 2007 \nBy G. M. Handlon "the brewfisher" (Colorado Springs)\nI read with amusement the other reviews comparing Beck to Page and insisting you must make an either/or choice between the two. That is pure hogwash...it is both/and. \n\nAlthough the Page contributions to this project are appreciated, Beck and Stewart are the rightful stars, and they pale to no one. \n\nBeck's guitar work is far superior on Truth compared to anything in the Yardbirds era, and in my opinion any of his later work. The sounds he makes with the rudimentary effects of that era are phenomenal, and sound like they could have been recorded yesterday. When you hear this, you can hear the influence he had upon musicians like Trower, Vaughn and even his contemporary, Page. \n\nThis was the breakout for Stewart, and his raw, strained vocals add an edge to these blues that will make you bleed at times. He never sounded better. \n\nI wish that Beck/Stewart would have recorded more than two albums (see Beck-Ola). But because they didn't, the mighty Zep was able to fill that void. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nGood 60's blues/folk/rock but no Led Zeppelin, April 14, 2006 \nBy E. Voorhies (United States)\nIf you buy this CD, you can expect a good blues rock LP from the 60's with a few folk music suprises thrown in for fun, but don't EVEN expect an album on the same level as Led Zeppelin I or II. I wasn't planning on writing a review on this album, but I just couldn't pass by DanFan585's exaggerated review below. Beck's playing on here tends to lean towards short, choppy, tricky leads which I can take for a while, but, when considering the incredible bluesy aspect of Rod Stewart's vocals, just seems disconnected sometimes.....in fact a lot of sometimes. It's like Beck is trying to do something impressive and egotistic on each lead, and not really trying to blend in and augment the character of the song and vocal performance, totally unlike the unique chemistry of Page,Plant and band on Led Zeppelin I. Jeff Beck's leads sometimes impress you with their flashy, tricky character, while Pages's leads on Led Zep I, with their incredible blues feel and phrasing, reach down into your soul like never before, especially whem mimicing the vocals of Plant. Plant and Page fit like hand and glove, like no one had ever heard before, and wound up staying together for decades. This band only did 3 Lps together, and Beck wound up having a reputation of being hard to live with in a band setting. In closing, the Amazon.com current sales ranking of this CD is #4,303. Led Zeppelin I is #446. Case closed. \n\n\nHalf.com Details \nContributing artists: Rod Stewart, Ron Wood \n\nAlbum Notes\nPersonnel: Jeff Beck; Jimmy Page (12-string guitar); Nicky Hopkins (piano); John Paul Jones (organ, bass guitar); Ron Wood (bass guitar); Keith Moon (drums, timpani); Aynsley Dunbar, Clem Cattini, Micky Waller (drums); John Carter, Ken Lewis, Madeline Bell (background vocals).\n\n\nProducer: Mickie Most.\nReissue producer: Bruce Dickinson.\nIncludes liner notes by Jeff Beck.\n\n2000 CD Edition Digitally remastered by Chris Athens (Sterling Sound, New York, New York).\n\n2005 CD Edition Digitally remastered by Peter Mew (Abbey Road Studios, London).\n\nThe Jeff Beck Group's debut, 1968's TRUTH remains a stunner, probably the best work of the guitarist's long career. Perhaps energized by the bust-up of the Yardbirds, Beck is positively overflowing with ideas throughout the entire album, which pointedly starts with a completely different recasting of the Yardbirds hit "Shapes of Things." TRUTH then continues through an impressively varied set of tunes, ranging from an achingly slow, bluesy version of the Broadway standard "Ol' Man River" to a technically astounding acoustic solo version of "Greensleeves" and a killer pair of Willie Dixon covers including a take on "You Shook Me" that shreds Led Zeppelin's contemporaneous version. Throughout, the then-unknown Rod Stewart sings his heart out; he's as important to the album as Beck himself, and it's unsurprising that when Stewart and bassist Ron Wood left to form the Faces, the Jeff Beck Group never recovered.\n\nIndustry Reviews\n...this album is a classic, much the way the Clapton-Mayall album [THE BLUES BREAKERS WITH ERIC CLAPTON] is....The singing is gorgeous and...first-rate throughout the album....As a group they swing like mad...\nRolling Stone Magazine (09/28/1968)\n\n\nROLLING STONE REVIEW\nThe album that catapulted John Mayall & Eric Clapton to fame, The Bluebreakers with Eric Clapton, was a special one. It hipped the U.S. to two good blues interpreters, held a fresh approach to the blues, and was performed by good musicians all around. Two months ago everyone was saying "Jeff Beck's in town and you must see his group . . . blah, blah, blah."\n\nIt was an unnerving experience to hear the Beck group. I had to leave after three numbers. The band was blowing changes, the bass player was losing time, Beck was uncomfortably and bitingly over-volumed, the singer was doing deep knee-bends holding the mike stand like a dumbbell (original, but so what.) It didn't make a hell of a lot of sense to me.\n\nWhen his album came out, I expected to hear England's revenge for Blue Cheer or Jimi Hendrix and his Electric Period. Not a chance. This album is quite another story. It's called Truth.\n\nI wonder what is the truth: the record or what I saw that night? This remains to be seen. However, this album is a classic, much the way the Clapton-Mayall album is. TRUTH is probably the current equivalent of that album.\n\nThe album opens with a considerably reworked version of "Shapes of Things" and it is more successful than the original except for Beck's solo. I believe the solo on the Yardbirds record (by Beck) to be one of the classic guitar solo on a pop record. I was hoping he would top it. The singing (Rod Stewart) is just great and many will now realize just how impotent a singer Keith Relf really was.\n\nAfter a "Strange Brew"-ish opening, "Let Me Love You" gets into a Mayall-Clapton "Little Girl" structure with an honest and relaxed feel. Beck sounds really comfortable here. The bass line (Ron Wood) is as correct and tasteful as could be for this particular groove. The ending is beautiful.\n\nTim Rose's "Morning Dew" comes in for a good turn next. Most covers of this song have been quite good and it's probably a credit to Tim's original, which gave everyone a lot to work with. It sounds like they phased Becks "wah... wah" without moving the frequency to give it a close-up sound (like the vocal on "Punk's Dilemma" by Paul Simon). Bonnie Dobson would be proud of the occasionally faded in bagpipes on this cut. The piano playing by Nicky Hopkins is quite good.\n\nOn "You Shook Me," no credit is given the organist or the pianist, but the organ is up front and slows the groove down a great deal. Beck plays his our-de-force (sic) on this cut. The close of the first side and a highlight of the album is "Old Man River." A very orchestral beginning featuring tympani gives way to a Percy Sledgeish track and vocal. The tympani are a bit overbearing after a certain point, and you wish "you know who" hadn't gotten hung up with them at the session. The singing is gorgeous and actually in order not to repeat myself, the singing is first-rate throughout the album. It was not half as groovy in person however, which might tell the story of the Jeff Beck Group's "fame" in the coming months.\n\nAn acoustical "Greensleeves" opens side two. It's not very impressive. B. B. King's bastardized "Rock Me Baby" called "Rock My Plimsoul" uses a quarter note triplet turnaround which is very effective and the track bounces around like a pinball machine. Beck sounds a lot like Hendrix on this. "Beck's Bolero" is on here. It's a B side from one of his old singles and it's a chapter in a book that includes "Jeff's Boogie" and his other instrumentals. Beck is actually a lot better than Clapton at playing four guitar overdubs and fusing them. Hendrix is better than both of them; he does it all at once.\n\n"Blues Deluxe" is a seven-minute jam. Supposedly "live" (it sounds quite studioish) is slugs along and sounds like any other blues by a competent group. Nothing special. "I Ain't Superstitious" starts off like a Yardbirds record but gets into Beck's new groove. He does dog's barking with his wow-wow pedal, changes tempos and just generally eases around Stewarts lucid singing.\n\nAs a group they swing like mad on this record. It remains to be seen what will happen to them in person. I hope the public is honest enough to make them work out. (RS 18 -- Sep 28, 1968) -- AL KOOPER
This rock cd contains 18 tracks and runs 70min 25sec.
Freedb: d3107f12
Buy: from Amazon.com

Categories

Latest lists

Jeff Beck: Truth (Remastered + Expanded) CD Track Listing

Category

Tags

cyList

Legal