While I don't believe in God, this week's tune sure makes me wish there was one--sounds like my kind of train ride....
Jeff Beck has long been considered one of the greatest guitarists of the rock and roll era (or any other era, most likely), though unlike some of his contemporaries (Clapton, Hendrix, Page) Beck has never had quite the commercial success they have enjoyed (though he is often considered a guitarist's guitarist, which might be the highest praise he could get). Beck started playing guitar at age six in his native U.K., and by the ripe old age of twenty he was already performing live and joining bands. He is well known for his perfectionism and his temper; his lack of record sales may also be a reflection of the fact that Beck has always marched to the beat of his own drum (so to speak). No matter--judging from a recent rockumentary I saw about him, he looks like he's very, very comfortable financially. The list of artists Beck has worked with is as extensive as it is diverse, from Jon Bon Jovi to Stevie Wonder. For his career Beck has released 17 studio albums (highest charting was #4), nine live albums, and two compilations. He has won eight Grammy Awards (all but one for instrumental performance--surprise, surprise), and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, once as a member of the Yardbirds (1992) and the other as a solo artist (2009). Beck continues to perform and record, and released his latest single last year, a collaborative effort with Johnny Depp.
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"People Get Ready" was released as a single by Beck and Rod Stewart in 1985 from Beck's album Flash. The single was the highest charting in the U.S. of Beck's career, reaching #48 (with a bullet!), on the Billboard Hot 100 while the album peaked at #39 on the Billboard 200.
Fun Fact(s): "People Get Ready" was written by R & B legend Curtis Mayfield, and was originally released as a single in 1965 by the Impressions, of which Mayfield was a member. The song peaked at #14 (with a bullet!). Martin Luther King, Jr. said the song was the unofficial anthem of the Civil Rights Movement, and Rolling Stone ranked it #24 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
From it's opening guitar solo to its closing guitar solo (and all those in between), both Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart give "People Get Ready" all the due deference its place in pop music history has earned. While Beck's playing is understated, it also strips the song to its core and sends its message straight to the heart. Stewart captures the hope and the sheer joy that the song evokes--if he was this train's conductor you'd be more than happy to follow him all the way to Jordan. In the end, one of rock's greatest guitarists teamed up with one of rock's greatest vocalists to record their version of one of rock's greatest songs...and they nailed it. A triumph from beginning to end.
Lyric Sheet: "So people get ready/There's a train to Jordan/Picking up passengers/Coast to coast..."
Enjoy:
It's Not Just an Infrastructure Bill, It's a Jobs Plan, Too
Peace,
emaycee
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