Born the same year as Elvis
“Gene Vincent was a musician decades ahead of his peers. Earthier than Elvis Presley, more sensual than Jerry Lee Lewis, sexier than Buddy Holly, Gene was the embodiment of the libidinous, defiant tension upon which rock ‘n’ roll was founded and continues to flourish. In rock history, it was Gene Vincent who first donned the all black leather stage gear that’s since become a punk rock and heavy metal hallmark. It was Vincent who first developed the menacing stage swagger (out of necessity, with a crippled leg), frenetic delivery and delinquent, rebellious persona still emulated by rockers some 25 years after his death.”
Sue Smallwood (1996)
“I’m a singer. Listen, I never meant to make money. I never wanted it. I’m a singer, man. When I put out a record called “Be-Bop-A-Lula“, my only thought was to just make a living singing. But all of a sudden, I was getting $1500 a night. And you take a 19-year old boy and put him in those circumstances … I had a Cadillac and all. It was a bad scene. It shouldn’t have happened on that first record.”
“We used to all sit around … me and Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins and we’d talk about things. If one of us had a hit, we’d say: “That’s fabulous. It’s a damn good song.” But now, the people that I meet are so damn big headed … it’s not music any more, it’s business. But now … I’ve met Jim Morrison of the Doors … a fantastic person. Really a nice guy, and he takes me back to the people I knew in the old days. Listen, a star is not a star. We never considered ourselves that. I’m always pushing, man, to get something better. And that’s the same with Jim and fellas like John Sebastian.”
Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps – “the first rock ‘n’ roll band in the world.”
Rolling Stone Magazine
GENE ON HIS FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR IN DECEMBER 1959
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Gene Vincent
The Cavern, 1962
One of Jeff Beck’sfavourite guitar solos, courtesy of Far out Magazine
Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps – ‘Race With The Devil’
The first choice by Beck is ‘Race With The Devil’ by Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps, which came out in the 1950s and is viewed as being an early precursor to the rockabilly movement. As much as Beck likes Vincent, the song is all about guitarist Cliff Gallup in his eyes, and this was one of the last tracks he recorded before leaving the group. His career never entered mainstream attention, and following his departure from the Blue Caps, he would record just one solo album in the 1960s, which was met with little commercial success. it speaks keenly to the sensibilities that Beck would bring to his own work, pitching himself as a musical maverick undeterred by commercialism or perceived success.
“Gene’s guitarist Cliff Gallup was an absolute genius,” Beck decried. “There just isn’t another word to describe him.” Beck has been famed for his spontaneity when performing and it seems it’s something he admires across the park. “I read an interview with him once where he claimed that he never worked out in advance what he was going to play, and the idea that he came up with the two guitar breaks on this song on the spot is just incredible,” even exclaiming, “It took me months and months of practice to get anywhere near what he played!”
“There isn’t a dropped note to be heard anywhere, and the tone of the solo is just perfect.” For Beck, there’s nobody better, certainly not in the current rock realm. “Hardly anyone in the world today is working with the immediacy and instinct that Cliff had. Jack White probably comes closest to the spirit of Cliff.”
b-ray bloggin' 
You must be logged in to post a comment.