Jeff Beck is one of the most famous guitarists you've probably never heard about. He's like "the other guy" from The Three Tenors. You see, there used to be this band called The Yardbirds. At different points in history this band was home to Jimmy Page (of Led Zeppelin fame) and Eric Clapton (of Eric Clapton fame), in both cases as their lead guitarist. Clapton was with the Yardbirds first, but left just as they started to hit it big. He suggested they hire Page to replace him, but Page was in poor health at the time, so Page recommended Jeff Beck. The story goes that Beck's influence pushed the Yardbirds in the direction of hard rock and early heavy metal, and once Page finally joined then later took over the Yardbirds just before their demise, he continued to develop those influences and turned it into Led Zeppelin. Suffice to say I am very interested to hear what Jeff Beck was up to after he left the Yardbirds and made his own band, especially since he later accused Page of stealing a lot of his ideas.
I'm already learning something new. Apparently Truth is Rod Stewart's major recording debut. I wasn't expecting to hear Rod's voice leading off "Shape Of Things" but there it was, as unmistakable as a box of nails in a blender. Jeff Beck's guitar stylings are much closer to what you'll hear from Cream than from Led Zeppelin- it's not surprising he'd sound like one or the other. The drum sound is definitely more Cream, not just because only one person sounds like John Bonham, but because the drums are pretty light and low in the mix. The bass, provided by a young Ronnie Wood (of Rolling Stones fame) is solid but unspectacular. I'd expect this album would want to showcase Jeff Beck's lead guitar work, and while he is excellent, I don't feel the guitars are as upfront as they should be. Each song is like a continuous solo for Beck, though he doesn't display the same raw speed as Jimmy Page. He also doesn't employ as much rhythm guitar playing as other bands.
The album includes Beck's version of Willie Dixon's "You Shook Me". A few months after Truth came out Led Zeppelin also released a version of "You Shook Me" on their debut album. This caused a riff between Beck and Jimmy Page with Beck accusing Page of stealing his idea. I've seen a few back-and-forths over the years on blogs and music magazines debating which version is better, with Zep fans obviously choosing Page's, and Zep haters saying it's absolutely no contest and Beck's is better. I personally do like the Zeppelin version more, mainly because it's more substantial and doesn't feature Rod Stewart on lead. But in reality there's no way to say which is better, and I think Beck way overreacted by hating Page for so long over this song. It's just a 12-bar blues song, and their versions are completely different anyway. Interesting note, John Paul Jones played hammond organ on both recordings.
Rdio has a minor lament that this album isn't as well remembered as the other albums that launched heavy metal as a genre. I think the major thing holding Truth back is how heavily it relies on blues standards, which most people were already doing at the time. 4 of the albums 10 tracks are 12-bar blues numbers, which get boring pretty quick. It might also be to the album's detriment that the lead singer is Rod Stewart. Not that Rod Stewart is bad or anything (though I'm not a fan), but certainly an untrained ear would hear Truth and think "Rod Stewart" not "Jeff Beck," and Rod Stewart isn't exactly a name you think of when considering the gods of heavy metal. Also, Led Zeppelin was getting going around the same time, and truth be told their music is just way more memorable.
Jeff Beck does deserve his place in the annals of rock history, and Truth is a pretty good album with some excellent playing throughout. 3 stars.
PS: It would be weird if I didn't mention that Keith Moon makes 2 appearances on the album, once on timpani during "Ol' Man River" and again on drums for "Beck's Bolero" which also features John Paul Jones. Supposedly this session inspired Page to suggest Moon and he start a band together, which Moon suggested would fly over like a lead balloon. Or something, that story changes a bit each time I read it.
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