English guitarist Jeff Beck is considered one of the best ax players in rock. Beck, who died Tuesday at the age of 78, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame not once but twice, first as a member of the Yardbirds (1992) and second as a solo artist (2009). He was ranked fifth in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
Among other songs, the Yardbirds are remembered for the hit “Heart Full of Soul,” in which Beck’s guitar memorably mimics the sitar.
In Peoria, Beck is remembered for a somewhat understated performance and a heated encounter with a catfish dinner.
On Friday, June 25, 1976, Beck and the Jan Hammer Band opened for a concert at the Glen Oak Park Amphitheater. Fleetwood Mac headlined.
Related to:From Fleetwood Mac to The Beach Boys, Glen Oak Amphitheater rocked Peoria in the 1970s.
“Most of the crowd had come to see Fleetwood Mac and just used Jeff Beck’s opening to warm up and finish the camaraderie,” before the main act, read a Journal Star review the next day. “Jeff Beck was disappointing at first,” the story continued. “However, the band began to roll towards the end of their set, and Beck’s blazing guitar was more than his usual high quality surreal rock by the end of their set.”
Was Beck’s slow development due to lingering resentment over his pre-concert dinner?
In a 2016 Journal Star article, promoter Jay Goldberg looked back on that ill-fated dinner.
“In his contract rider, Beck had mentioned that he wanted a fish dinner before the performance,” the story said. “Eager to impress, Goldberg sent a dispatcher to King’s, a restaurant on Galena Road north of Peoria known for its grilled catfish.”
“I was so proud that I took it to Beck myself in the dressing room,” Goldberg said at the time. “He looked at it, then he looked at me, then he looked at it again, and then he threw it across the room.”
The story continued. “Goldberg cheated, but later asked Beck’s manager about the catfish’s reaction. Huffy, the manager, explained that the British looked down on catfish; “Jeff was hurt. We don’t eat catfish in England.”
Related to:Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac wowed a Peoria audience in 1976
Looking back
Goldberg, now 72, fondly recalls the catfish incident and the concert.
He sees the fish flying as a sign of Beck’s high standards.
“Jeff Beck was a perfectionist and wanted everything to be right professionally. But otherwise he was a really nice, quiet person,” she said recently. “When Jeff realized that King’s catfish was a delicacy for us Peorians, we laughed together and the show went on.”
He added: “I have really fond memories of that concert and hanging out with Jeff Beck and Fleetwood Mac later that night, but some stories are best left untold LOL.”
Comments