It had been thought that Jeff Beck’s final recording was on Mark Knopfler’s charity single Going Home, which came out in March 2024. However, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band guitarist Mick Rogers has revealed that he knows better.
In a new interview with Guitar World magazine, Rogers spilled the beans on the guitar legend’s final session in August 2022: “I went down to his house, his manager - a great friend of mine, Colin Newman - put us two together.
“We had a play together, and I believe I’ve got the last recording Jeff Beck ever did in the studios. We got together with some rockabilly guys and did an album which still hasn’t been released.
“I spent a day with Jeff and the famous white Strat was sitting on the couch. I thought: ‘Jeff, pick it up and play it!’ He was very sheepish, but what a guy! We could empty a room because we were just talking about rockabilly and how he grew up - we were both Cliff Gallup fans.”
So why hasn’t the album been released, you might well ask? Well, apparently, Beck wasn’t too happy with his tone on the recording.
“We played a track called Lucille by Little Richard, but nothing came of it because Jeff was playing through his dodgy Marshall and didn’t like the sound,” Rogers said.
"He said: ‘We’ll do it again, later on.’ Of course, he then went on tour with Mr Depp. When I listen to the track now, I think: ‘Jeff, there’s nothing wrong with your sound.’ He could have played through a paper cup, and it still would have sounded like Jeff Beck! He was just wonderful.”
Of course, he sadly didn’t get a chance to correct the recording. The following month Beck went on tour with Johnny Depp, which went on until his final ever show in Reno, Nevada on 12 November. Two months later he died.
Rogers had no news on when this recording might be released. Given its likely status as Beck’s final session, though, you suspect that it’s unlikely to remain in the vaults forever...
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