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Blow by Blow

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For the former Philippine boxing television program, see Blow by Blow (Philippine TV program). For the Moloko song, see Statues (album).

Blow by Blow
Studio album by
Jeff Beck
ReleasedMarch 1975
RecordedOctober 1974
StudioAIR, London
Genre
Length44:35
LabelEpic
ProducerGeorge Martin
Jeff Beck chronology
Live in Japan
(1973) 		Blow by Blow
(1975) 		Wired
(1976)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [1]
Christgau's Record GuideB− [2]
PopMatters(positive) [3]
Rolling Stone(mixed) [4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide [5]

Blow by Blow is Jeff Beck's first album credited to him as a solo artist. It was recorded in October 1974 and released via Epic Records in 1975. An instrumental album, it peaked at No. 4 on the American Billboard 200 and was certified platinum by the RIAA.

Background and content

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After the dissolution of the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice (BBA) in spring 1974, Beck took time for session work with other groups. In December, a half-hearted "audition" for The Rolling Stones took place, Beck jamming blues with the band for one day, before realising their musical styles were not compatible.[6]

During this period, Beck decided to record an all-instrumental album, bringing back keyboardist Max Middleton from the second Jeff Beck Group. He hired George Martin to produce after hearing his work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra's 1974 album Apocalypse.[6] According to Carmine Appice, who played with Beck in BBA, he was involved in the writing and recording process of Blow by Blow but Appice's parts were edited out after a dispute with Beck's management.[7][8] The fourth key contributor to Blow by Blow after Beck, Middleton, and Martin was Stevie Wonder, who gave Beck his songs "Cause We've Ended as Lovers" and "Thelonius", with Wonder playing clavinet on the latter uncredited.[9] The former song appeared on Wonder's 1974 album Stevie Wonder Presents: Syreeta, made with then-wife Syreeta Wright, while Wonder never recorded "Thelonius" himself. A cover of the Beatles song "She's a Woman" was selected, as well as the composition "Diamond Dust" by Bernie Holland of the group Hummingbird consisting of musicians from the second Beck Group. The other five tracks were band originals with Beck and Middleton the main writers, and the last track on each side featured string arrangements by Martin. Beck dedicated "Cause We've Ended as Lovers" to fellow guitarist Roy Buchanan, with an acknowledgement to Wonder.[10]

Release

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Blow by Blow was released in March 1975. It was a hit in the US, reaching number four on the Billboard album charts, eventually selling a million copies. It remains Beck's highest-charting album.[6][9]

On 27 March 2001, a remastered edition for compact disc was reissued by Legacy Records, Epic and its parent label Columbia Records now a division of Sony Music Entertainment.

A live version of the track "Scatterbrain" was featured in the video game Guitar Hero 5.

Track listing

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Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."You Know What I Mean"
4:02
2."She's a Woman"
4:28
3."Constipated Duck"Jeff Beck2:50
4."AIR Blower"
  • Jeff Beck
  • Max Middleton
  • Richard Bailey
  • Phil Chen
5:07
5."Scatterbrain"
  • Jeff Beck
  • Max Middleton
5:39
Total length:22:27
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Cause We've Ended as Lovers" (dedicated to Roy Buchanan and thanks to Stevie)Stevie Wonder5:51
2."Thelonius"Stevie Wonder3:17
3."Freeway Jam"Max Middleton4:57
4."Diamond Dust"Bernie Holland8:24
Total length:22:41
  • Note: "Scatterbrain" is misprinted as being 3:39 on some LP centres. 5:39 is correct.

Personnel

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Musicians

Technical

  • George Martin – production, orchestral arrangement
  • Denim Bridges – engineering

Artwork

  • John Berg – design
  • John Collier – cover art

Charts

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Chart performance for Blow by Blow
Chart (1975) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[11] 28
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[12] 3
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[13] 27
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[14] 38
US Billboard 200[15] 4

Certifications

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Certifications for Blow by Blow
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[16] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[17] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Kirschenmann, Mark. Blow by Blow at AllMusic. Retrieved 29 October 2005.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: B". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  3. ^ Warner, Simon (26 March 2001). "Jeff Beck: Blow by Blow (1975) / Wired (1976) > Album Reviews". PopMatters. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  4. ^ Marsh, Dave (5 June 1975). "Jeff Beck - Blow by Blow (1975) album review". Rolling Stone. No. 188. Archived from the original on 2 October 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
  5. ^ Jeff Beck: Album Guide Archived 10 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine at Rolling Stone
  6. ^ a b c Rivadavia, Eduardo (29 March 2016). "Revisiting Jeff Beck's Only Top 10 Album, 'Blow by Blow'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  7. ^ thodoris (8 September 2014). "Interview:Carmine Appice (Cactus, Vanilla Fudge, Beck Bogert & Appice) – Hit Channel". Hit-Channel.com. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  8. ^ "Interview with Carmine Appice". DMME.net. May 2000. Archived from the original on 12 July 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow Turns 40". Gibson (official website). 29 March 2015. Archived from the original on 6 July 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  10. ^ Matt Blackett. "Pure Genius: Guitar's Magnificent Rebel Puts a Twist on Techno." Guitar Player, December 2000, pp. 98–106.
  11. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  12. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 3994a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  13. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  14. ^ "Charts.nz – Jeff Beck – Blow by Blow". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  15. ^ "Jeff Beck Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  16. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Jeff Beck – Blow by Blow". Music Canada. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  17. ^ "American album certifications – Jeff Beck – Blow by Blow". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 23 September 2022.

Bibliography

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  • Hickey, Dave (22 July 1976). "Live 'Wired': The Jeff Beck Interview". Circus. No. 136. New York, NY. pp. 22–25. ISSN 0009-7365.
  • Power, Martin (2014). Hot Wired: The Life of Jeff Beck (New & Updated ed.). New York: Omnibus Press. ISBN 9781783055920.
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