Jeff Beck: The Guitar Collection
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Event date 22 JANUARY 2025 -
Event location London
Jeff Beck playing Day on the Green, Oakland Coliseum, CA, 6 June 1976 © Robert Knight
A multi-Grammy award-winning artist – twice inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – his inimitable sound led to collaborations with countless internationally renowned musicians and friends including: Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Ronnie Wood, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Billy Gibbons, Jan Hammer, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Tina Turner, Nile Rodgers, Mick Jagger, BB King, Buddy Guy, Carlos Santana, Imelda May and Johnny Depp, amongst many others.
From the outset, Jeff Beck was a sonic innovator; a maverick and mercurial virtuoso who blazed the trail for musical genres as diverse as Psychedelia, Heavy Metal and Jazz-Rock Fusion, and who embraced a wide range of influences from the Blues, Rockabilly and Rock ‘n’ Roll to Indian sitar music, Bulgarian Folk, Techno, and Opera. A maestro of his trade, Jeff could make just about any sound possible with a guitar and an amp. His playing style could not be defined and part of his magic lay in the balance between the fluidity and aggression of his playing and his technical brilliance, which could swing from furious attack one moment to sheer ethereal beauty in the next.
Jeff Beck at the Auditorium Theatre, May 1975 © Jim Summaria
The ultimate guitarist’s guitarist, Jeff Beck was a rock pioneer whose influence on his peers was unmatched. Now Christie’s presents his instruments to the world – the guitars through which he shared his emotion and voice – paying tribute to his enduring legacy.
I don’t care about the rules. In fact, if I don’t break the rules at least 10 times in every song then I’m not doing my job properly.—Jeff Beck
Highlights
My Strat is another arm, it’s part of me. It doesn’t feel like a guitar at all. It’s an implement which is my voice.—Jeff Beck
Limited-edition catalogue
SPECIAL PRINT PUBLICATION
To celebrate this landmark occasion, a limited-edition catalogue will be published to accompany the auctions.
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Exhibition
Location
Christie’s London
8 King St., St. James’s
London, SW1Y 6QT
Viewing
15 January 2025
16 January 2025
17 January 2025
18 January 2025
19 January 2025
20 January 2025
21 January 2025
22 January 2025
Contact
+44 (0) 20 7839 9060
info@christies.com
Auction
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Jeff Beck: The Guitar Collection
Private & Iconic Collections
MAIN IMAGES: Left © Barrie Wentzell, Centre © Robert Knight, Right © Robert Knight
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