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Lot Essay
This ES-175 was a gift from Gibson circa 2000, after Jeff Beck had borrowed the guitar for a recording session. ‘The ES-175 is a standard reissue, in blond,’ explained Gibson’s Pat Foley to Vintage Guitar magazine’s Dan Forte in 2011. ‘Jeff was doing a Scotty Moore tribute and wanted to use kind of a rockabilly guitar. We loaned him a 295 and a 175, and he took to the 175.’ Jeff had been collaborating with the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde on two tracks for the 2001 compilation album Good Rockin' Tonight: The Legacy Of Sun Records, which saw a number of present day rock ‘n’ roll icons record with original Sun Records artists. With Sun producer Sam Phillips behind the console, Beck and Hynde recorded the popular rockabilly song ‘Mystery Train, originally written and recorded by Herman "Little Junior" Parker in 1953 and covered by Elvis Presley, and Carl Perkin’s 1956 song ‘Dixie Fried’. Only their version of ‘Mystery Train’ made it onto the compilation. The guitar makes an appearance in the short film ‘At Home with Jeff Beck and his guitars’, filmed at Jeff’s home studio and produced by Viv Johns and Lykke Strunk for inclusion as a bonus feature on the 2011 live concert DVD Rock 'n' Roll Party - Honouring Les Paul. Jeff recalls acquiring the guitar around the time of the Sun Records sessions, exclaiming ‘God I got so lucky, I rented this guitar to do some stuff… and he just ended up giving it to me, so I guess thank you very much for that. I was trying to get the same sound that was on the Elvis record with Scotty Moore, who had a completely mind-blowing and groundbreaking, history-making sound.’
Jeff is seen strumming and fingerpicking on the ES-175 in chopped scenes throughout the 2003 PBS documentary feature Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: Red, White & Blues, quickly working out the chords on the guitar over the tracks ‘Am I Wrong’ by Keb Mo, ‘A Fool For You’ by Ray Charles, ‘Smokestack Lightnin’ and ‘Sitting On Top Of The World’ by Howlin’ Wolf, as he and Tom Jones prepared to record a handful of blues classics at Abbey Road Studios between 11-13 Mar 2002. It’s probable that Jeff used the ES-175 for parts of the final recording at Abbey Road, when he contributed to six tracks, however he was also seen using his white Strat, vintage Telecaster and Supro Dual Tone during the sessions. The ES-175 was carried on tour in 2010 just in case it might be required for guest appearances with any blues and rock and roll greats. ‘We’ve got a big body Gibson ES-175,' guitar tech Steve Prior told Guitar.com that year, ''cause [Jeff] thought that might be something he might be playing, ‘cause he guests with B.B.[King] from time to time. And they’re all on big Hofners.’
Over two nights on 8-9 June 2010, Jeff teamed up with Imelda May and her band for a pair of shows at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York to celebrate Les Paul at the same venue that he used to perform his weekly shows. Jeff's 'Rock 'N' Roll Party Honouring Les Paul' would not only feature a handful of songs from the Les Paul catalogue, but also several of Jeff’s favourite early rock and roll numbers by Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent and Bill Haley and the Comets, as well as classic instrumentals such as ‘Sleepwalk’ and ‘Apache’, in order to demonstrate how Les Paul’s music and vision had helped to shape rock and roll. The ES-175 was essential for the early rock and roll sound: ‘I had to [play the ES-175],’ Jeff told Chris Gill in 2011. ‘The only way you can get Scotty Moore’s tone is with a big hollowbody guitar.’ Jeff played the ES-175 for Elvis Presley’s ‘Baby Let’s Play House’ and Julie London’s ‘Cry Me A River’. Naturally, the ES-175 went along for the ride when Jeff embarked on a short US tour of his Rock ‘N’ Roll Party with Imelda May from 24 March to 9 April 2011 in support of the release of the live concert album and DVD Rock ’N Roll Party, Honoring Les Paul, both of which featured a jolly photograph of Jeff playing this guitar on the cover.
Jeff is seen strumming and fingerpicking on the ES-175 in chopped scenes throughout the 2003 PBS documentary feature Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: Red, White & Blues, quickly working out the chords on the guitar over the tracks ‘Am I Wrong’ by Keb Mo, ‘A Fool For You’ by Ray Charles, ‘Smokestack Lightnin’ and ‘Sitting On Top Of The World’ by Howlin’ Wolf, as he and Tom Jones prepared to record a handful of blues classics at Abbey Road Studios between 11-13 Mar 2002. It’s probable that Jeff used the ES-175 for parts of the final recording at Abbey Road, when he contributed to six tracks, however he was also seen using his white Strat, vintage Telecaster and Supro Dual Tone during the sessions. The ES-175 was carried on tour in 2010 just in case it might be required for guest appearances with any blues and rock and roll greats. ‘We’ve got a big body Gibson ES-175,' guitar tech Steve Prior told Guitar.com that year, ''cause [Jeff] thought that might be something he might be playing, ‘cause he guests with B.B.[King] from time to time. And they’re all on big Hofners.’
Over two nights on 8-9 June 2010, Jeff teamed up with Imelda May and her band for a pair of shows at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York to celebrate Les Paul at the same venue that he used to perform his weekly shows. Jeff's 'Rock 'N' Roll Party Honouring Les Paul' would not only feature a handful of songs from the Les Paul catalogue, but also several of Jeff’s favourite early rock and roll numbers by Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent and Bill Haley and the Comets, as well as classic instrumentals such as ‘Sleepwalk’ and ‘Apache’, in order to demonstrate how Les Paul’s music and vision had helped to shape rock and roll. The ES-175 was essential for the early rock and roll sound: ‘I had to [play the ES-175],’ Jeff told Chris Gill in 2011. ‘The only way you can get Scotty Moore’s tone is with a big hollowbody guitar.’ Jeff played the ES-175 for Elvis Presley’s ‘Baby Let’s Play House’ and Julie London’s ‘Cry Me A River’. Naturally, the ES-175 went along for the ride when Jeff embarked on a short US tour of his Rock ‘N’ Roll Party with Imelda May from 24 March to 9 April 2011 in support of the release of the live concert album and DVD Rock ’N Roll Party, Honoring Les Paul, both of which featured a jolly photograph of Jeff playing this guitar on the cover.