“I know what kind of welcome you’re gonna give to…Jeff Beck!”
The Sunday Times has published a double-page
As it often does, (04.28.2009 NEWS: GEELING NG AND JEFF BECK REMEMBER BOWIE FILMING) the conversation soon turned to Beck’s guest appearance with David Bowie at the July 3rd, 1973, show at Hammersmith Odeon, and the non-appearance of his contributions from the gig in Ziggy Stardust The Motion Picture.
Here’s an edited excerpt from the interview with Andrew Smith, the man behind MOONDUST: In Search of the Men Who Fell To Earth (04.05.2009 NEWS: EXCLUSIVE MOONDUST COMPILATION ALBUM DETAILS)…
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During this period, [his ?wilderness years?] he played the final Ziggy Stardust show with David Bowie, who had reportedly wanted him for the Spiders from Mars before settling on Mick Ronson, and had described Ronson as ?my Jeff?. Sometimes, as in the case of Bowie, he only faintly understood what he was dealing with. ?Oh, yeah. I just felt so out of my depth… all these girls screaming their heads off, then I start playing and they were screaming some more. I thought, ?This is good!? I?d never played that audience.?
The glorious downside was Bowie?s failure to tell Beck that the show was being filmed, meaning the guitarist wore ?the most disgusting pair of dirty-white stack-heeled shoes you?ve ever seen?. For a while, he actually refused to allow the footage to be used. ?And Bowie rang me about 10 times and said, ?Look, man, I understand about the shoes, ?cos I didn?t like what I was wearing either…??
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“For a while, he actually refused to allow the footage to be used.” For a while? Does that mean he’s no longer blocking it? We can but hope.
You can read the full interview
JUST FOR FUN: The black & white picture of The Jeff Beck Group in the Sunday Times interview, features three musicians who have had some musical involvement with David Bowie. Can you name them?