Released August 1968 Truth
(1968) Beck-Ola
(1969) Label Epic/Sony Records | Length 40:16 Release date August 1968 Producer Mickie Most | |
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Recorded 16 May 1966, 5 June 1967, 5 and 7 December 1967, 15–26 May 1968 Studio Abbey Road Studios, London; Olympic Sound Studios, London; De Lane Lea Recording Studios, London Artists Jeff Beck, The Jeff Beck Group Genres Blues rock, Hard rock, Heavy metal, Psychedelic rock Similar The Jeff Beck Group albums, Blues rock albums | ||
Truth is the debut album by Jeff Beck, released in 1968 in the United Kingdom on Columbia Records and in the United States on Epic Records. It introduced the talents of his backing band the Jeff Beck Group, specifically Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, to a larger audience, and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200.
Contents
Content and background
After leaving the Yardbirds in late 1966, Jeff Beck had released three commercial singles, two in 1967 featuring Beck on lead vocals, and one without vocals in 1968. All had been hits on the British singles chart, and all were characterized by songs aimed at the pop chart on the A-side at the behest of producer Mickie Most. Harder rock and blues-based numbers were featured on the B-sides, and for music on the album, Beck opted to pursue the latter course.
Recording sessions for the album took place over four days, 14–15 May and 25–26 May 1968. Nine eclectic tracks were taken from these sessions, including covers of "Ol' Man River" by Jerome Kern, the Tudor period melody "Greensleeves", and Bonnie Dobson's "Morning Dew", a 1966 hit single for Tim Rose. Beck acknowledged two giants of Chicago blues in songs by Willie Dixon – Muddy Waters' "You Shook Me" and Howlin' Wolf's "I Ain't Superstitious". The album started with a song from Beck's old band: "Shapes of Things". Three originals were credited to "Jeffrey Rod", a pseudonym for Beck and Stewart, all reworkings of previous blues songs: "Let Me Love You" the song of the same title by Buddy Guy; "Rock My Plimsoul" from "Rock Me Baby" by B.B. King; and "Blues Deluxe" similar to another song by B.B. King, "Gambler's Blues". "Plimsoul" had already been recorded for the B-side to the 1967 single "Tallyman", and the tenth track, an instrumental featuring Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Keith Moon, and future Beck group pianist Nicky Hopkins, "Beck's Bolero", had been edited and remixed for stereo from the earlier B-side to "Hi Ho Silver Lining". Due to contractual conflicts, Moon had been credited on the original album as "You Know Who".
Reception and legacy
Truth is regarded as a seminal work of heavy metal because of its use of blues toward a hard rock approach. Tom Scholz of Boston has listed it as his favorite album on Gibson's online magazine, stating, "I knew Jeff Beck's Truth album inside out..." The album's title inspired the name of Iowa band Truth and Janey.
Blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa recorded a studio version of "Blues Deluxe" on his 2003 album Blues Deluxe and recorded live versions on Live at Rockpalast (2005), and Live from the Royal Albert Hall (2009). Bonamassa also played "Beck's Bolero", "Let Me Love You Baby" (and "Spanish Boots" and "Plynth (Water Down the Drain)" from the Beck-Ola album) in his Salute to the British Blues Explosion tour featuring the music of Beck, Clapton and Page in July 2016.
On 10 October 2006, Legacy Recordings remastered and reissued the album for compact disc with eight bonus tracks. Included were two earlier takes of "You Shook Me" and "Blues Deluxe", the latter without the overdubbed applause, and the six tracks making up the three singles by Beck. The B-side to the 1968 single "Love Is Blue", "I've Been Drinking", was another "Jeffrey Rod" special, this time reconfiguring the Johnny Mercer song "Drinking Again".
Personnel
Additional personnel
Production personnel
Songs
1Shapes of Things3:20
2Let Me Love You4:44
3Morning Dew4:42