Black and
White Musicians Dialogue: the Jeff Beck/Stevie Wonder
Collaboration
(a continuing look at
the career of Jeff Beck)
Stevie Wonder had long written songs addressing social issues of race and
class for his Motown label recordings. In 1971, he began to perform benefits and
make public appearances supporting his beliefs. That was the year he turned 21
and was free to make his own contractual arrangements without his mother’s
signature. On December 10, 1971, he joined John Lennon in Ann Arbor, Michigan,
at a benefit rally for John Sinclair, the jailed leader of the White Panthers.
In
May 7, 1972, Jeff Beck and Stevie Wonder along with Free, the supporting third
act, played a concert at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan, one that would lead to
their historic meeting and musical collaboration. Max Middleton, Jeff’s keyboard
player at the time (Beck, Bogert and Appice) recalled, "The record company told
Stevie how much Jeff admired him … a deal was struck for Jeff to play on a
couple of tracks of Stevie's LP in exchange for some material for us to record
in New York.” The record labels arranged a summit meeting at Electric Ladyland
Studios in New York.
Eric
Clapton had already sat in on a session for Stevie’s album Talking
Book but couldn't break out of the blues idiom. Jeff Beck, on the
other hand, showed up at the June 1972 session
ready and eager to put a guitar part on a couple of Wonder's tracks
(horns and guitars were the only instruments on his records Wonder didn't play
himself).
Max said “When we got to the studio, Stevie was already there with
engineer Malcolm Cecil. They literally had over 250 of Stevie's compositions on
tape and started playing them for us. Jeff just said to Stevie, ‘Play me
something funky.’”
The story goes that Beck
was sitting at a drum kit just goofing around, pounding out a simple, mundane
groove, when out of nowhere Wonder came up with the iconic, monster riff on the
clavinet now famously recognized as the song “Superstition.” Wonder scratched
out some quick lyrics and Beck left the studio with a dub copy of the track
called, at the time, “Very Superstitious.”
The song that made it to the final
released master of Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book was “Lookin for another
Pure Love.” It features a beautiful jazz-nuanced solo from Beck.
Although Jeff tried to record
“Superstition” with his group when they returned to England, he ended up firing
his entire band because of personnel problems (the bass player took a swing at
Beck during the Wonder sessions). He didn't get around to recording the tune for
several months.
Meanwhile the album Talking Book came out
in October 1972, and Stevie Wonder's version of “Superstition” quickly went to
number one on the charts. It’s hard to blame Wonder for using the track; the
album gave him his biggest crossover success. But Beck couldn’t resist making
some snide comments to the music press.
"But
I did promise him the song," Wonder admitted to Rolling Stone later that year,
"I'm sorry it happened and that he came out with some of the arrogant statements
he came out with. I will get another tune to him that I think is as exciting,
and if he wants to do it, cool."
Beck finally recorded Superstition in December 1972, while Stevie’s
rendition of the song was topping the Billboard Charts that same month. Beck’s
version was released in April 1973 on the Beck, Bogert and Appice album.
Stevie’s promise of “another tune as
exciting” was ultimately hollow, although it has to be acknowledged that hits
are usually hard to predict. During his career, Beck would record four Stevie
Wonder songs altogether. One of them did become a worldwide “hit,” in 1975. His
instrumental cover of “'Cause We've Ended Now As Lovers” (cowritten by Syreeta)
is featured on the album Blow by Blow, his most
commercially successful album. It reached #4 on the charts. Beck still includes
the tune in his concert appearances to this day.
Jeff Beck wasn't the only key Wonder used in his attempt to unlock the
white rock audience. He hired a New York publicity firm to help him court the
rock crowd (they also, oddly enough, booked Wonder for appearances on TV game
shows like I've Got A Secret). But
the big breakthrough came when he landed the spot as opening act for The Rolling
Stones US tour in 1972. The groundswell the Stones tour stirred up for Wonder on
the rock scene paid off with airplay success on FM rock stations across the
country."That Stones tour crossed him over to a white audience," said his
recording engineer Bob Margouleff.
When
Stevie spoke about it at the time, it sounded more like a corporate marketing
initiative than a civil rights, breaking down the racial barriers, kind of
issue. "I hope it will do just that - make more people aware where I'm coming
from," Wonder told writer Joel Selvin at the time, between Stones shows in San
Francisco. "I think the brothers know me - I just want more people. …
Fortunately I did do a lot of my own writing. The character of my tunes did
express where I was coming from. Now I've just got to get to more
people."
Collaborations between black artists and white rock musicians have
continued to be successful for the most part, famous performance partnerships
such as Phil Collins and Philip Bailey (Earth, Wind & Fire) on “Easy Lover,”
Aerosmith and RUN DMC’s “Walk This Way.” Just like Beck’s and Wonder’s, not all
have ended well. The Paul McCartney/Michael Jackson venture, “Ebony and Ivory,
living in perfect harmony,” was followed by the demise of their relationship
when Michael outbid Paul at the sale of the Beatle’s song catalogue. Music
became big business. Arguments over money displaced friendships and left little
room for the idealism of the 70s about social issues.
(Dave Holt)
Sources:
Jeff Beck Bulletin #8 for Max Middleton
interview,
http://www.micasamm.com/articles/mojo_0403.html Mi Casa Multimedia, Robert Margouleff’s present
company. The article “Power in the Darkness” by Joel Selvin is also on http://prince.org/msg/8/335735
