Posted by The first cassette I ever got by Jeff Beck was his Blow By Blow album. I didnt know much about Jeff aside that he was a highly respected guitarist and since I had started playing guitar on a more serious note, I thought I should probably look into him. Needless to say, I was blown away by that album!
I had one of those Realistic brand boom boxes that had detachable speakers and dual cassette players/recorder. I was living at my mom’s at the time with my sisters and one of their boyfriends. We had become pretty tight and started hanging out with each other and oftentimes we would find ourselves down on OU campus. I would take my boom box and play it while on the C.A.R.T which stood for Campus Area Rural Transit. The catch phrase was alway “hop the C.A.R.T dude!” and off we’d go. One evening while on our way to campus, “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” was playing, which had quickly become my sister’s boyfriend and my favorite song off the album, when the shuttle driver inquired about the song and artist. I was only happy to brag about Jeff!
As a concert photographer, Jeff is still on my bucket list of artists that I would love to put on my resume and add to my portfolio. I have seen him perform only a couple times, unfortunately my only means of shooting him, due to the lack of obtaining a photo pass, was a Point & Shoot camera and an iPhone! Not quite the caliber of my DSLR! I believe the reason I was unable to obtain a photo pass for the recent show at The Paramount in Huntington was the fact that Johnny Depp was going to be joining Jeff for two sold out shows. But that’s my opinion. Even so, the show was amazing. Jeff came out and performed for nearly an hour with his band consisting of keyboardist Robert Stevenson, Anika Nilles on the skins and providing the low end, long time Beck back up, Rhonda Smith.
It was unfortunate so many people were in attendance due to Depp being on the bill, but I would like to believe that Jeff would have sold out both shows if he wasnt joined by Johnny. Clearly the female population where I stood would prove me wrong! I heard numerous times “Johnny fuckin’ Depp” as the boys on stage rocked the house!
The photos provided were taken with my not-so-trusty iPhone!! Perhaps next time Ill have to opportunity to add Jeff to the Bucket list!!
Long Island Sounds 