Billy Joel paid tribute to Jeff Beck at his monthly show at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Friday night, performing two songs popularized by the late guitar god.
“He was a musician I’ve always loved. He was the best. Jeff Beck just passed away… I couldn’t go through the night without doing something for Jeff,” Joel told the audience. “This is a record he did with Rod Stewart called ‘People Get Ready’.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjJ15j8MNA
Joel and his band then released a Curtis Mayfieldwritten version of the classic, which Beck and Stewart recorded for the guitarist’s 1985 LP. Instant and one of Beck’s best songs; Joel’s saxophonist Mark Rivera provided lead vocals for the performance.
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Later in the show, after Joel’s usual closing “You May Be Right,” Piano Man and his band continued to play onstage, an impromptu jam session that eventually morphed into “Going Down,” a track written by Don Nix, which the Jeff O Beck Group covered on their selftitled third album in 1972. “We should have rehearsed that today,” joked Joel of the performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nclLdqVis
Beck died Tuesday, January 10, after a brief bout of bacterial meningitis. Following news of his death, Joel tweeted: “I have just received the sad news that guitar virtuoso great Jeff Beck has passed away. He was one of my heroes. I was fortunate enough to meet him recently and am now so grateful to be able to tell him how much I admired his musical ability. This is the end of an era.”
I just received the sad news that the great guitar virtuoso Jeff Beck has passed away.
He was one of my heroes. I was fortunate enough to meet him recently and am now so grateful to be able to tell him how much I admired his musical ability.
This is the end of an era.
TEAR APART
Billy Joel pic.twitter.com/Z5RTEDJcuu— Billy Joel (@billyjoel) January 12, 2023