Wired (Jeff Beck album)

Last updated

Wired
JeffBeckWired.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 1976
Studio
Genre Jazz fusion, funk, instrumental rock
Length36:51
Label Epic
Producer George Martin, Chris Bond, Jan Hammer
Jeff Beck chronology
Blow by Blow
(1975)
Wired
(1976)
Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live
(1977)

Wired is the third solo album by the British guitarist Jeff Beck, released on Epic Records in 1976. An instrumental album, it peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum by the RIAA.

Contents

Background and content

Of the album tracks, four are originals by Narada Michael Walden and one by Jan Hammer. Max Middleton contributed the homage to Led Zeppelin, "Led Boots", and Beck chose to interpret the Charles Mingus ode to saxophonist Lester Young, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", from the classic 1959 jazz album Mingus Ah Um . These last two tracks were long-time staples of Beck's performance repertoire.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]
Christgau's Record Guide B− [2]
PopMatters (positive) [3]
The Rolling Stone Record Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]

Wired received mostly positive reviews when it was released. In Rolling Stone , the reviewer cited it as being full of "fire and imagination". [5] However, Robert Christgau faulted it as technically proficient but soulless, calling it "mindless trickery". [6] Engineer Peter Henderson later said of the album, "I listened to that a few years later and it sounded like it had been recorded direct to cassette. I don't think it was one of my finer moments." [7]

Writing for AllMusic, Mark Kirschenmann said, "Within a two-year span, the twin towers Blow by Blow and Wired set a standard for instrumental rock that even Beck has found difficult to match. On Wired, with first-rate material and collaborators on hand, one of rock's most compelling guitarists is in top form." [1]

The album peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 in August 1976, spending a total of 25 weeks on the chart. [8] In the UK it spent five weeks on the chart and reached No. 35. [9] The album has been certified platinum by the RIAA. [10]

Release history

In addition to the conventional two channel stereo version, the album was also released by Epic in 1976 in a four channel quadraphonic edition on LP record and 8-track tape. The quad LP release was encoded in the SQ matrix system.

The album was first released on CD in 1985 in Japan. In 2001, a remastered stereo edition of the CD was reissued internationally.

The album was reissued in stereo in the United States on the hybrid Super Audio CD format in 2016 by Analogue Productions. The same year it was also reissued by Epic in Japan as a hybrid multichannel SACD. The Japanese SACD version has the entire stereo album, but also adds the complete quad album on the same disc adapted for 5.1 surround sound. This marks the first time that the quad version has been reissued in a digital format.

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Led Boots" Max Middleton 3:59
2."Come Dancing" Narada Michael Walden 5:54
3."Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" Charles Mingus 5:26
4."Head for Backstage Pass" Wilbur Bascomb, Andy Clark 2:42*
Total length:18:31
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Blue Wind" Jan Hammer 5:49
2."Sophie"Narada Michael Walden6:27
3."Play with Me"Narada Michael Walden4:06
4."Love Is Green"Narada Michael Walden2:28
Total length:19:19

* Note: "Head for Backstage Pass" is incorrectly listed as being 3:45 on some LP centres; 2:42 is correct.

Personnel

Additional personnel

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References

  1. 1 2 Kirschenmann, Mark. "Jeff Beck - Wired (1976) album review | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: B". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  3. Warner, Simon (26 March 2001). "Jeff Beck: Blow by Blow (1975) / Wired (1976) > Album Reviews". PopMatters . Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  4. The Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House. 1979. pp. 29–30.
  5. Swenson, John (29 July 1976). "Jeff Beck - Wired (1976) album review". Rolling Stone . No. 218. Archived from the original on 2 October 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
  6. Christgau, Robert. "Jeff Beck > Consumer Guide Reviews". Robert Christgau . Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  7. Buskin, Richard (July 2005). CLASSIC TRACKS: Supertramp's 'Logical Song', Sound on Sound .
  8. "Jeff Beck Chart History: Wired (1976)". Billboard . Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  9. "Jeff Beck: Full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  10. Giles, Jeff (31 May 2016). "40 Years Ago: Jeff Beck Releases 'Wired'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 13 January 2018.