Beck Talks Unreleased Motown Record
Guitarist reveals that he recorded an album at Hitsville with Cozy Powell
Jeff Beck has spoken about a Motown record that he once made with Cozy Powell.
In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine Beck tells a fantastic story of how he went to Motown in 1970 to record an album.
"My producer, Mickie Most, said, "We have to make an album.” I talked Mickie into going to Motown, the Hitsville house. It was one of the last sessions there. I was so privileged. We were more like tourists, kids in a candy shop. I took Cozy Powell. I said, "I gotta go to Motown, and you’re coming as well.” What the hell was I doing taking a rock drummer, with two huge Ludwig bass drums, into Motown?
"They hated us right away. They didn’t want to know. But we loved it there, and they sensed it after a few hours. The first day, when Cozy sat behind the Motown drum kit and started playing like the Meters, they all went, "Oh!” and came flooding back to the studio. It was James Jamerson on bass that day — no rhythm guitar — and Earl Van Dyke on keyboards. That was it, a stripped-down thing. They kept saying, ‘Where are the dots?’ Meaning sheet music I said, ‘There ain’t no dots.’”
Beck reveals that the band recorded ten tracks during their sessions but that the material was never mixed and that it only exists on two tapes that he owns.
"I’ve still got the multi-track tape, although I bet if you put that on the machine now, it will collapse into pieces. I made one copy onto cassette. That’s all there is. Talk about collector’s item, pal — if anybody got a hold of that.”
You can read the full story at the link below.
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