The title track effectively evokes the sound of a garage without sounding too gimmicky, at least until Terry adds a wacky voiceover honed from years of recording and performing with Frank Zappa. What sounds like a sax is actually a keyboard, showing how far the technology had (finally) come. “Savoy” swings a bit, though we could do without the canned audience cheering. “Behind The Veil” explores a distinct reggae groove, while “Big Block” is fat and funky, with a few surprising chords out of the well-worn E platform. All that makes the slow and pretty “Where Were You” all the more welcome, with only the barest keys under Beck’s melody.
The effect is even more profound on LP, as the tune closes side one, and on those cassette players not equipped with auto-reverse. Otherwise, CD listeners (or streamers today) are sent directly to “Stand On It”, which again sits on one chord before heading off into harmonized territory. “Day At The House” is yet another one-chord funk jam, this time split up by Bozzio’s comments on environmental issues. It’s a sharp left turn to slow jam territory on “Two Rivers”, then back to the high-speed assault of “Sling Shot”.
While not quite the jazz fusion that emerged at the end of the previous decade, Guitar Shop is a wise back-to-basics move for Beck, and a refreshing alternative to the high-speed metal of the period. It’s not supposed to be groundbreaking, and it’s not; mostly it sounds like he was having fun.
Jeff Beck With Terry Bozzio and Tony Hymas Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop (1989)—3
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