Jeff Beck

To call guitar god Jeff Beck a classic-rock hero is to do him a disservice by implying that his glories are behind him – from the mid-'60s right up through today he's been busy obliterating the limits of what a six-string can do. His trailblazing began with the Yardbirds, who he pushed beyond blues-rock with the fiery fuzz tones of "Heart Full of Soul," laying the groundwork for psychedelia. Leading his own band, he harnessed the power of a pre-Faces Rod Stewart to help him slam Chicago blues into outer space on "I Ain't Superstitious," setting a template for Led Zeppelin and countless other heavy rockers. And in the '70s, he burned down the house with some of the most frenetic jazz-rock fusion ever recorded, sparring with synth wizard Jan Hammer on a fierce live version of "Freeway Jam."

Uncover the sensitive side of the guitar hero, in Next Steps.

Jeff Beck's rep as a six-string sorcerer began back in his Yardbirds days, when he pulled mystifying moves out of his wizard hat, like the snake-charmer riff of "Over Under Sideways Down." But his vision goes much deeper than dazzle — Beck's a true poet of the fretboard, too, and graceful phrases seem to flow from his fingers with deceptive ease. A thing of beauty emerges as he wrings celestial sounds from his axe's harmonic overtones on the live version of "Where Were You." And when he wields his volume knob like a master painter's brush on an otherworldly interpretation of "Over the Rainbow," he lets you know for sure you're not in Kansas anymore.

In Deep Cuts, Beck gets busy rocking with some famous friends.

If you can truly judge a man by the company he keeps, then it's no wonder Jeff Beck's been held in worshipful esteem for the last four-and-a-half decades. One moment, the restless rock journeyman is trading fleet-fingered fusion licks with bass Stanley Clarke, dominating the proceedings so undeniably that Clarke simply had to title the track "Hello Jeff." Next thing you know, he's supplying smooth, swooping lines behind Stevie Wonder on "Lookin' for Another Pure Love," from the latter's landmark Talking Book, or serving up some smoky riffs behind Bad Company's Paul Rodgers on blues classic "Good Morning Little School Girl." And if you never even knew that it's Beck behind the burning guitar on '80s hits by fellow rock gods Mick Jagger ("Just Another Night") and Rod Stewart ("Infatuation"), now you know.

When the guitar-hero roll call is read, Jeff Beck's name will always be front and center, alongside those of classic-rock royalty like Hendrix, Clapton, et al. But he's also displayed plenty of jazz genius, picking up a storm with Les Paul ("Good News"), or putting a whole new spin on the Charles Mingus masterpiece "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat." And he can burn a hole in your speaker when he revisits his rockabilly roots on Gene Vincent's "Race With the Devil" or Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock." Beck's been through so many phases, and made sparks fly with so many masterful musicians, from Rod Stewart to Stevie Wonder, that it's almost impossible to nail down his most crucial moments. Good thing nobody told us that, though, because that's exactly what we've done here for you. Start listening now, and you can thank us later.