The Five Best Songs From Jeff Beck’s “Wired”
The album “Wired” by Jeff Beck was released in 1976. It is a ground-breaking album that remains as relevant today. The album is an instrumental record that contains such songs as “Led Boots” and “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”. However, there are a lot of notable tracks on this iconic sophomore solo album. In this article, we’ll be going over the five best songs from this record.
5. “Blue Wind”
This song is about being trapped in your mind. It features a really catchy chorus and is one of the most positive minded songs on this record. The bass line moves the entire song along, with Beck using his playing to highlight both the melody and the rhythm. Overall, this is one of those songs that features some of Jeff Beck’s best vocals as well as one of his most perfect solos. The song was written by Beck and Jan Hammer, and it was released as the first single from the album on September 16th, 1976. This record is considered to be more “prog rock”, and that shines through in “Blue Wind”. The chorus is very memorable, and Beck’s guitar work is great as well. The drum work is top-notch as well. If you’re a fan of Jeff Beck, or even just prog rock in general, this song should definitely be check out.
4. “Come Dancing”
The chorus of this song is one of the catchiest on the album, and the song itself is about falling in love with a person. The harmonies are very catchy throughout, and the melody is haunting. Overall, this song has a unique sound unto itself that few other songs on the album have. This song was written by Jeff Beck and Narada Michael Walden. It was recorded in 1975, and it was released as a single in 1976. This is a funky song that has some great guitar work on it as well. The song’s story is about Beck falling in love with a woman, and trying to remain faithful to her even though he doesn’t really know her. The bass line is one of the best on the entire record, and it gives the song a really infectious groove towards the end. It also includes other jazzy instruments that really give a unique flavor for the track.
3. “Sophie”
It’s a short song that features some rather progressive rock elements. The dark atmosphere of the song is created by Beck’s playing, which adds a haunting sound to the track. Overall, this is one of the most unique songs on the album. Beck wrote it with Narada Michael Walden, and it was released as a single on August 14th, 1976. A great song that plays with some british folk influences and brings in an overall eerie vibe. There are some great vocals on the song as well as a really memorable chorus. This song has clear inspiration from other artists like Cat Stevens and Nick Drake. Overall, this is one of the more progressive songs on the record as well as one of its most memorable.
2. “Led Boots”
As the opening track for the album, this song is really great. It starts off with a really slow and haunting guitar riff that plays throughout the entire song. The vocals are also very catchy, and the song has a great beat to it as well. Jeff Beck wrote it with Max Middleton, and they recorded it in January 1975 at Red Lane Studios in London. It’s considered by some people to be one of the best tracks on the record. The song begins with a very moody guitar riff, which leads into a fast paced song that features some great drumming. This is one of those songs that instantly makes you remember the album’s title. The song title is an homage to Led Zeppelin. This is another really catchy song that features some great percussion and bass work. The guitar playing from Jeff Beck is also pretty impressive, and he does a good job at playing different shades of chords throughout the entirety of the song.
1. “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”
As the lead single on this album, this song is very memorable and is one of the most well known songs from the record. The guitar work on this song is really fast-paced, and Beck uses a lot of pentatonic arpeggios to add a lot of energy to the track. The song was written by Beck and Charles Mingus. Like “Led Boots”, this song is another homage as an ode to saxophonist Lester Young, who had another song titled “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”, from his classic 1959 album with Charles Mingus titled Mingus Ah Um. This song was so infectiously popular, that Beck continues to play it to this day live.
Final Thoughts
This album was a huge success for both Jeff Beck and for jazz music in general. The record sold more than half a million copies, and it even went gold in the United States. Beck has clearly gone on to launch a career that spans decades, but there’s no arguing that the album Wired, especially from “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” helped him launch his career into a new level entirely. As an artist, Beck has always been someone that has experimented with different genres, and he’s never been afraid to push the boundaries of what can be done. There’s no doubt that this album was part of a long legacy of brilliant creativity from him as an artist. The fusion of jazz and rock on this record really helped changed the way people looked at music, and such influence continues to this day. As an instrumental record, it had a considerably high ranking on the billboard charts, at 16 of the Top 200 when it first came out, which is quite impressive for a record with no words.
