JEFF BECK GROUP: BECK-OLA

As I wrote in my previous review for Beck`s "Truth" album, I listened for the very first time to this album in a one CD release which also included "Truth". I have to say that the last track in the CD, "Rice Pudding", sounded to me as being cut by several seconds (without a fade-out) to force the inclusion of the two albums in one CD, but as I have not listened yet to the LP or to other versions of this album, I can`t say if this cut was originally intended for the song.

This is another "mixed in styles" album from Beck and his group, which now included as a full time member the excellent session pianist Nicky Hopkins, who died in 1994, but who played in a lot of very good albums mainly during the seventies.

This album is more Blues-Rock oriented than their first, and with less Prog- related sounds than their first. It even includes some old Rock and Roll oldies like "All Shook Up" and "Jailhouse Rock" . The rest of the songs are more Blues-oriented in sound. So, I prefer "Truth" more than this album, but this album still is good.

After this album, the band split due to personality conflicts mainly between Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck. Ron Wood and Rod Stewart later replaced Steve Marriott in the band SMALL FACES which after this changed their name to THE FACES, a band which was very popular mainly in the U.K. during the seventies.