What a gut-punch......Only saw his bands a few times, but heard Wired and Blow By Blow when I worked at a music store, in the early-mid '70s- one of the salesmen brought his Roberts open reel tape recorder to the store, so they could demo PA equipment and it often played all day. It was a real eye-opener for a 15 year old.
Of the three who went through The Yardbirds (Clapton, Beck & Page, in order), Beck is the one who DIDN'T stagnate after drugs and alcohol polluted their minds, he kept changing, veering when everyone was going in a straight line and was never satisfied with the same ol', same ol'. He played his last gig a few days ago and it was with the same intensity as his others. He played more styles than most and he played them very well.
And then, there was his obsession with cars- I watched an interview (might even be this one), where he described himself by saying "I'm just a gearhead who plays guitar well enough to support his car habit".
