The song Jeff Beck described as “to die for”
When ‘Sleepwalk’ by Santo and Johnny plays, it doesn’t sound like your average instrumental, it sounds like something warm and comforting, yet equal parts otherworldly. The sound that the musicians manage to achieve with the lead guitar on this track is unlike anything that can be heard on other guitar instrumentals, and it is this song that Jeff Beck once described as something “to die for”.
Despite the guitar being the banner under which musical revolutions were fought, it’s incredible how many people still overlook its potential. A lot of the time, a musician will have some lyrics in their head or a simple melody and then turn to the guitar as a means of which to support that idea. The truth is, the guitar is capable of so much within the world of music that to use it merely for backing is a colossal waste.
A musician like Jeff Beck is an excellent testament to this, as throughout his career, whether with bands or as a solo artist, he has always used his guitar to its full potential. Sometimes, this means playing it in a band underneath lyrics, or it can mean playing it as the lead for an instrumental song, but regardless of which it is, Beck can consistently deliver something spectacular.
The versatility of the guitar means it doesn’t need to be played fast or slow, aggressively or smoothly; the adaptability is the appeal, so regardless of what song you are writing, it can be incorporated in a way that is both complementary to the overall track, and that lets the guitar stand out on its own. In talking about some of his instrumental work, Beck spoke about how the guitar could effectively be used as a lead instrument.
“It’s a subliminal vocal, I suppose,” he said, “It’s replacing the vocal. And the prerequisite, when you decide you’re not going to have a vocal, is that you’ve got to have something to carry the melody, and that is the whole thing.”
In discussing this attitude towards instrumental music, Beck brought up Santo & Johnny’s ‘Sidewalk’, specifically, how that song epitomises how a guitar melody can be just as effective as a vocal melody. “The long, drawn-out note can do a million things, as opposed to 400 notes that are extraneous and not really necessary,” he said, “When people like ‘Sleepwalk’ by Santo and Johnny, that’s just a beautifully recorded piece.”
He continued, “It’s a steel guitar, and the tone is just to die for. At one point I thought I should do something like that, but then I realised that the strings are about half a mile away from the board!”
The guitar can be used beautifully regardless of the song it is being used in. This means it can be done quickly and aggressively or smoothly and slowly; it all depends on what the intention of the player is. In discussing the track ‘Sleepwalk’, Beck highlights how a guitar, even when the notes are long and drawn out, can carry a melody incredibly effectively that engages the listener and works in tandem with the rest of the song.