Wired (Jeff Beck album)


Wired is the second solo album by British guitarist Jeff Beck, released on Epic Records in 1976. An instrumental album, it peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 and has been certified platinum by the RIAA.

Background and content

Of the album tracks, four are originals by Narada Michael Walden and one by Hammer. Max Middleton contributed the homage to Led Zeppelin, "Led Boots", and Beck chose to interpret the Charles Mingus ode to saxophonist Lester Young, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", from the classic 1959 jazz album Mingus Ah Um. These last two tracks have been long-time staples of Beck's performance repertoire.
On 27 March 2001, a remastered edition for compact disc was reissued by Legacy Records, Epic and its parent label Columbia Records are now a division of Sony Music Entertainment.

Reception

Wired received mostly positive reviews when it was released. In Rolling Stone, the reviewer cited it as being full of "fire and imagination". However, Robert Christgau faulted it as technically proficient but soulless, calling it "mindless trickery". Engineer Peter Henderson later said of the album, "I listened to that a few years later and it sounded like it had been recorded direct to cassette. I don't think it was one of my finer moments."
Writing for AllMusic, Mark Kirschenmann said: "Within a two-year span, the twin towers Blow by Blow and Wired set a standard for instrumental rock that even Beck has found difficult to match. On Wired, with first-rate material and collaborators on hand, one of rock's most compelling guitarists is in top form."
The album peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 in August 1976, spending a total of 25 weeks on the chart. In the UK it spent five weeks on the chart and reached No. 35. The album has been certified platinum by the RIAA.

Track listing

Personnel