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While he was as innovative asJimmy Page, as tasteful asEric Clapton, and nearly as visionary asJimi Hendrix,Jeff Beck never achieved the same commercial success as any of those contemporaries, primarily because of the haphazard way he approached his career. AfterRod Stewart leftthe Jeff Beck Group in 1971,Beck never worked with a charismatic lead singer who could have helped sell his music to a wide audience. Furthermore, he was simply too idiosyncratic, moving from heavy metal to jazz fusion within a blink of an eye. As his career progressed, he became more fascinated by automobiles than guitars, releasing only one album during the course of the '90s. All the while,Beck retained the respect of fellow guitarists, who found his reclusiveness all the more alluring.Beck began his musical career following a short stint at London's Wimbledon Art College. He earned a reputation by supportingLord Sutch, which helped him land the job asthe Yardbirds' lead guitarist following the departure ofEric Clapton.Beck stayed withthe Yardbirds for nearly two years, leaving in late 1966 with the pretense that he was retiring from music. He returned several months later with "Love Is Blue," a single he played poorly because he detested the song. Later in 1967, he formedthe Jeff Beck Group with vocalistRod Stewart, bassistRon Wood, and drummerAynsley Dunbar, who was quickly replaced byMickey Waller; keyboardistNicky Hopkins joined in early 1968. With their crushingly loud reworkings of blues songs and vocal and guitar interplay,the Jeff Beck Group established the template for heavy metal. Neither of the band's records,Truth (1968) orBeck-Ola (a 1969 album that was recorded with new drummerTony Newman), was particularly successful, and the bandmembers tended to fight regularly, especially on their frequent tours of the U.S. In 1970,Stewart andWood left to jointhe Faces, andBeck broke up the group.Beck had intended to form a power trio withVanilla Fudge membersCarmine Appice (drums) andTim Bogert (bass), but those plans were derailed when he suffered a serious car crash in 1970. By the time he recuperated in 1971,Bogart andAppice were playing inCactus, so the guitarist formed a new version ofthe Jeff Beck Group. Featuring keyboardistMax Middleton, drummerCozy Powell, bassistClive Chaman, and vocalistBobby Tench, the new band recordedRough and Ready (1971) andJeff Beck Group (1972). Neither album attracted much attention.Cactus dissolved in late 1972, andBeck,Bogert, andAppice formed a power trio the following year. The group's lone studio album -- a live record was released in Japan but never in the U.K. or U.S. -- was widely panned due to its plodding arrangements and weak vocals, and the group disbanded the following year. For about 18 months,Beck remained quiet, re-emerging in 1975 withBlow by Blow. Produced byGeorge Martin,Blow by Blow was an all-instrumental jazz fusion album that received strong reviews.Beck collaborated withJan Hammer, a former keyboardist forMahavishnu Orchestra, for 1976'sWired, and supported the album with a co-headlining tour withHammer's band. The tour was documented on the 1977 albumJeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group -- Live. After theHammer tour,Beck retired to his estate outside of London and remained quiet for three years. He returned in 1980 withThere and Back, which featured contributions fromHammer. Following the tour forThere and Back,Beck retired again, returning five years later with the slick,Nile Rodgers-producedFlash. A pop/rock album recorded with a variety of vocalists,Flash featuredBeck's only hit single, theStewart-sung "People Get Ready," and also boasted "Escape," which won the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental. During 1987, he played lead guitar onMick Jagger's second solo album,Primitive Cool. There was another long wait betweenFlash and 1989'sJeff Beck's Guitar Shop with Terry Bozzio and Tony Hymas. Though the album sold only moderately well,Guitar Shop received uniformly strong reviews and won the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental.Beck supported the album with a tour, this time co-headlining with guitaristStevie Ray Vaughan. Again,Beck entered semi-retirement upon the completion of the tour. In 1992,Beck played lead guitar onRoger Waters' comeback album,Amused to Death. A year later, he releasedCrazy Legs, a tribute toGene Vincent and his lead guitarist,Cliff Gallup, which was recorded withBig Town Playboys.Beck remained quiet after the album's release prior to resurfacing in 1999 withWho Else!You Had It Coming followed in 2001 and his 14th release,Jeff, was issued on Epic two years later. An excellent live set,Performing This Week: Live at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, was released in 2008 by Eagle Records.Emotion & Commotion,Beck's first new studio album in seven years, appeared in the spring of 2010. It was greeted by considerable acclaim, including winning two Grammy Awards in 2011 for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Appropriately,Beck released a live album calledLive and Exclusive from the Grammy Museum in the fall of 2010, followed byRock & Roll Party (Honoring Les Paul), a salute toBeck's hero featuring vocals byImelda May.