Jeff Beck has described his 2013 US tour alongside Beach Boys icon Brian Wilson as "a bit of a nightmare."
The guitar icon was persuaded to hit the road with Wilson to promote an album, even though it hadn’t been finished.
That led to a situation where Beck was expected to undertake extensive promotional activities to assist with ticket sales – and on one occasion the schedule was so hectic he had to visit hospital for an endoscopy without taking any time off.
He tells Mojo: “They wanted me to spend the whole afternoon doing promo to prop up the ticket sales. So we did this meet-and-greet stuff, where audiences pay good money to watch rehearsals, which robbed me of the afternoon nap.
“I ended up in Chicago University Hospital having an endoscopy – and they still had me playing the next night. It was a bit blood and guts; but I’d fallen in love with the idea of playing with Brian Wilson.”
Beck recently told Classic Rock how the reclusive musician all-but ignored him in the studio, saying: “For four days I sat there and didn’t even know Brian was in the room. He was so quiet; he never uttered a syllable. And yet they gave me these parts that allegedly he’d written.
“They should have got the bloody record done first, but they got excited and we ended up doing the Jeff Beck-Brian Wilson tour prematurely.”
Now he says of Wilson: “He doesn’t speak. He’s clearly in need of attention – but that’s just my opinion.”
Meanwhile, he’s admitted the chances of a collaborative album with old bandmate Rod Stewart are almost zero. He says: ““I did some demos for him, real down-home blues like Muddy Waters and Elmore James. I was going to give it The Jeff Beck Group treatment; Truth times two.
“But he wasn’t into that. Rod has a short attention span. Now he doesn’t need the money, there’s no drive. Musically he’s obviously done enough.”
