Editing Blow by Blow

{{for multi|the former Philippine boxing television program|Blow by Blow (Philippine TV program)|the Moloko song|Statues (album)}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}

{{Infobox album
| name       = Blow by Blow
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[Jeff Beck]]
| cover      = Blow by blow.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = March 1975
| recorded   = October 1974
| venue      =
| studio     = [[AIR Studios|AIR]], London
| genre      =
* [[Jazz fusion]]
* [[instrumental rock]]
| length     = 44:35
| label      = [[Epic Records|Epic]]
| producer   = [[George Martin]]
| prev_title = [[Live in Japan (Beck, Bogert & Appice album)|Live in Japan]]
| prev_year  = 1973
| next_title = [[Wired (Jeff Beck album)|Wired]]
| next_year  = 1976
}}

{{Album ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}} <ref name=Allmusic>{{AllMusic |class=album |tab=review |id=r30230 |first=Mark |last=Kirschenmann |accessdate=29 October 2005 }}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[PopMatters]]''
| rev3Score = (positive) <ref name=PopMatters>{{cite magazine |magazine=[[PopMatters]] |date=26 March 2001 |first=Simon |last=Warner |title=Jeff Beck: ''Blow by Blow'' (1975) / ''Wired'' (1976) > Album Reviews |url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/beckjeff-wired |access-date=3 November 2011 }}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev4Score = (mixed) <ref name=RS1975>{{cite news |newspaper=[[Rolling Stone]] |issue=188 |date=5 June 1975 |first=Dave |last=Marsh |author-link=Dave Marsh |title=Jeff Beck - ''Blow by Blow'' (1975) album review |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/blow-by-blow-19750605 |access-date=22 July 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071002034918/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/jeffbeck/albums/album/304490/review/6068067/blow_by_blow |archive-date=2 October 2007 }}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev5Score = {{Rating|4|5}} <ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/jeff-beck/albumguide Jeff Beck: Album Guide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140510201812/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/jeff-beck/albumguide |date=10 May 2014 }} at ''[[Rolling Stone]]''</ref>
| noprose = yes
}}

'''''Blow by Blow''''' is [[Jeff Beck]]'s first album credited to him as a solo artist. It was recorded in October 1974 and released via [[Epic Records]] in 1975. An instrumental album, it peaked at No. 4 on the American [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] and was certified [[platinum album|platinum]] by the [[RIAA]].

==Background and content==
After the dissolution of the power trio [[Beck, Bogert & Appice]] (BBA) in spring 1974, Beck took time for session work with other groups. In December, a half-hearted "audition" for [[The Rolling Stones]] took place, Beck jamming [[blues]] with the band for one day, before realising their musical styles were not compatible.<ref name=ucr>{{cite web|url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/jeff-beck-blow-by-blow/|title=Revisiting Jeff Beck's Only Top 10 Album, 'Blow by Blow' |first=Eduardo |last=Rivadavia |date=29 March 2016 |publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock|access-date=28 March 2017}}</ref>

During this period, Beck decided to record an all-instrumental album, bringing back keyboardist [[Max Middleton]] from the second Jeff Beck Group. He hired [[George Martin]] to produce after hearing his work with the [[Mahavishnu Orchestra]]'s 1974 album ''[[Apocalypse (Mahavishnu Orchestra album)|Apocalypse]]''.<ref name=ucr/> According to [[Carmine Appice]], who played with Beck in BBA, he was involved in the writing and recording process of ''Blow by Blow'' but Appice's parts were edited out after a dispute with Beck's management.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hit-channel.com/interviewcarmine-appice-cactusvanilla-fudgebeck-bogert-appice/68534|title=Interview:Carmine Appice (Cactus, Vanilla Fudge, Beck Bogert & Appice) – Hit Channel|last=thodoris|date=8 September 2014|work=Hit-Channel.com|access-date=29 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://dmme.net/interviews/appice.html |title=Interview with Carmine Appice |date=May 2000 |work=DMME.net |access-date=29 March 2017 |archive-date=12 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712211710/http://dmme.net/interviews/appice.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The fourth key contributor to ''Blow by Blow'' after Beck, Middleton, and Martin was [[Stevie Wonder]], who gave Beck his songs "Cause We've Ended as Lovers" and "Thelonious", with Wonder playing [[clavinet]] on the latter uncredited.<ref name=gibson/> The former song appeared on Wonder's 1974 album ''[[Stevie Wonder Presents: Syreeta]]'', made with then-wife [[Syreeta Wright]], while Wonder never recorded "Thelonious" himself. A cover of the [[Beatles]] song "[[She's a Woman]]" was selected, as well as the composition "Diamond Dust" by Bernie Holland of the group [[Hummingbird (band)|Hummingbird]] consisting of musicians from the second Beck Group. The other five tracks were band originals with Beck and Middleton the main writers, and the last track on each side featured [[string arrangements]] by Martin. Beck dedicated "Cause We've Ended as Lovers" to fellow guitarist [[Roy Buchanan]], with an acknowledgement to Wonder.<ref>Matt Blackett. "Pure Genius: Guitar's Magnificent Rebel Puts a Twist on Techno." ''[[Guitar Player]]'', December 2000, pp. 98–106.</ref>

==Release==
''Blow by Blow'' was released in March 1975. It was a hit in the US, reaching number four on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' album charts, eventually selling a million copies. It remains Beck's highest-charting album.<ref name=ucr/><ref name=gibson>{{cite web|url=http://www.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/Jeff-Beck-Blow-By-Blow-Turns-40.aspx|title=Jeff Beck's ''Blow by Blow'' Turns 40|publisher=Gibson (official website)|date=29 March 2015|access-date=28 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706075041/http://www.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/Jeff-Beck-Blow-By-Blow-Turns-40.aspx|archive-date=6 July 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 27 March 2001, a [[remastered]] edition for compact disc was reissued by [[Legacy Records]], Epic and its parent label [[Columbia Records]] now a division of [[Sony Music Entertainment]].

A live version of the track "Scatterbrain" was featured in the video game ''[[Guitar Hero 5]]''.

==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| headline = Side one
| title1 = You Know What I Mean
| writer1 = {{hlist|[[Jeff Beck]]|[[Max Middleton]]}}
| length1 = 4:02
| title2 = [[She's a Woman]]
| writer2 = {{hlist|[[John Lennon]]|[[Paul McCartney]]}}
| length2 = 4:28
| title3 = Constipated Duck
| writer3 = Jeff Beck
| length3 = 2:50
| title4 = AIR Blower
| writer4 = {{hlist|Jeff Beck|Max Middleton|Richard Bailey|[[Phil Chen]]}}
| length4 = 5:07
| title5 = Scatterbrain
| writer5 = {{hlist|Jeff Beck|Max Middleton}}
| length5 = 5:39
| total_length = 22:27
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side two
| title1 = Cause We've Ended as Lovers
| note1 = dedicated to [[Roy Buchanan]] and thanks to [[Stevie Wonder|Stevie]]
| writer1 = [[Stevie Wonder]]
| length1 = 5:51
| title2 = Thelonious
| writer2 = Stevie Wonder
| length2 = 3:17
| title3 = Freeway Jam
| writer3 = Max Middleton
| length3 = 4:57
| title4 = Diamond Dust
| writer4 = Bernie Holland
| length4 = 8:24
| total_length = 22:41
}}
* Note: "Scatterbrain" is misprinted as being 3:39 on some LP centres. 5:39 is correct.

==Personnel==
'''Musicians'''
* [[Jeff Beck]] – guitars
* [[Max Middleton]] – keyboards
* [[Phil Chen]] – bass (identified as "Phil Chenn")
* Richard Bailey – drums, percussion
* [[Stevie Wonder]] – uncredited clavinet on "Thelonius"

'''Technical'''
* [[George Martin]] – production, orchestral arrangement
* Denim Bridges – engineering

'''Artwork'''
* John Berg – design
* John Collier – cover art

==Charts==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+Chart performance for ''Blow by Blow''
! scope="col"| Chart (1975)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
! scope="row" | Australian Albums ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6}}</ref>
| align="center"| 28
|-
{{album chart|Canada|3|artist=Jeff Beck|album=Blow by Blow|chartid=3994a|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 20, 2024}}
|-
!scope="row"|Japanese Albums ([[Oricon]])<ref name="JPN">{{cite book|title=Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005|publisher=[[Oricon|Oricon Entertainment]]|location=Roppongi, Tokyo|year=2006|isbn=4-87131-077-9|language=ja}}</ref>
| align="center"| 27
|-
{{album chart|New Zealand|38|artist=Jeff Beck|album=Blow by Blow|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 20, 2024}}
|-
{{album chart|Billboard200|4|artist=Jeff Beck|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 20, 2024}}
|}

==Certifications==
{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for ''Blow by Blow''}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|artist=Jeff Beck|title=Blow by Blow|award=Gold|type=album|relyear=1975|certyear=1976|access-date=September 23, 2022}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Jeff Beck|title=Blow by Blow|award=Platinum|type=album|relyear=1975|certyear=1986|access-date=September 23, 2022}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

==See also==
*[[1975 in music]]
*[[Jeff Beck discography]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite magazine
  |last=Cauffiel
  |first=Lowell
  |title=Jeff Beck: new directions new dimensions
  |journal=Guitar Player
  |volume=9
  |issue=11
  |location=Saratoga, CA
  |date=November 1975
  |issn=0017-5463
  |pages=10, 40, 42}}
*{{cite magazine
  |last=Costa
  |first=Jean Charles
  |title=Beck don't look back or progress is obsession
  |journal=[[Hit Parader]]
  |volume=35
  |issue=148
  |location=[[Derby, CT]]
  |date=November 1976
  |issn=0162-0266
  |pages=26-27, 60-61}}
*{{cite magazine
  |last=Hickey
  |first=Dave
  |title=Live 'Wired': The Jeff Beck Interview
  |journal=Circus
  |volume=
  |issue=136
  |location=New York, NY
  |date=July 22, 1976
  |issn=0009-7365
  |pages=22–25}}
*{{cite book
  | last = Power
  | first = Martin 
  | title = Hot Wired: The Life of Jeff Beck
  | year = 2014
  | edition=New & Updated
  | publisher= [[Omnibus Press]]
  | location = [[New York City|New York]]
  | isbn = 9781783055920}}
*{{cite magazine
  | last = Rohter
  | first = Larry
  | title = Jeff Beck: The Progression Of A True Progressive
  | journal = [[DownBeat]]
  | volume = 44
  | issue = 12
  | pages = 13–14, 53
  | location = Chicago, IL
  | date = June 17, 1977
  |issn = 0012-5768}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.allmusic.com/album/blow-by-blow-mw0000619122 Jeff Beck - ''Blow by Blow'' (1975) album review by Mark Kirschenmann, credits & releases] at [[AllMusic]]
* [https://www.discogs.com/Jeff-Beck-Blow-By-Blow/release/683232 Jeff Beck - ''Blow by Blow'' (1975) album releases & credits] at [[Discogs]]
* [http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=15045 Jeff Beck - ''Blow by Blow'' (1975) album credits & user reviews] at ProgArchives.com
* [https://open.spotify.com/album/6fhTDVBs7qeoP3254hMu6u Jeff Beck - ''Blow by Blow'' (1975) album to be listened] as stream on [[Spotify]]

{{Jeff Beck}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blow By Blow}}
[[Category:1975 albums]]
[[Category:Jeff Beck albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by George Martin]]
[[Category:Jazz fusion albums by English artists]]
[[Category:Epic Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums arranged by George Martin]]
[[Category:Instrumental rock albums]]