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Wired (Jeff Beck album)

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Wired
Studio album by
Jeff Beck
ReleasedMay 1976
Studio
GenreJazz fusion, funk, instrumental rock
Length36:51
LabelEpic
ProducerGeorge Martin, Chris Bond, Jan Hammer
Jeff Beck chronology
Blow by Blow
(1975) 		Wired
(1976) 		Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live
(1977)

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

Background and content

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Of the album tracks, four are originals by Narada Michael Walden and one by Jan 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 were long-time staples of Beck's performance repertoire.

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideB−[2]
PopMatters(positive)[3]
The Rolling Stone Record Guide[4]

Wired received mostly positive reviews when it was released. In Rolling Stone, the reviewer cited it as being full of "fire and imagination".[5] However, Robert Christgau faulted it as technically proficient but soulless, calling it "mindless trickery".[6] 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."[7]

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."[1]

The album peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 in August 1976, spending a total of 25 weeks on the chart.[8] In the UK it spent five weeks on the chart and reached No. 35.[9] The album has been certified platinum by the RIAA.[10]

Release history

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In addition to the conventional two channel stereo version, the album was also released by Epic in 1976 in a four channel quadraphonic edition on LP record and 8-track tape. The quad LP release was encoded in the SQ matrix system.

The album was first released on CD in 1985 in Japan. In 2001, a remastered stereo edition of the CD was reissued internationally.

The album was reissued in stereo in the United States on the hybrid Super Audio CD format in 2016 by Analogue Productions. The same year it was also reissued by Epic in Japan as a hybrid multichannel SACD. The Japanese SACD version has the entire stereo album, but also adds the complete quad album on the same disc adapted for 5.1 surround sound. This marks the first time that the quad version has been reissued in a digital format.

Track listing

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Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Led Boots"Max Middleton3:59
2."Come Dancing"Narada Michael Walden5:54
3."Goodbye Pork Pie Hat"Charles Mingus5:26
4."Head for Backstage Pass"Wilbur Bascomb, Andy Clark2:42*
Total length:18:31
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Blue Wind"Jan Hammer5:49
2."Sophie"Narada Michael Walden6:27
3."Play with Me"Narada Michael Walden4:06
4."Love Is Green"Narada Michael Walden2:28
Total length:19:19

* Note: "Head for Backstage Pass" is incorrectly listed as being 3:45 on some LP centres; 2:42 is correct.

Personnel

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Additional personnel

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Charts

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Chart (1976) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[11] 17
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[12] 14
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[13] 7
UK Albums (OCC)[14] 38
US Billboard 200[15] 16

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[16] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[17] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ a b Kirschenmann, Mark. "Jeff Beck - Wired (1976) album review | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: B". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  3. ^ Warner, Simon (26 March 2001). "Jeff Beck: Blow by Blow (1975) / Wired (1976) > Album Reviews". PopMatters. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  4. ^ The Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House. 1979. pp. 29–30.
  5. ^ Swenson, John (29 July 1976). "Jeff Beck - Wired (1976) album review". Rolling Stone. No. 218. Archived from the original on 2 October 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
  6. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Jeff Beck > Consumer Guide Reviews". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  7. ^ Buskin, Richard (July 2005). CLASSIC TRACKS: Supertramp's 'Logical Song', Sound on Sound.
  8. ^ "Jeff Beck Chart History: Wired (1976)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  9. ^ "Jeff Beck: Full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  10. ^ Giles, Jeff (31 May 2016). "40 Years Ago: Jeff Beck Releases 'Wired'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  11. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  12. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 4338a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  13. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  14. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  15. ^ "Jeff Beck Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  16. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Jeff Beck – Wired". Music Canada.
  17. ^ "American album certifications – Jeff Beck – Wired". Recording Industry Association of America.
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