JEFF BECK

British guitar legend Jeff Beck makes this guarantee to fans who come out to see him on his current tour: “It’s certainly not going to be boring or predictable.”Why? Because Beck, 56, promises his live show “will be peppered with some of the best stuff I’ve done” during his 35-plus-year career–including new material from his latest album, “You Had It Coming.”

Even though Beck has never been one to play it safe with his music, he admits that much of the techno on “You Had It Coming” might shock a few of his longtime fans. Because techno is known more for computer-generated dance grooves than flashy electric guitar, Beck acknowledges he’s facing a real challenge this time out. “At times,” Beck says, “it actually worries me to a point where I just don’t really want to do the tour. But then what’s the point of being like that? I’m after a younger audience anyway. I want them to come to the shows. I’ve taken the thrust of the energy from techno music, house music and dance music, which gets young kids from 12 to 20 jumping up and down like I did when I first heard rockabilly in the ’50s. Then I worked my own unique sound in there.

With this new record and tour we’re trying to rebuild rock ‘n’ roll in the year 2001 by using all of the ingredients that have been around for the last 10 years. It will certainly be an interesting time.” Beck likens the playlist for his current show–mixing the new sound with his classic guitar-driven material–to walking a tightrope in a circus act. And that’s just the way he likes it. “There’s not enough danger in rock ‘n’ roll anymore,” he says. “It’s all processed.

This album and tour is dangerous for me, because I have a history–decades of respect.

However, I can’t be responsible for who might start throwing stones at the fact that I’m not playing million-miles-an-hour [guitar] scales. That isn’t the name of the game. “This time out,” he continues, “it’s a different movie altogether. I’m just recording and performing what I think is currently hip stuff. I don’t have any problems with it. If we feel that we’re delivering meaningful music that makes people happy, then the job is done.”

Beck established himself in the 1960s as a member of the Yardbirds, the great English rock band that at different times featured Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.

After he parted from the Yardbirds, Beck teamed up with with Rod Stewart and Ron Wood in the late ’60s to form the Jeff Beck Group. But while several of his peers went on to high-profile careers in the ’70s, Beck’s musical evolution remained low-key in comparison. His most notable solo achievements were the mid-’70s fusion albums “Blow by Blow” and “Wired.”

Compared with English guitar gods like Clapton and Page, Beck has remained an an enigma.

During the last 25 years he has for the most part shunned recording solely for commercial appeal. And the result has been innovative, cutting-edge music. Beck predicts more of the same in 2001. He follows the modern rock scene at home in London and is a fan of the new generation of recording artists. “I wanted Prodigy to smash the world apart,” Beck says. “They’ve got real wicked grooves going and a really funny, kind of larger than life cartoon character as the singer. We need more of that. We need the clowns. We need rock ‘n’ roll. We need more Little Richard, more Elvis in the year 2001. Otherwise, we’re going to become far too processed. I want real life. I want to meet people and to get out there and to have fun. That’s why I’ll enjoy the challenge of walking the tightrope this time out.”