“He’s a guy that really invented electric guitar, and a lot of what people are doing today”: Jennifer Batten pays tribute to Jeff Beck, her former collaborator, with a searing cover of Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers
Batten was part of Jeff Beck's touring band for three years and featured on two of his albums
(Image credit: Alberto Gandolfo/Pacific Press/LightRocket/Getty Images)
Jennifer Batten has been featured in a cover that pays homage to Jeff Beck's work, coinciding with what would have been Beck's 80th birthday. Alongside Batten, this new rendition of Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers features guitarists Dudley Ross and Greg Koch, as well as Alex Bennett on keys, Grace Lamb on bass and George Abrehart on drums. Abrehart also produced the track.
The six-minute track sees Batten showcase her searing guitar chops, albeit all too briefly, before Ross and Koch take over. Batten can be seen playing her recent go-to guitar, the Suhr Modern Antique.
After achieving her breakthrough with the Michael Jackson world tours from 1987 to 1997, Batten joined Beck's touring band from 1999 to 2001, and featured on the albums Who Else! (1999) and You Had It Coming (2000).
Birthday tribute to Jeff Beck-"Cause We Ended As Lovers"-produced by George Abrehart - YouTube
On her official website, Batten spoke about how her three-year collaboration with Beck came about. “I tracked him down while on tour with Michael Jackson in ’92 just to meet him. I gave him my first CD and he called a few months later regarding doing a project together. We both got involved in other things but finally, it came together in the spring of ’98 when he hired me to tour Europe, followed by South America.
“Following this, we cut Who Else! Other players include Steve Alexander, Randy Hope Taylor, Jan Hammer, and Tony Hymas. It was released in March ’99 at the beginning of the Who Else! tour USA. We went to Japan in May/June and did a second USA leg late summer.”
In a 2022 interview with Guitar World, she reflected on how Beck always sought to push the envelope. “20 years ago, when I was with Jeff Beck, I was in a studio while he was playing CDs that were sent to him.
“If he didn't hear something innovative in eight or 16 bars, it went in the trash. I was amazed to watch that. But he’s a guy that really invented the electric guitar and a lot of what people are doing today, and he is always looking for innovation.”
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Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology, and how this is shaping the future of the music industry. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Dream Wife, K.Flay, Yīn Yīn, and Black Honey, among others. When she's not writing, you'll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her art-rock/psych-punk band ĠENN.
