A MESSAGE FROM JEFF BECK

Music fans will no doubt have heard of the recent passing of the one-and-only Jeff Beck. I'm still stunned, as it was both unexpected and deeply saddening. I rank Mr. Beck as in the top 3 rock guitarists who ever lived (and probably the top two -- Hendrix has always been my #1).

Besides his music, he not only tinkered with his collection of hot rods, but was also a decades-long vegetarian. Recently discovered in Paul McCartney's archives is this message that he did for a McCartney radio show over 30 years ago. With his original music (also not heard in decades) playing in the background, Beck decries the decimation of the rainforests.

I, for one, am not a vegetarian, and I enjoy the hell out of my meat-derived protein. However, the message strikes an important message of the devastation that is still going on today, even as you read this.

I recently read that McDonald's is planning on opening 1,900 more franchises. Jesus, how many more Big Mac's do we need?

This article was posted on January 30, 2023 on Meatfreemondays.com.

Never-before-heard music by Jeff Beck and Paul McCartney discovered in Paul’s archive

1994 track unearthed featuring spoken environmental message from Jeff Beck – and 30 years later the powerful message remains as relevant as ever

With the news of the death of music icon Jeff Beck, memories came back to Paul McCartney of the time the two of them got together in his studio almost 30 years ago. “With the sad passing of Jeff Beck – a good friend of mine, and a great great guitar player – it reminded me of the time we worked together many years ago on a campaign for vegetarianism,” said Paul McCartney. “It’s great guitar playing, cause it’s Jeff!”

Jeff Beck’s environmental message opened with him asking, “Why are they cutting down the rainforest?”. This message was included in a US 13-part radio series presented and created by Paul McCartney called Oobu Joobu. The show gave a unique insight into Paul’s world featuring rehearsals, demos, unreleased recordings, conversations and cameos from many of Paul’s friends, and highlighted campaigns close to Paul’s heart such as vegetarianism.

Upon going back to these recordings, Paul’s team unearthed a previously unreleased and never-before-heard piece of music by Jeff and Paul. This recoding features Jeff’s spoken message about the dangers of deforestation. Almost 30 years later Jeff’s message remains as relevant as ever and is a view passionately shared by Paul.

Jeff’s message from 1994 highlights the damage caused by deforestation to create more land for cattle grazing, as well as some of the harmful knock-on effects from this. On top of the benefits to animals and personal health, there are also many environmental advantages to eating more plant-based meals.

‘State of Climate Action 2022’, a report from the World Resources Institute, recently underlined the need for richer countries to shift to a more plant-based diet, while a report by the UN Environment Programme, ‘The Closing Window’, stressed that there is no time for tinkering around the edges if we want to avoid a disastrous rise in global temperature – only significant and rapid societal change will do, including a change in what we eat.