Retromania is in full bloom here for this celebration of the guitar and guitar man whose influences cross musical spectrums from Keb Mo to Slash and from Joan Jett to Eric Clapton.
Jeff Beck has never made any secret of the debt he owes to someone who was both his friend and mentor. "I've copied more licks from Les Paul than I'd like to admit" he said when inducting him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
The CD features an hour's worth of edited highlights from a show recorded live in June 2010 at The Iridium Jazz Club; the Times Square nightclub where Les Paul played a weekly residency for 14 years before his death in August 2009 at the age of 84.
The twenty tracks feature versions of the songs that made Paul a legend in his lifetime along with additional tracks selected to show off the versatility of the Gibson Les Paul 'log' guitar designed by Ted McCarty in collaboration with Paul.
It begins unpromisingly with three routine rockers with vocals by Darrel Higham but when the mic passes to his wife Imelda May sparks begin to fly.
In all there are eleven tracks featuring the Dublin born singer's remarkable vocals. Her sultry versions of songs popularised by Paul's partner Mary Ford are pitch perfect and the icing on the cake come through the of double tracking her voice so that she is effectively harmonizing with herself in the style of Ford.
Other highlights are steaming instrumental performances of Henry Mancini's Peter Gunn and a version of The Shadows' Apache. Needless to say, on these, and throughout, Jeff Beck's technique and interpretive skills are flawless.
Backing by May's rockabilly band , Jason Rebello and Trombone Shorty only enhances his performance
However, the hideous album sleeve (the cover looks like a K-tel 'all the hits' album), gives fair warning that this also is a record with a fair smattering of cheesy moments.
Exhibit A is a cameo appearance by Gary US Bonds with a misjudged call and response rendition of New Orleans in which he takes the stage as if he were trying to kick start a party ("I love you New York")that was already doing fine without him.
Also weak is Stray Cat Brian Setzer's version of Eddie Cochran's Twenty Flight Rock and the cover of The Trenier Twins' Rockin' Is Our Business (sung by Higham) is every bit as bad as the title threatens.
The reappearance of Imelda May saves the day, however, although the rockabilly version of The Shangri-Las' classic (Remember) Walking In The Sand isn't as memorable as the 50s covers.
It's a CD any Jeff Beck fan will relish and while the audio version captures the party atmosphere pretty well, the DVD version (which has an extra seven tracks) looks to be an even safer bet, not least since it offers the chance to verify that Imelda May is every bit as cool in the flesh as she is on record.
