Jeff Beck – I Ain’t Superstitious

You combine Jeff Beck playing in this song with a great young Rod Stewart and you get pure gold. Jeff Becks’ use of the wah-wah pedal gives the song a cool psychedelic feel. The man was so adventurous on guitar…he is one guitar player that when I listen to his music…I can honestly say I never heard the guitar played that way before on many of his songs. 

After being booted out of the Yardbirds… Beck formed The Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart on vocals and Ronnie Wood on rhythm guitar and sometimes bass. They had an ever-changing rhythm section with bassists and drummers who came and went. They released the album Truth in 1968.

This album has been considered one of the first ones with “heavy metal” leanings on it. Beck was not happy with Jimmy Page when Zeppelin’s first album included a cover of the blues song You Shook Me. Beck’s album the song as well. Page insisted it was a coincidence but Beck never bought that. 

Truth was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Olympic Studios in 1967-1968. Beck and his band aimed for a raw feel, with huge heavy riffs, rougher vocals, and minimal production. That is why this album sounds so good. They kept the studio tricks at a minimum. 

Beck continued to explore guitar tones. His use of distortion, feedback, and the wah-wah pedal helped craft a heavier blues sound.

This song was written by the blues legend Willie Dixon. It was released in 1962 by Howlin’ Wolf. The album Truth peaked at #15 on the Billboard Album Charts and #37 in Canada in 1968. That is remarkable for a debut album with no hits to push it. The album is now considered a classic as it should be. 

I always like to include a live clip from the era it was released but I can’t find any from the 60s or 70s… this one is from 1984…so sorry about that. It’s still good though. 

I Ain’t Superstitious

I ain’t superstitiousBlack cat crossed my trailI ain’t superstitiousBut a black cat crossed my trailBad luck ain’t got me so farAnd I won’t let it stop me now

The dogs begin to barkAll over my neighborhood and that ain’t allDogs begin to barkAll over my neighborhood (mm, mm)This is a mean old world to live inAnd I can’t face it all by myself

At all

And dogs begin to barkAll over my neighborhoodThe dogs begin to barkAll over my neighborhood

I got a feelin’ about the futureAnd it ain’t too good I know that

I know, I know, I know, I

Ain’t superstitiousBut a black cat crossed my trailI said so many times beforeI ain’t superstitiousA black cat crossed my trailBad luck ain’t got me so farAnd you know I ain’t gonna let it stop me now

….

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

41 thoughts on “Jeff Beck – I Ain’t Superstitious”

    1. Oh man! I never knew both of them toured together…THAT would have been a hell of a guitar night.
      Deke I don’t usually say this…but yea man…you should kick yourself lol.

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  5. When we were little kids I always liked Donovan’s music for some reason & when I got to be older & started hangin’ out in record stores in San Francisco in the late 80’s I heard a lot of Jeff Beck stories & then I did my research & found out that he was the guitar player in those great Donovan records that I loved as a little kid on top 40 radio in the very late 60’s. He was one of the best!

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    1. One of the greatest guitar players in rock ever… I would say him and Jimi found more sounds than any other guitar players. They would take guitars apart and change things to get different sounds.

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  7. You can’t accuse Beck of just stealing licks from blues guitarists.

    I like how Dixon recycled one line from “Little Red Rooster” (recorded 6 months before Howlin’ Wolf recorded “I ain’t superstitious”). In “Rooster” he writes “The dogs begin to bark and the hounds begin to howl”. In the original of “I ain’t superstitious” it’s “The dogs are howlin'”. This version takes the Rooster line and inserts it in Superstitious. Other than that one phrase they are totally different songs.

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    1. No you can’t….and you can’t accuse him of copying anyone’s sound.
      Those blues guys did that a lot. They would reuse a line here and there which was smart…you would know that phrase well. There was one blues artist I covered…I can’t think of who…but did a song and had another song with the same theme and some of the same lyrics. Maybe Little Walter? I can’t remember for sure.

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      1. Not sure which one you’re thinking of, but there’s “Hoochie Coochie Man” (Willie Dixon, recorded by Muddy Waters), then “I’m a Man” (Bo Diddley), followed by “Mannish Boy” (recorded by Waters, credited to Waters, Diddley, and Mel London).

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      2. Ok…I had to track it down… Lightnin’ Hopkins with Shotgun Blues….that is what I was trying to think of.
        Ok yea…I’ve noticed those songs as well.

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      3. I had to go listen – “Shotgun Blues” and “Bring me my Shotgun”. Musically different, thematically pretty similar. In one version he seems to decide not to shoot her after all. In the other, the gun won’t fire.

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  8. oh, niw you’ve got me digging around the house for my vinyl, Beck-Ola and Truth…I came to Beck backwards from Blow by Blow….but yeah two great albums, and showed the versatilty of Beck’s playing and taste….loved Morning Dew as well….

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    1. I was going to pick a song on this Blow by Blow or Truth… He had so many bullets in his gun. His playing and most importantly sound put him apart from everyone else.

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      1. he’s like the Beatles, influencing musicians today that weren’t alive back then….I just heard a younger Japanese guitarist cover Freeway Jam, was so good….anyway, January, dieting time, the Guess Who’s No Sugar Tonight is my theme song…

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      2. Yea I’m with you on the dieting part! More exercise….and yea…No Sugar Tonight fits it.
        I love hearing covers of artists like this…it does show the influence.

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  9. gotta be the naysayer I’m afraid and say I kind of like the more pop-py Rod the mod. Good guitar work on this to be sure, but me personally, I kind of find I quite enjoy seeing performances like this live but not really listening to it at home or in the car. But we can’t all like the same things!

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    1. Oh the guitar alone draws me in…it’s so innovating…I like Rod of the late sixties and early seventies probably the best…as you know. This and his early solo albums just hit me perfectly.

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  10. Jeff Beck was a helluva guitarist. I was fortunate to see him twice, and it was quite a sonic experience. “I Ain’t Superstitious” not only is a great song but also a good reminder Rod Stewart used to be a legitimate rocker before branching out into other genres. I’ve always liked his smokey vocals but just wished he would have performed better material.

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    1. CB…there was nothing like it out at the time I don’t think. A little different from Cream…this kinda opened the door for Zeppelin.
      I can see why this is a classic album…Beck read the room on what was coming.

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      1. I have to thank my older brother. He had all those great records and I would sneak listens despite maybe taking a few lumps. Fingerprints show up clear on vinyl.
        My listening memory is so tuned into the original release and song sequence that the reissue had some add ons that I wouldnt have added on other than for curiosity.

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      2. A few lumps were worth it for sure. Yea I don’t mind remastering the sound but additions mess with the flow at times if you know the album well…and even if you don’t.

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      4. That was me CB….what is that Bruce line? “I leaned more from a 3 minute record than I ever learned in school.” or something close to that.

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