Jeff Beck knows he’s enough of a perfectionist to drive himself crazy. But he’s learning to be better about it.

At least a little bit.

“You do think ‘Wow, I got this far with that. Why didn’t we do better?’ ” says the British guitarist, who’s been inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, with the Yardbirds and as a solo artist. “I think you get mildly satisfied within a certain reason of time. You think, ‘Oh, this is great’ and you might put it on — rarely.

“I put it on the car radio just for kicks if it sounds really great, but I never want to get too hung up on anything, because too many times (if) you hear something, you’re gonna want to change it. It’s best left alone if you felt that was how it sounded best. Just leave it.”

Beck’s latest outing is “Emotion & Commotion,” his first studio album since 2003’s Grammy Award-winning “Jeff” and, hitting No. 11 on the Billboard 200 in March, his highest-ever chart debut in the U.S. The 10-track set is also one of his most ambitious, with a 64-piece orchestra on several tracks and excursions into opera (Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma”) and standards (Harold Arlen’s “Over the Rainbow”) as well as blues and rock.

“I’ll give anything a shot,” explains Beck, 65, who also collects and restores vintage Ford automobiles. “It’s taken me awhile to learn or to realize that as long as I impress with the delivery of the thing, people could give a (hoot) where I’m playing.

“When you’re young and aggressive, you want to blow down buildings. Now it doesn’t have to be knocking down buildings with heavy metal or techno. They seem to be just as happy watching me play other things.”



Jeff Beck and Alana Grace perform at the 94.7 WCSX Birthday Jam at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, June 20, at the Fillmore Detroit, 2115 Woodward Ave. Tickets are sold out. Call 313-961-5451 or visit www.livenation.com.