 One of the most inventive and eclectic figures to emerge from the '90s
alternative revolution,
Beck was the epitome of postmodern chic in an era obsessed with junk
culture. Drawing
upon a kaleidoscope of influences -- pop, folk, psychedelia, hip-hop, country,
blues, R&B, funk, indie rock, noise rock, experimental rock, jazz, lounge,
Brazilian music --
Beck created a body of work that was wildly unpredictable, vibrantly messy,
and bursting with ideas. He was unquestionably a product of the media age -- a
synthesist whose concoctions were pasted together from bits of the past and
present, in ways that could only occur to an overexposed pop-culture junkie. His
surreal, free-associative lyrics were laced with warped imagery and a sardonic
sense of humor that, while typical of the times, only rarely threatened the
impact of his adventurous music.
Beck appropriated freely from whatever genres he felt like, juxtaposing
sounds that would never have co-existed organically (and his habitual irony made
clear that he wasn't aiming for authenticity in the first place). If his musical
style was impossible to pigeonhole, his true identity lay in that rootless,
sprawling diversity, that determination to acknowledge no boundaries or
conventions; everything he did bore the stamp of his distinctively skewed
viewpoint.
Beck caught his big break when the bizarre Delta blues/white-boy-rap
pastiche "Loser" spawned a national catch phrase in early 1994. His debut album,
Mellow Gold, became a hit, and the official follow-up, the
Dust Brothers-produced Odelay, was widely acclaimed as one of the decade's
landmark records.
Beck followed those touchstones with genre exercises in folk and funk that
still managed to dazzle with their variety, solidifying one of the most
creatively vital oeuvres in alternative rock -- or all of modern pop music, for
that matter.
Beck David Campbell was born July 8, 1970, in Los Angeles, and came from
strong creative stock. His father,
David Campbell, was a conductor and string arranger (who later worked on his
son's records); however, he left the family early on, and
Beck adopted the last name of his mother Bibbe Hansen, a regular on
Andy Warhol's Factory scene who appeared in the
Warhol film Prison. Moreover, his grandfather Al Hansen was an important
figure in the Fluxus art movement, best known for launching the career of
Yoko Ono. The young
Beck Hansen grew up mostly in Los Angeles, also spending some time with both
sets of grandparents (Al Hansen in Europe, and his other grandfather -- a
Presbyterian minister -- in the Kansas City area). He dropped out of school in
tenth grade, and began playing acoustic blues and folk music as a street busker,
as well as trying his hand in the poetry-slam scene; in 1988, he produced a
cassette of home recordings called The Banjo Story. In 1989, he moved to New
York and tried to break into the city's short-lived "anti-folk" scene, a
punk-influenced movement of acoustic singer/songwriters that included
Roger Manning and
Michelle Shocked. Finding the going tough, he returned to Los Angeles after
about a year, and attempted to gain exposure at rock clubs by playing a few
songs in between the regular sets.
In the summer of 1991,
Beck was discovered separately by Bong Load label owners
Tom Rothrock (at one of his club performances) and Rob Schnapf (at the
Sunset Junction street fair). The two approached him about cutting some folk
songs backed with hip-hop beats, and
Beck agreed. Gathering in the kitchen of up-and-coming hip-hop producer Karl
Stephenson,
Beck recorded "Loser" and a selection of other tracks. In 1992,
Beck traveled to Olympia, WA, to record for
Calvin Johnson's K label, and also inked a publishing deal with BMG. At the
beginning of 1993,
Beck finally saw his first official releases: the single "MTV Makes Me Want
to Smoke Crack" on Flipside, and the full-length, cassette-only Golden Feelings
on Sonic Enemy. In September, Bong Load finally released "Loser" as a 12"
single, and it became an instant smash on L.A.'s independent radio stations, so
much so that Bong Load had trouble pressing enough copies to keep up with the
demand. Combining a funky drum-machine track and
Beck's nonsense raps with bluesy slide guitar and a sample of
Dr. John's "I Walk on Gilded Splinters," "Loser" sounded like nothing else.
Word spread quickly, helped out by
Sonic Youth's
Thurston Moore, who raved about
Beck after seeing him perform at a backyard party. A major-label bidding war
ensued, and
Beck signed an innovative contract with Geffen that allowed him to continue
releasing uncommercial material on smaller independent labels. In the meantime,
another indie album, the 10" record A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight, was
released in January 1994 by Fingerpaint.
Beck's major-label debut, Mellow Gold, was released in March 1994, and
Geffen also reissued "Loser" on a national level. Instantly labeled an anthem
for the so-called slacker generation, the song was a sensation, climbing into
the Top Ten and hitting number one on Billboard's modern rock chart. Mellow Gold
was a hit, climbing into the Top 20 and eventually going platinum. Initial
reviews were somewhat mixed; many critics raved over the album, but others were
reluctant to lavish praise on an artist they weren't sure would ever be anything
more than a one-hit novelty. Meanwhile,
Beck immediately took advantage of his Geffen deal to release two more indie
albums in 1994. Stereopathetic Soul Manure, issued on Flipside, consisted of
lo-fi noise rock, while One Foot in the Grave -- which included the material
from
Beck's 1992 session for K Records, fleshed out with new recordings -- was a
bare-bones acoustic folk collection. Later that year, Bong Load released another
indie single, "Steve Threw Up."
Beck's low-budget body of work, especially his indie recordings, seemed to
place him as part of the emerging lo-fi aesthetic, whose other adherents
included
Pavement,
Sebadoh, and
Liz Phair.
In the summer of 1995,
Beck undertook his first major promotional tour, appearing as part of the
fifth edition of Lollapalooza. For his second major-label album, he entered the
studio with producers
the Dust Brothers, who'd been a significant force behind
the Beastie Boys' groundbreaking masterpiece Paul's Boutique. Odelay was
released in June 1996 to massive acclaim, and wound up topping many year-end
critics' polls; it was commercially successful as well, reaching the Top 20,
selling over two million copies, and spinning off a string of MTV hits that
included "Where It's At," "Devil's Haircut," "Jack-Ass," and "The New
Pollution." "Where It's At" went on to win a Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal,
and Odelay also won for Best Alternative Music Performance. Late in 1997,
Beck contributed the single "Deadweight" to the soundtrack of the film A
Life Less Ordinary, which starred
Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz. In the spring of 1998,
Beck's artwork was featured in a joint show with that of his late
grandfather.
Also in 1998,
Beck began work on a new, folk-styled album -- in the vein of One Foot in
the Grave -- that was originally slated for release on Bong Load. However,
excited by the results and the presence of
Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, Geffen stepped in and released the album
themselves that November. Titled Mutations, the record's quiet, gently trippy
tone and relatively straightforward approach made it an unlikely progression
from Odelay, and indeed both
Beck and Geffen made it clear that the record was never intended as the
official follow-up. Although everything about Mutations was low-key, it still
became
Beck's third straight Top 20 major-label album. In early 1999, lawsuits
between Geffen, Bong Load, and
Beck began to fly over the abrupt release change of Mutations, but were
eventually worked out in friendly fashion. That summer,
Beck recorded a duet with
Emmylou Harris on "Sin City," a track featured on the
Gram Parsons tribute album Return of the Grievous Angel.
The official follow-up to Odelay took an exhausting total of 14 months
to record. Released in November 1999, Midnite Vultures was designed as a party
record, running the gamut of variations on funk and allowing
Beck to play the roles of R&B loverman and horny
Prince disciple. Reviews ranged from glowing to indifferent, and Midnite
Vultures didn't sell quite as well as its predecessors. Mutations won
Beck another Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance in early 2000,
and he embarked on an extensive international tour in support of Midnite
Vultures. In 2001,
Beck recorded a cover of
David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" with cutting-edge hip-hop producer
Timbaland, and also contributed to French electronic popsters
Air's 10,000 Hz Legend album. His next project was another folk-styled album
titled Sea Change, again recorded with Mutations producer Nigel Godrich and
released by Geffen in September 2002.
Beck promoted Sea Change with a brief acoustic tour beforehand, then
announced that he had hired
the Flaming Lips as his backing band for the more extensive official tour
following its release. For the follow-up to Sea Change,
Beck reenlisted
the Dust Brothers as producers; the resulting album, titled Guero, was
released in March 2005. Guero spawned hits like "E-Pro" and "Hell Yes" and was
seen as a conscious return to the sound and feel of
Beck's Odelay days. Guerolito, a remixed version of the album, appeared in
December 2005. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
Contact Grabow for more information or to book
Beck for your next corporate or private event.
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