Reluctant rock star and style-transcending musical pioneer, Beck burst onto the scene in 1994 with his critically acclaimed album "Mellow Gold." Its oddball folk-rap hit, "Loser," struck a chord with a Dylanesque slide guitar, psychedelic samples, a hip-hop beat, and the...
[more]Reluctant rock star and style-transcending musical pioneer, Beck burst onto the scene in 1994 with his critically acclaimed album "Mellow Gold." Its oddball folk-rap hit, "Loser," struck a chord with a Dylanesque slide guitar, psychedelic samples, a hip-hop beat, and the catchy refrain, "I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?" Despite his protests, the scruffy guitarist and singer-songwriter was declared the voice of the slacker generation.
But Beck refuses such easy categorization, combining a jumble of influences -- folk, blues, country, hip-hop, and punk rock, with electronica thrown in for good measure -- into a new sonic collage. His stream-of-consciousness, often improvisational lyrics are sometimes tormented, other times hilariously funky.
Born to bohemian parents in 1970, Beck David Campbell grew up in Los Angeles with his mother, Bibbie Hansen, who was part of Andy Warhol's New York Factory scene in the '60s. Beck adopted the do-it-yourself ethic of the hardcore punk rockers that his mother befriended, but was more deeply influenced by the blues of Leadbelly, Mississippi John Hurt, and Blind Willie Johnson (and perhaps by genetics: his father was a bluegrass musician).
Beck dropped out of school after junior high and dabbled in New York's anti-folk scene before returning to Los Angeles to work in a video store and play in coffee shops and punk clubs. He was discovered by Tom Rothrock, owner of the independent label Bong Load Records; the company released "Loser" as a 12-inch single in 1993. The song went into constant rotation on alternative radio and made the subsequent album a hit.
After the success of "Mellow Gold," Beck followed up with the less-hyped albums, "Stereopathetic Soul Manure" (1994) and "One Foot in the Grave" (1994), before striking gold once again with "Odelay" (1996). Hot producers the Dust Brothers mixed quirky samples throughout the album, which earned Beck two Grammys in 1997. "Midnite Vultures" (1999), was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as a "wildly inventive collective of party delights" and furthered his reign as the world's most successful loser.
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