Beck – One Foot In The Grave
Beck’s third album of 1994, and fifth release overall. While I’d say I like a collection of tracks from all three 1994 albums (I could make one kick-ass record from them), this is probably my favourite full-album listen of the three.
Info, for those who wanna know: “It was recorded prior to the release of Mellow Gold, but was not released until after that album had met critical and commercial success. One Foot in the Grave shows a strong lo-fi and folk influence, and features several songs that are interpolations or covers of songs popularized by artists like Skip James and The Carter Family.
One Foot in the Grave features production, songwriting, and backing vocal assistance by Calvin Johnson, founder of K Records and Beat Happening. It also features performances by Built to Spill members James Bertram and Scott Plouf, Love as Laughter’s Sam Jayne, as well as The Presidents of the United States of America frontman Chris Ballew.” (Wiki)
Recommended!
Posted on 2021-01-20, in posts by aaron and tagged beck. Bookmark the permalink. 12 Comments.
3 albums in ’94?!?! That is on the CCR level of output.
LikeLike
Yeah it was a fertile time, for sure! Either that or it was all the stuff he’d been working on for ages and it just all saw release at once.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Strike when the iron is hot!
LikeLike
I tend to think of it more like an author, they say you have your whole life up to that point to write your first novel. Once you start your second, the clock is ticking. I assume he recorded all sorts of things before actually making a record… well, three of them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I see. Yeah I really don’t know much about Beck. I read Fogerty’s book and he cranked out that many albums because he thought he was supposed to. His manager owned the label. Bit of a conflict!
LikeLike
Well, we’re all the better for his misapprehension! That manager sounds like a go-getter lol!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m awfy fond of this one (it’s my favourite of the ’94 trilogy, too). Fourteen Rivers Fourteen Floods appeared on many, many, many of the mixtapes I would make back in the day. The deluxe set of this also includes a version of It’s All In Your Mind (and an alternative version of Feather In Your Cap).
LikeLike
Of all the deluxes I’d buy (if I saw them in the shoppes), it would be this one! So many great songs, including the one you mention!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m pretty sure Beck wrote Asshole and Petty covered it?
LikeLike
You are correct! I stand corrected and will delete my error. I don’t know why I had it in my head it was a Petty song, live and learn. For what it’s worth, there are zero liner notes in the OFITG booklet, but the writing credit is given to Beck Campbell in the liner notes for the She’s The One soundtrack. Well-spotted!
LikeLiked by 1 person
He covers Lucinda Williams’ Change the Locks too.
LikeLike
So cool. I love thse records, there’s just something about them…
LikeLiked by 1 person