PERSONALITY PROFILE
Beck has the best of both worlds
By Mac Randall
You've got to hand it to Beck—he's one of the few young musicians to have
emerged in the last decade who’s both adored by the media and capable
of selling lots of records. This scrawny strawheaded dude with the deep, frog
gish drawl and funny way of pronouncing his r's has taken a zany collagist
approach to making pop music and turned it into an astonishing success. His
secret: never forgetting the value of a good hook. For proof of that, look no
further than the instantly memorable slacker chorus of his breakout 1993 hit
"Loser," the "two turntables and a microphone" mantra that punctuates
1996's "Where It’s At,” or the punchy payoff line of 1999’s "Sexx Laws."
Raised in what cliche-mongers would call “a Bohemian household."
Beck Hansen grew up listening to American roots music—blues, folk and
country^but absorbed it through the filter of Top 40 radio and his multi
cultural L.A. neighborhood. He has often said in interviews that as a
teenager he could hear an implied hip-hop beat in the songs of old Delta
bluesmen like Son House; he’d go on to make that beat explicit in his own
work. As he once explained to the British music magazine Mojo, “I'm inter
ested in a lot of the disposable music of our time, but I want to try and
fuse [it] with things that are a little more substantial and see what kind of
friction happens.”
Beck Hansen
30
July 8, 1970
Los Angeles, CA
Albums Mellow Cold (1994), Odelay (1996),
Mutations (1998), and Midnite Vultures (1999); touring art exhibition
featuring his own work and that of his grandfather Ai Hansen, a
founder of the avant-garde group Fluxus.
Three—two in 1996 (Best Alternative Rock
Performance for Odelay, and Best Male Rock Vocal for "Where It’s
At”) and one in 1999 (Best Alternative Rock Performance, Mutations)
Winona Ryder
Mississippi John Hurt
Beck.com
Painting
Nicotine and gravy
Beck's father, David Campbell, has been a violist
and musical arranger for over 30 years, working with Carole King,
Billy Joel, Linda Ronstadt, Bon Jovi, and Alanis Morissette. Although
Beck didn't grow up with Campbell, the two obviously share a musical
as well as a familial connection—Campbell contributed viola and
.arrangements to Beck’s last two albums.
Becks mother, Bibbe Hansen (bibbe.com), was
a frequenter of Andy Warhol’s legendary Factory in the '60s, and
starred in one of Warhol’s films at age 13. She also ran the Troy Cafe
in Los Angeles, where Beck played many a gig in the early '90s.
Beck links
Beck World
beck4beck.tripod.com
Official Beck site
beck.com
Enchanting Wizard of Rhythm
members.theglobe.com/fishbulb_2/default.html
Planet Beck
geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/5444/beck.html
Set lists
geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Towers/9782/beck.html
Cyanide Beck Mint
chez.com/cyanidebeckmint