Beck was born in Los Angeles, California, to David Campbell (a musician and son of a Presbyterian minister) and Bibbe Hansen (a former dancer for The Velvet Underground, founding member of the satirical band Black Fag, and visual artist). When his parents separated, Beck stayed with his mother and brother in Los Angeles, where he was influenced by that city's diverse musical offeringsâeverything from hip-hop to latin musicâand his mother's art scene â all of which would later reappear in his recorded and published work.
Although Beck's work defies easy description, his eclecticism and genre experiments have sparked comparisons with Prince, though Beck was undoubtedly a less prolific artist, and drew on an absurdist, free-flowing lyrical style totally original when first exposed to mainstream audiences (indeed, some critics labeled him and his breakthrough single Loser as novelties - see below). Despite this individualism, Beck's music was very much a product of the 90s and the media age in general, with hip hop, indie/underground rock, electronic music and genre-benders like the Beastie Boys as notable touchstones; in addition, some critics could not resist likening his head-spinning lyrical aesthetic to a post-modern Bob Dylan sensibility.
After dropping out of high school in the mid-1980s, Beck educated himself and traveled widely. In Germany, he spent time with his grandfather, fluxus artist Al Hansen. His artistic relationship with his grandfather may have influenced both his album art and sense of musical collage. He began the musical activity in 1988. The late-80's found him in New York City as part of the punk-influenced anti-folk music movement.
Beck returned to Los Angeles at the turn of the decade, destitute but motivated. During this time, Beck sought out (or snuck onto) stages at venues all over Los Angeles, from punk clubs to coffee shops. Some of his earliest and most thought-provoking recordings were achieved by working with Tom Grimley at Poop Alley Studios, a part of WIN Records.
In this atmosphere of heady creativity the founders of Bong Load Custom Records discovered Beck. Their 1993 12" vinyl Loser, from an initial run of 530 copies, created a sensation on college and alternative radio that led to a furious bidding war between labels to sign Beck. Eventually, he chose Geffen Records, who offered him terms that included an allowance for the release of independent albums while under contract (he may have owed Bong Load another album or two).
In 1994, Geffen's official debut release of Mellow Gold made Beck a mainstream smash success; it also led to his iconic status as the "slacker" representative of the alternative rock scene, although the title of the song had been ironic.
At the same time, he released Stereopathetic Soulmanure on Flipside Records and One Foot in the Grave on independent K Records. Beck took his act on the road with the 1995 Lollapalooza tour. Still, some critics panned him as a one-hit wonder. Audiences' (especially at Lollapalooza) familiarity with Loser only, and their general disinterest in his other work only reinforced his image as a one-hit wonder. It's been said said that Beck released Stereopathetic Soulmanure and One Foot in the Grave to shake the Gen X-ers that associated themselves with him and made "Loser" their slacker anthem.
The one-hit wonder label was put to rest with the release of 1996's Odelay, a collaborative effort with The Dust Brothers, producers of Paul's Boutique. The lead single, "Where It's At", received heavy airplay and its video was in constant rotation on MTV. Within the year, Odelay had received perfect reviews in Rolling Stone and Spin magazines, having been listed on countless "Best of" lists (it topped the Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 'Album of the Year'), receiving double-platinum status, and earning an impressive number of industry awards, including two Grammys.
Odelay was followed in 1998 by Mutations. Produced by Nigel Godrich of Radiohead fame, it was intended as a stopgap measure before the next album proper. Recorded over two weeks, during which Beck recorded one song a day, the sessions produced 14 songs. Mutations was a departure from the electronic density of Odelay, and was filled with folk and blues influences. Songs on the album consisted of older tracks, some even dating back as far as 1994.
In 1999, Geffen released the much-anticipated Midnite Vultures, an orgy of sexual and culinary innuendo supported by a world tour. For Beck, it was a return to the high-energy performances that had been his trademark as far back as Lollapalooza.
After Midnite Vultures came Sea Change in 2002, another airy and emotional album with producer Nigel Godrich, which became Beck's first U.S. Top 10 album, reaching # 8. Sea Change was conceptualized as an album with one unifying themeâthe stages following the end of a relationship. The album also featured string arrangements by Beck's father and a sonically dense mix reminiscient of Mutations. The Sea Change tour featured The Flaming Lips as Beck's opening and backing band.
In September 2003, Beck returned to the studio to work on his sixth major-label album. Guero was produced by the Dust Brothers and Tony Hoffer and features a collaboration with Jack White of The White Stripes; it marked a return to Odelay-era sound. The album was released in March of 2005 and despite critical acclaim, the album received a more lackluster response from Beck's indie-oriented fanbase.
Beck married Marissa Ribisi in April 2004, shortly before the birth of their son, Cosimo Henri Hansen. 2004 also saw the release of "10 Years of Mellow Gold," a short documentary about Beck's first album.
Beck's next album, The Information was released on October 3, 2006. It is a largely electronic and ambient, filled with blips and beeps. It was produced by Nigel Godrich, who worked on "Sea Change" and a longtime Radiohead and Thom Yorke producer. The first single was Nausea, an acoustic rock hip hop song. The next single was Cellphone's Dead, and the third single was Think I'm In Love.
His next single, Timebomb, was released on iTunes on August 21, 2007, and the limited edition vinyl 12" was released on November 2, 2007, with an instrumental version of the song on the B-side. In December, 2007, it was announced that Timebomb had been nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance.
Modern Guilt was the eighth studio album by Beck. It was released on July 8, 2008. The album fulfilled Beck's recording contract with Interscope Records. Outside of North America, the record was released by XL Recordings. Its three singles were Chemtrails, Gamma Ray, and Youthless.
Modern Guilt features two contributions by Cat Power and was produced by Beck and Danger Mouse.
The album entered both the Billboard 200 and the Canadian Albums Chart at number four, and gave Beck his first ever Top 10 placing on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number nine. The album has also been Beck's best charting album in Australia, reaching 13. It sold 84,000 copies in its first week. Although successful, this does not match the first week sales of The Information, which were 99,000. In December 2008, Modern Guilt was nominated for Best Alternative Album at the 51st Grammy Awards.
Song Reader, a project Beck released in December 2012, is 20 songs presented only as sheet music, in the hopes that enterprising musicians will record their own versions. The idea of Song Reader came about nearly fifteen years prior, shortly after the release of Odelay. When sent a book of transcribed sheet music for that album, Beck decided to play through it and grew interested in the world before recorded sound. He aimed to keep the arrangements as open as possible, to re-create the simplicity of the standards, and became preoccupied with creating only pieces that could fit within the Great American Songbook. In 2013 Beck began playing special Song Reader concerts with a variety of guests and announced he was working on a record of Song Reader material with other musicians as well as possibly a compilation of fan versions.
In the summer of 2013, Beck was reported to be working on two new studio albums: one a more self-contained acoustic disc in the vein of One Foot in the Grave and another described as a "proper follow-up" to Modern Guilt. Beck expects to release both albums independently. He released two standalone singles over the course of the summer: the electro ballad Defriended and the chorus-heavy I Won't Be Long. A third single, Gimme, appeared on September 17.
In October 2013, it was announced that Beck signed to Capitol Records. Beck released his twelfth studio album entitled Morning Phase on 21 February 2014. For the recording of Morning Phase, Beck reunited with many of the same musicians with whom he had worked on the critically acclaimed 2002 album Sea Change. On January 20, 2014, the album's first single Blue Moon was released. Beck released the second single, Waking Light, on February 4, 2014.
4 years later, on October 13th, 2017, Beck released the second album that was supposed to come out alongside Morning Phase. This album was called Colors. Colors is very different from Beck's previous albums, in which he takes a stab at pop music. Beck's expertise, mixing genres, works in this album when he mixes Alternative Rock, hip hop, and a lot of Pop. The album's earliest single, "Dreams", was released in June 2015, and three more ("Wow", "Dear Life", "Up All Night") were released between June 2016 and September 2017. The title track was released as a single in April 2018. The album won the Best Alternative Music Album and Best Engineered Album (Non-Classic) at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.
After a short wait, Beck released Hyperspace on November 22, 2019. There was little marketing for this album. The whole album is a collaboration with Pharrell Williams, as he produced almost every song on the album. The album's first single was "Saw Lightning" released on April 15, 2019, and had a folk-pop sound to it. It doesn't fit with the rest of the album's synth lo-fi sound. Other singles were "Hyperlife" and "Uneventful Days" on October 17, 2019, and "Dark Places" on November 7, 2019.
2) BECK can refer to a fictional rock band from the Japanese Anime series BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad. The fictional BECK's songs feature in the BECK Original Sound Track. BECK's style and members are highly influenced by various different artists. From vocals in the style of Zack De La Rocha from Rage Against the Machine, guitar influenced by Tom Morello of the same band, the band is highly influenced by rap-rock.
As the series develops, other influence appear, including guitar in the style of Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, and Red Hot Chili Peppers John Frusciante. During the series, the band covers a famous The Beatles song, 'I've got a Feeling'. The name BECK could have possibly been influenced by the first artist Beck, mentioned above. Harold Sakushi, the original author of the series, has confirmed that BECK is generally based around the Red Hot Chili Peppers, being his favourite band.
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
Beck Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Yes, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
Well, you must tell me, baby
How your head feels under somethin' like that
Under your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
Well, you look so pretty in it
Honey, can I jump on it sometime?
If it's really that expensive kind
You know it balances on your head
Just like a mattress balances
On a bottle of wine
Your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
Well, if you wanna see the sun rise
Honey, I know where
We'll go out and see it sometime
We'll both just sit there and stare
Me with my belt
Wrapped around my head
And you just sittin' there
In your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
Well, I asked the doctor if I could see you
It's bad for your health, he said
Yes, I disobeyed his orders
I came to see you, but I found him there instead
You know, I don't mind him cheatin' on me
But I sure wish he'd take that off his head
Your leopard-skin pill-box hat
Well, I see you got a new boyfriend
I never seen him before
Well, I saw him makin' love to you
You forgot to close the garage door
You might think he loves you for your money
But I know what he really loves you for
It's your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
In "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat", Beck interprets Bob Dylan's original 1966 blues-rock tune. Beck delivers a dry, almost dismissive voice in contrast to Dylan's version. The song has a conversational form, making it sound as though Beck is addressing someone specific, as lyrics depict his reactions and observations of the individual sporting a leopard skin pill-box hat. It could be argued that the song is about the ridiculousness of influenced fashion and the pretentious people who indulge in them.
Through ripping into the outlandish hat, Beck sings about how the pillbox hat potentially contorts the person's personality and thinking. He even asks them how their head feels under it, and wonders aloud whether it's a comfortable or expensive style. The man might as well have a bottle of red wine balancing on his head because it's as frivolous and unnatural as the extravagant headwear. Beck points out how simply donning a hat doesn't make someone different but rather looks like they are trying way too hard. Furthermore, Beck sings about how ridiculous the hat and the man looks, as well as the woman he's with. Beck seems to want to poke fun at the whole culture of status, which focuses on what people outwardly wear, rather than who they are inside.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
The singer notices that the addressee is wearing a new leopard-skin pill-box hat.
Yes, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
The singer reiterates that they have noticed the addressee's new hat.
Well, you must tell me, baby
How your head feels under somethin' like that
Under your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
The singer asks the addressee how it feels to wear a hat like that, and specifically asks how their head feels under it.
Well, you look so pretty in it
Honey, can I jump on it sometime?
Yes, I just wanna see
If it's really that expensive kind
The artist compliments the addressee on how good they look in the hat and asks if they can try it on to see if it's as expensive as it looks.
You know it balances on your head
Just like a mattress balances
On a bottle of wine
Your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
The artist notes how well the hat sits on the addressee's head, making a comparison to how a mattress can balance on a bottle of wine.
Well, if you wanna see the sun rise
Honey, I know where
We'll go out and see it sometime
We'll both just sit there and stare
The singer offers to take the addressee to see the sunrise at a special place.
Me with my belt
Wrapped around my head
And you just sittin' there
In your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
The singer describes himself wearing his belt around his head while the addressee sits next to him in their leopard-skin pill-box hat.
Well, I asked the doctor if I could see you
It's bad for your health, he said
Yes, I disobeyed his orders
I came to see you, but I found him there instead
The artist went against medical advice to see the addressee, but instead found the doctor there.
You know, I don't mind him cheatin' on me
But I sure wish he'd take that off his head
Your leopard-skin pill-box hat
The artist doesn't mind that the addressee's partner is cheating on them, but wishes they would take off the hat.
Well, I see you got a new boyfriend
I never seen him before
Well, I saw him makin' love to you
You forgot to close the garage door
The artist observes that the addressee has a new boyfriend and accidentally saw them being intimate through an open garage door.
You might think he loves you for your money
But I know what he really loves you for
It's your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
The singer suggests that the addressee's new boyfriend might not actually love them for who they are, but instead loves the hat.
Contributed by Alice D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Michele NoDespair_Bear
Music is great, don't really care for Beck's vocals here - kind of flat for my taste.
I don't put down others opinions that don't agree, we all have our preferences.
It'd be boring if we all agreed on everything. People get into arguments over which version of this or that is better đ
I don't get it...
Very cool to see comments from 10-12 years ago to the present
https://youtu.be/
e8xZGEHErDA
Fans thought 'electric' Dylan & Band were great or awful ...haha, opinions of Bob haven't changed.
(I agree, I can't listen to some live concerts, it's the voice he 'chooses' to use) He showed his 'normal' range on Self-Portrait, Another Self-Portrait, Blood on the Tracks, Desire
Can't forget Complete Basement Tapes never meant to be released. They definitely had fun & recorded on old reel-to-
reel..a real treat!
Apologies for another long comment, too much espresso! ââ
Michele NoDespair_Bear
Jack White & Bob became friends. Bob visited Jack, said he could repair his gate - since he welds (or used to, started out making gifts for family & friends)
Jack said when he actually thought about Bob sitting & chatting his mind was completely blown, like This is My Life :-)
https://youtu.be/
e8xZGEHErDA
They didn't want Bob to change. Some fans loved it - others..Not.
Seems there's not really 'middle of the road' fans, love or despise usually.
He could sing 'normally' when he wanted. Many songs on Self-Portrait & Another Self-Portrait are proof.
Blue Moon, I've Forgotten More Than You'll Ever Know, Winterlude ~ Goin to Acapolco...can't forget *Complete Basement Tapes*. A treat of covers & originals never meant to be released.
The most bootlegged recordings, Dylan's record co finally released it.
Apologies for wall of text, I got carried awayđ
Good vocals from Bob on Desire & Blood on the Tracks too...
Chris Creel
Haven't heard a Dylan cover this good in ages. Beck killed it!
Michele NoDespair_Bear
There's been quite a few good covers since 12 years ago :-)
Good, not great!
Peace âšđŻïžâš
@Chris Creel, if you're still at this address đ
Michele NoDespair_Bear
@PaulLonden
I agree!
PaulLonden
Sure......not bad......but who would want this when you've got the original.....oh well....for a good cause then....
patrickclark9403
I own virtually everything Dylan has every released and this is one of my favorites covers of all time.
rb 63
Very good cover. Always impressed by the ability of Dylan songs to be adapted to many musical styles. A sign of the great quality of all Dylan songs
Michele NoDespair_Bear
PS: Bob has adapted countless songs of his own to different styles.
Absolutely timeless like lace & fineness đŻïžâšđŻïž
Michele NoDespair_Bear
Music is great, don't really care for Beck's vocals here - kind of flat for my taste.
I don't put down others opinions that don't agree, we all have our preferences.
It'd be boring if we all agreed on everything. People get into arguments over which version of this or that is better đ
I don't get it...
Very cool to see comments from 10-12 years ago to the present
https://youtu.be/
e8xZGEHErDA
Fans thought 'electric' Dylan & Band were great or awful ...haha, opinions of Bob haven't changed.
(I agree, I can't listen to some live concerts, it's the voice he 'chooses' to use) He showed his 'normal' range on Self-Portrait, Another Self-Portrait, Blood on the Tracks, Desire
Can't forget Complete Basement Tapes never meant to be released. They definitely had fun & recorded on old reel-to-
reel..a real treat!
Apologies for another long comment, too much espresso! ââ
StrayBlues
This song is brilliant, going straight onto my iPod!
Michele NoDespair_Bear
@Elmer Hans
Written & recorded by Dylan in 1966, his songs are ageless.
U prolly already knew that..