One Foot in the Grave

Beck

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 14, 1994)
• Original Release Date: June 9, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: K. Records
• ASIN: B000003RN0
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #107,603 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Before "Loser" skyrocketed him into the pop-star stratosphere, Beck recorded this album of lo-fi tunes and ballads in the basement of K Records founder Calvin Johnson. This largely acoustic LP is a snapshot of the troubadour life Beck led when he was more likely to be found Dumpster-diving than predicting the Zeitgeist. The backwoods folk of "He's a Mighty Good Leader" and Delta blues of "Fourteen Rivers Fourteen Floods" shows past intent study of American traditional music, whereas the cynical critique of California culture voiced in "Cyanide Breath Mint" highlights the lyrical agility of a postpunk poet. In a tribute to the virtues of this album's simplicity, rocker Tom Petty covered "Asshole" with remarkable restraint, leaving the pleasures of the three-chord lament intact. As Beck morphs his way into the cultural landscape, this record lets us know that at least he has roots somewhere. --Lois Maffeo

Product Description
Stripped of the intoxicating production that dominated 'Mellow Gold', songs here prove to be wonderful, vibrant tunes, teeming with emotion, haunting wordplay and simple, memorable melodies. K Records.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent recording, October 5, 1999

By A Customer

People, people, people... A word of caution: this is a mostly ACOUSTIC record. It doesn't have the hip dance beats and sample-heavy tracks like "Odelay." It is also VERY lo-fi and sounds like it was recorded in a bathroom. However, this is a masterpiece. It may seem a little weird and unaccessable after the first few listens, but when it clicks, be prepared to be blown away. The songs have genuine emotion and are extremely well-written. I have yet to find a more honest song than "Girl Dreams" in my life that sums up the feelings of rejection without resorting to "f you" and the sorts... If you liked "Mutations," you should enjoy this album. Listen to the sound samples on amazon for chrissakes, then decide if it is something you might enjoy. "One foot in the grave" is one of my favorites, and the only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is because everything on amazon gets 5 stars. I feel that this imho is not on the level of the best records of all time, but a worthy addition to the collection of anyone who loves music.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True Heartland Folk music, May 17, 2004

By	T.A. "washingmachinemouth" (South Florida) - See all my reviews

While all of the preppy kids were jamming to "Loser," Beck released two more CD's almost simultaneously with MELLOW GOLD. One was STEREOPATHETIC SOUL MANURE (see reviews), the other was this compilation of folk tracks, mis-titled, ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE. Excluding "Burnt Orange Peel," this is a CD full of songs right out of a Southern Baptist hymnal. The music, almost entirely acoustic, is tradtitional as can be, and the lyrics are stellar. The warped thing is how Beck weaves his modern day dimentia into these neoclassical hymns ("There's blood on the futon...there's a kid drinking fire."), and how he projects his own dismal outlook on our preppy society ("I got a funny feeling they got plastic in the afterlife"), yet, the songs still will fool your grandmother. Quite a few of the tunes consist of Beck, by himself, with an acoustic guitar, and no digital effects or overdubs. Songs like "Hollow Log" are crafted so beautifully, as though they could be played on ANY instrument and still sound good. By no means were these guys just screwing around in the studio...there are too many gems on this CD, and too much talent (fellow Texan Chris Ballew of "The Pres. of the USA" accompanies on many of the tunes). This CD can turn any hard rocker into an avid folk listener...the songs are too genuine to ignore. TRY THIS--listen to this CD in an old pick-up truck with no AC driving through Oklahoma, Kansas or Nebraska, and tell me the Spirit doesn't move you...

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beck does folk and blues, April 8, 2005

By	Greg Brady "columbusboy" (Capital City) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This will PROBABLY not be embraced by the Beck fans who love "Loser","Lost Cause" and "Devil's Haircut". It's far from the genre-stitching alt-rock that's made him a household name. Here, Mr. Hansen does a bare-bones album that's mostly him and an acoustic or slide guitar performing songs that sound like they've been pulled out of a Coen brothers movie (albeit with dramatically switched lyrics)...traditional folk and blues sounds although only a couple are covers.

HIGHLIGHTS:
"He's a Mighty Good Leader" is a cover of an old Skip James blues number ("Jesus is a Mighty Good Leader") with a verse removed. Maybe Beck was afraid of offending his fans of other religions? "Cyanide Breath Mint" is a veiled dig at the record industry ("They got people to meet/Shaking hands with themselves/Looking out for themselves")"Hollow Log" uses plenty of traditional blues imagery ('get yourself a pistol','stay up all night gettin' drunk') though it's not a real 12 bar, per se. It's more of a "bluesy" folk song that's very nicely done. "***hole" is probably the closest to his latter day material Beck gets in that it's more produced (shaker,tambourine, a vocal that might be doubletracked, vocal "ooh"s) along with a great lyric about being dominated emotionally in a relationship.("She dangles carrots, makes you feel embarrassed/To be the fool you know you are")"I've Seen the Land Beyond" is faux gospel that sounds like something Woody Guthrie might have written. "Fourteen Rivers, Fourteen Floods" has been described on several Beck sites as a Mississippi John Hurt cover, but I can't seem to find a song by that title or with similar lyrics. Perhaps it's his STYLE but a Beck original? Nice slow Delta style blues with ringing slide guitar and Beck stomping his foot to accompany it. "Girl Dreams" is loosely based on the old Carter Family song "Lovers Lane" and is a great evocation of desire unfulfilled (I first met you down on Lover's Lane/The birds were insane, flapping all about/Softly you would sing, swinging in your swing/It wasn't night, it wasn't day/You're just the girl of my dreams/But it seems my dreams never come true")

VALLEYS:
"Ziplock Bag" features a heavily distorted Beck vocal colliding with atonal slide guitar. Its sole purpose seems to be to annoy household pets. There's a thin line between 'raw and loose' and then there's 'just plain sloppy' music.."See Water" crosses that line to my ears. "Burnt Orange Peel" just sounds to me like a tossed off song, but fans of hardcore might enjoy it. It's an anomaly here in that it's amped up distorted punk...throwing off the album's flow.

BOTTOM LINE:
Fans of traditional blues and folk that aren't too "purist" to give this a listen might be surprised to find some gems. More open-minded Beck fans could enjoy this, too, but it's definitely a departure from anything he does on MELLOW GOLD and later albums. I wasn't sure if I'd like this but was pleasantly surprised.