''One Foot in the Grave'' is the third independent studio album and fourth overall by American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

musician Beck, released in June 1994 on

K Records K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent music ...

, an independent label. It was recorded prior to the release of ''

Mellow Gold ''Mellow Gold'' is the third studio album by American musician Beck, released on March 1, 1994 by DGC Records. Critics noted the album's hybrid of various styles including rock, hip hop, folk, blues, psychedelia, and country, as well as iron ...

'', but was not released until after that album had met critical and commercial success. ''One Foot in the Grave'' shows a strong

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

influence, and features several songs that are interpolations or covers of songs popularized by artists like

Skip James Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. AllMusic stated: "This emotional, lyrical performer was a talented blues guitarist and arranger with an impressive ...

and

The Carter Family Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. ...

. ''One Foot in the Grave'' features production, songwriting, and backing vocal assistance by

Calvin Johnson Calvin Johnson Jr., (born September 29, 1985) is an American former football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons with the Detroit Lions. He played college football at Georgia Tech, where he twice ...

, founder of

and Beat Happening. It also features performances by Built to Spill members James Bertram and Scott Plouf,

Love as Laughter Love as Laughter was an American indie rock band from Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Se ...

's Sam Jayne, as well as The Presidents of the United States of America frontman Chris Ballew. The album was recorded at Dub Narcotic Studio, which at the time was housed in Johnson's basement. Like '' Stereopathetic Soulmanure'', the album never charted; however, ''One Foot in the Grave'' strengthened Beck's critical reputation, arguably allowing him to break into the mainstream with ''

Odelay ''Odelay'' is the fifth studio album by American musician Beck, released on June 18, 1996, by DGC Records. The album featured several successful singles, including " Where It's At", " Devils Haircut", and " The New Pollution", and peaked at numbe ...

'' in 1996. As of July 2008, ''One Foot in the Grave'' had sold 168,000 copies in the United States. On April 14, 2009, the album was reissued with 16 bonus tracks, including 12 unreleased tracks, by Beck's own Iliad label.

Song information

"He's a Mighty Good Leader" is a re-write of Delta blues guitarist

' "Jesus is a Mighty Good Leader", utilizing the chords, melody and most of the lyrics from the original. "Fourteen Rivers Fourteen Floods" utilizes a similar melody, lyric and instrumentation to the

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

spiritual " You Gotta Move". The song was popularized by Fred McDowell and was later recorded by

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

on their ''

Sticky Fingers ''Sticky Fingers'' is the 9th British and 11th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. The Stones released it on 23 April 1971 on their new, and own label Rolling Stones Records. They had been contracted by Decc ...

'' album. "Girl Dreams" is an interpolation of a Carter Family composition, titled "Lover's Lane". According to Calvin Johnson, Beck seemed "embarrassed" by the song (possibly by the sensitive lyrics), and had to be convinced to include it on ''One Foot in the Grave''. Beck would record other Carter Family songs during this time period, including "The Storms Are On The Ocean" (recorded as "The World May Lose Its Motion" and released on a 1994 Yoyo Recordings compilation).

Track listing

All songs written by Beck, except where noted.

Japanese bonus tracks

It's All in Your Mind "It's All in Your Mind" is a single by Beck, released in 1995. Although then a non-album single (being a 7" of outtakes from his album '' One Foot in the Grave''), a later version was recorded and included on his album '' Sea Change'' (2002); this ...

" – 2:56 # "Feather in Your Cap" – 1:12 # "Whiskey Can Can" – 2:15 These bonus tracks are out-takes from the ''One Foot in the Grave'' sessions and were issued on the "It's All In Your Mind" 7" single in 1995. Both "Feather in Your Cap" and "It's All in Your Mind" were later re-recorded as full studio productions with a full band. The former was recorded in 1994 and issued as a B-side of the "Sissyneck" and " Jack-Ass" singles in 1997 while the latter appeared in a re-recorded version on the 2002 album '' Sea Change''.

Deluxe edition

A deluxe edition was released on April 14, 2009, featuring 16 additional tracks, with 12 previously unreleased.
All songs written by Beck, except where noted. #

"It's All in Your Mind"* – 2:54 # "Whiskey Can Can"* (Beck, Calvin Johnson) – 2:12 # "Mattress" – 2:31 # "Woe on Me" – 3:10 # "Teenage Wastebasket" (electric & band) – 2:28 # "Your Love Is Weird" – 2:27 # "Favorite Nerve" – 2:05 # "Piss on the Door" – 2:05 # "Close to God"† (Beck, Calvin Johnson) – 2:28 # "Sweet Satan" – 1:45 # "Burning Boyfriend" – 1:12 # "Black Lake Morning" (Beck, Sam Jayne) – 2:25 # "Feather in Your Cap"* – 1:13 # "One Foot in the Grave" – 3:18 # "Teenage Wastebasket" (acoustic) – 1:27 # "I Get Lonesome" (alternate version) – 1:56 *Previously released on the 1995 7"

single "

". †Previously released on the 1998

compilation ''Selector Dub Narcotic'' (in a slightly different mix)

Personnel

*Beck – bass, guitar, drums, vocals *

– vocals * Chris Ballew – bass, guitar * James Bertram – bass *Sam Jayne – vocals * Scott Plouf – drums *Mario Prietto – bongos

In film

Beck's cover of "He's a Mighty Good Leader" was featured in the 2003 film '' Holes'', though it was not included on the soundtrack album.

Covers

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would cover the track "Asshole" on the 1996 soundtrack album '' Songs and Music from "She's the One"''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:One Foot In The Grave (Album) Beck albums 1994 albums K Records albums Anti-folk albums Lo-fi music albums