Beck’s “Morning Phase”: A Country or Americana Album?
“I played the Hollywood Pantages Theatre a year or so ago and Beck opened the show for me. So I listened to him behind, backstage. I was so impressed with the way he could do Appalachian music. You know, hillbilly? He’s really good at it. And then of course his own songs. And I especially liked “Rowboat.” It sounded like something I might have written or might have done in the 60’s. You know, when I was kind of going through some weird times.” — Johnny Cash (watch)
Johnny Cash went on to record Beck’s pedal steel doused “Rowboat” on his American Recordings-era Unchained album from 2002.
It’s been my contention for years that if genre bending pioneer Beck ever made a straight up country record, it could have a similar effect as when The Byrds, heavily influenced by Gram Parsons, released Sweetheart of the Rodeo, allowing young hip listeners outside of country’s borders to realize the virtues of the genre. Maybe Beck doesn’t have the type of sway over young hip listeners he once did, but when the initial chatter about his first album in five years called Morning Phase began to surface, it seemed like it might be a candidate for Beck’s long-awaited dedicated dive into country. “The songs are coming out of a California tradition,” Beck told Rolling Stone. “I’m hearing the Byrds, Crosby Stills and Nash, Gram Parsons, Neil Young the bigger idea of what that sound is to me.”
It’s interesting that a lot of the talk into today’s popular music is about the blurring of genre lines and the lack of proper labels for music, when this has been Beck’s medium for going on 25 years. Today’s machinations of genre bending come prepackaged in explanations of how they’re “innovative” and how music must “evolve”, when Beck was doing this stuff, and in much better form before many of these artists were even born. And his genre-bending baseline wasn’t Jason Aldean and T-Pain, but Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, and The Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique. It’s Beck’s respect for the roots of all music, including country, that make him so adept at shifting between genres with ease, and blending influences without disrespecting their origination.
But as hopeful as one may have been that Morning Phase would finally be that Beck foray into country or even Americana we’d been waiting for, neither of these terms is really a fair way to portray this new album. Instead Morning Phase is much more akin to Beck’s subdued and aptly-named Sea Change album from 2002, with a very spatial, atmospheric, and moody approach. Though certainly the California country influences can be inferred throughout Morning Phase, and some mandolin, steel guitar, and other country elements make appearances, this is really a string-filled, emotionally-heavy and sonically-airy album this is meant most for it’s artistic expression and resonant mood that lingers with the listener.
Morning Phase is an audiophile’s dream, with full, rich, vibrant hues of sound, recommended to be imbibed through a big stereo system or high grade headphones. Beck reportedly has made the album available for free streaming on airplanes, which seems very apropros to the spirit and mood of this project. Whereas many of the Byrds and Gram Parsons influences that Beck alluded to being included are things you must listen for, Neil Young’s propensity to simply let chords and the tension and resolution they afford tell the story, is something that’s definitely at the heart of Morning Phase, and principally comprises the two string tracks “Cycle” and “Phase”.
A couple of the issues that linger with the album is that a few of the melodies feel a little recycled, like with the songs “Blue Moon” and “Say Goodbye,” but maybe they’re subtle enough not to be picked up commonly. Morning Phase also feels a little too much like Beck’s previous album Sea Change to the point where it doesn’t have that stark sense of originality you’re usually greeted with by a Beck project. Even the two album covers have a commonality, though this may have been on purpose.
At the risk of sounding obvious, the song “Country Down” is the one track on Morning Phase that country listeners should zero in on if they’re looking for something specific, but this album really doesn’t have a sour note or shallow moment throughout, and you can’t go wrong with giving the entire effort a chance. It’s certainly not country, and not really Americana either in my estimation, but that in no way should hinder Morning Phase from being considered good.
1 3/4 of 2 guns up.
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March 9, 2014 @ 7:12 pm
I will admit that I never paid much attention to Beck in the past.
After giving a cursory listen to the song posted here, I must say that I should delve further into, not only this album, but the entire Beck catalog.
March 12, 2014 @ 8:22 am
Beck is an extraordinary talent. Check out the album “Sea Change.” Fantastic song writing on that album.
March 9, 2014 @ 8:01 pm
I’m not alone in this interpretation, but I happen to think it’s no accident that “Morning Phase” has parallels to “Sea Change” right down to the album cover.
“Morning Phase” actually picks up where “Sea Change” left off, so it is like a sequel of sorts.
Conceptually, “Sea Change” centered around the story of the dissolution of a relationship. Here, “Morning Phase” reflects on coming to terms/coping with estrangement and the break-up and after much struggle, finally accepting and being able to move past it.
“Morning Phase”, to me, is a reference to the light that’s shed when you finally let it go and accept a new day has come: including figuratively with a chapter in your life. “Waking Light” helps tie the concept full circle.
March 9, 2014 @ 8:05 pm
I’m a little surprised, on a side note, you chose to review this particular album. But I certainly can’t complain either in that good music is good music, regardless of its according genre! I’m just glad you included the disclaimer and end-note on that note! ^__^
March 9, 2014 @ 9:19 pm
With all the chatter surrounding this album as potentially being heavily influenced by The Byrd’s country era and Gram Parsons, and with a lot of folks calling it Beck’s Americana album, it was on my radar for a Saving Country Music review probably more than a Beck album would normally be. I listened to it to see just how country it was, and even though it wasn’t very country at all, a review formulated in my head and I wrote it.
Some people have the misconception that if I write a review for one thing, that a review DOESN’T get written for something else. Or that if I don’t write a review for something, I must not like it or know about it. I listen to a lot of music that doesn’t get reviewed. In the end the winning formula for something being reviewed is me being able to find the words to convey what I think about the music. Sometimes even with music I love, that is a great challenge.
March 9, 2014 @ 9:34 pm
I see, and I respect that.
In the event you do find the words to sum up particular reviews that reside outside of the scope of country/Americana altogether, you can either submit them to the likes of American Songwriter or related zines, or otherwise create a companion page (though I understand how belaboring it would inevitably be trying to manage not one but TWO pages). I would certainly give them a chance.
March 10, 2014 @ 11:22 am
I entrust that the Saving Country Music readers to understand that even when I do a review for someone like Beck or Tom Waits or Neil Young or whomever, that the focus is always on country music, and these are simply tangents meant to frame more global themes covered by the site in a bigger context. I’ve written for quite a few other periodicals over the years, but if I can any way justify putting it here, then that will always be my priority.
March 9, 2014 @ 9:08 pm
Way too generous of a review. I stopped drinking the Beck as a country alternative savior Kool-Aid years ago. His work with Jack White on run-offs like “It’s My Fault For Being Famous” and tribute cameos wore off on me when this album was released. The album is like chasing a bottle of Sudafed with Ambien while holding a turkey leg. Two busted squirt guns down!
March 9, 2014 @ 9:45 pm
It’s funny, because I’ve never once considered Beck’s style nodding generously to country (though I agree with Trigger that he respects each genre he does dabble with and doesn’t merely chase trends or dilute genres)
“Alternative” is such a meaningless term by now (especially considering most singles that have topped the Alternative chart over these past two years have also received massive crossover airplay, with the only notable exceptions being “Gold On The Ceiling” by the Black Keys and “Out Of My League” by Fitz & The Tantrums. Even more importantly, many of these chart-topping releases from the likes of fun., Imagine Dragons, Lorde, Gotye, Capital Cities and Bastille were climbing the chart on Mainstream Top 40 radio at the same time they were climbing the Alternative chart. How can you can call a format “Alternative” if all these releases are simultaneously climbing BOTH that format and Pop at once? And vice-versa?
So calling Beck an “Alternatve” audience is self-defeating. But, he certainly embodies the spirit and disposition of that label better than most anyone out there in the relative mainstream. I can’t call him rock, and I can’t call him folk, and I can’t even call him “anti-folk”.
March 10, 2014 @ 10:45 am
Yeah, I kind of agree. Maybe not two guns down, but its not very good. I’d probably give it a guns holstered. I thought Sea Change had a lot of good stuff on it, but this is generally forgettable. I think maybe I’m just tired of Beck to be honest though. He was never that good at any genres he dabbled in.
March 9, 2014 @ 9:56 pm
A little off topic here, but whatever. I am a huge Dwight Yoakam fan and I was eagerly awaiting his 3 Pears album. When I heard Beck was producing a pair of tracks I was quite excited. Listening to Beck was one of the first things that weakened my abhorrence of country when I was in high school. I was firmly in the thick of the early 90’s alternative explosion and naturally fell in with Beck with the release of his Mellow Gold album. I saw him perform at UC Davis and it the most country thing I had witnessed at that point in my life and it baffled me. I just took is as him being weird. However, even on Mellow Gold there were numerous hints of country but digging deeper into early stuff like Stereopatheticsoulmanure, including the aforementioned Rowboat”, revealed how deep Beck’s country roots are, especially in the southern California stuff. This was further evidenced by his duet with Emmylou Harris singing Sin City on a Gram Parsons tribute. So his work with Yoakam seemed like a natural fit and indeed, those were the highlights of the album. The steel guitar on Missing Heart sounded like it was lifted right out of The Gilded Palace Of Sin. So when I read Beck’s statement about what the influences on this album I was not surprised.
All this to say, I think it is a great album and though it is not country per se, it has a lot more respect for the tradition and roots of country than most of the drivel that comes out of Nashville. Beck may not be playing country music all the time but it is obvious that he loves it.
March 10, 2014 @ 11:15 am
Shastacatfish, cool nickname. Is that referring to the same Lake Shasta from the Haggard song Kern River?
“One night in the moonlight,The swiftness swept her life away.
And now I live on Lake Shasta, And Lake Shasta is where I will stay.”
March 10, 2014 @ 11:51 am
It’s funny you mention that. Catfish was my nickname when I was a kid and now I live at the foot of Mount Shasta, which is a massive volcano in far northern California. You can get a sense of the area on my little contribution to the internet: http://www.hikemtshasta.com
Shasta Lake get’s its name from Shasta County, which gets its name from Mount Shasta, even though the mountain is now in Siskiyou County and no longer in Shasta County. Merle Haggard still lives out on the lake (the largest reservoir in California, for what it is worth) and I have seen him and his daughter down in the Redding area, not that it matters.
March 10, 2014 @ 12:42 pm
Cool website. Thanks for the info.
March 10, 2014 @ 7:30 am
If we’re going to talk about people from the Pop/Rock side of the house and country, to me no one has ever captured country like Dire Straits did (and I’ll still maintain to this day there is no better album to use for testing speakers and stereos than “Brothers In Arms”).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZfnJjWQXig
March 10, 2014 @ 7:39 am
i don’t know about the “hip” part, but this quote applies directly to Beck’s influence on my musical taste:
“…allowing young hip listeners outside of country”™s borders to realize the virtues of the genre.”
someone gave me a copy of Mutations as a gift, back in 1998. i listened to it all the time, and the songs that appealed to me most sounded like what i thought country music must sound like. not knowing much of anything about country music, my reaction was, “i need to get something else that sounds like this”. as little as i knew about country music, i managed to associate Hank Williams’ name with it, so i bought 20 Greatest Hits. it took about a year, but i eventually started listening to that every day.
then in early 2000, i saw Beck, and Hank 3 was the opener. i got Rising Outlaw after that and have followed Hank ever since. for me, more than any other single artist, Beck gets the credit for the music i listen to today, even though almost none of it is his.
March 10, 2014 @ 10:47 am
That’s a cool story. Funny how that kind of stuff happens.
March 11, 2014 @ 7:16 am
thanks. there were definitely a lot of coincidences involved that make for a pretty good story that’s way too long for the comments, but it includes a breakup followed by me eventually getting together with my wife.
March 10, 2014 @ 3:25 pm
I was going to mention Mutations too. I do think there were some good country’ish’ songs on that album. That came out when I was in high school. I remember if I could get a day out of school and off work, I’d go out alone into the everglades with a fishing pole, discman, backpack of cds, and a pocketful of various illegal substances and fish and watch the gators swim by all day. I think mutations was what I listened to the most out there. However, I can’t say I’ve been drawn to any of Beck’s music since.
March 11, 2014 @ 7:05 am
those sound like days well spent.
March 14, 2014 @ 6:40 am
Mutations is by far the album of my generation that best accomplished some country “crossover”, in my opinion. I think that’s due to it being more country blues rather than country rock. I’ve never been able to get behind the droning rock of the Uncle Tupelo/Sunvolt/Wilco/Ryan Adams sound that brought many people of my era to country.
March 14, 2014 @ 9:33 pm
Beck is the ultimate honey trap for reviewers and others who take themselves too seriously. Mellow Gold was good, Odelay was fantastic, Mutations was very good… the rest? Simply boring.
This guy is the laziest musician ever.
I’ve been listening to him for 20 years now, and he bores me more and more. Lazy music is a waste of time, and that’s something Beck excels at.