Charles Roscoe Beck (born April 6, 1954) is an American

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

with a reputation as "a solid bottom-liner". Beck has played with artists like

Robben Ford Robben Lee Ford (born December 16, 1951) is an American blues, jazz, and rock music, rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets (band), Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harriso ...

, Eric Johnson,

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

, and

The Dixie Chicks The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. The band consists of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and Emily Stra ...

. He is also a successful

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

with two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nominations.

Career

Roscoe Beck is from Poughkeepsie, New York, and he moved in 1971 to

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, where he met and played with Eric Johnson and brothers

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (also known as SRV; October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble. Although his ma ...

and

Jimmie Vaughan Jimmie Lawrence Vaughan Jr. (born March 20, 1951) is an American blues rock guitarist and singer based in Austin, Texas. He is the older brother of the Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. He was a founding member of The Fabulous Thunder ...

. Later in the 1970s he formed an R&B-fusion band called "Passenger" which in 1979 played a gig in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

where

was present and asked them to be the opening act on his tour. After having shuffled between Austin and Los Angeles for a year, Beck was asked to play on

's album ''

Recent Songs ''Recent Songs'' is the sixth studio album by Leonard Cohen, released in 1979. Produced by Cohen alongside Henry Lewy, it was a return to his normal acoustic folk music sound after the Phil Spector-driven experimentation of '' Death of a Ladies' ...

''. The experience led him to start working as a record producer, and in 1986 he produced

Jennifer Warnes Jennifer Jean Warnes (born March 3, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter who has performed as a vocalist on a number of film soundtracks. She has won two Grammy Awards, in 1983 for the Joe Cocker duet " Up Where We Belong", and in 1987 fo ...

' Grammy-nominated album ''

Famous Blue Raincoat "Famous Blue Raincoat" is a song by Leonard Cohen. It is the sixth track on his third album, '' Songs of Love and Hate'', released in 1971. The song is written in the form of a letter (many of the lines are written in amphibrachs). The lyric tell ...

''. He also played bass and served as musical director for Leonard Cohen's 2008–2010 and 2012–2013 world tours. Beck played with Robben Ford through the 1980s, which in 1992 resulted in the release of the debut album of Robben Ford & The Blue Line, with Tom Brechtlein on drums. The band received a Grammy nomination for their 1993 album, ''

Mystic Mile ''Mystic Mile'' is an electric blues album by Robben Ford and the Blue Line that was released in 1993. In this second album for Stretch, Ford shows growth as songwriter besides his virtuosity as a guitarist. The album featured the collaborati ...

''.

Signature bass

The Fender Guitar company produced two different signature bass guitars that carried the Roscoe Beck name, available in 4 and 5-string versions. Both were based on the

Fender Jazz Bass The Fender Jazz Bass (often shortened to "J-Bass") is the second model of Bass guitar, electric bass guitar created by Leo Fender. It is distinct from the Fender Precision Bass, Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midra ...

. The 5-string version was introduced in 1995, followed by a 4-string version in 2004. Discontinued in 2009.

Discography

* ''Walk On'' (2005)

Contributions

* ''

'' –

(1979) * '' Tones'' (Eric Johnson) (1986) * ''

'' (Jennifer Warnes) (1986) * ''

Talk to Your Daughter ''Talk to Your Daughter'' is a blues rock album by the American musician Robben Ford, released in 1988. The cover version of Albert King's "Born Under a Bad Sign" was used on the soundtrack to the Clint Eastwood movie ''Pink Cadillac (film), Pink ...

'' (Robben Ford) (1988) * '' Ah Via Musicom'' (Eric Johnson) (1990) * ''

& The Blue Line'' (1992) * ''

'' (Robben Ford) (1993) * ''

Venus Isle ''Venus Isle'' is the third studio album by guitarist Eric Johnson, released on September 3, 1996, through Capitol Records. The album reached No. 51 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200,Famous Blue Raincoat "Famous Blue Raincoat" is a song by Leonard Cohen. It is the sixth track on his third album, '' Songs of Love and Hate'', released in 1971. The song is written in the form of a letter (many of the lines are written in amphibrachs). The lyric tell ...

'' (1987)

References

External links

Roscoe Bec
playing the National Anthem
on Bass (Globe Life Park (Texas Rangers ballpark) Arlington Texas. 1953 births Living people American bass guitarists Record producers from New York (state) People from Poughkeepsie, New York {{US-bass-guitarist-stub