Ongoing History of New Music

Ongoing History Daily: Beck’s background

Beck comes from a very artsy family.  His grandfather is a semi-famous artist who has had gallery shows all over North America.  His mom spent years hanging out with Andy Warhol’s crowd. She’s even one of the dancers in the climactic scene of the 1974 Brian DePalma movie, Phantom of the Paradise. And his father is also in the music business. 

His name is David Campbell, and his specialty is arranging strings and orchestras for other performers.  He works with all kinds of music: R&B, folk, pop from Japan and the Far East plus a million different rock performers. At one point in 2004, there were eleven CDs in the Top 200 that featured some kind of arrangement from David Campbell.  This included both the City of Angels and Armageddon soundtracks plus albums from Hole, the Goo Goo Dolls, and, yes, his son. 

And here’s a cool bit of trivia: David Campbell was born in Winnipeg.  That makes Beck at least part Canadian, doesn’t it?

The last post was on the current vinyl shortage.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 37937 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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