One Foot in the Grave

One Foot in the Grave is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock musician Beck, released in June 1994 on K Records, an independent label. It was recorded prior to the release of Mellow Gold, but was not released until after that album had met critical and commercial success. One Foot in the Grave shows a strong lo-fi and folk influence, and features several songs that are interpolations or covers of songs popularized by artists like Skip James and The Carter Family. One Foot in the Grave features production, songwriting, and backing vocal assistance by Calvin Johnson, founder of K Records and Beat Happening. It also features performances by Built to Spill members James Bertram and Scott Plouf, Love as Laughter'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 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 Skip James' "Jesus is a Mighty Good Leader", utilizing the chords, melody and most of the lyrics from the original.