Roscoe Beck

Charles Roscoe Beck is an American bassist with a reputation as "a solid bottom-liner". Beck has played with artists like Robben Ford, Eric Johnson, Leonard Cohen, and The Dixie Chicks. He is also a successful record producer with two Grammy Award nominations.

Career
Roscoe Beck is from Poughkeepsie, NY, and he moved in 1971 to Austin, where he met and played with Eric Johnson and brothers Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Vaughan. Later in the 1970s he formed an R&B-fusion band called "Passenger" which in 1979 played a gig in Los Angeles where Robben Ford 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 Leonard Cohen's album Recent Songs. The experience led him to start working as a record producer, and in 1986 he produced Jennifer Warnes' Grammy-nominated album Famous Blue Raincoat. 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.

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

Discography

 * Walk On (2005)

Contributions

 * Recent Songs – Leonard Cohen (1979)
 * Tones (Eric Johnson) (1986)
 * Famous Blue Raincoat (Jennifer Warnes) (1986)
 * Talk to Your Daughter (Robben Ford) (1988)
 * Ah Via Musicom (Eric Johnson) (1990)
 * Robben Ford & The Blue Line (1992)
 * Mystic Mile (Robben Ford) (1993)
 * Venus Isle (Eric Johnson) (1996)

As a producer

 * Famous Blue Raincoat (1987)