Lamenting over the loss, the 'Loser' singer expresses regret for not fighting to get control of his masters and accuses Universal executives of neglecting to tell him about the destruction.
- November 23, 2019
AceShowbiz - The 2008 Universal Studios fire destroyed a double album of Hank Williams covers recorded by Beck.
Over 118,000 assets from artists like Nirvana, R.E.M, Soundgarden, Janet Jackson, Eminem, and Nine Inch Nails were burned up in the blaze, and Beck is still mourning some of the material he lost, especially a record devoted to the country legend.
"In 2001, I went into the studio and recorded 24 Hank Williams covers and did a whole double-album of solo covers of Hank Williams gospel, honky-tonk songs," he told NME. "It was something I did maybe a year before I did (2002 album) 'Sea Change'. That's probably lost. Probably a lot of others. I have tape cassettes of things like that around, but as far as masters they're probably gone".
Beck claims he asked bosses at Universal for his master tapes over and over again before the fire destroyed a warehouse of masters, and he was initially unaware of the scale of the destruction the blaze caused.
"Nobody mentioned it," he said, accusing Universal executives of neglecting to tell him his masters had been destroyed. "I negotiated 20 years ago to try and get control of my masters. I wasn't willing to go to war for it, but it's something I've asked many times. I wish that I had been able to make copies".
"I know, for instance, a record like 'Sea Change', there are dozens and dozens of reels of all kinds of songs and ideas that never got finalised or finished that should have seen the light of day sometime, but probably won't."
