Beck Brings the Funk with ‘Billie Jean’ Cover
After his performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last week, Beck took a break from the lush, sprawling folk of his latest album Morning Phase and busted out some pure funk. You can now check out some fan-shot footage of Beck and his band covering Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”
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After vamping on the track’s classic synth groove and calling out some friends dancing in the audience, Beck cut the track before asking the crowd, “Let’s think about this for a second. Is this something we both want to do?” Following a resounding, obvious, “Yes,” Beck — feeling the rumination, ruination and contamination of something — got down to business, twirling and sliding across the stage, and briefly showing off the falsetto he made famous on Midnight Vultures‘ “Debra.”
Glorious in all its slop, Beck even had his band restart the chorus after he blew the vocals the first time around. Though he admitted he was making it up as he went along, Beck and his band still managed to pull off a seamless, on-the-spot transition from “Billie Jean” into Odelay‘s “Sissyneck” as an added bonus.