Band
The Beat Farmers > M

The Beat Farmers were a cowpunk band which formed in San Diego, California, United States in 1983. For most of the band’s career, its lineup consisted of Country Dick Montana (vocals, drums, guitar), Jerry Raney (guitar, vocals), Buddy Blue (guitar, vocals) and Rolle Dexter Love (bass). Blue replaced original guitarist Joey Harris, who left the band in 1986. The band issued seven albums - “Tales of the New West” (1985), “Glad ‘n’ Greasy” (1986), ... “Van Go” (1986), “The Pursuit of Happiness” (1987), “Poor and Famous” (1989), “Viking Lullabys” (1994) and “Manifold” (1995) - before Country Dick Montana’s 1995 death ended the band. In 1984, they were signed to a one-off-deal record deal with Rhino Records. The first album, Tales of the New West, was produced by Blasters / Los Lobos saxophonist Steve Berlin and released in January, 1985. The album included cover songs "Reason to Believe" by Bruce Springsteen, and "There She Goes Again" by The Velvet Underground, and "Never Going Back by John Stewart. It also featured their most well known song, "Happy Boy", which gained national exposure through the Doctor Demento Radio Show, and was played as a novelty song across the country, notably by disc jockeys Jim McInnes and Pat Martin on San Diego radio station KGB-FM and on Pittsburgh station WDVE, where it has been played weekly for more than twenty years. In 1985, they traveled to England to record Glad 'N' Greasy, a six-song EP for Demon Records. It was co-produced by Graham Parker and The Rumour keyboardist Bob Andrews and included a dancehall version of Neil Young's "Powderfinger" and Country Dick singing of "Beat Generation" with backing vocals from Dave Alvin, Nick Lowe, Gene Taylor, Dan Stuart, and Loudon Wainwright III. Their month-long tour of England drew praise from critics, particularly from Melody Maker, whose editor followed them around and subsequently compared them to The Beatles. In 1986, the band continued to tour and signed a seven record deal with Curb Records. Fed up by working with Curb Records, Buddy Blue left the band. Their major-label debut Van Go was produced by Craig Leon and featured performances by both Blue and new member Joey Harris, who previously played with John Stewart, The Speedsters, and Country Dick and the Snuggle Bunnies. The next year, The Pursuit of Happiness was released on Curb Records/MCA. The single "Make It Last" was briefly played on dozens of Country-Western stations across the nation, but the rest of the album was too rock n' roll oriented for the format, and the single was dropped from rotation. "Hideaway" was featured in the soundtrack to the film Major League and "Big Big Man" was featured in The Garbage Pail Kids Movie. Poor and Famous was released in 1989, and included "King of Sleaze", a collaboration by Montana and Mojo Nixon. Later in the year, Montana and Harris formed a side project with Nixon and Alvin called the Pleasure Barons, a group that specialized in lounge music. The Beat Farmers finished the year with a three night stand at San Diego's Bacchannal nightclub. The album Loud and Plowed and . . . LIVE!! was culled from these three nights and released the next year. In 1991 Montana was treated for a thyroid condition and continued to visit the doctor's office for cancer treatments. The band appeared on Late Night with David Letterman on Friday, June 14, 1991 on NBC. Over the years, the band grew increasingly dissatisfied with its relationship with Curb Records, and repeatedly attempted to get out of their seven-album contract. Finally succeeding in 1993, the group began to record Viking Lullabys in Vancouver, Canada. It was released in August 1994 by Sector 2, an Austin, Texas record label. In 1995, Curb/MCA released The Best of the Beat Farmers without the consent or involvement of the band. That same year, the Beat Farmers released Manifold, their second record for Sector 2. Paul Kamanski, who wrote several songs on previous Beat Farmers releases, appeared on vocals and guitar. On November 8, 1995, Country Dick Montana died of a heart attack while performing The Girl I Almost Married, three songs into the set at the Longhorn Saloon in Whistler, British Columbia. The remaining Beat Farmers decided to dissolve the band three days later. In 1996, Bar None Records of Hoboken, N.J posthumously released The Devil Lied to Me, the Country Dick Montana solo album. The performers included members of the Farmers, Katy Moffatt, Rosie Flores, Nixon, and Alvin. The "fiery collection of roots rock, balls-out country, and hilarious snippets from Country Dick's twisted subconscious" included King of the Hobos, Dave Alvin's Rich Man's Town, Paul Kamanski's Indigo Rider, a cover of Tom Petty's Listen to Her Heart. In 2002, Rhino Records digitally remastered and reissued the first CD release of Glad n' Greasy, now subtitled "The Lost Beat Farmers Recording", and an extended version of Tales of the New West. The remaining members formed several new bands including Raney-Blue (Jerry Raney and Buddy Blue), Powerthud (Jerry Raney and Joey Harris), The Joey Show (Joey Harris), Joey Harris and The Mentals, The Flying Putos (Jerry Raney, Buddy Blue, & Rolle Love), and The Farmers (Jerry Raney, Rolle Love and Buddy Blue). In 2006, Buddy Blue died of a heart attack on April 2 at his La Mesa home at the age of 48. Also that year, a live recording of an early show was released as The Beat Farmers Live at the Spring Valley Inn, 1983 on Clarence Records. In January 7, 2013, the band put on the third in an annual series of reunion shows at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, California. This show featured Raney (playing with his band, The Farmers), Harris (playing with his band, Joey Harris and the Mentals) and Love (who now plays with Billy Joe & the Roosters) on stage once again as the Beat Farmers. They also played with Dave Alvin, Steve Berlin, Mojo Nixon, and Paul Kamanski as a tribute to Country Dick Montana and Buddy Blue. The show is called The Dick Blue Ball- a Beat Farmers Celebration of the Life and Times of Country Dick and Buddy Blue. See more [+]