The Beat Farmers were an American cowpunk band, which formed in San Diego, California, in August 1983, and enjoyed a cult following into the early 1990s before the death of drummer and sometime lead singer Country Dick Montana. Their music has been described as an amalgamation of cow punk, jangle pop, roots rock, hard-twang Americana, country rock, rockabilly, and swamp rock. (More from Wikipedia)
The Beat Farmers grew out of Country Dick & the Snuggle Bunnies and was formed in August 1983. They became one of the leading bands in what became known as “cowpunk” or country punk, a blend of punk rock with country and folk music. Bandmembers were Country Dick Montana (drums, guitar, vocals), Jerry Raney (guitar, vocals), Rolle Dexter Love (bass), and Buddy Blue (guitar, vocals, drums). Joey Harris (guitar, vocals) replaced Blue in the band in 1986; he had previously been in Country Dick & the Snuggle Bunnies.
The Beat Farmers were signed by Rhino Records – mostly known as a reissue label – which released their debut album, Tales of the New West in January 1985; they were then signed by Curb Records. The album includes a cover of “There She Goes Again”, which had been previously recorded by the Crawdaddys. Their 1987 album Pursuit of Happiness included “Make it Last” that initially had a lot of play on country music stations; though that didn’t, er, last once DJ’s decided that the rest of the album was too rock and roll.
Besides their own albums and popular concert appearances throughout Southern California, the Beat Farmers collaborated with numerous musicians; Allmusic lists Mojo Nixon, John Doe of X, Rosie Flores, the Bangles, Los Lobos, Katy Moffatt, blues singer/pianist Candye Kane, and guitarist Dave Alvin, formerly of the Blasters. For his part, Country Dick Montana had several side projects over this period, including the Incredible Hayseeds, Country Dick’s Petting Zoo, Country Dick’s Garage, and the Pleasure Barons.
After enduring problems over several years with Curb Records, the Beat Farmers began touring to support their 1993 album for Sector 2 Records, Viking Lullabies. After Country Dick Montana’s massive heart attack on stage in 1995 during a concert in Whistler, B.C., the remaining bandmembers called it quits a week later.
(January 2015/2)
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Items: The Beat Farmers
