The Pleasure Barons

Under Appreciated

THE PLEASURE BARONS
 
 

Besides their own albums and popular concert appearances throughout Southern Californiathe Beat Farmers collaborated with numerous musicians; Allmusic lists Mojo NixonJohn Doe of XRosie Flores, the BanglesLos LobosKaty 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 HayseedsCountry Dick’s Petting ZooCountry Dick’s Garage, and the Pleasure Barons.  

 

(January 2015/2)

 

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Over the past few years, I have found the first two albums by Country Dick Montana’s best known band, the Beat Farmers, Tales of the New West and Van Go; under his real name Dan McLain, he was the drummer for the Crawdaddys. The Beat Farmers are known as one of the best country-punk bands, and it is easy to see why. Then I noticed on Amazon.com an even better album by another Country Dick Montana band, the Pleasure Barons, called Live in Las Vegas.  

The Pleasure Barons could be described I guess as a super-group, composed of Country Dick MontanaDave Alvin of the Blasters, and psychobilly legend Mojo Nixon. Besides three Mojo Nixon classics – somewhat toned down from the original recordings and illustrating how well crafted Nixon’s music actually is – the other songs are mostly over-the-top covers of a wide variety of numbers, ranging from Mickey Gilley’s “Closing Time”, to R. B. Greaves’s “Take a Letter, Maria”, to Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love?”, to Joe South’s “Games People Play”, to Jerry Reed’s “Amos Moses”, and finally to “The Definitive Tom Jones Medley”: “It’s Not Unusual”, “Delilah” and “What’s New Pussycat?”. That album is more fun than any record that I have bought in a long, long time.
 
(Year 10 Review)
Last edited: March 22, 2021