Customer Reviews

Loud, Plowed And Live

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Beat Farmers' studio releases never impressed me nearly as much as this raucous '89-'90 New Year's Eve live recording. Like many of the current crop of half-novelty/half-serious cowpunk bar bands (New Duncan Imperials come to mind), the Farmers lure you in with their ha-ha songs and bawdy reworkings of classic tunes. Country Dick's "Lucille" and "Happy Boy" may be the best-known tracks here, but over more listenings it's obvious that there's real substance in their more serious tracks.

"Socialite", "Riverside", and "Hollywood Hills" are as good as the folks whose songs they stomp into the ground (the Kinks, Neil Young). If there ever was a definitive "bar" sound, this would be it. Bad sound, loud guitars, drunken harmonies, and a screaming audience.

With 21 tracks and an appearance by Mojo Nixon ("King Of Sleaze") you just can't go wrong here. This here's a party record of the highest order...and I defy even the most ultra-serious Neil Young fan to hate the Farmers' version of "Roll Another Number" ("...in times like these you gotta know how to talk to the cops," says Dick at one point in his hilarious tirade).

As mentioned in other reviews, the sound is not the best and they probably had more even performances. But I don't think that's the real point of the recording, or the spirit anyway. I think it's more accurate to say it captures the essence of the band instead of merely a performance.

The haphazard recording and playing just adds to the charm. I don't want polished and seemless from these guys, I want a high octane frat party. And this recording captures that in all its glory.

I never got to see the band live, Country Dick may well have been dead before I even discovered them and I see no indication they ever came this far east. But if you "get it", this is their ultimate recording. It's one of my favorites. When you get tired of polished corporate offerings, give this a try.

It is truly alternative, the way it was meant to be.

The live recording was done on New Years Eve in San Diego, but it was at the Bacchanal. I brought my future wife and introduced her to Country Dick (Dan was his real name)before the show. I bought him a tequila and he warned us to get ready for some filth!! That was a unforgettably great night. Since my wife hadn't had the "Farmers" experience yet we sat in the back, missing the audiences orchestra of kazoos for Happy Boy. Dick's gargling, slinging, and pouring liquor into the mouths of anyone remotely close to the stage is a feat never to be matched by another entertainer. The roadies had to cover the amps with tarps when Dick, who played drums, came up to sing. We'll miss the band, and of course Country Dick, but to paraphrase Ol' Blue Eyes- They did it their way.

I saw this band a few times and they always provided a great show. Kind of like the Tubes, funny and over the top, yet the material and musicianship were there as well. This CD is a good representation of their late-period (post Buddy Blue) live show. So this is the Raney/Harris and, of course, the inimitable "Country Dick" version of the band. Song selection is good, though they did not (refused to?) play any of the Buddy Blue songs, which limits the palette a bit. Before the first Obama administration is over, I hope someone

discovers a long lost video tape of a great earlier show and releases it on DVD. There's a decent selection of live clips on You Tube. A fine band with too many members' names preceded by "the late".

With 21 tracks, albeit some of them pretty short, you get more Beat Farmers per buck here than Tipper Gore would feel comfortable about. What we have here is a good time caught in the act. Get it, play it, enjoy it and remember a tip from the road: always ask the bartender for what the gentleman on the floor was having

This was a cookin' band. They wrote some good stuff. Very tight. This record is a good time capsule. I understand they broke up after Country Dick died. Maybe it was too painful for them to keep going. CD certainly was a big part of the band, but what they did that didn't feature him was right on. Hideaway!

All I can really say is buy this CD, you will not be disappointed. The Beat Farmers at their best...LIVE. God bless you Country Dick, I miss you!!

The Beat Farmers(BFers) where an incredible live band; this CD does an impressive job of perserving a Beat Farmers show. Their shows where incredibly fun. My only complant is that there could be more of Country Dick's non-song coments such as the County Dick Autographed Condom. All in all, this CD is a good archive of one of the most fun live acts in the last 20 years.

Three years after Country Dick Montana died (on stage), the Farmers live on in their best album ever released. Every friend that I've borrowed this CD to has purchased their own copy. The essence of the Beat farmers as a rowdy, drinking band is here in a live New Year's eve performance at the Spring Valley Motor Inn in their home town of San Diego. "Lucille" (yes, the Kenny Rogers tune), "Happy Boy" and "Roll another Number" show the band's sense of barroom humor, but it's important to note how musically tight the band was. Jerry, Joey, and Rolle move through "Riverside" and other tunes with reckless abandon. I had the honor of seeing the band six times before Dick died, and this is how he should be remembered - live.

The recording promises much, but fails to deliver. The Beat Farmers are hailed by many (including me) as the best bar band of all time. Unfortunately, the quality of the performances on this album does not live up to the studio performances on their earlier recordings. Likewise, the quality of the recording itself does not seem to measure up. Better options for aspiring Beat Farmers fans are their first two studio albums: Tales of the New West and the almost-as-good Van Go. A hard-to-find import, Glad 'n Greasy, is also excellent.