As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Thursday, November 12, 2015

LP #4 The Beat Farmers – Tales Of The New West (1985)


While the Beat Farmers did a number of great songs after their debut album – most notably “Riverside”, “Road To Ruin”, and a great cover of Neil Young’s “Powderfinger” – they never put together an entire studio album nearly as great as this one. In addition to “Reason To Believe” (one of the few covers of a Springsteen song that completely surpasses the Boss’s original), the band also did nice versions of Lou Reed’s “There She Goes Again” and John Stewart’s “Never Going Back”. What really makes the album work, however, are the originals, written by current band members Buddy Blue and Jerry Raney, and close associate (and future member) Paul Kamanski. The production by Steve Berlin (of Los Lobos) and Mark Linett is also impeccable.
 
The Beat Farmers are one of the best exemplars of the 1980s “cowpunk” movement, although unlike bands such as the Long Ryders their music steered clear of political overtones. Allmusic.com probably summarized their sound best:  “country, rockabilly, and roots rock with punk energy and a raucous sense of humor.” While “Lost Weekend” is probably the song that best summarizes these elements, their best-known track is probably the short-and-strange “Happy Boy”, which was popularized by Dr. Demento and still gets some airplay today.
 
Favorite tracks:
Goldmine
Reason To Believe
Bigger Stones
Selfish Heart
California Kid

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