I was a Member of a Cult!?!
And I didn't even know it! I thought I was just some dude that liked this band, like, a lot. Upon reading about them online recently, I find that I was a Member of their Cult Following.
So, anyway... The Beat Farmers were a Great American Rock n Roll Band. I don't care if it required my joining a Cult just to like 'em, of if they were signed, at one point, to MCA's Curb Records which was a Country Label.
Okay. I kinda do care about that last bit. The Beat Farmers were not Just a Great Rock n Roll Band, they were Also a Great Country Band.
And "The Pursuit of Happiness" was a great record. The second of theirs on Curb, and the first with Joey Harris replacing Buddy Blue on lead guitar, it starts right out with a really amazing tune, by Paul Kamanski, that I have always thought is the closest that anyone on the Left Coast has ever come to Springsteenism (or Springsteenishness, or whatever), called "Hollywood Hills," and just keeps on goin'.
Go ahead and pull the ol' Air Guitar out of it's case. Make sure it's tuned up and ready to go.
- Hollywood Hills
- Ridin'
- Dark Light
- Make It Last
- Key to the World
- God Is Here Tonight
- Big Big Man
- Elephant Day Parade
- Rosie
- Texas
- Big River
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1 comment:
This is truly one of the great rock albums of all time, and I never could figure out why "Hollywood Hills" wasn't burning up the playlists on FM AOR stations. "God is Here Tonight," and "Rosie" are also great songs, "Rosie" proving that they had a way with a ballad. I remember Joey and Jerry standing side by side singing "Rosie" at many of the BF concerts I saw, a marked but no less entertaining contrast to Country Dick's portions of the show.
At Perkin's Palace, just after Joey replaced Buddy Blue, the guitar solos between Joey and Jerry were epic as the two great guitarists faced off.
Beat Farmers, RIP
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