Some of my posts will have a theme, some will be random. This one has a theme. I hope to post once a week or so.

The Beat Farmers walked the earth from the mid-80s to the mid-90s. Their drummer and sometime singer was Country Dick Montana, a mountain of a man in a duster jacket. He literally died with his boots on, having a heart attack after a show.

They were a great live band and recorded some great originals, but they were also deft at picking covers. Some of these tunes are by the Beat Farmers, some are from a Country Dick solo record.

The Beat Farmers “Big Rock Candy Mountain” (Trad/Burl Ives)
From an EP that the band recorded in England. I really enjoyed hearing the original hobo lyrics after growing up listening to the sanitized kid-song version.

Country Dick Montana “Karma Chameleon” (Culture Club)
This is really the Beat Farmers under an assumed name. This EP also included the classic tune “Little Ball of Yarn.”

The Beat Farmers “Led Zeppelin Medley” (Led Zeppelin)
When I saw them play this live the first time three band members held plastic letters over their heads spelling L-S-D so the audience would know what influenced this opus.

The Pleasure Barons “Tom Jones Medley” (Tom Jones)
This was done by a band that Country Dick had with Mojo Nixon.