The Beat Farmers classic lineup of singer-guitarists Jerry Raney and Buddy Blue, bassist Rolle Dexter and drummer-singer Country Dick Montana and the band’s trademark double-barrel attack. The Farmers had the unique talent to deliver a mix of earnest roots rock with killer riffs on originals like Blue’s “Lost Weekend” and Raney’s “Showbiz” and choice covers of the Velvet Underground’s “There She Goes Again” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Reason to Believe.” They capped it all off with the over-the-top lunacy of Country Dick on tracks such as “California Kid” and “Happy Boy.”

Steve Berlin, of Los Lobos, co-produced Tales of the New West, and blows sax on “Showbiz.” Other special guests on the album include Chip and Tony Kinman of Rank & File, Peter Case of the Plimsouls, Sid Griffin of The Long Ryders, the Bangles’ Vicki Peterson as well as future Beat Farmer Joey Harris and “Bigger Stones” songwriter Paul Kamanski.

Following the release of Tales of the New West, the Beat Farmers signed to Curb Records, with Buddy Blue opting to leave the band and Joey Harris stepping in as his replacement. After four albums for Curb/MCA, The Beat Farmers went the indie route, releasing two albums on Sector 2 Records.

Sadly, tragedy struck the band in November 1995, when Country Dick died on stage, behind his drum kit, while performing in Whistler, British Columbia. The surviving members of the band decided to call it quits but did eventually get back together in a number of different configurations, including some with Buddy Blue back in the fold.

Eventually, the survivors of the band reunited under the moniker of The Farmers, but then tragedy hit the band once again. Buddy Blue died of a heart attack at his home in La Mesa, California. He was 48.

Still, The Farmers, led by Jerry Raney, continue to live on with a new lineup intent on keeping the spirit of their fallen comrades in the original Beat Farmers alive and kicking.

“In a perfect world The Beat Farmers would have been huge, but that’s not how the business works,” Perloff writes in the liner notes. “Has this album stood the test of time? In my humble opinion, I believe that the answer is a resounding yes and this album sits high up on the American Roots Rock Pantheon. I feel that it was one of those albums from that period that influenced and helped pave the way for the much larger Americana movement of the 1990s and 2000s, and my view is supported by the album being listed time and again on ‘All Time Top Americana Album’ lists far and wide.”