In memory of Country Dick Montana 1955-1995 It wasn't long ago when I was back in my home state of California, working on my graduate degree at UOP in Stockton, and listening to KDJK on the radio. Another simple contest, one that I had garnered me a record or two before. Yes, Virginia, they used to give out vinyl at radio stations not too long ago. I won a copy of "Van Go" by the Beat Farmers (BFers). The year was 1986. I had heard the song "Riverside" on the radio. I had even heard the Budweiser beer commercial made from that song- you remember when Bud used to take a popular song and have the band redo it with Bud lyrics. Something about that album caught my attention. I liked the music and all of the songs but the song "Big Ugly Wheels" was different. It was sung by some guy named Country Dick Montana. He had a real deep voice and made me laugh with his interpretation this song. I looked at the album to find Dick as the drummer and leader of "beer runs". Hey, that's pretty funny stuff. All in all, I was impressed. Another year passed as I saw that the BFers were playing up in the Bay area again. I tried to find time to make it there but couldn't. Then a new album came out. "The Pursuit Of Happiness". It was awesome. I had to see these guys. I had already backtracked and picked up their first album "Tales Of The New West". This had the morning show cult classic "Happy Boy" on it. The new record once again featured more outstanding work. The combined guitars and voices of Jerry Raney and Joey Harris (who had replaced Buddy Blue) were more than just music to my ears. Once again, Country Dick sang some songs as only he could. "Big River" was classic Dick material. Finally, I was going to see the BFers in San Francisco at Slim's. It was packed and I was treated to one of the best live shows I had ever seen and believe me when I say that. I have seen many a show while growing up in the Bay Area. To see a band that was having so much fun was a real treat. The crowd loved it. Soon I heard chants of "Dick, Dick, Dick, Dick,....". Then from behind the drum set stood this 6'4" man with a cowboy hat and a long coat. He made his way to the microphone, jokingly calling the crowd "maggots". Dick begins to sing "(You Picked A Fine Time To Leave Me) Lucille" as only he could- "400 kids and a crouch that won't heal" and "you picked a real bitchin' time to leave me, Lucille". Beer was everywhere. It was unbelievable to watch Dick twirl beer bottles, drink a full bottle with only his feet, and put a full bottle on his hat and do a turn around in a circle. Soon, I was a regular at the shows. I would talk to people I knew. I would bring friends. My brother would bring friends. Friends would bring friends. They all enjoyed the show. It was something that could not be described. The music was great. The atmosphere was great. But most of all, people loved to see Dick. He would have an entire audience sitting on the beer soaked floor as he said "it was time to go camping". He would tell various insane anecdotes and sing "Lakeside Trailer Park", "Little Ball Of Yarn", "Mondo", or some other great sick little song. The band was always (and still remains) very accessible. Dick could often be found wondering around the bar passing out the BFer Almanac, signing autographs, or having a beer. He would often stop and talk to me for a while. We would comment on the opening band. There was the time that Buck Naked and The Bare Bottom Boys opened up for the BFers. Buck wore only a plunger strategically placed between his legs. Dick said "that guy's crazier than me! And he is only get paid $10". After enough shows, I was lucky enough to go backstage and talk to Jerry, Joey, Rolle, and Dick. I saw a side of the band that most didn't know. The side of the band that made me feel part of this large extended BFer family. Tom Ames, the tour manager and sound man, would always say hello and tell me about the current tour. The guys would give me info on new album releases and such. We would talk about our families. We would talk about everything not just music. I learned how the BFers came together. When a young Country Dick (then known by his real name Dan McClain) as student body vice president at Grossmont High, invited Jerry Raney's band Glory to play a dance. The student body was not very receptive so Dick stepped to the microphone and gave a speech. "What's wrong with you guys? This is the best band around Can't you act like you appreciate some music? Do you have to hear it on the radio before you can appreciate it?" His charisma back then made an impression on Jerry. One that would ultimately lead to the formation of the BFers. The BFers started when Jerry received a phone call from Dick, who said, "Hey, Jerry, you wanna start a rolling musical pleasure unit or something?". The BFers were born. The next thing I knew, another album came out. "Poor And Famous". This one didn't do so well. It didn't help that CURB decided to not promote the band. A typical label problem that every band has to deal with. The tours never stopped though. The crowds were always there. Then suddenly Dick was informed that he had cancer. He went through several surgeries to cure this throat cancer and there was a possibility that he could never sing again. He pulled through it as only he could. His sense of humor always present. I recall a letter he wrote me in September 1993. The letter started out "Always good to hear from people with good taste". He went on to tell me about his solo album and the "ten hour, quite the fuckin' radical ear to ear surgery" he was recovering from. His return address: "The Human Pez Dispenser, Spring Valley Inn". You see his surgery left a scar from one ear to the other around his neck. Yet he was determined to continue to play with the BFers. Nothing would stop him. Soon, I was off to the midwest. Stuck in South Bend with little chance of seeing the BFers on a regular basis like before. For sanity's sake, I started the BFers e-mail list on the internet. It continues to grow today. I was able to get tour info to the fans and converse with numerous fans not only across the country but all over the world. There were occasional swings to the Chicago area so I was fortunate to see them play. One of these swings was amazing since Dick's doctors found a reoccurrence of cancer yet there he was. Dick was on stage in front of the crowd. He was too weak to play drums and as soon as he returned to San Diego, he was to go in for more tests- this time on his thyroid. Dick was determined to get healthy. He lost weight and actually cut down on those beer runs and shots at the shows. Sure, there was an occasional fun time but he was in this for the long haul. The BFers must continue. And they did. They released two albums on Sector 2 Records. The first was "Viking Lullabys" spelled that way because Dick liked it! Most recently, "Manifold" was released. This new record is considered by many to be the strongest BFer album to date. Dick's solo album, a "concept album" he told me not long ago, was done and he was hoping to get it released soon. All things were looking up. Then suddenly on a Thursday night, November 8th, while playing drums in Whistler, Brittish Columbia (about one hour out of Vancouver- a BFer strong hold!) the unthinkable happened. Country Dick was stuck down by a heart attack at the age of 40 during the show. The indestructible, fun loving, deep voiced, friendly, extremely humorous giant was gone. There are no words that can describe how any BFer fan feels. Country Dick Montana was a talent that can never be equaled. He had charisma to burn and it was that charisma that made the band into something greater than the sum of its parts. Sure he wasn't well known but anyone who ever saw a BFer live show could tell you that Dick was at his best- on stage. His presence will never be replaced and I know that the remaining BFers do not want to replace him- they know it would be impossible. Whatever shape the BFers take, it will never be the same without Country Dick Montana. Country Dick: I knew you as a friend and I know that God does have a sense of humor and that you are where you belong- on that stage in the heavens. You are truly missed. Ken Drew 11/11/95 KEN (kdrew@nd.edu) ----------------------------------------------------------- *The Beat Farmers : WWW page at: * *http://www.ucsd.edu/sdam/artists/bf/ * *Webb Wilder : check these guys out! * ----------------------------------------------------------- My friend from the Crowded House list lives up near Vancouver so I thought I would forward this to the list: Hi Ken, As you might see on the CH list, I weent to a show last night and at it I ran into acouple of people who had second-hand knowledge of the sad Beat Farmers news. They said that according to their friends who were at the show, there were two paramedics in the audience (there as concertgoers, not as official first aid types) who saw Country Dick slump over even before the band noticed. They were up on stage within a minute and did CPR, and an ambulance got him to the hispital within 10 mins (WEhistler is a pretty small place, just basically a ski town) but poor Dick was dead on arrival. The paramedics said they figured he was dead beofre he hit the ground. The band had stopped for a beer on the way up to the show (Whistler is about 90 mins drive north of Vancouver) but Dick has been "clean" for the last dfew years and to the best of anyone's knowledge had not been on any kinds of drugs or drinking heavily. When they had a beer on the drive, they had A beer - he was not drunk by any stretch of the imagination. Although he had been living well for the last while, apparently much of his heart waxs damaged from his previous lifestyle (blocked artieries) and his heart just shut down. Naturally everone in Vancouver is very sad. Part of this I heard from the promoter of the hall that I went to the show at, where the Framers had plyaed many times. He really liked Dick and the band and was very unhappy at the news, although as he said "I bet he was happy when he went, because he loved to perform". I was also told (and I thought you would like this!) that on Friday night there was some band playing in Vancouver, a local act, that halfway into their set started going on about how Dick was a drunk and a wastrel, etc., good riddance, etc., etc., and the audience booed and heclked and thre things at them so that they couldn't finish their set - and actually had to leave the club because they feared for their safety! heheheh! That's what I found out, anyhow. Hope this is of some cheer to you. Cheers, Fiona PS Excuse the typing but I'm doing this from a telnet and can t figure out how to make the editor work :) a.k.a. Country Dick Montana. Below you will find two article which appeared in the local VAncouver newspapers. (Reproduced without permission, sorry.) *** Vancouver Sun Nov 10, 1995 John Mackie Country Dick Montana of the Beat Farmers collapsed and died on stage at Whistler Wednesday night. He was 40. Renowned for his wild onstage antics and incredible sense of humor, Montana was out front leading his band when he fell to the stage. Paramedics were in the audience and jumped up to administer CPR. But Montana failed to regain consciousness, and was pronounced dead on arrival at Whistler Health Centre. "He died the way he wanted, where he wanted, in front of a full house playing live on stage," said Beat Farmers booking agent Garth Redmond. Montana had battled throat cancer in the past, but had recovered sufficiently to sing and drum with the Beat Farmers and Pleasure Barons, a roots-rock all-star troupe. "He seemed to be in great shape, in good spirits," said David Branigan of the Longhorn Cabaret, the bar where the band was performing. "He seemed to be as clean and sober as I've ever seen him." Montana's real name was Daniel McLean. He was born in Carmel, California, and lived in San Diego for most of his life. Adopting the Montana persona, he became infamous as one of rock's true wildmen. He would have made a great bad guy in a movie western: tall, thin, and fond of wearing big black cowboy hats and long gunfighter coats, he looked like one ornery character. The image was reinforced by his voice, perhaps the deepest, darkest croak in contemporary music. His forte was playing live. Country Dick would do anything on stage. He perfected the art of flipping a beer in the air, foam flying this way and that, and catching it like it was a baton. He would don a jockey cap and climb on an audience member's shoulder, riding around a club while singing. He would personalize songs like 'Lucille' and 'Take A Letter Maria' by adding hilariously lewd lyrics. His sense of humor was legendary. The Pleasure Barons were Country Dick's version of a Vegas revue. "We want to deliver Vegas to the people where it belongs, get it out of the hands of these mangy old whores that have been running it for so long," he explained. "There's no reason why people with good taste in music shouldn't be entertained in Las Vegas as well. It can't just be put in the hands of the Tony Orlandos and Wayne Newtons and left to rot in the uninspired hands of these hacks." The Beat Farmers had just finished recording a new album, 'Manifold', and were set to preview their new songs at the Town Pump Saturday night. All shows have now been cancelled, and remaining band members, who were unavailable for comment, will be heading back to San Diego. An autopsy will be performed to determine cause of death. *** The Province Nov 10, 1995 John Colebourn, Staff Reporter Whistler Country Dick Montana lived to create mayhem on stage. All that rowdiness came to a sad end when the outlandish singer collapsed while performing to a sellout crowd at Whistler's Longhorn Saloon Wednesday night. The frontman for the San Diego-based Beat Farmers was rushed to the hospital and died a short time later of a heart attack. He was 40 years old. Montana delighted crowds of young people across North America with his raw brand of satirical, off-color songs. He often sprayed fans with beer, left his drum kit to another band member and dove into the mosh pit to join the frenzy. "He was a complete character on stage, a great drummer, and had an unbelievable personality," said his booking agent, Garth Redmond. "He was a wild man -- no angel, that's for sure. He died on stage doing what he loved in front of a sold-out crowd." Redmond said Country Dick and his band had a loyal following in Vancouver and many of Canada's ski towns. "He truly loved what he did," said Redmond. Guitarist-singer Joey Harris said his late colleague was "an inspiration to me, because he was such a character." Country Dick fan Ryan Brown was at the show and said the crowd was shocked. "It was really sad to see him collapse. Everyone was stunned. The town loved his brand of music." Montana joined the California garage-rock band the Crawdaddies and later the Penetrators before forming the Beat Farmers in 1983. The Beat Farmers have had several critically acclaimed albums. The band was on tour in support of its fifth CD, Manifold, when Montana died. *** He will be greatly missed. Leon