Wikipedia

Van Go (album)

Van Go is the second album by the American rock band the Beat Farmers, released in 1986.[1][2] It was the band's first album for Curb Records.[3]

Van Go
Studio album by
The Beat Farmers
Released1986
StudioIndigo Ranch, Malibu, CA
GenreRock, country rock
LabelCurb/MCA
ProducerCraig Leon
The Beat Farmers chronology
Glad 'N' Greasy
(1986) 		Van Go
(1986) 		The Pursuit of Happiness
(1987)

The album peaked at No. 135 on the Billboard 200.[4]

Production edit

The guitarist Buddy Blue left the band during the recording sessions for Van Go; he was replaced by Joey Harris.[5][6] The album was produced by Craig Leon.[7] Beat Farmers drummer Country Dick Montana later described the album as having "'more of an AOR sound.'"[8] Many of the songs are about cars and transportation.[9]

Critical reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [10]
Robert ChristgauB[11]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music     [12]
The Evening Sun     [9]
Houston Chronicle     [13]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide     [14]
The Philadelphia Inquirer    [15]

The Washington Post wrote that the Beat Farmers "sing about the barroom world of retooled cars, busted marriages and dead-end jobs... The band is as capable of irony as [Lou] Reed or [Neil] Young, but the Beat Farmers never allow it to interfere with their back-to-back basics attack."[16] Robert Christgau thought that "except for the deadpan 'Gun Sale at the Church' and maybe the Johnny Cash impressions, their country-rock is now proudly generic."[11]

Trouser Press called the album "amiable but rather thin."[17] The Toronto Star opined that the "best thing about the Beat Farmers is that they make no outrageous claims for themselves; their music is honest and earthy, but it doesn't pretend to defend the dignity of the working man, free enterprise, the American Way."[18]

AllMusic praised the "amazing cover of Neil Young's 'Powderfinger', which sounds like it was written for the band."[10]

Track listing edit

No.TitleLength
1."Riverside"3:27
2."Deceiver"2:48
3."Powderfinger"3:46
4."Seven Year Blues"2:31
5."Blue Chevrolet"2:50
6."I Want You, Too"1:54
7."Road of Ruin"2:27
8."Buy Me a Car"2:46
9."Gun Sale at the Church"2:57
10."Bigger Fool Than Me"2:48
11."Big Ugly Wheels"2:18

Personnel edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Beat Farmers | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  2. ^ "In Memory of Country Dick Montana, 1955–1995". MTV News.
  3. ^ "The Beat Farmers". San Diego Reader.
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2010). Top Pop Albums (7th ed.). Record Research. p. 63.
  5. ^ MacDonald, Patrick (October 31, 1986). "Beat Farmers Till Their Music and Cultivate an Audience". Night Life. The Seattle Times. p. 7.
  6. ^ "The Beat Farmers, who rose from Spring Valley in 1983 to rock the world, celebrated on new/old double-album". The San Diego Union-Tribune. March 27, 2021.
  7. ^ The Encyclopedia of Record Producers. Billboard Books. 1999. p. 459.
  8. ^ "The Beat Farmers Ho, Ho, Ho in the Roots-Rock Field". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  9. ^ a b Ercolano, Patrick (25 Jun 1986). "Beat Farmers stick to time-honored rock". The Evening Sun. p. E2.
  10. ^ a b "Van Go – Beat Farmers | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  11. ^ a b "Robert Christgau: CG: The Beat Farmers". www.robertchristgau.com.
  12. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. p. 485.
  13. ^ Racine, Marty (September 28, 1986). "Records". Zest. Houston Chronicle. p. 11.
  14. ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 86.
  15. ^ Tucker, Ken (June 29, 1986). "The Beat Farmers Van Go". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. H8.
  16. ^ "No Drought for the Rainmakers". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  17. ^ "Beat Farmers". Trouser Press. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  18. ^ Quill, Greg (14 Nov 1986). "Reviews Pop". Toronto Star. p. D6.
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