Fifth Avenue Forum

When news of the album had leaked and Mike D began to be questioned about its existence, he manifested various tales about Country Mike, his background, and even his own sanity. Sometimes Country Mike was a figment of Mike D’s imagination, sometimes he was an old friend from a troubled upbringing, other times he didn’t exist at all.

Four years later, the Beastie Boys spent an afternoon in the studio (I’m guessing) and emerged with a Christmas present for a few hundred of their closest friends. For the recording it was necessary to create a quasi-fictional character known as “Country Mike,” a signal that Mike D. would be handling most of the vocals. The album was called Country Mike’s Greatest Hits, and it featured a baker’s dozen of half-assed and wildly entertaining country ditties.

The initial pressing probably numbered about a thousand copies—if that many. Recipients received a Christmas card in a rustic style. Because of the private nature of the enterprise, scoring copies for regular fans has become difficult indeed. An original black vinyl pressing will run you $250 on Discogs, and the red vinyl pressing is available for $400. The situation at Amazon is similar. Fortunately, there’s an unofficial British release from last year which is priced in the same range as any other new LP.

The songs on the album are certainly adequate—although at times the vocals seem intentionally off-key. I wouldn’t want to be standing near a passionate country music fan while it was playing, but aside from that it’s okay. The third track, “We Can Do This,” sounds like an outtake off of Beck’s One Foot in the Grave. The album features steel guitar work from Bucky Baxter, who recorded tons of stuff with Dylan and Steve Earle, as well as some ghostly whistling from Bill McMullen, who designed some of the Beasties’ cover art around that era.

The most interesting song on the album is probably “Country Delight,” which incorporates the baseline from the Sugarhill Gang‘s deathless classic “Rapper’s Delight.” Title similarities aside, a friend pointed out that even Country Mike’s very name might well be a shout-out to SHG honcho Wonder Mike.