[laughing] This was the sort of album you’d find in your best friend’s collection, and he’d spin it for you with reverence, pointing out inspirational guitar playing and the dynamically from the heart vocals, but in your head, or at least mine, I was asking myself, ”Am I missing something here?”While hailing from California, Boones Farm hit hard with but one album, and were locally admired, though overall they hardly made a ripple on the regional or national map. Boones Farm were a rockin’ outfit banking on the southern and country rock draw, and evoking images of Black Oak Arkansas. Though if you were to sit down with Jim Messina, yes, half of Loggins & Messina, you’d get a bit different story, one that would have you believe that the band was more along the lines of Crosby, Stills & Nash, though with more straight ahead rock n’ roll roots that were wide and diverse, and all powered by the strong soulful vocals of Kent Spragues aka Butch Dubai [another drummer vocalist], mixed with some gritty instrumentation by Fred Darling laying down drums and percussions, Brad Palmer with vocals, bass and guitar, along with and Gary Stovall who held down additional vocals and guitar … Milt Holland was an on again off again musician who played backing instruments, but was never a formal member of the outfit.While their music was certainly suited for that of the early 70’s, with radio friendly songs, it was obvious that Boones Farm was never going to be a highly rated band, as they opened for such acts as The Beach Boys, The Doobie Brother, Dave Mason, Loggins & Messina, Elvin Bishop, Boz Scaggs and even Rod Stewart … never managing to establish a following of any sorts. Aside from the one album on Columbia, the band had two singles in 1972, “If You Can’t Be My Woman / “Start Today” and “Good Old Feelin’ / “Start Today,” that also seemed to fall through the cracks. Interestingly enough, several of their songs were covered by others, including “If I Can’t Be Your Woman” by Bettye LaVette, and Three Dog night of all bands, covering “Good Old Feeling” and “Play Children Play.”It’s important to consider the name when your in a band, and by choosing the name similar to that of a cheap wine sold in convenience stores from the early 60’s, that can certainly reflect negatively on a group, especially, when the hip and slightly more expensive Blue Nun was the ‘in’ bottle of the day.Review by Jenell Kesler

Kinda funny how we were got the southern country rock label. We were a rock band / rock/funk band. Good ole feeling and So much wrong was pretty much the space we were coming from. Some of the ballards came to be out of doing a partial acoustic set as an opener while the clubs we were playing filled up.It was Lynn Anderson who covered Can't be my woman BTW. We used to drink Boones Farm wine on the gigs. We were once asked what the bands name was, like we had one, lol and one of the guys said the Boones Farm band as a joke. Yeah well maybe it was on us after all, but it stuck.Amazes me that anyone remembered the band. In the end it was fun!!