DUSTY VINYL: Biff Rose: "Roast Beef"

Biff Rose: Roast Beef

Today’s find will be a rare offering from outsider artist Biff Rose, his 1977 New Year’s Day album Roast Beef.  

Biff Rose is most famously known for writing songs that people way more famous than him made famous, specifically David Bowie, who covered “Fill Your Heart,“ and John Denver, whose version of “Molly” scored him a minor hit in 1970.  

fig. Beef {Biff Rose & beard}

fig. JD {John Denver, thinking about Molly, vibin 2 birds}

 

fig. MDMA {too much Molly.}

Although originally released by Down Pat Records, the last copies are being sold via Drag City and owning one of the few remaining original pressings of this quirky LP is quite the treat, even if it smells more like old cardboard than tasty deli fare.  

The entirety of the lyrics are handwritten and printed on the front and back of the album, offering a more interactive listening experience, as well as a road map to the improvised diary that makes this album so unique.   

Financed by Michael Nesmith of The Monkees and recorded in one sitting, Roast Beef is a strange adventure into the mind of a man who may very well have left the building long before we arrived.  

fig. Clarksville {Michael Nesmith, money on his mind}

On Roast Beef, Rose offers up a winding, stream of conscious lament on loneliness, longing and love lost.  The songs aren’t separated by empty sonic space or key changes, but are weaved together through frenetic key jingling breakdowns that coincide with Rose’s own desperation.   

Side A opens with “Home Is Just As Good As Anyplace,” a somber mantra to perpetual loneliness that sets the overarching tone for the entire album.  This lonely wandering is continued in “When We’re Together (I Don’t Want to Get Caught)” and “Love All the Time,”  songs that are really only distinguishable by their lyrics on the sleeve.  

 It is only when we hit playful gems “Hello Dolphin” and “Music Fills My Burp” that we are introduced to the man at the heart of this album: a gentle, silly guy who wants a cute girl to squeeze while he drinks a beer on the couch.  Side B is when the happy façade visibly fades and we find Biff staring at empty walls once more.   

fig. DIY {Biff Rose going grassroots as HAIL}

Some would call this a break-up album, but really it goes far beyond the constraints of an actual relationship and into the territory of obsession.  Rose simultaneously pines over one he lost, one he loves and one he’ll never have and begs the question: are they all the same person? 

“Hello, Beer Can” and “We Were Only Fourteen” are the highlights of an otherwise uncomfortable Side B.  You can feel the creative gusto that controlled the course of the first side slowly starting to lose steam [via steamboat] but this is not to say the remaining tracks are mediocre, they just feel a little redundant amongst the ocean of piano improv.   

We understand you’re lonely Biff, now get up from that piano and do something about it. 

While this record may not be a strong cup of pop sensibility, it is nonetheless a fascinating offering from a unique artist and provides a rewarding listening experience for those brave enough to chart the choppy cognitive current of the Rose Sea.

FOR FANS OF: Daniel Johnston, Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman on some weird drugs

LISTEN TO: Music Fills My Burp, Hello Beer Can, Anxious Moments, We Were Only Fourteen

USE THE BATHROOM DURING: More Than He Does, Time Was Very Long Ago, Afraid to fall In Love Again

BEST SERVED WITH: Pull tab beer, warm lighting, roast beef

VERDICT: Solid lo-fi weirdness to impress that cute hipster vinyl nerd, or maybe make them commit suicide.  Either way, definitely worth a listen