POP MUSIC REVIEW : Farm Aid V a Tough Sell in Recession

Playing at Farm Aid V with pals Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson, concert organizer Willie Nelson on Saturday resurrected one of their collective theme songs, a reincarnation ballad in which some assembled outlaws mourn their death, but vow, “I’ll be back again . . . and again and again and again.”

Sort of like Farm Aid itself.

These benefit concerts, held since 1985, have been irregular in recent years. The last one was two years ago in Indianapolis, the one before that was in 1987 in Lincoln, Neb. This one only came together when Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones donated Texas Stadium and cable’s Nashville Network made room for a live feed on short notice.

The American agriculture crisis may have been eclipsed in media coverage by other pressing economic concerns since the last Farm Aid concert. But you could almost picture Nelson on Saturday as Henry Fonda at the end of “The Grapes of Wrath,” vowing that as long as any farmer is losing his land, he’ll be there . . . to put on yet another fund-and-consciousness-raising show.

The lower-than-expected attendance of about 40,000 may have been a sign that the talent lineup was just a bit too familiar to intrigue audiences the way that past sellout shows did. Of the bill’s biggest drawing cards, including stalwarts Neil Young and John Mellencamp as well as Nelson, only Paul Simon hadn’t previously been a Farm Aid participant. The Black Crowes rock group backed out at the last minute, reportedly in a disagreement with organizers.

Referring to the first Farm Aid in Champaign, Ill., Nelson said backstage after Saturday’s concert ended about 11 p.m.: “I think it’s easier now for (viewers) to understand and relate to people being out of work and needing help. However, I think it’s also a hard time to be asking people for money because everybody’s strapped themselves.” But Nelson did ask for money--with viewers offered the choice of an 800 number, or two 900 numbers good for automatic donations of $10 or $20.

Organizers declined to make immediate estimates of money raised. The previous four Farm Aid shows resulted in the distribution of about $10 million to charities aiding independent farmers.

Other performers agreed that continuing to draw attention to the plight of financially beleaguered farmers may be more difficult in this economic climate.

“I think it’s the nature of the media machine and the way we get our news,” country-folk singer Mary-Chapin Carpenter said backstage after her three-song set. “Issues have popularity. Once they go off the front pages, that doesn’t mean they got solved. It means something else has taken their place.”

This being an election year especially, there was a modicum of mild politicking: co-hosts Rosanne and Tom Arnold deliberately drew a host of boos by asking, “Isn’t this George Bush’s home state?” Conversely, guest speaker Jesse Jackson--a longtime Farm Aid booster--was greeted with an even mixture of cheers and boos, though much of the crowd went on to indulge his “Down with dope! Up with hope!” pep rallying.

Up in the stadium’s press box, farm concerns were represented by members of the American Agriculture Movement, a resolutely anti-Bush organization.

Remarkably, the 12-hour show (of which only the last 6 1/2 hours were telecast) stayed mostly on schedule, the price being that most of its 40 acts were limited to a momentum-less two or three songs each. Or, as Little Village singer John Hiatt described backstage the effect of playing in such a large setting, “You kinda hit the planks and go into shock, and then it’s over.”

The overwhelming audience favorite was Mellencamp, the one performer who--with his mini-greatest hits set--got the entire floor area of the stadium standing on rickety folding chairs. Generating close to that level of enthusiasm, thanks to regional favoritism, were the Funky Farmer All-Stars, featuring members of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker Band, serenading the crowd with “Sweet Home Alabama,” complete with its playful lyrical put-down of Neil Young.

Later, a dobro-playing Young offered a mesmerizing preview of his forthcoming, acoustic-oriented “Harvest Moon” album in addition to two numbers from the 1972 “Harvest,” to which he says the new album is a sequel in name and spirit. Simon sang acoustic oldies and dueted with Nelson on “Graceland,” with Nelson’s own Texas backup band replacing Simon’s usual multicultural crew.

The finale was pure Americana: Nelson sang gospel perennials, surrounded by American Indian dancers waving feathers and Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders waving pompons.