Chris Hillman

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Chris Hillman, 1972
Chris Hillman, 1972
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Slippin 'away
  US 152 06/19/1976 (6 weeks)
Clear sailin '
  US 188 09/17/1977 (3 weeks)

Chris Hillman (born December 4, 1944 in Los Angeles ) is an American musician who is considered one of the most important pioneers of country rock . He is best known as the general public bassist of the band The Byrds known.

Career

Beginnings

Chris Hillman started out as a bluegrass musician. With a few school friends, he founded the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers in 1961 . Here he played the mandolin . Only a little later he joined the Golden Gate Boys around Rex and Vern Gosdin . The group renamed itself several times. An LP of the same name was produced in 1963 under the name The Hillmen . Then you parted.

Bass player with the Byrds

In Los Angeles, the highly talented musicians David Crosby , Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn had come together to form the Beefeaters . In 1964 it was decided to add a rhythm section . Were selected Michael Clarke as the drummer and Chris Hillman on bass. After being renamed The Byrds, they achieved a world hit with their first single , Mr. Tambourine Man .

The silent Hillman remained almost unnoticed in the background as bassist behind the permanently struggling for musical supremacy Crosby, Clark and McGuinn. As a country man, he had little opportunity to help determine direction. That didn't change until Clark and then Crosby left the Byrds. Hillman managed to get the kindred Gram Parsons into the band. Together, against McGuinn's will, they were able to reorient the Byrds to country music. In 1968, an album called Sweetheart of the Rodeo was produced that is considered to be the catalyst for California country rock.

Guitarist with the Flying Burrito Brothers and Manassas

Parsons left the band before the release of Sweetheart of the Rodeo and joined the Flying Burrito Brothers . Hillman followed a few months later. For the burritos, the country rock of the Byrds was kept almost unchanged. Another milestone in this new genre was recorded in 1969 with the album The Gilded Palace of Sin .

The erratic Parsons parted ways with burritos in 1971. Without the musical genius, the band clearly lost quality. After two unsatisfactory albums, Hillman also left the band and joined the Manassas group formed by Stephen Stills . Although well-known musicians were gathered here and the band was very successful with their first album, Manassas (1972), they were denied a great future: They split up in 1973.

After the end of Manassas, Hillman founded the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band with JD Souther and Richie Furay , which however only lasted for a short time and broke up after two records. Two albums were produced under his own name, Slippin 'Away and Clear Sailin' . In the following years he worked briefly with former Byrds members; Thus, at the end of the 1970s, the new collaboration with Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark resulted in the three albums McGuinn, Clark & ​​Hillman , City and McGuinn - Hillman . However, this formation did not last for a long time either.

Frontman of the Desert Rose Band

In 1982 Chris Hillman released other solo albums with Morning Sky and 1984 with Desert Rose . After that he worked a few times with the session musicians Herb Pedersen, John Jorgenson and Bill Bryson. In 1986 the Desert Rose Band was formed . Other members of the group were Steve Duncan and Jay Dee Maness.

For the first time in his career, Hillman was at the forefront - and this time he and his peers succeeded. Several albums and singles made it into the charts. Three songs even reached the top of the country charts. From the beginning of the nineties, the sales figures decreased and there were personnel changes. A year later the band broke up.

Discography

Albums

  • 1973: Manassas (with Stephen Stills Manassas )
  • 1976: Slippin 'Away
  • 1977: Clear Sailin '
  • 1978: Ever Call Ready
  • 1980: McGuinn - Hillman (with Roger McGuinn )
  • 1982: Morning Sky
  • 1984: Desert Rose
  • 1985: High Country Snows (with Dan Fogelberg )
  • 1990: Pages of Life
  • 1996: Bakersfield Bound (with Herb Pedersen )
  • 1997: Out of the Woodwork (with Herb Pedersen)
  • 1997: Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pedersen
  • 1998: Like a Hurricane
  • 2001: Running Wild (Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pedersen)
  • 2003: Way Out West (with Herb Pedersen)
  • 2005: The Other Side
  • 2010: At Edwards Barn (with Herb Pedersen)
  • 2017: Bidin 'My Time

Compilations

  • 1995: Sixteen Roses: Greatest Hits
  • 2014: Live at the Boarding House

Singles

  • 1976: Love Is the Sweetest Amnesty
  • 1977: Clear Sailin '
  • 1980: Turn Your Radio On
  • 1989: You Ain't Going Nowhere
  • 1991: Will This Be the Day
  • 1991: Come a Little Closer

literature

  • John Einarson with Chris Hillman: Hot Burritos: The True Story of the Flying Burrito Brothers , London, Jawbone 2008, ISBN 978-1-906002-16-9 .

Web links

Commons : Chris Hillman  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
personal data
SURNAME Hillman, Chris
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American musician, pioneer of country rock
DATE OF BIRTH 4th December 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Los Angeles , California , USA