Flying Burrito Brothers
The American country rock band Flying Burrito Brothers was founded in 1968 in Los Angeles by Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman . Parsons had borrowed the name from a formation around Ian Dunlop and Mickey Gauvin, which had given concerts in the Los Angeles area from 1967-68.
prehistory
In early 1968, Parsons accepted Hillman's offer to become a member of the folk rock band The Byrds , which had previously split from David Crosby . Parsons and Hillman, who had been bluegrass musicians before Byrds was founded, persuaded Roger McGuinn to record a country album. The result, Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, was trend-setting in a time when many musicians turned from the stylistic diversity of the repertoire to simpler, more original musical genres. Although the sales of the LP were disappointing, everyone involved, including drummer Kevin Kelley , guitarist Clarence White , banjo and guitarist John Hartford and pedal steel guitarist Lloyd Green , was aware of the importance of the recordings.
In the summer of 1968, Parsons left the Byrds, according to official statements, for refusing to play with the band in South Africa in front of racially segregated audiences. Other important reasons were that the Columbia record company had deleted several of his lead vocals on Sweetheart and let McGuinn over them, as well as his new friendship with the Rolling Stones member Keith Richards , whom he had met during a European tour of the Byrds.
The Gilded Palace Of Sin
The Flying Burrito Brothers were founded in the fall of 1968, after Chris Hillman had also left the Byrds. Together with the pedal steel guitarist Sneaky Pete Kleinow and the bassist Chris Ethridge , Parsons and Hillman recorded the album The Gilded Palace of Sin, which was released in March 1969. The drummer's chair was initially occupied by several studio musicians, including Jon Corneal and Eddie Hoh.
While Sweetheart Of The Rodeo had surprised with its pure country program and instruments (apart from a few exceptions such as You Ain't Goin 'Nowhere and One Hundred Years From Now) and sometimes disappointed folk rock fans, the burritos could now do a lot present a wider range of musical styles.
The swinging country rock songs penned by Parsons and Hillman (Christine's Tune, Wheels, Juanita) were dominant with a two-part singing that was heavily influenced by the Everly Brothers. In addition, Parsons contributed his own pieces (Hot Burrito # 1 and # 2), the style of which he called American Cosmic Music. Like the cover versions of Do Right Woman and Dark End Of The Street, these had a strong soul / gospel influence (the former Byrds musician David Crosby contributed harmony vocals on Dark End).
The album was released at a time when many American musicians were turning to Country & Western. Together with the LPs The Fantastic Expedition Of Dillard And Clark (with ex-Byrd Gene Clark ), the debut album by Crosby, Stills & Nash and John Wesley Harding ( Bob Dylan ), it marked the birth of country rock . The album as well the subsequently released single The Train Song, sold disappointingly poorly (the LP only reached number 164 in the US charts).
The band played mostly in and around Los Angeles in the following months. In February 1969, she stood on a stage with the Byrds at the Boston Tea Party. In April she was opening act for the Grateful Dead in San Francisco; Clarence White played the guitar at a concert at the Palomino in Los Angeles.
In July 1969, after a performance at the Seattle Song Festival, the first personnel changes occurred. Chris Ethridge left the band to return to his work as a studio musician. He was replaced by Bernie Leadon (ex-Hearts And Flowers and Ex-Dillard & Clark), an accomplished singer, guitarist, and songwriter who became a founding member of the Eagles in 1971 . Chris Hillman, who now switched to bass, had played with Leadon in the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers years earlier. Another ex-Byrd, Michael Clarke , was poached as a permanent drummer from Dillard & Clark.
Burrito Deluxe
With the new line-up, the Burritos booked the recording studio again in 1969. They recorded their second album Burrito Deluxe under producer Jim Dickson . In contrast to their debut, the band had little of their own song material available (including Older Guys, Cody Cody, Man In The Fog, Down In The Churchyard), but were able to do cover versions (If You Gotta Go, Go Now by Bob Dylan ) and arrangements of Traditionals (Farther Along) come up. Some of the songs were from the days of Parsons' International Submarine Band (Lazy Day) and the early days of the Burritos (High Fashion Queen). Bernie Leadon contributed his God's Own Singer.
A version of the Jagger / Richards composition Wild Horses was also recorded. Keith Richards, who had made friends with Parsons in London in 1968 during his tour with the Byrds, wanted to give the Burritos the opportunity to release the song before the Rolling Stones .
The band was unable to tour the new program to the required extent, as Gram Parsons suffered from a fear of flying and touring was only possible by train as a means of transport. A&M decided not to release the album at first.
In the meantime, Parsons had renewed his friendship with the Rolling Stones, who announced that they would give a free concert near San Francisco in November 1969. At this Altamont Free Concert , which was to achieve notoriety, the burritos played as the opening act for the Stones and went largely unnoticed, but were also able to get to safety in time before the chaos broke out as a result of a murder (committed by a Hell's Angel on a fan) .
While Burrito Deluxe was on hold, Jim Dickson brought the band back into the studio, where they recorded a number of country standards, including Sing Me Back Home ( Merle Haggard ) and Close Up The Honky Tonks ( Buck Owens ). The group also tried cover versions of To Love Somebody ( Bee Gees ), I Shall Be Released (Bob Dylan) and another new Jagger / Richards song, Honky Tonk Woman, for which Parsons claimed co-copyrights. The Rolling Stones released their (most similar to the burrito recording) version as Country Honk on the album Let It Bleed . The recordings of the burritos themselves did not appear on the A&M label until 1976 as an album Sleepless Nights .
In May 1970, A&M finally released Burrito Deluxe . The record company A&M had invested a lot of promotion in the burritos. The LP received bad reviews and sold just as badly due to the lack of live promotion by the band. Gram Parsons was seriously injured while on a motorcycle trip with John Phillips (ex- Mamas & Papas ) and had to spend a few weeks in the hospital. After his return he was supposed to continue performing, but his fellow musicians dismissed him due to numerous differences.
The Flying Burrito Bros.
After separating from Parsons in June 1970, the Burritos appeared as a quartet for a while under Hillman's direction. They recorded the song Tried So Hard with Gene Clark , who had just left Dillard & Clark, with Clark as the backing singer. The song was released as a single in December 1970.
Manager Eddie Tickner brought the then unknown singer / songwriter Rick Roberts into the group to replace Parsons. First they went on a tour through Europe, during which Roberts developed a close songwriting partnership with Hillman. This resulted in so much new song material that the band returned to the studio in the winter of 1970/71. With Hillman as the band leader and Roberts with the most musical ideas, an album with Hillman / Roberts songs (Hand To Mouth, Just Can't Be, Can't You Hear Me Calling, All Alone), Robert's own contributions (Colorado, Why Are You Crying, Four Days of Rain) and cover versions (Dylan's To Ramona and Merle Haggard's White Line Fever). Another song that the band recorded during those sessions with Gene Clark (Here Tonight) did not appear on his album Roadmaster until 1972 .
In April 1971, shortly before the release of the album The Flying Burrito Bros. , Sneaky Pete Kleinow left the burritos. By his own admission he was tired from the constant touring and wanted to work as a session musician again. His place on the pedal steel guitar was taken by Al Perkins , who had played with the band Shiloh in 1969, whose members included Don Henley , the later founding member of the Eagles .
When the album was released in June 1971, the Burritos had added another musician to their midst: Byron Berline was a country fiddler who had played with Dillard & Clark and had already made a contribution to Burrito Deluxe.
Bernie Leadon left the band in August 1971 and initially played in Linda Ronstadt's accompanying group before founding the successful Eagles with Don Henley , Glen Frey and Randy Meisner .
Last Of The Red Hot Burritos
The replacement for Leadon was an old friend of Hillman, who had also played with him in the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers in the early 1960s. Kenny Wertz mastered the guitar like the banjo and helped the burritos to include more bluegrass in their program. The “bluegrass section” became even stronger with the addition of the musicians Roger Bush (double bass) in September and Alan Munde (banjo) in November 1971.
From now on, the burritos divided their live program into a country rock / R&B and a bluegrass part. The bluegrass musicians (excluding Hillman) referred to themselves as the 'Country Gazette'. Recordings of this program from the fall of 1971 were released as the album Last Of The Red Hot Burritos in February 1972. The strongest songs on the album include Ain't That A Lot of Love and Don't Fight It, originally from the programs of soul singers like Wilson Pickett . When the LP came out, Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke and Al Perkins had already left the band. Hillman and Perkins joined Stephen Stills' start-up , Manassas . Clarke devoted himself to painting in Hawaii.
The transaction
The burritos still had contractual obligations to fulfill and so they went on a tour that took them through Holland and Scandinavia in February and March 1972 under the name 'Hot Burrito Revue'. Don Beck (pedal steel) and Eric Dalton (drums) joined the band.
A live recording from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, of which Rick Roberts, who now led the band, knew nothing, led to a bootleg LP entitled Sin City . Roberts, who initially wanted to prevent the official release because of the poor recording quality, finally bowed to the pressure of the Dutch record company Ariola. The result was the double album Live in Amsterdam . In 1974 Ariola re-released the concert as 2 separate LPs, one with the burrito material (In Concert) and one with the Country Gazette program (Bluegrass Special) .
Following the European tour, the band officially broke up. The bluegrass musicians continued to work under the name Country Gazette. In Holland, the burritos had a legendary status among fans. In response to numerous requests, the band reformed again under the direction of Roberts and played one last time in February and March 1973 in the Netherlands, this time with the returned sneaky Pete Kleinow instead of Don Becks on Pedal Steel. After returning to the USA, the project was finally ended by Roberts, who had meanwhile started a solo career.
Established in 1974
After the original band broke up, A&M released the albums Close Up The Honky Tonks and Honky Tonk Heaven in 1974 with known and partly unreleased material. Although these didn't sell particularly well, ex-manager Eddie Tickner got wind of the persistent popularity of burritos in certain fan circles. He sought a reunion and, after none of the original members were willing or had time (Gram Parsons had died in 1973), he was able to convince ex-Byrd's drummer Gene Parsons to put a group together.
After the Byrds dissolved in 1972, Gene Parsons played with the Californian group 'The Docker Hill Boys', whose lead singer and guitarist Joel Scott-Hill was. Together with him as well as the now cooperating founding members Chris Ethridge and Sneaky Pete Kleinow and an old friend of Parsons, the Cajun musician Gib Guilbeau , the Flying Burrito Brothers were re-founded and received a recording contract with Columbia Records . Chris Hillman tried in vain to prevent the founding of the Flying Burrito Brothers, since the name was only borrowed from him and Gram Parsons.
After an extensive tour, the newly formed Burritos recorded the album Flying Again , which was released in 1975 and again sold poorly. Another album, Airborne , was released on Columbia in 1976. Skip Battin of the Byrds then replaced Chris Ethridge on bass.
Until 2006 the formation was active with performances and studio recordings under the name 'Burrito Brothers', since 2002 as 'Burrito Deluxe'. The band members changed frequently. Among them were u. a. Garth Hudson (ex-band), John Beland and Greg Harris. The most loyal member was Sneaky Pete Kleinow, who died on January 6, 2007. In 2009, Burrito Deluxe consisted of Carlton Moody and Walter Egan, who had released the album Disciples Of The Truth in 2007 .
Discography
Albums
- The Gilded Palace of Sin (A&M, 1969)
- Burrito Deluxe (A&M, 1970)
- The Flying Burrito Bros. (A&M, 1971)
- Last of The Red Hot Burritos (A&M, 1972)
- Live in Amsterdam (Ariola, 1972)
- In Concert / Bluegrass Special (Ariola 1974)
- Flying Again (Columbia, 1975)
- Airborne (Columbia, 1976)
- Sierra (Mercury, 1977)
- Close Encounters to The West Coast / Live in Japan (Columbia, 1978)
- Hearts on The Line (Curb, 1981)
- Sunset Sundown (Curb, 1982)
- Double Barrel (Paradise, 1984)
- Cabin Fever (Relic, 1985)
- Live From Europe (Relic, 1986)
- Live in Europe (Marlestone, 1987)
- Swampwater (Appaloosa, 1987)
- Hollywood Nights 1979-82 (Sundown, 1990)
- Back to the Sweethearts of Rodeo (Appaloosa, 1990)
- Southern Tracks (Voodoo, 1990)
- Encore - Live In Europe (Sundown, 1991)
- Eye of A Hurricane (Sundown, 1993)
- California Jukebox (Ether, 1997)
- Sons of The Golden West (Grateful Dead GDCD, 1999)
- The Muscle Shoals Demo Session (Connoisseur Collection, 2001)
- Georgia Peach (Lamon, 2002)
- The Whole Enchilada (Luna, 2004)
- Disciples of The Truth (2007)
- Gram Parsons Archive, Vol.1, Live At The Avalon Ballroom 1969 (Amoeba, 2008)
Singles
- The Train Song / Hot Burrito # 1 (A&M, 1969)
- If You Gotta Go, Go Now / Cody Cody (A&M, 1970)
- Older Guys / Down In The Churchyard (A&M, 1970)
- Tried So Hard / Lazy Day (A&M 1970)
- White Line Fever / Colorado (A&M, 1971)
- Building Fires / Hot Burrito # 3 (Columbia, 1975)
- Bon Soir Blues / Hot Burrito # 3 (Columbia, 1975)
- Waiting For Love To Begin / Big Bayou (Columbia, 1976)
- Gina / Strange Here In The Night (Mercury, 1977)
- If I Could Only Get to You / Gina (Mercury, 1977)
- White Line Fever / Big Bayou (Regency, 1979)
- She's A Friend of A Friend / Oh Lonesome Me (Columbia Curb, 1981)
- Does She Wish She Was Single Again / Oh Lonesome Me (Columbia Curb, 1981)
- She Belongs to Everyone But Me / Why Must The Ending Be So Sad (Columbia Curb, 1981)
- If Something Should Come Between Us / Damned If I'll Be Lonely Tonight (Columbia Curb, 1982)
- Closer to You / Coast To Coast (Columbia Curb, 1982)
- I'm Drinking Canada Dry / How'd We Ever Get This Way (Columbia Curb, 1982)
- Blue & Broken Hearted Me / Our Roots Are Country Music (Columbia Curb, 1983)
- Could You Love Me One More Time / Rollercoaster (Columbia, 1983) - with Earl Scruggs
- Almost Saturday Night / A Jukebox Kind Of Night (MCA Curb, 1984)
- My Kind Of Lady / Dream Chaser (MCA Curb, 1984)
- Like A Shadow / Shoot From The Moon (Disky, 1990)
- California Jukebox / American Harvest (1997)
- Anyone Else But You (Grateful Dead GDPCD, 1999)
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
- Flying Burrito Brothers at Discogs (English)
- The Flying Burrito Brothers on Allmusic (English)