Flying Burrito Brothers vs New Riders of the Purple Sage
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Seeing Albert Lee last night and hearing his Gram/ Emmylou tributes got me on a bit of a Burritos kick today,... while I've long been a big fan of both bands, who wins the cage match? (haha pun..)
In one corner you've got the powerhouse of Chris Hillman, Chris Etheridge and Sneaky Pete alongside the incredible talent that was Gram Parsons,.... and in the other corner you've got Nelson and Dawson plus the most psychedelic pedal steel player in history, Buddy Cage(I've never heard anyone else achieve that level of sonic intensity out of that instrument, and I've seen some of the greats..) the initial years with Garcia, et al kind of give that an automatic initial boost imho but The Burritos also had the occasional Clarence White sit in so there's that...
both bands created some wild music and essentially defined their genre. Both suffered numerous lineup changes but both also somehow managed to persevere in one form or another and found a way to continue even with reduced firepower up into the 90s and beyond. I think the twilight years of NRPS after Duke passed were fantastic and coupled with some solid Hunter penned originals, they went out in style. I enjoyed the latter day, marmaduke trio format from the 90s also, albeit quite a bit different style.
what are some of your favorites? Especially later, lesser known works, does anything stand out for you? Anyone here ever see the Burritos with Gram?
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mice elf
I love and collect both bands
I love and collect both bands equally. My opinion is the burritos were more impactful but the nerps just had a much deeper musical well. Better songwriting, more "good" albums and songs, better musicians, more interesting sounds.
The Burritos best material (the first two albums with GP) was really a flash in the pan. Everything else is pretty poorly written but fairly well played turds.) They had some truly excellent, what I consider to be top tier musicians in their subsequent years (Byron Berline, Gib Gilbeau, Spooner Oldham, Al Perkins, Garth Hudson too I think) but unfortunately never had any of them very long, or at the same time.
I don't listen to Patrick shanahan or Rick roberts or any of that so I'm not gonna be much help on the 80's and 90's stuff. Would LOVE to hear more high quality burritos with Clarence but I think everything (which isn't much) is already out there.
if I only get have to have only one burritos album I think the compilation album close up the honky tonks pretty much covers the bases
NRPS: home, home on the road
another really excellent album that falls right into this same vein is Earl Scruggs revue live at Kansas state
Dillard/hartford/dillard's glitter grass gets close
rodney Crowell Ain't living long like this
albert lee's Hiding (how awesome is Albert? And still shredding)
Byrds Sanctuary IV
Leon Russell and the shelter people
Songs burritos and NRPS have in common:
dim lights, thick smoke
six days on the road
are there others?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: fishcane
Long Black Limousine
Long Black Limousine
close up the honky tonks
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mice elf
Doh ty
Doh
ty
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: fishcane
no problem, there may be
no problem, there may be others too, I just did a quick scan here and compared with memory on Burritos side..
http://www.deaddisc.com/GDFD_NRPS_Perf.htm
good stuff... yea incredible the level at which Lee still performs. And his cross section of our musical culture is just incredible. Especially considering his heritage. He signed my copy of Emmylou Luxury Liner last night. His guitar work on that is out of this world
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: MarkD
I think the main difference
I think the main difference was the songwriting. Marmaduke, Nelson and Hunter. Hard to beat those guys.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
Another main difference is
Another main difference is that I have more fun singing along (harmony) with the FBB.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: aiq
Burritos.
Burritos.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Joe Buck is Back
NRPS, but Gram Parsons still
NRPS, but Gram Parsons still makes me cry.