Have you read "Are You Ready For The Country?" by Pete Doggett at all? If not, then you should, especially if you've any interest in the ever-burgeoning Alt.Country scene, as it's a great, informative read, pretty much guaranteed to have you scurrying off to check out a thousand back catalogues.
However, I do have one beef with its' author: his ready dismissal of the FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS' second (and last official) album with Gram Parsons, and their 1970 follow up to their landmark "Gilded Palace Of Sin" debut.
Well, sorry, but as someone well versed in "Burrito Deluxe" before discovering the ace "Gilded Palace.." (no qualms there),I don't see the problem, as "Burrito Deluxe" still stands up commendably, regardless of how difficult the sessions may have been that ultimately lead to the mercurial Parsons being given his marching orders.
Bassist/co-songwriter Chris Hillman still regrets the loss of the unreliable Parsons today, saying "Gram had the talent, the spark, but no discipline" and, personally, I'd hate to imagine life without "Burrito Deluxe". It's a wonderful warm skin to wrap yourself in if you're feeling low, and (to these cloth ears) the sound of a gifted band consolidating the artitic success of their debut with aplomb. It certainly makes you realise why Parsons made that notorious "plastic dry fuck" comment about THE EAGLES during their first flush of success soon after.
Certainly there's precious little that sounds redundant here, despite Parsons' imminent departure. Indeed, there's several great Parsons co-writes: opener "Lazy Days", with its' nagging, summery rock groove and those honeydrippin' harmonies; the hilarious "Man In The Fog" with its' madcap barrelhouse piano and furious barn dance fiddles and, of course,"Down In The Churchyard", which sounds at least semi-autobiographical with its' themes of temptation, redemption and the lure of the grave. For all his faults, Parsons' best songs were always wise beyond their years.
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The BURRITOS are bang on the money throughout too. Ex-BYRDS rhythm section Hillman and Michael Clarke never fail to give proceedings a funky kick, while (oops) future EAGLE Bernie Leadon's guitar prowess is tasteful and unobtrusive; "Sneeky" Pete Kleinow's pedal steel wafts in just when you need it and even Parsons himself weighs in with some sad, chromatic piano during the stately ROLLING STONES cover "Wild Horses."
Of course, "Wild Horses" has become "Burrito Deluxe"s signature motif (and the only reason it has any credibility at all according to Mr.Doggett) and the battle still rages over whether Gram shoulda received a writing credit along with Mick'n'Keef. After all, the BURRITOS version came out considerably earlier then THE STONES' rendition ( a good 12 months prior to "Sticky Fingers"), but whatever, it is undoubtedly the crowning glory here; Parsons' vocal soft, vulnerable and just so.
Gram would (briefly) shine brightly again, cutting his two influential solo LPs "GP2" and 2Grievous Angel" in the year or so before his premature exit from the world at Joshua Tree in September 1973, apparently with ie cubes being shoved up his ass in an attempt to revive him. These two records are the ones that regularly shore up his myth, but don't forget either THE BYRDS' "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" or (yes!) both the BURRITOS studio albums in completing the bigger picture.
Mind you, as deceased ex-BYRDS go,GENE CLARK will always be the greatest songwriter. Sorry everyone.
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