We continue our look at the music of 50 years ago…..
When Chris Hillman fired original Burrito Brother Gram Parsons in 1970 for drunkenness on stage, the Flying Burrito Brothers became a different band. Parsons plaintive, wobbly voice was replaced by the sweet harmony of Rick Roberts. You’ll remember Roberts as the founder and leader of the band Firefall later in the 70’s, but in 1971 he and Hillman wrote and sang most of the songs on the new LP “Flying Burrito Brothers”. The band at that time was still a solid lineup that along with Hillman and Roberts included Bernie Leadon (he would leave after this record to help found the Eagles), Sneaky Pete Kleinow on steel guitar and Hillman’s former band-mate in the Byrds, Michael Clarke on drums. Clarke would later join Roberts in Firefall.
The band’s 3rd LP contains a few solid covers including Merle Haggard’s ‘White Line Fever, Bob Dylan’s ‘For Ramona” and Gene Clark’s “Tried So Hard. But it’s a couple of the original tunes that stand out. It’s our first hearing of Robert’s outstanding track “Colorado” which Hillman would take with him to Manassas the following year….
And a Hillman-Roberts tune called, ‘Just Can’t Be” that is so beautifully played and sung it hurts…
Roberts would continue to lead the Burritos in the following years after Hillman, Leadon and Kleinow all moved on. This isn’t the band that delivered the proto-country rock LP “The Gilded Palace of Sin” in 1969, but even without Parsons, a band of solid pros delivers the goods. Enjoy.
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