Chris Ethridge, R.I.P.

The Flying Burrito Brothers, circa 1969: clockwise from top right, Chris Ethridge (d. 2012), Chris Hillman, "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow (d. 2007) and Gram Parsons (d. 1973).

Chris Ethridge, a founding member of the country rock pioneers The Flying Burrito Brothers, has died. He died in Mississippi of complications from pancreatic cancer; he was 65.

He played bass and piano on the Burritos’ The Gilded Palace of Sin debut album in 1969, co-writing a few songs with singer Gram Parsons, including “Hot Burrito No. 1.”

After leaving the Flying Burrito Brothers in 1969, Ethridge worked with Linda Ronstadt, Ry Cooder and Randy Newman, among others. He also spent several years as a member of Willie Nelson’s band.

Read an obituary of Chris Ethridge in the Los Angeles Times

MP3: “Hot Burrito #1” by The Flying Burrito Brothers

SXSW Day One: The Class, and the Craziness

Ladies and gentlemen, Eric Burdon!

AUSTIN – There is nothing gradual or tentative about the South by Southwest (SXSW) music conference; you jump in and either start swimming madly or you just drown. We tried to make a schedule for Wednesday, the first full day of the music madness, but it stayed folded in a pocket for the duration. We saw more than one couple frantically flipping through the Austin Chronicle or an official SXSW book (like a large catalog, really) for guidance, and looking more and more drowned by the minute.

Polly Parsons

Just get the sneakers workin’, and we did – to discover a swell group, A Classic Education. With a swirling and darting style reminiscent of the Smiths, this unit charmed a small crowd in a small bar. People came in for the free booze, and they left with sweet melodies ringing in their ears.

We flitted from venue to venue until we decided to make a stand in the parking lot of the colorful San Jose Hotel, to enjoy a musical lineup and help launch the Gram Parsons Foundation. Organized by Gram’s daughter Polly, who is now an Austin resident, the Foundation aims to support musicians and artists worldwide with addiction and recovery services. Wednesday’s party at the ever-popular South by San Jose event was a swell way to announce the Foundation’s good work.

Gram, who envisioned a mix of rock, folk, blues and country as “Cosmic American Music,” surely smiled on the offerings of Poor Moon, comprising Christian Wargo and Casey Wescott (Fleet Foxes, Crystal Skulls) and brothers Ian and Peter Murray (The Christmas Cards). While certainly adept instrumentally – Wescott and one of the Murrays bounced continuously between xylophone, guitar, keyboards and various percussion – and vocally, Poor Moon’s songs lacked a bit of focus and foundation. While the Fleet Foxes’-styled harmonies were beautiful, we wanted a hook or two to hang our hats on.

Cory Chisel, left, and Brendan Benson

Ask, and ye shall receive: in the form of Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons, who came out blistering with a sweet blend of country and rock. Cory has it all: great songs, an engaging style and, in his own words, “the best-looking band anywhere.” From Wisconsin, Chisel’s heartland rock is best spotlighted on his debut album Death Won’t Send A Letter, which he recorded with members of the Raconteurs, the Dead Weather and My Morning Jacket. Cory promises a sophomore release this summer, but in the meantime he and his crack touring unit have captured many hearts early on at SXSW.

Brendan Benson, himself a part-time Raconteur, stepped up next and he delivered with some deft heartland rock. At one point he said “I can’t believe I’m saying this but, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Eric Burdon!” And there he was – former lead singer of the Animals, resplendent in black and white (hair), electrifying the crowd with “When I Was Young.” Burdon’s appearance was like a thumb in a light socket, but at two songs, all too brief.

Eric Burdon

We plunged ahead into the dark, and downtown Austin, only to stumble upon our old buddy and Houston homie Al Staehely and his band the Explosives. Staehely and his brother John (also present in the Explosives) were replacement members of the 1970s version of the seminal California prog/psychedelic rockers Spirit. At age 66, Al is in fine voice and John squeezed out some fiery leads on guitar. After working the crowd into a lather, Al said “let’s do a couple from Spirit” and launched into a rockin’ cover of Randy California’s “I Got A Line On You.”

Al Staehely, who in the daytime is an entertainment lawyer in Houston, told us he had virtually retired from performing in 1985 when his son Christian was born. “I figured I should be a full-time lawyer, and only played at home,” he said. “Really, it was Freddie Krc (former drummer for Jerry Jeff Walker and leader of the Freddie Steady 5) who got me started again. We would do a gig here and there and finally I just jumped back in all the way … it’s a lot of fun.”

What a way to rock us out of the evening. Today, we’re headed over to catch a keynote address by one Mr. Bruce Springsteen, who made his presence known Wednesday by jumping onstage with Alejandro Escovedo, Joe Ely and Garland Jeffreys for four songs. Later on this evening, Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform at the spankin’ new ACL Live venue, just across the river from the hallowed ground of the old Armadillo World Headquarters where Bruce made his first Austin splash back in 1974.

Nice shoes Al. Wait, are those really shoes?

Your Sister’s (Record) Rack: The Flying Burrito Brothers

Today’s album is from 1972: Last Of The Red Hot Burritos, the live fourth album by country rock pioneers the Flying Burrito Brothers.  The Burritos were formed, of course, in 1969 by former Byrds Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, along with steel guitarist “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow and bassist Chris Etheridge.  Parsons left after the second album, and he was replaced by guitarist and songwriter Bernie Leadon.  Another ex-Byrd, Michael Clarke, was recruited to keep time on drums.

By the time this album was recorded, Kleinow and Leadon had left the band (Leadon to join the fledgling Eagles), leaving Chris Hillman as the sole founding member.  In their places, Hillman recruited Al Perkins (guitar/steel guitar) and Kenny Wertz (banjo) and added guest musicians Byron Berline (fiddle) and Roger Bush (upright bass) for a 1971 tour.  This lineup toured until Hillman left the band in October, leaving the rights to the band’s name to Rick Roberts.  Once Hillman departed, A&M Records lost faith in the group and instead of allowing a Roberts-led version of the band (with no founding members) to record a new studio album, A&M released this live recording instead which fulfilled the band’s contract before they were subsequently dropped from the label.

Nevertheless, Last Of The Red Hot Burritos is a fiery farewell, and Hillman naturally shifts the focus toward more traditional country and bluegrass.   The record is evenly divided with rocked-up versions of Burrito originals and country standards and pure bluegrass like “Orange Blossom Special” and “Dixie Breakdown.”  And there’s “Don’t Fight It,” a soul standard written by Wilson Pickett/Steve Cropper but turned into a country rocker by the Burritos.

Sampler Daze: Let’s Hear It For The Women!

Bonnie Raitt

It occurred to me, while compiling this exhaustive survey of the Warner Bros./Reprise Loss Leaders series, that we might be giving short shrift to the label’s female artists.  Probably not, but this is a good excuse to listen to some more tracks from this great promotional series.

I know we’ve mentioned Bonnie Raitt and Maria Muldaur – but we should start with them anyway because they’re the two ladies that the Loss Leaders went to the most often.  Part of our Loss Leaders All-Star team, Muldaur appeared nine times in the series and Raitt eight.  Another Reprise artist (with six appearances in the series) is Joni Mitchell, the Canadian darling of the hippie set and writer of the song “Woodstock,” most famously covered by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

Emmylou Harris, with five appearances in the Loss Leaders series, is another perennial.  Harris was actually discovered by then-Flying Burrito Brother (and ex-Byrd) Chris Hillman, who was so taken with her voice that he considered asking Harris to join the Burritos.  But he recommended her instead to fellow Burrito Gram Parsons, who was seeking a backing vocalist for his first solo album.  Working with Parsons, Emmylou learned a lot about country music and its deep tradition and history.  When Parsons suddenly died in 1973, Emmylou was left without a mentor (and possibly a lover – nobody knows for sure).  She began recording for Reprise in 1975 and went on to become a top country-rock performer.  Here she is represented by “Ooh Las Vegas,” written by Gram Parsons.

Lost Classics! “Sweetheart Of The Rodeo,” The Byrds

Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, the Byrds’ sixth studio album from 1968, is justifiably famous because it features singer/songwriter Gram Parsons on his only album with the band.  Parsons, later to found the Flying Burrito Brothers, would spend only six months as a Byrd, but it was a tumultuous six months indeed.

At the time the album was recorded, the only remaining Byrds from the original lineup were Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman.  Hillman recruited Parsons, and with drummer Kevin Kelley and guitarist Clarence White, the Byrds (at the urging of Parsons) went to Nashville to record the album.  McGuinn’s original concept was a wide range of music including old-timey gospel and country evolving into futuristic “space” music.  Thankfully, Parsons and Hillman tipped the scales in favor of the prescient country rock that the album became.

Lost Classics! Leftover Burritos

The Flying Burrito Brothers, 1975

The Flying Burrito Brothers were, of course, the pioneering country rock band that made a few landmark albums then broke up, spawning dozens of imitators in the 1970s.  The original lineup of the Burritos (formed 1968) is the most famous, with a lineup featuring singer Gram Parsons, multi-instrumentalist Chris Hillman and steel guitar virtuoso “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow.  Although all of the original members left the Burritos by 1972, the band – sometimes literally in name only – soldiered on for decades.

Hillman was the only original member left by the time of the live album Last Of The Red Hot Burritos (1972); the band included lead singer Rick Roberts (later of Firefall) and ex-Byrds drummer Michael Clarke.  Hillman left the band right about the time this album was released.  Roberts augmented the Burritos with fiddles and steel and continued playing live shows; one of the showcases was his signature song “Colorado,” which appeared on the Burritos’ third studio LP (1970).

Gram Parsons died of an overdose in 1974 and re-kindled interest in the band.  Sneaky Pete Kleinow and original bassist Chris Ethridge came back and enlisted latter-day Byrds drummer Gene Parsons (no relation to Gram) and fiddler Floyd “Gib” Guilbeau along with Joel Scott Hill, formerly of Canned Heat.  They cut two studio albums, Flying Again (1975) and Airborne (1976), which were critically derided and slickly produced.  Neither album failed to make a spark, and the band broke up – again.

Repost: Lost Classics! The Flying Burrito Brothers

In 1968 Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman managed to transform the Byrds into a country rock band for the landmark Sweetheart Of The Rodeo album.  Then they both left the Byrds to start the Flying Burrito Brothers, with the intention of mixing country and rock even more.  The Flying Burrito Brothers’ brand of country rock proved to be one of the more influential and imitated styles of the era.  However Parsons only stayed with the Burritos for two albums and by 1972 the original incarnation of the band dissolved, leaving only wannabes and pretenders to carry on the Flying Burrito Brothers name.

After recording two solo albums, founding member Gram Parsons died in 1973 from an overdose of morphine and tequila.  Responding to new interest in the band A&M Records released the two-LP compilation Close Up The Honky Tonks with one record’s worth of songs from the first two albums, 1969’s Gilded Palace of Sin and 1970’s Burrito Deluxe. The second record contained previously unreleased tracks, the first five of which were recorded during Parsons’ time with the band, while the last six were recorded after Parsons left the group and Hillman was the key player. Close Up The Honky Tonks has long been out of print, and while there are a number of Burrito CD compilations the original 1974 LP contains a handful of songs that are still unavailable on any other U.S. release to this day.

The song “Close Up The Honky Tonks” features Gram Parsons on vocals, and was recorded during his final months with the band; this does also appear on the Hot Burritos! anthology CD.  ” Break My Mind” was a single also featuring Parsons on lead vocals.  The rest of these songs feature Rick Roberts on lead vocals and do not appear anywhere else.  The instrumental “Beat The Heat,” written by steel guitarist “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow, was one of his first and only compositions.  Kleinow died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2007.

MP3: “Close Up The Honky Tonks”

MP3: “Beat The Heat”

MP3: “Break My Mind”

MP3: “Roll Over Beethoven” (live)

MP3: “Wake Up Little Susie” (live)

MP3: “Bony Moronie” (live)

Lost Classics! Flying Burrito Brothers Part 2

Thanks to everyone who has visited from Expecting Rain over the past few days, looking for the Flying Burrito Brothers.  We received a special request for more, and here you are – three more choice cuts from Close Up The Honky Tonks, the long-deleted album with “lost” Burrito cuts.

These three are with the late Gram Parsons singing lead, first on the Merle Haggard classic “Sing Me Back Home,” then on “Bony Moronie,” a cover originally cut for the 1970 album Burrito Deluxe.  Finally we have “Break My Mind,” a psychedelic country song recorded during Parsons’ last days with the band.

MP3: “Sing Me Back Home”

MP3: “Bony Moronie”

MP3: “Break My Mind”