The Steel Guitar Forum

Hillman deserves a lot of credit, and that may be why he refuses interviews. He seems a little miffed at times. Some of those Burritos tunes like "Sin City" were mostly Hillman.

He had a well-deserved payday with the Desert Rose Band... I wonder how Gram might have fit into that whole thing?

Was it Hillman who was on the Ralph Emery show and Ralph asked him," How's your buddy Gram Parsons doing?"

"Still dead, Ralph..." Chris replied.

Scott -- I believe you're right. I think it was during an interview while he was with the Desert Rose Band, maybe 1989 or '90...or so.

This is for you, Ralph...

"He's a drug store truck drivin' man
He's the head of the Ku Klux Klan
When summer rolls around
He'll be lucky if he's not in town

Well he's got him a house on the hill
He plays country records till you've had your fill
He's a fireman's friend, he's an all night DJ
But he sure does think different from the records he plays

chorus

Well he don't like the young folks I know
He told me one night on his radio show
He's got him a medal he won in the war
Weighs five hundred pounds and sleeps on his floor

chorus

He's been like a father to me
He's the only DJ you can hear after three
I'm an all night musician in a rock 'n' roll band
And why he don't like me, I can't understand."

scott murray wrote:
Was it Hillman who was on the Ralph Emery show and Ralph asked him," How's your buddy Gram Parsons doing?"

"Still dead, Ralph..." Chris replied.

It was right after Emery got annoyed about Drug Store Truck Driving Man, and Hillman had to point out that the song was written by Parsons and McGuinn, not him. Which is when Ralph asked "and how is old Gram anyway".

...."Still dead, Ralph..."

I promised to dig up some of the quotes about weird pedal steel players. Here's my favorite:

"'Pedal steel is a strange instrument. Steel players are eccentric', L.A. session musician John Bleland says. 'They're strange people, like drummers [!]. They have always been weird characters. I have never met one steel player who wasn't off his nut.'"

Others:

comment on the Gilded Palace of Sin cover:

"Gram and Ethridge wear their suits with aplomb. Hillman's suit looks like it's wearing him, and Sneaky Pete might as well be wearing pajamas. The band looks uninterested and high, except for Sneaky Pete. He looks intense and strange, like a pedal-steel player."

On Sneaky, in the appendix:

"Kleinow, "Sneaky" Pete (1934-2007) Pedal-steel guitarist/animator. Pedal steel guitarist for the Flying Burrito Brothers. Known for eccentric tunings and instantly recognizable style, an amalgam of thoughtfully composed solos in the traditional country mode and near-psychedelic soundscapes reflecting a modern, more industrial, space-age sound."

Enjoy

-eric

I just finished reading it and I think this might be the the best and most complete bio of GP. The style is great and I didn't find it too long. All the details especially from his younger days sum up to a very interesting picture of the upper class society in Florida in the 50ties and 60ties.

The only thing I didn't like - someone else already said it - that he let his personal musical preferences get in way at times. On the other hand it helps you to understand where the author's coming from...

Together with Gandulf Hennig's documentary on Gram it's all the biography I'll ever need I guess. (The interview with Phil Kaufmann also is worth watching the movie).

I got this book for my birthday, and I have jumped around in it since it is a bit "too much" Gram for me. I've already read the Ben Fong-Torres bio, as well as the Sid Griffin bio.....

Now, while I am not a Gram-o-phile, I am most definitely a Nez-head. And based on the countless errors I am reading about Nez, I wonder just how much research went into this book.

1) "Nesmith...the iconic Monkee, the one who could actually play his instrument." Never mind that Peter Tork was a clasically trained pianist, French horn player and FAR better guitarist than Nesmith...

2) Red Rhodes was "a regular contributor to ex-Monkee Michael Nesmith's country-rock First National Band." Hmmm...seems he ought to have been *in* the band with all of those contributions....oh wait....

3) David Barry "played piano on Michael Nesmith's Country Time Records recordings." They served a lot of lemonade during those sessions, apparently. It was Countryside Records.

4) Red Rhodes "played on Elvis Presley's records." Let's name them:

5)Red Rhodes was the CMA's "Steel Guitar Player of the Year from 1965 through 1968." Close...but Red did not win in 1966. Ralph Mooney and Tom Brumley shared the award that year.

That many omissions on some sidebars to the main story make me wonder how many omissions are in the main story itself.

Jason... you said:

people who regard Poco, the New Riders, and the Eagles as unlistenable pap, will have a GP album in their collection.

Poco, unlistenable pap!?

it's kinda off the gram topic, but I beg to differ.

See now....I agree with Jason's thought that people that don't care for real "country-rock" groups seem to love Gram and the "GP" album. Me? I think the Gram solo albums are very unlistenable and don't stand the test of time. Same goes with most of the Burrito Brothers stuff, and the ISB stuff. Not a big Sneaky fan, and definitely not a big fan of most of the material ISB/FBB, though there are a few standout tracks.

However, "Sweetheart", the Nesmith material, the first few Poco albums...that's the GOOD stuff. Everyone is always talking about how good Gram was, but never touch on the even better stuff that is out there. Premature rock-star death seems to do wonders for the perception of greatness in the eyes of the general public.

i dunno... Gram just had a certain something very special about him. I love everything he ever did (although some of those Burritos out-takes got a little sloppy) and I think it holds up real well, from the ISB (which i LOVE) to the 2 solo albums.
I prefer Gram and the Burritos to Poco or Nesmith, but it's all great!


I'm reading another Gram bio 'God's Own Singer' written by brit Jason Walker. Yes, there are factual errors regarding Clarence White, JayDee Maness, etc. but a good book overall. Our own Jason Odd is quoted!

Joe Alterio wrote:See now....I agree with Jason's thought that people that don't care for real "country-rock" groups seem to love Gram and the "GP" album.

There's no accounting for taste But what are you using as a definition of "real" country rock?

For my purposes, I find Poco a bit homogenized, and while the Eagles are often great songwriters and great producers (and I think Bernie Leadon is vastly under-recognized as a musician) I think they lack passion as well. My tastes run more to Commander Cody.

But I think it's hard to dismiss the FBB impact on LA rock, and in the 70s LA rock almost *WAS* rock and roll. And if Gram did nothing other than give us Emmylou, he'd deserve a nod.

I *am* a Sneaky fan. I think he was a unique talent, but I'll agree no one really followed his lead.

-eric

Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen have been making wondering records for decades and don't get a fraction of the buzz. Both were way ahead of Gram in country music as they played bluegrass in the early 60s, as did a lot of their peers in country rock. So I can understand how annoying all this "Gram was the messiah of country rock" must be.

I haven't read this book yet, but John Einarson is writing a biography of the Flying Burrito Brothers with Chris as a co-author. I loved Desperados and the bio. of Gene Clark that he wrote, so this is must read IMHO.

I agree with you, Stephanie.

Stephanie Carta wrote:Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen have been making wondering records for decades and don't get a fraction of the buzz.

No question. "Bakersfield Bound" is one of my all time favorites.

Stephanie Carta wrote:I haven't read this book yet, but John Einarson is writing a biography of the Flying Burrito Brothers with Chris as a co-author.

It'll be great to get Chris on the record, so to speak.

I only heard the FBB twice, once at the Avalon and once at Altamont, so it's not a fair sample, but they were kinda rough. But pretty powerful nonetheless.

-eric

I think bob said it best: NEIL FLANZ !!

Regards, Paul

Poco? Good?

I personally love country-rock as a genre, Poco, Dillard & Clark, Great Speckled Bird, Country Funk, Commander Cody & The Last Planet Airmen, early Brinsley Schwarz, Cochise, Burritos, Gram, Nesmith, The Frist National Band, The Second National Band, Ian Matthwes Southern Comfort, Southern Comfort, Ian Matthews, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Ian & Sylvia, Gosdin Brothers, Byrds, Gene Clark, Rick Roberts, Manassas, Country Fever, Albert Lee, Spike Island/Tumbleweeds, early Chas & Dave, Seatrain, The Earl Scruggs Revue, The Scruggs Brothers, Country Radio, The Dingoes, Tranquility, Whister Chaucer Detroit & Greenhill, Goose Creek Symphony, Rick Nelson & the Stone Canyon Band, Euphoria, Beau Brummels, Everly Brothers, New Riders, Grateful Dead, The Stalk-Forrest Group, Johnny Darrell, Kangaroo, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Asleep At The Wheel, Allman Bros (1973 LP), Neil Young, early Jimmy Buffett and Kris Kristofferson, Barefoot Jerry, Charlie Daniels (nothing after 1979 thanks!), Ron Elliot, Eagles, Longbranch Pennywhistle, Shiloh, Uncle Jim's Music, the Rolling Stones (Beggars P from '68), Mason Proffit, Michael Murphey, Larry Murray, Mother Earth, Skip Spence, the Flatlanders.. and a bunch more.

I think you'll find most music fans under 40 will own very little of the above.
The Rolling Stones, Nesmith, Gram, Neil Young, Gene Clark are the main ones, and most folks only bother with Gram related.

Look for this addition to the canon in a few months...

"Hot Burritos: The True Story of The Flying Burrito Brothers" by John Einarson with Chris Hillman, Jawbone Press/Hal Leonard Books, November 2008. With a Foreword by Dwight Yoakam.

http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Burritos-Flyi ... 1906002169

jason..good list. we must have similar musical backgrounds. poco was absolutely the best...burritos and gram were made less pleasant for me by sneaky pete's playing. i much preferred the cuts with emmons or jaydee....i heard jaydee quit the desert rose band cause hillman was a jerk with all the money and jaydee could barely afford to gig.

burritos and gram were made less pleasant for me by sneaky pete's playing.

Chris, very interesting

- I find myself at the opposite end, i.e. for my taste Sneaky's playing was what what made them.

vive le difference

chris ivey wrote:....i heard jaydee quit the desert rose band cause hillman was a jerk with all the money and jaydee could barely afford to gig.

Don't believe everything you read. Pre-Garth, you didn't have to sell a ton of records to get chart success. That's why the DRB put out such high quality albums and still got hits. I think the first sold about 100,000 and a little better with the 2nd and 3rd. After that it wasn't the DRB anymore for obvious reasons. Mike Curb engaged in some "creative accounting practices". They played some small places. You can do the math youself. Chris is a real man and has admitted to making some mistakes with the band. He wouldn't call it the DRB again unless all six originals were on board. That says it all.

Grams influence can't be gauged easily, but what you can do is literally count the number of national recording artist that (more than twice) have referred to GP and/or his music. It's quiet a large number for someone who barely charted nationally! It seems a few artist even resented his fast-found influence on the genre he helped shape. He did 'coin' the phrase 'Cosmic American Music. Heck, even Jim/Roger McGuinn as discussed how he just showed in LA, and the country-rock scene began breathing in fresh air. What I have read, is that he had a magical charisma with new felt energy when he entered a room. I guess he was 'the new boy in town' and it somehow stuck. Any artist that 6+ bios & books have been written about, surely had significant influence on a given musical genre.

One thing I can say, is that country-rock, cosmic american music and/or the singer-songwriters of Laurel Canyon, SEVERELY influenced me. In '71 while in college and playing in a regional successful re-cooked Rolling Stone type band, I went to Savannah, GA and purchased a red Sho-Bud Maverick from Portman's Music! It changed the course of that band and others. Two of us formed Rockin' Horse that was arguably the first country-rock band (with a West Coast favor)in Georgia. We played Poco, NRPS, FBB & Byrds & GP, Eagles, Dead, Pure Prairie League, Neil Young, etc.

Anyways . . . we had a great time and got real broke, real fast, as we no longer fit in any clubs, country or rock. We played colleges and once at most country or rock type clubs. Luckily there were many clubs to play 1-2 times at!

Who else has similar war stores to share?

Later,
billy

BTW: If you enjoy good rock&roll books, check out Hotel California. It's about the singer-songwriter scene in and around Laurel Canyon. It's a great read and is accurate as it's based on interviews! I forget the author but he's from England and specializes in R&R books.

billy

Barney Hoskyns, one of he best music writers, IMO.
I agree, Hotel California is a great read !

I could not put down Hotel California and I am not usually a reader. If anyone one is into the beginnings of the West Coast folkie & country-rock scene with blue jeans and denim shirts, this book is worth your time to read. The Beatles basically finished off folk music as it was known at that time, so many of those musicians had to migrate into another genre. Some went more pop-rock as in the '60s hit radio, and others went a little more with electric folk/country sounds.

Anyone have another good read about the West Coast music scene of those days?

Later,
billy

Not a book but an interesting documentary can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3FvWSvZx4U

I think Hoskyns is involved in some way....

Nothing new for the connoiseur but entertaining.....