Four Days of Rain: The Flying Burrito Brothers Album-by-Album Thread

Okay, I'm starting this thread so that we can take the Burritos discussion away from the Byrds thread, and also because the Burritos deserve their own thread! This thread is going to start in 1969 and go all the way up through 1999 when John Beland officially laid the Burritos to rest. I'm well aware that I'll probably be the only thread participant when we get to the albums after 1972, but hey, just read about the later albums and you might learn something!
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The Gilded Palace of Sin
Originally released as A&M SP 4175
February, 1969

Completists need:

• An A&M LP or one of the CD compilations that contain every track on the album

1. Christine's Tune (A.K.A. Devil in Disguise)
2. Sin City
3. Do Right Woman
4. Dark End of the Street
5. My Uncle
6. Wheels
7. Juanita
8. Hot Burrito #1
9. Hot Burrito #2
10. Do You Know How It Feels
11. Hippie Boy

Much has been written over the years about the influence of the Flying Burrito Brothers on the country-rock movement. It all begins here. After Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman quit the Byrds, the pair re-grouped and began writing songs together. The band's name is actually borrowed from another "Flying Burrito Brothers" which toured the east coast (and which Gram Parsons played in occasionally). When Parsons' and Hillman's band got a record deal with A&M, the other band conceded the name.

To help fill out the band, Parsons and Hillman hired bassist Chris Ethridge and pedal steel guitarist "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow. Drumming on The Gilded Palace of Sin was handed by John Corneal as well as other session drummers. The Burritos wouldn't settle on a full-time drummer until shortly after the album's sessions, when ex-Byrd Michael Clarke joined the band as a permanent member.

Official sales figures marked Gilded's initial sales at a paltry 40,000. Over the years, its stature has grown and it is widely seen as a classic.

Quite simply, the album is phenomenal. Songs like "Devil in Disguise", "Sin City", "My Uncle" and "Juanita" have a quality to them unlike anything most of us have ever heard. The musicianship and songwriting here are absolutely A+ in every way. The album's real highlight though is the "Hot Burrito Suite" consisting of two songs, appropriately titled "Hot Burrito #1" and "Hot Burrito #2". Written by Gram Parsons in collaboration with Chris Ethridge, these songs are bone chilling to listen to. Parsons sings the songs with his heart in his hands and it makes you feel the music and feel his pain. It is truly amazing stuff.

My remarks aren't even beginning to do this album justice, so let's have some others weigh in and let's discuss the first (and almost without a doubt the best) Burritos album!

 

The first two are perfect...after that....

OK I'm Out!!!

 

Wow, there seemed to be some interest in the Burritos in the Byrds thread, and now nobody wants to talk. Just my luck!

 

I'm with the early stuff - I've got everything (LP or CD) upto and including the first reformation (Flying Again and Airborne) but after that I lost interest. My favourite is the self-titled 3rd LP, mainly because it was the first one I bought. I then acquired the rest, and enjoy them. The funny thing is I bought that 3rd FBB LP out of curiousity. Way back when I was looking at the photos on the inner gatefold of Byrdmaniax LP and noted that McGuinn was wearing a T-shirt with Flying Burrito Brothers emblazoned across his chest. I thought, if it was good enough for McGuinn I'll check it out. At the time I had no idea about the Byrds/Burritos relationship.

 

I'm a Burrito fan...
This one is my favorite. The Hot Burrito songs are my favorite... when I first listened to this album, I expected them to be instrumentals. I was pleasantly suprised, to say the least. Wheels is my third favorite song from this.

 

"Hot Burrito #1" rips me up every time I listen to it. The raw emotion in that song is astounding. The way he sings "I'm your toy, I'm your old boy, but I don't want no one but you to love me" just makes that song.

 

Love the Flying Burrito Brothers, in fact I've often wondered if I'm alone in preferring the Burritos to the Byrds! "My Uncle" and "Dark End of the Street" are my favorites of theirs.

Related question: The only stuff I have of theirs is the 2 disc "Hot Burritos! The Flying Burrito Bros. Anthology 1969-1972" since it seems to do a pretty good job of compiling the earlier Parsons era. Am I missing out on anything crucial?

 

An all-time classic, that one. I also think "Four Days of Rain" from the third album is an underrated tune. New Grass Revival does the definitive version of FDoR, though.

 

FDoR is one of my all-time favorite Burritos tunes, right up there with "Colorado", "Hot Burrito #1" and "Juanita".

I've never heard New Grass Revival's version.

 

It's on "When the Storm Is Over" which is only on CD as a 2-for with "Fly To the Country" as the first title. Later, John Cowan covered it again on his live from Telluride cd from a few years ago. Cowan is such a great singer that he takes the song places Rick Roberts couldn't. Great tune, though; it's my favorite from RR.

The early Burritos records sound (to me) great in concept, but shaky in execution. The Gram Parsons movie "Fallen Angel" talks about how uncommitted he could be during these years, and that rings true listening to the songs. There's greatness here and there and a bit of chaos, too.

They built some bridges, though, just by bringing rock listeners into the sad-storytelling world of country songs. There's a natural connection there that seems obvious today, but I reckon it was anything but at the time.

 

Material-wise, not really. Completists will want everything Gram Parsons did with the band, but that set does have all the best material. Unfortunately the sound quality is poor. It is mastered with way too much treble.

Gilded Palace of Sin is the best album Gram Parsons was involved with, IMO. Great original songs, supplemented by some inspired covers. A perfect album. The only thing that would make it better would be a reissue with the first two tracks at their correct speed.

 

The Burritos were dirtier and seedy, while Poco was clean and almost wholesome. The difference between Gram Parson and Richie Furay. I like them both, but I've listened to my Poco albums from this era about a hundred times more than the Burrito albums. It seems that I have to be in a particular mood for FBB, whereas I feel like listening to Poco a lot more often.

At any rate, The Gilded Palace Of Sin is one of those highly influential albums that a relatively small number of people know about. The Parsons/Hillman combination was gold. I like everything, but both Hot Burrito songs are probably at the top, with "Do You Know How It Feels", "Dark End Of The Street, and "Wheels" trailing slightly.

Parsons was such an odd guy. An upper class kid from Georgia who for some reason brought the spook to everything he touched.

 

sorry, don't know how i missed this thread. i've made a bunch of posts about this album on this board, but i'll never get tired of repeating myself!

in my opinion, this album is the one that best fits that phrase long associated with Gram Parsons - "cosmic american music." the seamless blending of musical idioms is stunning - country, bluegrass, soul, '50s pop and rock'n'roll, and i think the fuzz pedal steel even gives it a bit of a psychedelic edge at times.

nowadays these songs are all associated with Gram Parsons, but i think that Chris Hillman had a larger role in the songwriting process than a lot of people give him credit for. can't cite any sources right at this moment, but i seem to remember reading that "Sin City" was basically his song.

love Crosby's high harmonies on "Do Right Woman." i also prefer this to the versions i've heard by Aretha Franklin and Etta James. as for "Dark End of the Street," i think it's one of Gram's best vocal performances. when all is said and done though, i probably like the original James Carr recording just a bit more (he really owned that song). the Clarence Carter version is also a work of art.

Chris Hillman still plays "Sin City" and "Wheels" live when he plays out with Herb Pedersen. i've also seen Emmylou Harris perform "Wheels."

by the way, you don't have the "complete" version of this album unless the count-in/laugh before "Dark End of the Street" is included. i know that the Hot Burritos 2xCD version omits it. maybe it sounds like a small thing, but it gives the album character.

for the best digital versions, check out Sin City: The Very Best of the Flying Burrito Brothers (A&M 069 493 264-2, mastered by Gavin Lurssen) which contains the first two albums plus three non-LP bonus tracks, OR the Edsel CD which just contains the album on its own (ED CD 191). they both sound good, and both have the count-in!

 

that release has almost all the essentials, but it is missing two of the best songs from the sessions that yielded the first 7 songs on disc 2 of that release. i'm not sure why they put on that sub-par version of "Six Days on the Road" when they could have included "Green, Green Grass of Home" or "Your Angel Steps Out of Heaven," both of which are totally amazing. but at least they saw fit to include "Sing Me Back Home" and "To Love Somebody," which are the other classics that emerged from that session in my opinion. it's worth tracking down an Edsel CD called Dim Lights, Thick Smoke and Loud Music (ED CD 197) which compiles 12 songs from this session as well as "The Train Song" and has stellar sound quality.

 

The Gilded Palace Of Sin is easily one of my favorite albums. Much has been said about it being one of the best "country rock" albums but I think Parsons was equally skilled in combining country and r&b (see his covers of Dark End Of The Street and Do Right Woman. Parsons vocals are on this record slay me. TheChief is right, Gram somehow "brought the spook" to nearly everything he sang. Hot Burrito #1 chokes me up every time. 5 stars.

It's not Aja or anything but I love the sound of this album. I really like how Gram and Chris' vocals are panned L/R. imagnrywar is right, the Sin City: The Very Best Of comp is the best version on CD.

Anyone know if the session tapes for Gilded Palace survive? I'm not sure but I want to say that there are a couple of Parsons/Hillman songs that were written circa Gilded Palace that have never turned up anywhere. I'm not real sure about that though..

 

It's one of my all time favorites.

I'm not sure I would have ever heard of The Flying Burrito Bros. in 1969 at the age of 14 or 15, but as serendipity would have it I tuned into American Bandstand one Saturday morning (which is something I didn't do too often at that late date) and there was this strange looking band lip-syncing a song and, hey... isn't that curly-haired guy Chris Hillman from The Byrds? I didn't know that he too had left the group and I guess I liked what I heard well enough to part with some hard-earned adolescent dollars.

The Guilded Palace of Sin is one of those albums that I look upon as an old friend and a great teacher... soul as well as country.

 

Growing up, I heard these songs over and over as my father was the biggest fan of the FBB I have ever met.

I would like to get the first two albums, but I'd really like to know how to go about getting the best sounding versions. There are MANY compilations containing most of the songs from the first two albums. I know this because I have bought almost every one of them for my father over the past 15 years as Christmas, birthday, & Father's Day gifts.

He is, by no means, an audiophile, so I don't think he can help me in the "quality" department. I don't mind if a compilation misses a lesser know song or two, I just want to buy this stuff once with the best sound that's available. I am eyeing the "Farther Along" comp as it's currently available on Yourmusic.com for $5. That's a great bargain, but I have no idea if it the best sounding way to go.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!!!

C

 

As imagnrywar said above:
"for the best digital versions, check out Sin City: The Very Best of the Flying Burrito Brothers (A&M 069 493 264-2, mastered by Gavin Lurssen) which contains the first two albums plus three non-LP bonus tracks"

He is right. The Sin City compilation is far and away the best-sounding version of the first two albums on CD. The only way to go.

 

i'll take one burrito deluxe, please...

 

Alright, I'll do a write-up tonight. Stay tuned!

 

Building Fires, a great song and a single, is almost impossible to find (I had to buy the original vinyl LP).

 

Love that song. We'll be getting to that album 4 albums from now.

 

I could do without the 'Hippy Boy' parable on the first album, but I love the rest of GPOS.

 

The best sounding Flying Burrito Brothers CD that I have is the MFSL silver version of their self-titled third album.