Review: Gram Parsons Archive, Vol. 1: Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969

There have been numerous incarnations of the Flying Burrito Brothers Band. We'll focuses primarily on the first four releases through the Chris Hillman era, and the supplemental material recorded within that time period. The first two with Gram Parsons; The Gilded Palace of Sin, and Burrito Deluxe the third self-titled studio album with Rick Roberts, as well as the fourth, a live recording entitled, Last of the Red Hot Burritos. 

For additional Flying Burrito Brothers material with Gram Parsons beyond the first two releases, there are a number of studio recordings that appeared on Sleepless Nights and as various bonus tracks on reissues. These outtakes were to be on a pure country music Burritos album that never materialized. 

If you're keeping track:
On Farther Along: Best Of The Flying Burrito Brothers, but not on Sleepless Nights
1. Six Days On The Road
3. Break My Mind
7. To Love Somebody

On Sleepless Nights, not on Farther Along: Best Of The Flying Burrito Brothers
4. Your Angel Steps Out Of Heaven
5. Crazy Arms
8. Together Again
9. Honky Tonk Women
10. Green, Green Grass Of Home

Others, on different collections as a bonus track:
I Shall Be Released

Their first four CD's are packaged together in various ways, which we present below.

First Four Albums
The Gilded Palace of Sin
Burrito Deluxe
The Flying Burrito Brothers Band
Last of the Red Hot Burritos

Also
Sleepless Nights
Gram Parsons Archive, Vol. 1: Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969

The Flying Burrito Brothers Personnel

The Gilded Palace of Sin
Gram Parsons - Guitar (Rhythm), Keyboards, Vocals
Chris Hillman - Mandolin, Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals
Chris Ethridge - Bass, Piano
Sneaky Pete Kleinow - Guitar (Steel)

Additional personnel
Jon Corneal - Drums (tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 7)
Eddie Hoh - Drums (tracks 2, 10)
Sam Goldstein - Drums (track 6)
Popeye Phillips - Drums (tracks (8, 9, 11)

Burrito Deluxe
Gram Parsons - Guitar (Rhythm), Keyboards, Vocals
Chris Hillman - Mandolin, Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals
Bernie Leadon - Guitar, Banjo
Sneaky Pete Kleinow - Pedal Steel Guitar
Michael Clarke - Drums

Additional personnel
Leon Russell - Piano (Tracks 17 - 23
Byron Berline - fiddle
Leopoldo Carbajal - accordion
Frank Blanco - percussion
Tommy Johnson - tuba
Buddy Childres - Conet, Flugelhorn

The Flying Burrito Brothers (self-titled 3rd album)
Chris Hillman - Bass, Guitar, Vocals
Rick Roberts - Guitar, Vocals
Bernie Leadon - Guitar, Banjo
Sneaky Pete Kleinow - Pedal Steel Guitar
Michael Clarke - Drums

Last of the Red Hot Burritos
Chris Hillman on bass and lead vocals
Rick Roberts, guitar and vocals
Al Perkins, pedal steel
Michael Clarke on drums,
along with 
Kenny Wertz, guitar and vocals 
Byron Berline, fiddle 
Roger Bush, acoustic bass 

Flying Burrito Brothers Band fans. Nashville West is a must.

Last of the Red Hot Burritos - Live 1971 performance, 1972 original release date.

Disc: 1
Gilded Palace of Sin
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

Additional track
12. The Train Song (Single)

Burrito Deluxe
13. Lazy Days
14. Image Of Me
15. High Fashion Queen
16. If You Gotta Go
17. Man In The Fog
18. Farther Along
19. Older Guys
20. Cody, Cody
21. God's Own Singer
22. Down In The Churchyard
23. Wild Horses

Disc: 2
Bonus Tracks
1. Six Days On The Road
2. Close Up The Honky Tonks
3. Break My Mind
4. Dim Lights
5. Sing Me Back Home
6. Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down
7. To Love Somebody

without Gram Parsons
Self-Titled Album
Tracks 8 - 20 
8. White Line Fever
9. Colorado
10. Hand To Mouth
11. Tried So Hard
12. Just Can't Be
13. To Ramona
14. Four Days Of Rain
15. Can't You Hear Me Calling
16. All Alone
17. Why Are You Crying

Bonus Tracks
18. Here Tonight
19. Ain't That A Lot Of Love
20. Losing Game (Live)

Disc 1
Tracks 1-11 on disc one comprise the complete Gilded Palace of Sin  album.

Tracks 13-23 present Burrito Deluxe in its entirety. 

Disc 2 
The first 7 tracks are from an aborted covers album and represent Parsons' last recordings with the Burritos. Much of was released on Sleepless Nights.

Tracks 8-17 were recorded post Gram Parsons

Tracks 18 - 20 - bonus tracks

Last of the Red Hot Burritos

The same collection was released years earlier as Sin City: The Very Best Of The Flying Burritos. Liner notes by Robyn Flans. These are both good 24 bit remastered from the original source tape discs. 

There are several similar releases of the first two Flying Burrito Brothers material such as, The Gilded Palace of Sin / Burrito Deluxe, and Farther Along: Best Of The Flying Burrito Brothers. They may not all sound the same. 

The Gilded Palace of Sin
1. Christine's Tune (aka Devil in the 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

Additional track
12. Train Song

Burrito Deluxe
13. Lazy Days
14. Image of Me
15. High Fashion Queen
16. If You Gotta Go
17. Man in the Fog
18. Farther Along
19. Older Guys
20. Cody, Cody
21. God's Own Singer
22. Down in the Churchyard
23. Wild Horses

Additional tracks
24. Six Days on the Road
25. Close Up the Honky Tonks

*Duets with Emmylou Harris (Grievous Angel sessions) - Also released on Gram Parsons: The Complete Reprise Sessions and Sacred Hearts and Fallen Angels: The Gram Parsons Anthology.

The other tracks are with the Flying Burrito Brothers from 1970.
When recording the material included on this release, they were playing honky-tonk pure county album.

Flying Burrito Brothers
Several of the Flying Burrito Brothers songs from Sleepless Nights were also released on Hot Burritos! The Flying Burrito Bros. Anthology 1969-1972

Gram Parsons - Guitar (Rhythm), Keyboards, Vocals
Chris Hillman - Mandolin, Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals
Bernie Leadon - Guitar, Banjo
Sneaky Pete Kleinow - Pedal Steel Guitar
Michael Clarke - Drums

The discs have pretty good sound, but they do not bounce with fidelity. To me, the Flying Burrito Brothers greatest charm is the vocals. That part of the sound is fairly intact, with some hiss. What the recordings lack is richness in tone (especially the bass) some separation and general clarity. We're talking about 2 track recordings from 1969 that weren't recorded for the purpose of a live release. These recordings came out of the Grateful Dead vault, and I'm confident they would have sounded a bit better if the Grateful Dead had the task of remastering and producing them. The sound is not poor, I just want to set expectations; it is not near the quality of Gram's live 1973 release. 

What is interesting is that in 1971, the Grateful Dead's music was more similar to this than in 1969. They didn't use a pedal steel, but at times, Garcia made his guitar sound like one. Though in other side Jerry Garcia endeavors, Jerry played pedal steel guitar, especially with the New Riders of the Purple Sage. The Flying Burrito Brothers music would have been more complimentary in 1971.

My preference is the second disc. It includes versions of key tracks not on the Aug. 4 show: "Do Right Woman," "You Win Again," and "Long Black Limousine." 

Disc one offers two non-live bonus tracks; I find them less enjoyable than the live show. The liner notes explain these are from Jimmi Seiter's vault and indicate there is more and future archives releases are being planned. The liner notes also hint at a probable Old and in the Way box set (a band that includes David Grisman, Vassar Clements, Jerry Garcia, and others.

While Gram Parsons Archive, Vol. 1: Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969 isn't a substitute for their studio albums, it is as enjoyable to listen to. In fact, the two versions of "She Once Lived There" alone make the album worth buying.  

Produced for release by Dave Prinz
Recorded by Owsley "Bear" Stanley
Liner notes Pamela Des Barres, David Prinz
Ameoba Records

by Barry Small

Press releases:
Nov. 5, 2007
Lost Gram Parsons Recordings Will Reappear At The Stroke Of Midnight Nov. 6

Amoeba Records will make 'Gram Parsons Archives, Vol. 1: The Flying Burrito Brothers Live At The Avalon Ballroom 1969' available for download at 12:01am ET on November 6 exclusively at Amoeba.com


Gram Parsons fans looking to get their ears on some never-before-heard Gram Parsons can do it at the stroke of midnight on November 6th. At 12:01am ET, ‘Gram Parsons Archives, Vol 1: The Flying Burrito Brothers Live At The Avalon Ballroom 1969,’ will be available for purchase as a download exclusively at Amoeba.com. The two CD, 27-track set includes a number of never-before-heard -- though long rumored -- rarities.

Gram Parsons, leading the Flying Burrito Brothers, opened for the Grateful Dead April 4, 5 and 6, 1969 at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. The April 4th show has never been heard in any form. The bonus disc is the April 6th show. For years these tapes were rumored to exist and were finally unearthed in the Grateful Dead vault. The shows were recorded by the legendary sound engineer Bear (Owsley Stanley), and are the highest quality Gram Parsons live material available. Disc 1 also contains 2 previously unreleased home recordings; “Thousand Dollar Wedding,” recorded in LA in 1969 by Jimmi Seiter, and “When Will I Be Loved,” recorded in NYC in 1967, also by Seiter. 

August 16, 2007  

Two-CD, High Fidelity Live Set 'Gram Parsons Archives Vol. 1: The Flying Burrito Brothers "Live" At The Avalon 1969' Out November 6th On Amoeba Records

Material From 1969 Found In Grateful Dead Vaults; Features Ten Songs Never Recorded By Parsons And Never Before Available


Amoeba Records will release a major addition to Gram Parsons' discography with ‘Gram Parsons Archives Vol. 1: The Flying Burrito Brothers “Live” at the Avalon 1969’, due November 6th from the newly formed label. The two CD, 27-track set includes a number of never-before-heard -- though long rumored -- rarities.

Gram Parsons, leading the Flying Burrito Brothers, opened for the Grateful Dead April 4, 5 and 6, 1969 at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. The April 4th show has never been heard in any form. The bonus disc is the April 6th show. For years these tapes were rumored to exist and were finally unearthed in the Grateful Dead vault. The shows were recorded by the legendary sound engineer Bear (Owsley Stanley), and are the highest quality Gram Parsons live material available.

Amoeba Records, started by the owners of the revered independent record store of the same name, is launching with the August 28 release of smoky-voiced singer and songwriter Brandi Shearer’s ‘Close to Dark.’ The album is co-produced by Larry Klein, known for his work with Joni Mitchell and Madeleine Peyroux, among others.

Rarities on ‘Gram Parsons Archives Vol. 1: The Flying Burrito Brothers “Live” at the Avalon 1969’ include Gram’s unique choice of mainly country standards, which are not on any other official Gram Parsons recording:

Undo The Right/Somebody’s Back In Town
She Once Lived Here
Mental Revenge
We’ve Got To Get Ourselves Together
Lucille
You Win Again
Long Black Limousine
Sweet Dream Baby
When Will I Be Loved