The Flying Burrito Brothers are an American country rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1968, best known for their influential 1969 debut album, The Gilded Palace of Sin. Although the group is known for its connection to band founders Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman (both formerly of the Byrds), the group underwent many personnel changes and has existed in various incarnations. Now officially known as the Burrito Brothers, the band continues to perform and record new albums.
Contents
Early evolution (1968–1969)
Ian Dunlop and Mickey Gauvin, formerly of Gram Parsons' International Submarine Band (ISB), founded the original Flying Burrito Brothers and named it after Parsons informed them of his new country focus. This incarnation of the band never recorded as such, and after heading East allowed Gram Parsons to take the name.
With the original incarnation of the band out of the picture, the "West Coast" Flying Burrito Brothers were founded in 1968 in Los Angeles, California, by Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman. Bassist/keyboardist Chris Ethridge (who had played alongside Parsons in the International Submarine Band), pedal steel guitarist "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow and session drummer "Fast" Eddie Hoh rounded out the lineup.
Classic era (1968–1972)
Though Hillman and Roger McGuinn had fired Parsons from the Byrds in July 1968, the bassist and Parsons reconciled later that year after Hillman (who would switch to rhythm guitar in the new ensemble) left the group. Parsons had refused to join his Byrds bandmates for a tour of South Africa, citing his disapproval of the apartheid policy of that nation's government. Hillman doubted the sincerity of Parsons' gesture, believing instead that the singer merely wanted to remain in England with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, whom he had recently befriended.
The Flying Burrito Brothers recorded their debut album, The Gilded Palace of Sin (containing originals by Parsons, Hillman, and Ethridge alongside covers of two songs by the venerable Southern soul songwriting duo of Dan Penn and Chips Moman), without a regular drummer. Hoh proved to be unable to perform adequately due to a substance abuse problem and was dismissed after recording two songs, leading the group to employ a variety of session players, including former International Submarine Band drummer Jon Corneal (who briefly joined the group as an official member, appearing on a plurality of the tracks) and Popeye Phillips of Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. Before commencing their first tour, the group ultimately settled upon original Byrd Michael Clarke (who had recently been working with fellow country rock pioneers and Byrds spinoff the Dillard and Clark Expedition) as a permanent replacement. He remained the band's permanent drummer until 1971.
Despite widespread critical acclaim upon its release in February 1969 (as exemplified by Stanley Booth's laudatory review in Rolling Stone and positive press remarks by Bob Dylan) for its pioneering amalgamation of country, soul music, and psychedelic rock, The Gilded Palace of Sin stalled at No. 164 on the Billboard album chart. Although the band declined an invitation to perform at Woodstock, a comprehensive train tour of the United States (necessitated by Parsons' fear of flying) ultimately ended in disaster due to drug and alcohol use. Dissatisfied by the band's lack of success and unable to fully reconcile his predilection for R&B with the more conservative tastes of Parsons and Hillman, Ethridge departed the group in the autumn of 1969. Hillman reverted to bass after the band hired lead guitarist Bernie Leadon, a Dillard and Clark veteran who had also played with Hillman in the early 1960s bluegrass scene. This iteration of the band performed at the ill-fated Altamont Free Concert in December 1969, as documented in the film Gimme Shelter. The audience remained largely peaceful throughout their performance.
Later configurations (1974–present)
1974–1980
As Gram Parsons's influence and fame grew, so did interest in the Flying Burrito Brothers. This newfound popularity led to the release of Close Up the Honky Tonks in 1974, a double-LP compilation of album tracks, B-sides, and outtakes. Soon after, Kleinow and Ethridge put together a new incarnation of the band. When asked in 1972 about the band continuing without him, Parsons remarked, "The idea'll keep going on. It's not like it's dead or anything. Whether I do it or anybody else does it, it's got to keep going." Frequent Ethridge collaborator and former Canned Heat guitarist Joel Scott Hill, longtime country rock fiddle player and guitarist Gib Guilbeau and erstwhile Byrd multi-instrumentalist Gene Parsons also joined the group. Augmented by songwriter and session luminary Spooner Oldham from the Dan Penn/FAME Studios axis, the band released Flying Again on Columbia Records in 1975. Dominated by contributions from Guilbeau, Gene Parsons and Penn (including the single "Building Fires", a collaboration between Penn, "Always on My Mind" co-writer Johnny Christopher and maverick Memphis musical artist Jim Dickinson), the album was the most commercially successful effort by any iteration of the band, peaking at No. 138 on the Billboard album chart.
Ethridge was replaced by Byrds alumnus Skip Battin for the 1976 album Airborne. However, the lineup continued to evolve for the rest of the 1970s, with the band even releasing an album under the name Sierra while continuing to play shows as the Flying Burrito Brothers. In 1980, they had the first of several minor country hits with a version of Merle Haggard's "White Line Fever" from their album Live in Tokyo, released the previous year.
1980–2000
The early 1980s were a period of commercial success for the band. Curb Records encouraged the band to change its name and for most of the decade they were known simply as "Burrito Brothers". Gib Guilbeau reconnected with his bandmate from Swampwater, songwriter and guitarist John Beland. The two, initially along with Skip Battin and Sneaky Pete Kleinow, began moving the band's sound to a more radio friendly direction. Finally, the Burrito Brothers began to score well on the country charts. Skip Battin left shortly before the release of Hearts on the Line in 1981 due to the band's new direction. The album contained two Top 20 country hits, marking the first significant commercial chart success the band ever had. In 1981 they received the Billboard award for "Best New Crossover Group" from pop to country. The Burrito Brothers continued to work with the top session players in Nashville and Los Angeles, logging an impressive list of singles for Curb Records. In the 1980s they toured Europe, were featured at the Albi Nashville Festival in Albi, France, and performed with Emmylou Harris, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Tammy Wynette at London's Wembley Stadium. Also in the early 1980s, the Burrito Brothers were responsible for a campaign that finally saw Lefty Frizzell inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1982, Kleinow, the sole original member, departed prior to the release of Sunset Sundown. In 1984, Beland and Guilbeau retired the Burritos and afforded Kleinow the chance to re-form essentially the late 1970s lineup with Skip Battin and Greg Harris, which continued to tour and release live albums for the rest of the 1980s.
In 1991 a lineup consisting of Beland, Guilbeau, Ethridge, Kleinow, and Australian singer Brian Cadd began work on a new album, Eye of a Hurricane. The band went without a regular drummer and used session drummer Ron Tutt, who had previously played with Elvis Presley. The band soon parted ways with Ethridge (for the third time) and Cadd. Ethridge was replaced by Larry Patton, and Gary Kubal was added as a full-time drummer. This lineup released California Jukebox in 1997. At this time Gib Guilbeau and Kleinow stopped working with the group because of health concerns. Kleinow was replaced by Wayne Bridge. In 1997, multi- instrumentalist Chris Golden (The Goldens, Oak Ridge Boys, Alabama) joined the band on tour playing keyboards. In 1999, the band released Sons of the Golden West, which, while receiving solid critical reviews, would prove to be the final album by the Flying Burrito Brothers, as Beland decided to end the band shortly after the turn of the millennium.
2000-2010
Sneaky Pete Kleinow then created a new Burrito project in 2002. This band was called Burrito Deluxe, because Beland still had rights to the original name at that time. This band featured Carlton Moody on lead vocals and Garth Hudson from the Band on keyboards. The first album of this incarnation, Georgia Peach, was conceived as a tribute to Gram Parsons. Kleinow left the band because of illness in 2005, leaving no direct lineage to any of the original 1969–1972 lineup. His final recordings appear on their 2007 album Disciples of the Truth.
Legacy
Gram Parsons embarked on a solo career after being fired by Chris Hillman. He released two solo albums and continued to tour until his death on September 19, 1973.
Chris Hillman remained a successful singer-songwriter, having been part of Manassas (with Burrito Al Perkins), the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band and a partial reunion of The Byrds in McGuinn, Clark & Hillman. In the 1980s, he found commercial success when he formed the Desert Rose Band (1986–93) with Herb Pedersen. He has continued to write, produce and record.
Bernie Leadon went on to help found The Eagles.
Rick Roberts and Michael Clarke formed Firefall with Jock Bartley from Gram Parsons' solo band. They had several radio hits in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Michael Clarke died in 1993. Rick Roberts is mostly retired but occasionally still plays solo shows and has reunited with Firefall on a few occasions.
"Sneaky" Pete Kleinow continued to play with the Burritos off and on until his death in 2007. He is also known outside of the music world as one of the artists behind Gumby and for his work on The Empire Strikes Back.
Gib Guilbeau retired following heart surgery and moved to Palmdale, California. He continued to appear occasionally at local functions in and around the Los Angeles area until his death in 2016. His son, Ronnie, occasionally performs with and writes songs for the current Burrito Brothers lineup.
John Beland continues to produce acts in the U.S. and abroad. He achieved hit records in both Australia and Norway before moving to Brenham, Texas, where he has continued to write hits for performers such as the Whites ("Forever You"), Mark Farner ("Isn't It Amazing?"), and the Bellamy Brothers ("Cowboy Beat", "Hard Way to Make an Easy Living", and "Bound to Explode"). His songs have been covered by many acts, from Ricky Nelson to Garth Brooks.