January-February 2008 

ARTIST: THE FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS

TITLE: GRAM PARSONS &
THE FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS LIVE
AT THE AVALON BALLROOM 1969

LABEL: AMOEBA AM0002

RELEAE DATE: NOVEMBER 2007

By Dennis Roger Reed

For a very brief time in 1968 and 1969, Los Angeles was the home of an almost perfect amalgamation of rock and roll, country and soul music known as The Flying Burrito Brothers. Their first recording, Gilded Palace of Sin, was a eclectic mix including recent soul hits redone in a country rock mode. Somehow The Flying Burrito Brothers were able to take songs like Dark End of the Street or Do Right Woman with their own imaginative spin while still capturing some of the essence of the original interpretations. The Flying Burrito Brothers also brought a good number of originals to the project, and each was worthy of contrast with the soul tunes. In fact, it wasn’t hard to imagine William Bell or James Carr taking a crack at Hot Burrito #1 or Hot Burrito #2. Then The Flying Burrito Brothers upped the ante, adding several Nuevo-country tunes that would have felt at home with George Jones, Buck Owens or more likely Waylon Jennings. Christine’s Tune, Sin City, Wheels: these were all steely country tunes but with hip, bent lyrics.

The Flying Burrito Brothers’ musical chops were prevalent. Lead vocalist/writer Gram Parsons had helped transform the folk rocking Byrds into a “country