New Riders of the Purple Sage
New Riders Of The Purple Sage
Jerry Garcia, Spencer Dryden, Mickey Hart, Commander Cody
Engineer: Steve Barncard,
Producer: New Riders Of The Purple Sage
Legacy Recordings, 2003
1 CD
Catalogue #: 85388
EAN: 0696998538825
UPC: 696998538825
You save: 20%
Originally released on Columbia (30888).
New Riders Of The Purple Sage: David Nelson (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin); John Dawson (vocals, acoustic guitar); Dave Torbert (acoustic guitar, bass instrument, background vocals).
Additional personnel: Jerry Garcia (pedal steel guitar, banjo); Commander Cody (piano); Mickey Hart, Spencer Dryden (drums, percussion).
Recording information: Wally Heider Studio, San Francisco, California.
In the early 1970s, with the likes of the Band, the Grateful Dead, and Crosby, Stills & Nash all turning away from the orgy of the senses that was the '60s, toward a simpler, more deeply rooted place, country rock became de rigeur. Shortly after the Dead made their move from acid tests to hoedowns, their pals Dave Torbert and John "Marmaduke" Dawson followed suit. Torbert and Dawson were the heart of New Riders of the Purple Sage, aided on their debut album by Dead buddies Jerry Garcia and Mickey Hart. There's a still-slightly-stoned, morning-after feel here that works well with the New Riders' low-key style. Their cowboy/hippie/outlaw ethic is espoused on the likes of "Last Lonely Eagle" and "Glendale Train" as horse trails meet Haight-Ashbury in an agreeably ramshackle manner.
Tracklist
New Riders Of The Purple Sage
Formed in 1969 by Bakersfield country obsessive John Dawson and guitarist David Nelson, the New Riders Of The Purple Sage counted among their original line-up Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, and Mickey Hart from the Grateful Dead. Cutting their teeth as the Dead's opening act, the New Riders quickly established an independent identity through the strength of Dawson's original songs. Their 1971 debut, which featured Garcia on pedal steel, blended country rock with a loose, hippie aesthetic. POWERGLIDE introduced steel ace Buddy Cage and a punchier, more assertive sound, which yielded their 1973 fourth album, THE ADVENTURES OF PANAMA RED gold status. After this commerical peak, the band continued recording and touring in various guises in the ensuing decades--although the '00s line-up did not feature John Dawson.
Jerry Garcia
Though he was chiefly known as the leader of the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia was much more than that. For many, he was the embodiment of the freewheeling artistic spirit of the 1960s. A masterly guitarist and songwriter, and a highly underrated vocalist, Garcia was a true music lover, involving himself in numerous non-Dead projects over the years, including a duo with mandolinist David Grisman, a bluegrass supergroup (Old & In The Way), and jazzy one-offs with the likes of Merl Saunders and Howard Wales. His death in 1995 robbed the world of one of its most distinctive musical voices, but happily, Garcia left a wealth of music behind for fans to treasure.
Mickey Hart
Although he drummed for the Grateful Dead for almost 30 years, and still plays with the remaining members as the Dead, Mickey Hart has also established a separate identity as a world music artist, producer, champion, and rainmaker. His groundbreaking 1991 compilation album, PLANET DRUM, gathered an international line-up of percussionists in celebration of the world's rich musical tapestry, and his three best-selling books about spirituality, culture, and rhythm have educated countless percussionists on both the brass tacks and the ethereal aspects of their art. Hart has also served on the advisory board of the Smithsonian Folkways label, as well as on the Board of Trustees of the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, and has been a force for digitally archiving the recorded treasures in their respective vaults.
