The classic lineup of the band, which recorded The Gilded Palace of Sin. Clockwise from top left: Gram Parsons, Chris Ethridge, Chris Hillman, "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow.
The Flying Burrito Brothers were a pioneering Country-Rock band formed in Los Angeles in late 1968 by two former members of The Byrds, Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman. Adding bassist Chris Ethridge and pedal steel guitarist "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow, they recorded their seminal debut The Gilded Palace of Sin (1969). Despite being critically acclaimed, the album failed to connect with general audiences, a problem that dogged the band throughout its brief but ultimately influential career. By 1970, Parsons had grown disillusioned with the Flying Burrito Brothers' lack of commercial success and began turning in increasingly erratic live performances, leading a disgruntled Hillman to fire him from the band shortly after the release of follow-up Burrito Deluxe. Parsons' solo work was met with similar critical praise and commercial disinterest, but was curtailed by his premature death from a drug overdose in 1973, leading to a case of Posthumous Popularity Potential as a major influence on Country Rock and Progressive Country for his time with the Byrds, the Burritos, and as a solo artist. The Flying Burrito Brothers soldiered on for a while with Rick Roberts as Parsons' replacement, recording a self-titled third studio album and the live set Last of the Red-Hot Burritos, but ultimately folded at the end of 1971. The deaths of Kleinow and Ethridge in 2007 and 2012, respectively, have left Hillman as the sole surviving founding member.
Members (founding members in bold)
- Michael Clarke - drums (1969-71; died 1993)
- Chris Ethridge - bass, piano (1968-69; died 2012)
- Chris Hillman - vocals, guitar, bass, mandolin (1968-71)
- "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow - pedal steel (1968-71; died 2007)
- Bernie Leadon - vocals, guitar (1969-71)
- Gram Parsons - vocals, guitar, piano, organ (1968-70; died 1973)
- Al Perkins - pedal steel, guitar (1971)
- Rick Roberts - vocals, guitar (1970-71)
- Kenny Wertz - vocals, guitar, banjo (1971)
Discography
- The Gilded Palace of Sin (1969)
- Burrito Deluxe (1970)
- The Flying Burrito Bros (1971)
- Last of the Red-Hot Burritos (1972)note
You know I'm not that kind of trope:
- California Collapse: Referenced in "Sin City" (the city in question being the band's native Los Angeles)."This old earthquake's gonna leave me in the poorhouse..."
- The Charmer: Gram Parsons was by most accounts the archetypal Southern Gentleman.
- Cloudcuckoolander: The decidedly eccentric "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow—even his approach to the pedal steel (most notably his use of fuzz pedals and Leslie speaker cabinets) was pretty offbeat.
- Cool Bike: "Wheels" was written after Gram got into a minor motorcycle accident.
- Deceptively Silly Title: Gram Parsons gives arguably the most emotionally-affecting vocal performance of his career...on a track called "Hot Burrito #1." It's not all that hard to see why Elvis Costello changed the song's title to "I'm Your Toy" when he covered it.
- Draft Dodging: "My Uncle," from The Gilded Palace of Sin, centers around this topic, with the narrator planning to run away to Vancouver after receiving his draft notice. Although, given that the band came from Southern California where "the nearest foreign border" is with Mexico rather than Canada, it's unclear why the guy doesn't just head for Tijuana.
- Foil: Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman for each other. Parsons was a flamboyant attention-seeker who at his best acted as a highly charismatic visionary, but at his worst was an entitled rich guy who expected success to be handed to him on a silver platter. Hillman, by contrast, was a stoic workhorse whose Boring, but Practical approach to music-making immediately cast him into the archetypal role of The Lancer to Parsons' leader despite his being the band's chief decision-maker.
- Four-Man Band: The original Gilded Palace of Sin lineup had a Casanova Wannabe (Gram Parsons, and not just a "wannabe" either), an Only Sane Man (Chris Hillman, in the same role he'd occupied in the Byrds), a Smart Guy (Sneaky Pete), and a Genius Ditz (Chris Ethridge).
- Genre Mashup: The band mixed rock with both the genteel Nashville country music of Gram Parsons' native south and the grittier Bakersfield sound that Californian Chris Hillman grew up with. Their first album, at least, also contains substantial influences from R&B and soul.
- Gratuitous Panning: For most of The Gilded Palace of Sin, Gram Parsons' voice is hard-panned to the left speaker while Chris Hillman's is panned to the right (on "Dark End of the Street" this is reversed).
- Greatest Hits Album: Despite the short length of their career, they've had several.
- Helium Speech: On "Sin City" and "Christine's Tune." For some reason both songs were slightly sped up after recording, which resulted in Parsons' and Hillman's vocals sounding thinner and higher-pitched than usual.
- Iconic Outfit: The eye-catching nudie suits that Gram, the two Chrises and Sneaky Pete wear on the cover of The Gilded Palace of Sin.
- Insistent Terminology: Gram was very fond of using the phrase "cosmic American music" to describe his vision for the group's sound.
- It's All About Me: According to the other band members, Gram's quest for fame led him to exhibit this attitude, which—coupled with his increasingly inconsistent and drug-addled live performances and his ditching the other Burritos to hang out with The Rolling Stones—led Chris Hillman to dismiss him from the band in 1970.
- New Sound Album: After the distinctive mashup of country, soul and psychedelia featured on The Gilded Palace of Sin, its follow-up Burrito Deluxe is pretty much straight rock 'n' roll with country influences.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted for the classic lineup which featured Chris Hillman and Chris Ethridge.
- The Place: The Burritos are often associated with Joshua Tree National Parknote in southern California. They did some promotional photoshoots there and Gram Parsons loved the area. It also wound up being the site of Parsons' death, which led to some infamous hijinks in which his friends attempted to dispose of his body the way he'd wanted...but made quite a mess of things, as this video
explains in more detail. - Red Oni, Blue Oni: Outgoing and charismatic but extremely self-destructive Gram Parsons was the red to Chris Hillman's more pragmatic, sturdy blue.
- Revolving Door Band: Many members passed through the band throughout its relatively brief existence, with Chris Hillman being the only one to appear on all of their albums. Even more if you count the various versions of the group (some more legitimate than others) that have been spun off in the wake of the original Burritos' breakup.
- Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Gram Parsons was the heir to the Snively citrus fortune, and his monthly trust fund payments supplied him with all the money he needed to indulge in the dangerous drug habit which eventually killed him.
- A Shared Suffering: Both Chris Hillman's and Gram Parsons' fathers committed suicide when they were teenagers.
- Special Guest: Chris Hillman's former Byrds-mate David Crosby contributes backing vocals to the band's cover of "Do Right Woman."
- Spoken Word in Music: On "Hippie Boy."
- Step Up to the Microphone: Bernie Leadon sings lead on "God's Only Singer," from Burrito Deluxe.
- Team Dad: Despite his eccentricities, Sneaky Pete fulfilled this role, largely because he was more than a decade older than the other band members.
- Ur-Example: Often regarded as the pioneers of Country Rock and Progressive Country.
- Vocal Tag Team: Hillman and Parsons sing together on most of The Gilded Palace of Sin, sometimes even alternating who is singing the main melody and the high harmony within a given song. After Parsons' departure, Rick Roberts took his spot in the tag team.
