The Flying Burrito Brothers – Live At The Bottom Line NYC 1976
Liberation Hall
14 Tracks – 49 minutes
By the time of this recording, the Flying Burrito Brothers had undergone numerous line-up changes including Gram Parsons, who had since passed away under mysterious circumstances, Pedal steel guitarist “Sneaky Pete” Kleinow was the only remaining member of a group that arguably was at the forefront of the country-rock explosion, although the band never achieved the same level of fame as the Byrds, the Eagles, and Commander Cody & the Lost Planet Airmen.
Over the years, the Burrito Brothers built a fan-base for their high energy live shows, as witnessed by this exciting set by a reconstituted line-up that included Kleinow, Skip Battin on bass, Joel Scott Hill on guitar, Gene Parsons (no relation to Gram) on drums, and Gil Guilbeau on guitar and fiddle. Parsons and Battin were former members of the Byrds while Hill had served a stint with Canned Heat. Each member of the band contributes on vocals.
Kicking things off with a brief, rowdy version of the instrumental “Hot Burrito Stomp,” the band rolls through a selection of beer-drinking music mixed with several romantic ballads. The next selection, “Hot Burrito #2” from the band’s The Gilded Palace of Sin debut album, offers a taste of their harmony vocalizing as Parsons lays down a sturdy beat. The song “Quiet Man” is introduced as disco reggae, with Battin establishing a jaunty pace with his thick bass lines. The vocal drops out at the start, but quickly recovers on a song that preaches, “…don’t pin your blues on me…”. Overall, the sound quality is acceptable for a concert recording, with a few brief sound dropouts sprinkled throughout
The classic tune “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke” puts the audience in the middle of a honky tonk as Guilbeau channels his Cajun heritage through his fiddle. Even better is rousing version of “Diggy Diggy Lo,” originally a hit for Rusty & Doug, that featured Cajun superstar Doug Kershaw on the fiddle. The Burritos version finds Kleinow and Guilbeau trading inspired solos, making the track a standout. “Border Town” is a tear-in-your-beer ballad about lost love, down south of the border. Once again, the combination of Guilbeau’s fiddle and Kleinow’s steel guitar add several layers of emotional resonance to the performance.
Other highlights include a feature for Guilbaeu on his original “Toe Tappin’ Music,” perfectly summed up by the title. Their cover of a Leadbelly tune, “Take A Whiff On Me,” also covered by the Byrds, takes listeners back to a time when cocaine was legal, with a call for “blues time” announcing the fine, drawn-out ending. “Close Up The Honky Tonks” was originally recorded by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos. It is plea for help from a man who has lost his woman to the allure of music and beer.
The final three tracks showcase the Burritos at their best. They tear through “Truck Drivin’ Man,” the requisite trucker song. Kleinow and Guilbeau fashion fiery solos around more fine vocal harmonizing. The energy level gets stoked even higher on “Six Days On The Road,” with Hill ripping off a taut guitar foray before the rest of the band joins the fun. They finish things off with a incendiary run-through of ‘Orange Blossom Special,” the band’s collective instrumental talents on full display, to the delight of the big city audience.
The intersection between country and rock music has been fertile ground for artists for decades. And the blues is always lurking whenever they meet, being a cornerstone for both. This version of the Flying Burrito Brothers was adept at mixing elements of all three forms of music, ending up with what was then a hybrid brew that still sounds relevant today. Fans of country-rock will definitely want to check out this album of a fine band having lots of fun in front of a live audience.
