The Flying Burrito Brothers

The Flying Burrito Brothers played a pivotal role in bridging rock and country traditions, and their 1969 debut release, The Gilded Palace of Sin, essentially established the foundational model for country-rock. Although the ensemble enjoyed only a short-lived peak period, the modest catalog they produced went on to exert considerable influence across both rock and country landscapes. Later in the 1970s the Flying Burrito Brothers regrouped without originators Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, sustaining performances and recordings through assorted lineups well into the 1980s.

A loose collective of Los Angeles players originally convened simply to jam together. Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman adopted the Flying Burrito Brothers moniker upon launching their own project after departing the Byrds. Parsons had already nudged the Byrds in a country direction during his short tenure, an effort documented on the 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Once Sweetheart appeared, he exited the Byrds, with Hillman following soon after. The pair then brought in pedal steel guitarist “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow and bassist Chris Ethridge, enlisting assorted session drummers to cut their first album.

Issued in spring 1969, the Flying Burrito Brothers’ debut The Gilded Palace of Sin moved only about 40,000 copies yet cultivated a loyal audience that encompassed numerous key Los Angeles musicians, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones. Around the same period Parsons struck up a close friendship with Stones guitarist Keith Richards, which gradually eroded his commitment to the Burritos. Before the second album sessions, Ethridge departed and Bernie Leadon stepped in; the group also secured ex-Byrd Michael Clarke as its steady drummer.

The second album, Burrito Deluxe, reached stores in spring 1970. Following its appearance Gram Parsons exited and Californian songwriter Rick Roberts took his place. Roberts’ initial outing with the band, simply titled The Flying Burrito Brothers, arrived in 1971. Shortly afterward Kleinow withdrew to pursue session work while Leadon left to join the Eagles. In their stead the Burritos added pedal steel guitarist Al Perkins and bassist Roger Bush, later incorporating guitarist Kenny Wertz and fiddler Byron Berline as well. This configuration captured the live set The Last of the Red Hot Burritos, issued in 1972. Before that record surfaced the group fractured: Berline, Bush, and Wertz formed Country Gazette, while Hillman and Perkins joined Manassas. Roberts recruited a fresh lineup for a 1973 European tour, then disbanded the act to launch a solo career; he would later help form Firefall alongside Michael Clarke.

A double-album compilation, Close Up the Honky Tonks, surfaced in 1974 amid rising curiosity about Gram Parsons. Capitalizing on that collection and the growing Parsons cult, Kleinow and Ethridge launched a new Flying Burrito Brothers lineup in 1975. They enlisted Floyd “Gib” Gilbeau on vocals, guitar, and fiddle, bassist Joel Scott Hill, and drummer Gene Parsons, resulting in the Columbia Records release Flying Again that same year.

Ethridge quit after Flying Again, making way for Skip Battin, who played on the 1976 follow-up Airborne. Also in 1976, A&M Records issued Sleepless Nights, a set of previously unreleased Gram Parsons-era recordings.

Over the two decades after their 1975 reunion the Flying Burrito Brothers maintained an intermittent schedule of performances and recordings, experiencing periodic personnel shifts. The 1979 Regency Records live album Live From Tokyo yielded their first country-chart success with a cover of Merle Haggard’s “White Line Fever,” which entered the charts in 1980. That same year the act shortened its name to the Burrito Brothers upon signing with Curb Records. The Burrito Brothers’ Hearts on the Line produced three modest country hits in 1981. Their second Curb album, Sunset Sundown, appeared in 1982 and likewise generated three minor chart entries. After that release Kleinow departed to work as an animator and special-effects artist in Hollywood. The remaining members, guided by Gib Gilbeau and John Beland, continued until that configuration dissolved in 1985, the very year Kleinow assembled yet another edition. For the next three years this iteration toured both America and Europe. The group split once more in 1988, though occasional reunions for tours and recordings persisted through the 1990s, among them 1999’s Sons of the Golden West.