The Flying Burrito Brothers

Ian Dunlop and Mickey Gauvin, formerly of Gram Parsons' International Submarine Band (ISB), founded the original Flying Burrito Brothers and named it after Parsons informed them of his new country focus. This incarnation of the band never recorded as such, and after heading East allowed Gram Parsons to take the name.[3]

With the original incarnation of the band out of the picture, the "West Coast" Flying Burrito Brothers were founded in 1968 in Los Angeles, California by Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman.[4] Bassist/keyboardist Chris Ethridge (who had played alongside Parsons in the International Submarine Band), pedal steel guitarist Sneaky Pete Kleinow and session drummer "Fast" Eddie Hoh rounded out the lineup.

Though Hillman and Roger McGuinn had fired Parsons from the Byrds in July 1968, the bassist and Parsons reconciled later that year after Hillman (who would switch to rhythm guitar in the new ensemble) left the group. Parsons had refused to join his Byrds bandmates for a tour of South Africa, citing his disapproval of the apartheid policy of that nation's government. Hillman doubted the sincerity of Parsons' gesture, believing instead that the singer merely wanted to remain in England with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, whom he had recently befriended.[5]

The Flying Burrito Brothers recorded their debut album, The Gilded Palace of Sin (containing originals by Parsons, Hillman and Ethridge and covers of two songs by the songwriting duo Dan Penn and Chips Moman), without a regular drummer. Hoh proved to be unable to perform adequately due to an incipient substance abuse problem and was dismissed after recording two songs, leading the group to employ a variety of session players, including former International Submarine Band drummer Jon Corneal (who briefly joined the group as an official member, appearing on a plurality of the tracks) and Popeye Phillips of Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. Before commencing their first tour, the group ultimately settled upon original Byrd Michael Clarke (who had recently been working with fellow country rock pioneers and Byrds spinoff The Dillard and Clark Expedition) as a permanent replacement. He remained the band's permanent drummer until 1971.

Critically acclaimed upon its release in February 1969 (as exemplified by Stanley Booth's laudatory review in Rolling Stone and positive press remarks by Bob Dylan) for its pioneering amalgamation of country, soul music and psychedelic rock, The Gilded Palace of Sin only managed to peak at #164 in Billboard.[6] Although the band declined an invitation to perform at Woodstock, a comprehensive train tour of the United States (necessitated by Parsons's fear of flying) ultimately ended in disaster due to drug and alcohol use.[7] Dissatisfied by the band's lack of success and unable to fully reconcile his predilection for R&B and groove-based music with the more conservative tastes of Parsons and Hillman, Ethridge departed the group in the autumn of 1969. Hillman reverted to bass after the band hired lead guitarist Bernie Leadon, a Dillard and Clark veteran who had also played with Hillman in the early 1960s bluegrass scene. This iteration of the band performed at the ill-fated Altamont Free Concert in December 1969, as documented in the film Gimme Shelter. The audience remained largely peaceful throughout their performance.

With mounting debt incurred from the first album and tour and a failed single ("The Train Song," written on the tour and produced by 1950s R&B legends Larry Williams and Johnny "Guitar" Watson), A&M Records hoped to recoup some of their losses by marketing the Burritos as a straight country group. To this end, manager Jim Dickson instigated a loose session where the band recorded several traditional country staples from their live act (including songs by Merle Haggard and Buck Owens), contemporary pop covers in a countrified vein ("To Love Somebody", "Lodi", "I Shall Be Released", "Honky Tonk Women"), and Williams's rock and roll classic "Bony Moronie." This effort was soon scrapped in favor of a second album of originals on an extremely reduced budget. Several of the tracks from the abandoned sessions would eventually see the light of day in 1976 on Sleepless Nights, which also featured outtakes from Parsons's post-Burritos solo career.

Released in April 1970, Burrito Deluxe juxtaposed the band's inability to develop compelling new material (partially exacerbated by Parsons's hedonistic streak; his "Lazy Days" dated from 1967) with prominent covers of the Rolling Stones's hitherto unreleased "Wild Horses," Dylan's "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" and the Southern gospel standard "Farther Along." Unlike Gilded Palace, the album failed to chart entirely.[8] A month later, Parsons showed up for a band performance only minutes before they were to take the stage. Visibly intoxicated, he began singing songs which differed from what the rest of the band were performing. A furious Hillman (already incensed by the singer's penchant for showing up at $500 concerts in a limousine and increasingly Jagger-influenced showmanship) fired him immediately after the show, to which Parsons responded, "You can't fire me, I'm Gram!" According to Hillman, this incident was merely the final straw; Parsons's desire to hang out with the Rolling Stones rather than focus on his own band's career was also a significant factor, mirroring his 1968 dismissal from The Byrds.[7]

Now fronted by Hillman and Leadon, the band appeared in June–July 1970 on the Festival Express rail tour of Canada with Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, The Band and other notable groups of the era. Parsons would eventually be replaced by guitarist/songwriter Rick Roberts. The new lineup released The Flying Burrito Bros in June 1971. Like its predecessors, it was not a commercial success, peaking at #176 in the United States. Shortly thereafter, Kleinow left to work as a session musician, while Leadon departed to co-found The Eagles.[9] Al Perkins and Kenny Wertz replaced them for a final tour in autumn of 1971; during these performances, veteran bluegrass musicians Roger Bush (acoustic bass, vocals) and Byron Berline (fiddle) of Country Gazette participated as guests during an acoustic interlude. The band released Last of the Red Hot Burritos, a well-received live album culled from the tour, in May 1972.[10]

The band dissolved immediately thereafter when Hillman and Perkins joined Stephen Stills's Manassas. Berline, Bush and Wertz continued with their own band, Country Gazette. Roberts assumed corporate ownership of the band from Hillman in October 1972 and assembled a makeshift lineup to fulfill contractual commitments for some 1973 European live shows. He briefly initiated a solo career before forming Firefall with Clarke.

• Gram Parsons embarked on a solo career after being fired by Chris Hillman. He released two solo albums and continued to tour until his death on September 18, 1973.
• Chris Hillman remained a successful singer-songwriter, having been part of Manassas (with Burrito Al Perkins), the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band and a partial reunion of The Byrds in McGuinn-Clark-Hillman. In the 1980s he found commercial success when he formed Desert Rose Band (1986–93) with Herb Pedersen. He has continued to write, produce, and record.
• Bernie Leadon went on to help found the The Eagles.
• Rick Roberts and Michael Clarke formed Firefall with Jock Bartley from Gram Parsons' solo band. They had several radio hits in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Michael Clarke died in 1993. Rick Roberts is mostly retired but occasionally still plays solo shows and has reunited with Firefall on a few occasions.
• Sneaky Pete Kleinow continued to play with the Burritos off and on until his death in 2007. He is also known outside of the music world as one of the artists behind Gumby and for his sound work on The Empire Strikes Back.
• Gib Guilbeau retired following heart surgery and moved to Palmdale, California. He continued to appear occasionally at local functions in and around the Los Angeles area until his death in 2016. His son, Ronnie, occasionally performs with and writes songs for the current Burrito Brothers lineup.
• John Beland continues to produce acts in the U.S. and abroad. He achieved hit records in both Australia and Norway before moving moved to Brenham, Texas where he has continued to write hits for performers such as the Whites ("Forever You"), Mark Farner ("Isn't It Amazing?"), and the Bellamy Brothers ("Cowboy Beat", "Hard Way to Make an Easy Living", and "Bound to Explode"). His songs have been covered by many acts, from Ricky Nelson to Garth Brooks.

• Media related to The Flying Burrito Brothers at Wikimedia Commons