THE FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS
The Very Best Of The Flying Burrito Brothers (A&M)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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The title betrays the bias of compilation producer Mike Ragogna, but it's a bias widely shared. "The Very Best" means The Flying Burrito Brothers with Gram Parsons on board, a condition which lasted for two albums, both of which are included here in their entirety.

In addition to every track from The Guilded Palace Of Sin and Burrito Deluxe, the album is rounded out by Parson's version of "Six Days On The Road" from an earlier "best of" collection and the title track from the live album, Close Up The Honky-Tonks. It's hard to argue that this isn't, indeed, the very best work ever done by the Burritos. Actually, it's hard to argue that it isn't the best work done by any band that was part of the first wave of country rock. Parson's R&B sensibility, Sneaky Pete's steel guitar flourishes and Chris Hillman's consistent brilliance were more than enough to elevate the Burritos above their peers.

Unfortunately, Parsons was moving in new directions, and they weren't all positive ones. His increasing detachment and erratic behavior, largely fueled by a growing dependence on drugs, led to his dismissal and his departure diminished the band. They continued on and produced some fine work without him, but an objective comparison of the material on this album with that later work has convinced most that this is, in fact, The Very Best Of The Flying Burrito Brothers, and there's damned little better than that.

Track List:

Christine's Tune (aka Devil In Disguise) * Sin City * Do Right Woman * Dark End Of The Street * My Uncle * Wheels * Juanita * Hot Burrito #1 * Hot Burrito #2 * Do You Know How It Feels? * Hippie Boy * The Train Song * Lazy Days * Image Of Me * High Fashion Queen * If You Gotta Go * Man In The Fog * Farther Along * Older Guys * Cody, Cody * God's Own Singer * Down In The Churchyard * Wild Horses * Six Days On The Road * Close Up The Honky-Tonks

© 2002 - Shaun Dale