CBR Record Club #2 "The Gilded Palace Of Sin"

[twilight]

Welcome to the second in a series I like to call "The CBR Record Club".

The club works thusly:

-Have a record assigned.
-Track a copy down. (legally or illegally, I’m not going to judge you)
-Listen.
-Form an opinion.
-Report back over the course of a fortnight.
-Repeat.

Sound cool?

The second assignment is...The Gilded Palace Of Sin (1969) by The Flying Burrito Brothers.

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/6714/gildedpalacegv2.png

1. "Christine's Tune" (Parsons, Hillman) - 3:04
2. "Sin City" (Parsons, Hillman) - 4:11
3. "Do Right Woman" (Chips Moman, Dan Penn) - 3:56
4. "Dark End Of The Street" (Chips Moman, Penn) - 3:58
5. "My Uncle" (Parsons, Hillman) - 2:37

1. "Wheels" (Hillman, Parsons) - 3:04
2. "Juanita" (Hillman, Parsons) - 2:31
3. "Hot Burrito #1" (Ethridge, Parsons) - 3:40
4. "Hot Burrito #2" (Ethridge, Parsons) - 3:19
5. "Do You Know How It Feels" (Parsons, Barry Goldberg) - 2:09
6. "Hippie Boy" (Hillman, Parsons) - 4:55

So everyone go find it, either it already has a place in your music library, at your local record store or from your digital downloading program of choice.

Use this thread for your thoughts and feelings about the first assignment.

Note to participants:
The Gilded Palace Of Sin seems to have gone out of print at some point but is more readily available as a two for one disc with their second album Burrito Deluxe.

This assignment goes from September 14th until September 28th at which point a new album will be assigned.

Go!

-Twi

[The Confessor]

Well, what can I say about this album?

I've owned this album for the past 16 years or so and I loved it from the moment I first heard it. To be honest, my opinion of it hasn't really changed that much over time either. It's a fantastic album, one that would easily make my Top 50 Albums Ever list and one that anyone even vaguely interested in Country-Rock should hear I think. It's also the best LP that The Flying Burrito Brothers ever released IMO and probably one of the pillars that the whole Country-Rock movement of the early 70's was built on. Not to mention a defining moment in Gram parsons' crusade to wrestle country music away from the Nashville Rednecks and make it cool again for the kids.

Having said that, it’s important to remember that at the time of its release the album was a flop and didn’t reach a very wide audience at all. The album would’ve probably been more commercially successful had it been released just a few years later, when the Country-Rock movement was at its fullest apex. It’s a sad fact that The Flying Burrito Brothers, just like The Byrds before them, were just a bit too far ahead of the curve with this album.

But like so many so-called “classic albums” its importance and musical worth, not to mention it’s huge influence (particularly on the modern Alt. Country movement) have only become more apparent with the passing of the years.

The first thing that strikes you about the performances on this album is the unbridled passion that the band has for the Music they’re playing. You can really hear the wide-eyed excitement and zest with which Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman explore their fusion of Country and Rock pouring from every groove of this record.

Throughout most of the album, Parsons and Hillman sing duel harmony vocals, their voices interlocking perfectly and ringing out as clear as a bell or as pure as a chaste kiss under an Appalachian moon. The record also features some great performances from Chris Ethridge and Sneeky Pete Klienow on Bass and Peddle-steel guitar respectively.

As for the songs themselves, the LP opens in dazzling style with the knockout one-two punch of ‘Christine's Tune' and 'Sin City', with the later song in particular having often been cited as being the greatest Country-Rock song ever written. I'm not sure I'd go quite that far, but there's no denying that it's a very fine track indeed.

Other tracks worthy of singling out for special praise are the bands reading of ‘Dark End Of The Street’ and the anti-Vietnam draft song ‘My Uncle’. Not forgetting, of course, Gram Parsons’ sublime reading of his own ‘Hot Burrito #1’, a song so beautifully sorrowful that you’d have to have a heart made of solid stone not to be moved by it.

In my opinion, this album is pretty close to being a masterpiece but unfortunately there are a few filler tracks like 'Hippie Boy' and 'Hot Burrito #2' that prevent it from being a totally satisfying album.

Another factor that detracts from the album's greatness (for me anyway) is that the version of 'Do You Know How It Feels To Be Lonesome?' on this record isn’t that great. There's no doubting that it's a f***ing incredible song but for me, the original version that Parsons' recorded two years earlier with The International Submarine Band on their sole album Safe At Home is the definitive version of that song. The rendition found here on The Gilded Palace Of Sin is pale and anaemic by comparison.

To sum up, if you’re interested in Country-Rock or just the development of Popular music in the 1960s, this album is a must have. Although, I have to say that for my money, The Byrds’ Sweatheart Of The Rodeo and The International Submarine Band’s Safe At Home have the edge over this album.




A little bit of trivia: "The Flying Burrito Brothers" was actually a working title for The Byrds' fifth studio album "The Notorious Byrd Brothers". Hillman obviously took a shine to the name and when The Byrds didn't use it he decided that it would make a fine name for his and Parsons' new band.

[twilight]

I knew there was a reason I liked you Confessor.

I'm deliberately seeking out stuff I wouldn't normally listen to for the record club (that's why we've had Jazz and Country-Rock so far) and this was really a pleasant suprise.

I'm really loving the mix of rock 'n' roll energy and what I suppose is country sentiment.
And like Confessor said it's also got the dual harmonies and the fuzzy guitar that I dig anywhere,anytime.

I'm actually not the biggest fan of Sin City,but My Uncle cracks me up ("So I'm heading for the nearest foreign border,Vancouver may be just my kind of town") but I think without a doubt the standout track for me is Dark End Of The Street,although not a track on here is "bad".

-Twi

[howyadoin]

I'm of mixed feelings about this. Yes, it's a album of monumental significance (I know it's hard to believe, but there were times when it seemed like country and rock could never fit together), and yes, there are a lot of great songs on it. But as a whole, I don't think it really adds up to anything beyond a collection of songs. And as the Confessor points out, the Byrds and International Submarine Band albums are much better.

[Royal]

To me this is a "collection" album. Just a collection of songs showing off who they are and what they can do. More loose and easy. The lyrics are brilliant for the most part and are catchy. You'll catch yourself singing after listening fourth or fifth time.

I'd say the odd man out is "Hot Burrito #2". There a more traditonal, minimalist country feel to the rest of the album. "#2" felt like an overlayered enchilada. There's some much you can taste. It starts to overpower some flavors.

Overall, lasidasical sunday listening.

[Jonathan Bogart]

I'll have to relisten to the album in order to form some more fully coherent thoughts, but for now I'll note that:

1. The reason "Hot Burrito #2" stands out as differently-produced is that it was: it was the B-side to the contemporary non-album single "Train Song," which is harder-rocking than the rest of the Burritos' debut record. (And which I put at #11 in my list (http://aceterrier.com/?page_id=909) of 60s singles).

2. I've never been able to warm to their version of "Dark End Of The Street," because James Carr's slow-burning epic is simply irreplaceable in my head, and he can sing rings around all of them. Ditto for "Do Right Woman" and Aretha Franklin (with honorable mentions to Etta James and Tina Turner).

3. "Hippie Boy" lingers in my memory as embarrassing bullshit. I doubt that will change.

4. When Elvis Costello covered "Hot Burrito #1" he retitled it "I'm Your Toy," which is of course a far superior title. I can only guess that Parsons and Ethridge didn't call it that because they didn't want George Jones to cover it and blow them out of the water.

5. Something about how country music didn't need saving from the old fogies and squares and it was only the self-absorption of longhaired youth that could imagine it did, but I believe I've had that argument already. And anyway Parsons produced an unambiguous good as a result, even if a side effect was a devaluing of other unambiguous goods by the people I still find useful to call rockists.

[TheMagneticSteve]

I was already a Gram Parsons fan but haven't given TFBB much time. I'm downloading this album as I type so I'll get back to you with my review. Also, I'm ditching the Magnets rating system in favour of The Chris Martin/Johnny Marr Music Classification System which I will explain more when I get around to writing a review.

[The Confessor]

Also, I'm ditching the Magnets rating system in favour of The Chris Martin/Johnny Marr Music Classification System which I will explain more when I get around to writing a review.


Wow! You mentioned Chris Martin and Johnny Marr in the same sentence...that takes balls. Aren't you worried about being struck down by lightning or something?!

Sorry, I just think that Coldplay are kinda mediocre, whereas The Smiths on the other hand...

Still, maybe that's what you meant.

[The Confessor]

Something about how country music didn't need saving from the old fogies and squares and it was only the self-absorption of longhaired youth that could imagine it did, but I believe I've had that argument already.


Yes, I do believe that we've had that argument before and I don't really want to get caught up in it again, but I do feel that I should add that it wasn't totally one-sided on the part of "the kids". The Country Music establishment weren't very fond of the Byrds, Burritos and Poco etc playing "their" music either.

Of course, it wasn't universal but there was certainly a contingent among the Nashville "old guard" that were really irritated by what they saw as a bunch of long-haired, pot smoking Hippies playing country music. This can be illustrated by the likes of Nashville DJ Ralph Emery's repeated berating of The Byrds on his radio show. Or the chilly reception that The Byrds got when they played at Country Music's shrine; The Grand Ole Opry.

What's especially interesting is that I believe The Byrds genuinely wanted to be accepted by the Nashville establishment, after all, their move to playing country-style music was motivated by a deep love of the genre. The Byrds even went as far as getting respectable short back and sides haircuts prior to playing at The Opry, but it didn't stop the knockers from knocking.

Myself, I've always had a sneaking suspicion that Nashville's reaction to the County-Rock movement was at least partly motivated by the fact that they felt threatened by the arrival of all these new bands. Not unlike how Rat Packers like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra felt when faced with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and the rest of the British Invasion in the early 60s.



The reason "Hot Burrito #2" stands out as differently-produced is that it was: it was the B-side to the contemporary non-album single "Train Song," which is harder-rocking than the rest of the Burritos' debut record.


Ummm...not strictly true actually. In fact it was "Hot Burrito #1" that was the B-Side of the "Train Song" non-album single.

I wouldn't swear to it but to the best of my knowledge "Hot Burrito #2" was recorded during the same recording sessions that produced the rest of the album.

[TheMagneticSteve]

Wow! You mentioned Chris Martin and Johnny Marr in the same sentence...that takes balls. Aren't you worried about being struck down by lightning or something?!

Sorry, I just think that Coldplay are kinda mediocre, whereas The Smiths on the other hand...

Still, maybe that's what you meant.


Yup, that's it exactly. For example, Either/Or by Elliott Smith (my favourite album of all time) would get a rating of 5 Johnny Marrs whereas and album I'm not particularly impressed with (i.e. U2's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb") would probably get something along the lines of 3.5 Chris Martins.

[twilight]

Yup, that's it exactly. For example, Either/Or by Elliott Smith (my favourite album of all time) would get a rating of 5 Johnny Marrs whereas and album I'm not particularly impressed with (i.e. U2's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb") would probably get something along the lines of 3.5 Chris Martins.

I think this may just be the greatest rating system ever designed by man.

-Twi

[TheMagneticSteve]

I think this may just be the greatest rating system ever designed by man.

-Twi

Oh you :redface:

[Ilash]

OK, I'm much more at home with this than John Coltrane. I do need to listen to this an album to give more specific thoughts but my general feeling is that this is certainly a good album and an important album, I'm just not sure if it's a great album.

I love the first two tracks and I generally like the rest of the album but I'm not quite as blown away by the songwriting on the album as others seem to be. And yeah, the covers aren't going to erase the originals (or some other versions) from people's minds.

As far as the sound and mood of the album goes, while I do generally enjoy this sort of thing, I have to admit that it all comes off a bit dry. The Grateful Dead's American Beauty, for example, is a much more emotionally captivating album with a similar sound. Of course, I may well change my mind about this in the same way that I did with the Byrds - and man, was I wrong there - but as it stands right now, The Gilded Palace of Sin is an album that I admire and respect more than really like.

And I generally do enjoy country-tinged rock and roll. I pretty much love every countrified song the Rolling Stones ever did and I find those to be anything but dry. Even the ultra-flippant Far Away Eyes has a surprisingly beautiful chorus.

I'm just not hearing it as much here.

[leonaozaki]

I love, love, love this album. Of course I have been a Gram Parsons fan for 18 years now, having falling in love with Grievous Angel at the tender age of 16, so it's not like that's a great revelation or anything.

I fully realize that country music was hardly in need of saving in the late 60's, and I'm not even sure that's what Parsons wanted to do. Listening to Sweetheart of the Rodeo, Grievous Angel and this record all I can hear is his unabashed love of country music and his desire to play that music with a rock and roll attitude.

There are three things that really sell me on this: 1) the songwriting, which, aside from the WTF moment of "Hippie Boy," is really top-notch, 2) the harmonies of Hillman and Parsons, and 3) Sneeky Pete: holy crap.

Anyway, the only really weak spot for me is "Hippie Boy." Why not replace that with "Train Song?"

I admit it's a little shakier than Sweetheart or Grievous Angel but somehow that shakiness makes it feel more raw and direct than those records. I love how the record veers from one-two opening of "Christine's Tune" and "Sin City" (damn I love that song!) to the covers of "Do Right Woman" and "Dark End of the Street" to the humor of "My Uncle" on the first side! There's something just kind of audacious and yet also somehow respectful (simultaneously!) about the whole thing that just blows me away.

After all that, the second side isn't quite as great, but the last song aside, all the songs are good, and of course "Hot Burrito #1" and #2 are, for my money, flat-out brilliant, no matter what they're called. I love the original titles anyway; they sort of remind me of the way Dylan would name his songs things like "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream." Can we hear #2-114? Can we hear "Hot Burrito #5?" Things like this endlessly amuse me, but then again I am easily entertained.

Great record. Anybody who likes it and hasn't done so already should buy the G.P./Grievous Angel CD.

rob

[The Confessor]

Can we hear "Hot Burrito #5?" Things like this endlessly amuse me, but then again I am easily entertained.


You may well already know this, but I thought I'd mention it anyway...there's actually a "Hot Burrito #3" that can be found on the Flying Burrito Brothers' 1975 album Flying Again.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Ummm...not strictly true actually. In fact it was "Hot Burrito #1" that was the B-Side of the "Train Song" non-album single.

I wouldn't swear to it but to the best of my knowledge "Hot Burrito #2" was recorded during the same recording sessions that produced the rest of the album.
Yeah, sorry -- I mixed the two up. Additionally, Costello recorded #2, not #1.

(This is why those titles suck.)


Edit: Wrong again. Bloody hell.

[The Confessor]

Yeah, sorry -- I mixed the two up. Additionally, Costello recorded #2, not #1.

(This is why those titles suck.)


Edit: Wrong again. Bloody hell.


LOL...yeah, you're right...those titles are confusing. I've mixed them up myself from time to time.

Hot Burrito #1, as you rightly said earlier, was the one recorded by Elvis Costello as "I'm Your Toy". Whereas Hot Burrito #2 is the slightly more uptempo one that maybe should've been called "So It Goes" or perhaps "You Better Love Me" instead.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Whereas Hot Burrito #2 is the slightly more uptempo one that maybe should've been called "So It Goes" or perhaps "You Better Love Me" instead.
Or "Jesus Christ."

[leonaozaki]

I forgot to add this in my first post: it's kind of risible to think that Gram Parsons and the Burritos never had a lot of success (hell, even Sweetheart of the Rodeo was a flop) but the Eagles watered down his country-rock into MOR mush and of course became filthy rich.

But then again I don't really like the Eagles much.

rob

[mattx110]

I forgot to add this in my first post: it's kind of risible to think that Gram Parsons and the Burritos never had a lot of success (hell, even Sweetheart of the Rodeo was a flop) but the Eagles watered down his country-rock into MOR mush and of course became filthy rich.

But then again I don't really like the Eagles much.

rob
But then they hired Joe Walsh and rocked, right?

[Adam C]

But then they hired Joe Walsh and rocked, right?

Rocked even less? Exactamundo.

[mattx110]

Rocked even less? Exactamundo.
D'oh!

You're just jealous. Ok, that didn't make sense, but I'll leave the Eagles so we can get back to Byrds and Burritos.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Okay, I've listened to the album again, and here are my thoughts:

It's a really great ten-track album.

You can tell that they were specifically trying to aim for the effect of old country records in which every song sounds more or less the same (or, to be more precise, inhabits the same sonic universe). The hardcore country Louvin Brothers are the obvious forebear, but it's a broader swath of country than that, taking in Bakersfield and honky-tonk and the country-soul of Charlie Rich and a few hints of bluegrass when mandolins show up for a verse or two. What I noticed more this time around which I really hadn't on previous listens was the "rock" end of the country-rock fusion. An acid-rock guitar solo here, sudden bursts of distortion there -- and of course the deep soul covers show that their vision of rock is indebted more to the British sound than to the natural-born American stuff: rockabilly is only discernable at a great distance, buried beneath Sixties signifiers.

I was listening with headphones, and hearing Parsons and Hillman in stereo harmony, one in the left channel and one in the right, is really a unique sound, an effect I can't recall being sustained over almost a whole album like that in any other context. The three places where the vocals are whittled down to a single voice include the best song ("Hot Burrito #1") and the worst song ("Hippie Boy") on the record.

Side One:

I'd forgotten that "Christine's Song" is sometimes titled "Devil In Disguise." The post-Parsons, post-Hillman version of the band that was still sort of operating in 1972 put out a live record with the song under that title, which is where I first heard it (it's a long story (http://aceterrier.com/?cat=4)).

"Sin City" is one of Parsons' finest (which is no mean feat from the man who wrote "Hickory Wind" and "Brass Buttons" and "Hot Burrito #1"); it owes a clear debt to the Louvins, but his apocalypse goes fuzzy at the edges like any stoner's.

I think I'd underrated their versions of "Do Right Woman" and "Dark End Of The Street" -- they certainly don't make me forget the folks at Stax and Bell, but they're not intended to: they're intended to broaden the church of country, to admit similar deeply-felt, well-crafted, roots-oriented material into the repertoire. But I still can't say they're fully successful at it -- they don't really make the conversion to straight country. They're too funky, too at home with black music, too (frankly) 60s rock to do to these songs what, say, Ray Price or Eddy Arnold or Loretta Lynn would have been able to do to them. (And "Do Right Woman" just sounds wrong for a man, or men, to sing; it comes off as prim hectoring rather than a statement of self-assertion.)

"My Uncle" is the second-worst song on the album, and the song that most clearly shows the cracks in the project Parsons & Co. are trying to attempt. Because if they want to be taken seriously by the country establishment, singing a jovial song about dodging the draft by skipping to Canada isn't going to do it. Merle Haggard, not particularly a hardcore Republican, would score one of his biggest hits with a "love it or leave it" song the next year: this was drawing a line in the sand that virtually ensured that the Burritos would fall on the freak side of the culture wars -- which they might have been fine with, but which immediately makes their credentials as a "real" country band suspect. (Yes, this is all from the perspective of 1969 and not particularly relevant to modern listeners; I've been going over the old culture wars in a different context, so I happened to notice it.)

Side Two:

"Wheels" and "Juanita" don't stand out much yet; I'm going to have to spend more time with the record. More of the same, and that's no bad thing.

"Hot Burrito #1" is possibly Gram Parsons' finest moment as a songwriter, and certainly one of his best as a singer. "Hot Burrito #2" is less spectacular, but still quite good -- although here again, taking the name of the Lord in vain isn't going to get you very far in the Grand Ole Opry.

"Do You Know How It Feels" is one of the moments when I feel that their blend of country with soul, as attempted on the covers, actually starts to click and become natural, instead of mannered. This is what a good portion of country-rock would become in the next decade: country sound with rock/soul rhythm and a blues bassline. Too bad it's a fairly generic lyric.

And then there's "Hippie Boy," which I called bullshit above and see no reason to qualify it further. Actually, not only is it simply bullshit, it's inane bullshit, bullshit that doesn't even convince itself it has anything to say. There's no point, no real punchline to the shaggy-dog story, and the whole thing, sub-Arlo Guthrie narration and all, could only serve to further antagonize the country establishment without the counterbalancing benefit of having said anything that needed to be said. (As a cultural historian, yes, I recognize the references to the riots at the '68 Democratic convention, but they don't do anything with it, they just note the cultural divide and mumble something about compassion and anti-materialism.)

[TheMagneticSteve]

I don't have much original to add so I'll keep this mercifully short (I hope).

I liked this album. Everything about it, from composition to performance to production, resonates with me. The left-right panned harmonies are a real treat and definitely reward the headphone listener. I didn't find any of the songs on the album dislikable, even Hippie Boy which has been routinely s**t on in this thread. I see it as a precursor to the Stone's Girl With Faraway Eyes (someone with a better timeline feel free to embarrass me by pointing out that the Stones song came first or whatever :tongue: ) but I can totally see how songs like this and My Uncle would undermine any attempt to be taken seriously by the country establishment of the time.

There is a very strong soul undercurrent to this album which gives strong credence to Gram Parsons' claim that he didn't really distinguish between black and white music and that it was all just music to him (or words to that effect). On the more "country" songs, the bass was tight and pedestrian, on the more "soul" numbers it was loose and almost funky. The rest of the instruments are similarly understated generally but all have their moments to shine.

Overall, I think you'd have to have a heart of stone (or just be unjustly biased against country) to not find this album even remotely likable and charming. I was already a Gram Parsons fan but had never really given FBB the time of day, this could be the start of something beautiful.

I give this album

3.5 Johnny Marrs

[mattx110]

Guitarplaying is kickass.

More later.:biggrin:

A bit too somber, maybe.

[jesse_custer]

I am not familiar with Gram Parsons, so this album is my introduction to him (and The Flying Burrito Brothers).

First, I have to agree with mattx10. Pete Kleinow's steel guitar is irresistable in places.

Starting off The Gilded Palace of Sin is enjoyable, especially listening to "Christine's Tune." On the other hand, "Dark End of the Street" doesn't seem to work as country/rock or pop. But I was impressed by a couple of the surprises, such as the deep brass here and there, most prominently on "Wheels." The vocals on the first seven tracks, while very listenable, strike me as awfully pedestrian sometimes. Then "Hot Burrito #1" really saves the fucking day. Parsons is better left alone on vocals. "Christine's Tune" is fun, but "Hot Burrito #1" is a masterpiece. (I can see why Elvis Costello was led to cover it, the subtle anger about it.) "Hot Burrito #2" doesn't quite live up to its predecessor, but it's not bad. (And I wouldn't be surprised if Steve Nieve is into this song.)

The album is worth having for a few songs, but I am not that impressed with the record as a whole. It's not cohesive, and the songs aren't great enough to overcome this. "Hot Burrito #1" is the only track I am attached to.

(Thankfully, this album inspired better music after it. Wilco being a primary example.)

[mattx110]

Also, I'm not sure I've ever heard a singer choke up on a note, clear his throat and go right on singing in a studio cut before...

[howyadoin]

Thankfully, this album inspired better music after it. Wilco being a primary example.And Whiskeytown, and Jason & the Scorchers...

[twilight]

One more day until Assignment #3.

-Twi

[twilight]

It's the 28th in Australia so CBR Record Club #2 draws to a close.

Thanks to everyone who participated.

New assignment up shortly.

-Twi