The New Riders Of The Purple Sage were originally formed in 1969 as a spinoff of the Grateful Dead (so that Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh would have an outlet to play "straight" country music...) the New Riders took on a life of its own, with the dudes from the Dead eventually bowing out and leaving the band to songwriter John Dawson (1945-2009). I promise: when I have more time I will get around to reviewing their albums -- they were certainly one of the best and best-known hippiebilly bands of the '70s... And still fun to groove out on, lo, these decades later.

The New Riders Of The Purple Sage "The Best Of..." (Columbia-Legacy, 1976/2006)
A much-welcome reissue of a classic best-of from one of the '70s most iconic (and accomplished) of the hippie-stoner country-rock bands. Originally, the New Riders were formed as an outlet for Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh (of the Dreadful Grate) to explore their love of country music outside of the more far-out confines of their acid-test jam-band scene. They couldn't stick with it full-time, though, and eventually handed the California-based band over to songwriter John Dawson, who sculpted it into one of the best stoner novelty acts of the decade. This best-of includes classics such as "Glendale Train" and pothead anthems like "Panama Red" and "Henry," as well as boogie-band covers of old R&B and teenpop tunes... This new CD version also tosses in some live tracks, including one ("Linda") that was previously unreleased. It all holds up surprisingly well... If you remember these songs from the old days of freeform FM radio, they'll still make you smile -- if you're a whippersnapper who's never heard 'em before, then here's a nice chance to check out some tunes from the primordial roots of the alt-country scene.

New Riders Of The Purple Sage "New Riders Of The Purple Sage" (CBS Records, 1971) (LP)
(Produced by NRPS & Steve Barncard)
This debut LP featured the pothead ballad "Henry," as well as their fine version of "Glendale Train..."

New Riders Of The Purple Sage "Powerglide" (CBS Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by NRPS, Steve Barncard & John Flore)

New Riders Of The Purple Sage "Gypsy Cowboy" (CBS Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by NRPS, Steve Barncard & Ellen Burke)

New Riders Of The Purple Sage "The Adventures Of Panama Red" (CBS Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Norbert Putnam & Tom Flye)

New Riders Of The Purple Sage "Home, Home On The Road" (CBS Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Jerry Garcia & Tom Flye)

New Riders Of The Purple Sage "Brujo" (CBS Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Ed Freeman, Bob Edwards & Tom Flye)

New Riders Of The Purple Sage "Oh, What A Mighty Time" (CBS Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Johnston & Ben Tallent)

New Riders Of The Purple Sage "New Riders" (MCA Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Johnston & Tom Flye)

New Riders Of The Purple Sage "Who Are These Guys?" (MCA Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Bob Johnston & Tom Flye)

New Riders Of The Purple Sage "Marin County Line" (MCA Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Jim Ed Norman)
Almost inexplicably, the New Riders held onto their major-label affiliations through the entire decade of the 'Seventies, though this was their last album for MCA. There are palpable tensions between their hippie-stoner/cosmic cowboy roots and the need to stay signed to a record contract... Although most of the tracks fit into the noncommercial longhair vibe, there are also a few almost-jarring stabs at a Top Forty sound; a couple of southern rock-ish power-chord tunes, one dreadful power ballad, stuff that sounds like maybe the Eagles or maybe bands like Kansas or America. Of these, the track "Green Eyes A-Flashing" is the most cohesive, less convincing is "Little Miss Bad," which seems a bit strained. The twangtunes are the most durable material, including David Ellington's lyrically elaborate "A Good Woman Likes To Drink With The Boys" (which I'm pretty sure I heard played on KFAT a time or two) as well as "Jasper" (about a cranky hippie hermit living up in the hills) and "Take A Red," in which their wink-winking druggie references morph into anti-stupor moralizing. Also included are a couple of odd historical(ish) ballads with heavy, thumping power chords which seem clearly influenced by England's Fairport Convention, one of which, "Llywelyn," also seems like a bid to get some hard-rock radio airplay. This late-career album isn't as awful or as pointless as I'm sure many imagine -- indeed a few tracks are worth remembering. But the New Riders were without a doubt a band that had long since outlived its purpose, still capable of making good music, but never to attain new relevance. The lineup on this set included Buddy Cage, John Dawson, Stephen Love, David Nelson and Patrick Shanahan, with Stephen Love writing all the tracks on Side One, and Dawson and Nelson penning most of Side Two. This was their last album of the decade, and I'm not sure what the story was with the band in the intervening years before their next album came out.

New Riders Of The Purple Sage "Feelin' All Right" (A&M Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Chuck Mellone & Alex Cash)

John Dawson "Guitar And Autoharp" (1964) (LP)
(Produced by Forrest Boothe)
Earnest, all-acoustic 'Sixties folk music from a talented picker with somewhat timid vocals... Although he covers an old Jimmy Driftwood song, and though Johnny Cash later brought Bob Dylan's "Girl From The North Country" into the canon, there's not much here you could really call "country music," though this is definitely of interest to NRPS fans, as this was the same John Dawson who later co-founded the iconic hippie twangband. Nods of the hat towards Elizabeth Cotton, Woody Guthrie and others, as well as "Birmingham Town," apparently Dawson's account of his own arrest as part of the "freedom summer" voter registration campaign in the Deep South. He soon went from the civil rights movement to the Haight Ashbury, though this obscure custom pressing is a nice memento of a more serious time. Nice folk album.

• Discogs: New Riders Of The Purple Sage

• Wikipedia: New Riders Of The Purple Sage

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