New Riders of the Purple Sage

by New Riders of the Purple Sage

Overview

Anyone who enjoyed the Grateful Dead's Workingman's Dead or American Beauty and wanted more, then or now, should get the New Riders of the Purple Sage's eponymous release and follow it with the Riders' next two albums. With Jerry Garcia and Mickey Hart in tow, and Jefferson Airplane's Spencer Dryden playing what drums Hart didn't, plus Commander Cody at the piano, New Riders of the Purple Sage is some of the most spaced-out country-rock of the period. Even ignoring the big names working with John Dawson, David Nelson, and Dave Torbert, however, this is a good record, crossing swords with the Byrds, the Burrito Brothers, and even Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and holding its own. Maybe a few of the cuts (especially "Henry") are predictable at times, but mostly, New Riders of the Purple Sage was full of surprises then (the amazingly sweet, brittle guitars, in particular) and has tunes that have held up well: "Portland Woman," "Whatcha Gonna Do," "I Don't Know You," and "Louisiana Lady," not to mention the eight leisurely paced minutes of acid-country found in "Dirty Business." There are no added notes, but they'd hardly be vital -- the album is an open book. ~ Bruce Eder

Product Details

Release Date:	12/10/2013
Label:	Music On Cd
UPC:	8718627220894
Rank:	53434

Album Credits

Performance Credits

New Riders of the Purple Sage   Primary Artist
Commander Cody   Guest Artist,Piano
Mickey Hart   Guest Artist,Drums,Percussion
Spencer Dryden   Guest Artist,Drums,Vocals,Percussion
Jerry Garcia   Guest Artist,Banjo,Guitar,Pedal Steel,Guitar (Steel)
Dave Torbert   Guitar (Acoustic),Bass,Guitar,Vocals
John Dawson   Guitar,Vocals,Guitar (Acoustic)
John Desautels   Drums
David Nelson   Guitar,Vocals,Mandolin,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)

Technical Credits

Stephen Barncard   Engineer
John Dawson   Composer
Robert Robertson   Composer
Joe South   Composer
Robbie Robertson   Composer
New Riders of the Purple Sage   Producer,Performer