Not The Eagles Or The Byrds: The Forgotten Band That Helped Shape Country Rock

Country rock emerged in the late '60s and early '70s thanks to the innovations of a small coterie of mostly Southern California-based musicians and bands. On "Sweetheart of the Rodeo," released in 1968, the Byrds shifted from folk rock to create a template for the genre. Buffalo Springfield flirted with the Nashville sound, and in the '70s, the Eagles took this crossover to commercial heights. But while the Flying Burrito Brothers never broke through, they deserve as much credit as anyone for bringing country storytelling, style, and swagger into countercultural, psychedelic rock 'n' roll. 

Like many other musical subgenres, country rock's family tree features many branches springing from the same trunk. The Burritos were founded by Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, who'd quit the Byrds in late 1968. Sonically, they wanted to blend genres and styles while further exploring country. "Gram had this idea of 'cosmic American music,'" Hillman told Classic Rock. "Music had no rules back then. People borrowed from other styles. There was so much freedom."

After recruiting pedal-steel player "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow and bassist Chris Ethridge, the band set to work on their debut album, "The Gilded Palace of Sin." If "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" set up the pins, it's this record, released in 1969, that knocked them down. With it, the Flying Burrito Brothers helped pioneer country rock while leaving us with one of this subgenre's undeniable masterpieces. In terms of influence and legacy, it's up there with Bob Dylan's "Nashville Skyline" and Neil Young's "Harvest." Coming from a band that's often overlooked, it may well be the most fascinating of the bunch.

"The Gilded Palace of Sin" came together in "Burrito Manor," a rented house Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman shared in the San Fernando Valley, outside of Los Angeles. "It was one of the most productive times in my life," Hillman explained in Classic Rock. "We came up with some of the best things either of us ever wrote — songs like 'Sin City,' 'Christine's Tune,' 'Wheels,' and 'Juanita,' which conjures up some wonderful imagery."

That creative groundswell is what makes "The Gilded Palace of Sin" so ahead of its time. Take "Hot Burrito #1," which adds pop rock trappings to a mournful, heartbroken country ballad as Parsons' aching vocals dance with slide guitar. That song's sequel, "Hot Burrito #2," is the other side of the coin. Rockier and with heavily distorted guitar, it gives voice to a lover giving a rocky relationship another try. As Parsons sings the final lines — "But you better love, find some love / And love me baby, Jesus Christ" — you're swept up in its ache and burn. Blending country cadences with rock vernacular — cowboy tunes dressed in hippie finery — this album is country rock gold; it tells tales, paints pictures, and maybe even makes you cry.

Only selling about 40,000 copies upon initial release, "The Gilded Palace of Sin" was a commercial flop. "It wasn't slick enough to be on country radio," Chris Hillman explained in Classic Rock, "but the rock crowd weren't quite ready for it either." But it matters who bought the album and got into the Flying Burrito Brothers. Bob Dylan was a champion, and Gram Parsons found a friend and admirer in the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards. 

In 1970, the band released a second album, "Burrito Deluxe," with guitarist Bernie Leadon, who'd leave the band to co-found the Eagles. Parsons was fired soon after, due to his increasingly intoxicated and erratic behavior. He'd go on to produce two of country rock's most iconic albums, "G.P." and "Grievous Angel," before an overdose made him a rock 'n' roll casualty in 1973. The Burritos continued to put out albums but faced constant line-up shifts. They fell apart in 1972, with Hillman leaving the group for Manassas, fronted by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's Stephen Stills. Pete Kleinow and Chris Ethridge reformed the Burritos in 1975, and they'd go on to record and play occasionally over the following decades. 

But in 1969, the Flying Burrito Brothers flapped their wings so that Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles could soar. Admirers include countless Americana, country, and rock artists, from Tom Petty and Steve Earle to Elvis Costello and Emmylou Harris. Arguably one of the most influential rock bands, their legacy is measured not in sales, but in the generations of musicians and fans they've touched.

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