141. The Flying Burrito Brothers | The Gilded Palace of Sin (1969)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Christine's Tune
2. Sin City
3. Do Right Woman
4. Dark End Of The Street
5. My Uncle
6. Wheels
7. Juanita
8. Hot Burrito #1
9. Hot Burrito #2
10. Do You Know How It Feels
11. Hippie Boy

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The Gilded Palace of Sin is a surprising album. If you didn't know Gram Parsons was the driving force behind the Flying Burrito Brothers, it would be pretty hard to figure out from the name of the band that this is a country, albeit a country rock, album. Maybe the album title would give it away, but I doubt it.

This is definitely a country album. It has the right rhythm, the right instruments and the right singing style, but it's not Johnny Cash or Bakersfield country, although their presence is felt. Gram Parsons was certainly forging a new path in the country music world that was dangerously close to rock and roll. He started this path with The Byrds' album Sweetheart of the Rodeo and continued with this album. Of course, Sweetheart was the worst selling album for the Byrds up to that point and Gilded Palace never reached gold. So, it would seem the public wasn't receptive to his new style. However, many country  musicians were according to the Wikipedia entry. Unfortunately, he died four years later to see if his idea would catch on.

I love Gram Parsons singing. It's a crying shame that Roger McGuinn replaced Gram's lead vocals on three Sweetheart of the Rodeo songs. Because of his singing and because of how well the music is played, I think it's a fantastic album. I'm not sure a country purist would agree.

This is definitely an album worth listening to and I'd recommend including it in the record collection. The stand out songs are: Christine's Tune, Sin City, Do Right Woman, Dark End of the Street, My Uncle, Hot Burrito #1 and Hot Burrito #2.

★★★★★★★★★★