The Flying Burrito Brothers - Last Of The Red Hot Burritos (1972)

The Flying Burrito Brothers were a pioneering American country-rock band, founded in the late 60s.

In early 1971 pedal steel guitarist Pete Kleinow left the Burrito Brothers for a career as a session musician, tired of their heavy touring schedule. This left Chris Hillman as the only remaining founding remember. To replace Kleinow he brought in Al Perkins, who was not only an excellent pedal steel player but a very talented guitarist, giving the band a new flexibility. However not long afterwards Bernie Leadon also left the band. Since Rick Roberts had joined, Leadon had found his role as a vocalist and songwriter diminishing. He went on to have massive success as a member of The Eagles. Leadon was replaced by Kenny Wertz, who came from a bluegrass background and played both guitar and banjo. This gave them the new lineup of Chris Hillman (vocals/bass/mandolin), Rick Roberts (vocals/rhythm guitar), Al Perkins (pedal steel/guitar/slide), Kenny Wertz (guitar/banjo/vocals) and Michael Clarke (drums).
At the same time, several musician friends began to guest with the Burritos in concert - bassist Roger Bush, fiddle player Byron Berline (who had guested on their Burrito Deluxe album, and played with Dillard & Clark), and banjo player Alan Munde. This gave the band a self-contained bluegrass group, with Hillman helping out on mandolin. At the same time Perkin's guitar gave them a bit more of a rock edge. The result was a truly exciting and diverse concert experience, divided into electric country-rock and acoustic bluegrass segments. Their next record (recorded in late '71 and released early '72) capitalized on this, being the Burrito Brothers' first live album.
Last Of The Red Hot Burritos showcased the group's wide-ranging sound at this point in their career. Earlier Parsons-era material was present with "Christine's Tune", "My Uncle", "Hot Burrito #2" and "High Fashion Queen". The cover material stepped into R&B territory, with renditions of Wilson Pickett's "Don't Fight It", Homer Banks' "Ain't That A Lot Of Love" and James Carr's "Losing Game", with Perkins on lead guitar. Whilst on their last studio album newcomer Rick Roberts had been the dominant musical force, on Last Of The Red Hot Burritos he dropped into the background and bandleader Chris Hillman asserted his authority, performing most of the lead vocals. A few songs on the album had piano overdubbed by Spooner Oldham.
The album turned out to be the last from the original Burrito Brothers. Hillman and Perkins soon left to join Stephen Stills' Manassas project. Michael Clarke also left. However Rick Roberts soldiered on with new members under the Flying Burrito Brothers name, resulting in a tour of Holland and Scandinavia and one last live album before the group officially ended.

The Flying Burrito Brothers (1971) <|> Live In Amsterdam (1973)
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