The Gilded Palace of Sin: An Appreciation, Part IV

…They Were A Group Who Naturally Toured By Train…
After getting an advance from A&M, Parsons led the group to Nudie's Rodeo Tailors on Lankershim Boulevard to get decked out in psychedelic Western wear from the man who had dressed Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, Hank Snow, George Jones and Porter Wagoner. Nudie's assistant, Manuel, didn't disappoint, creating four iconic suits that would be featured on their debut album's cover. For the drummer yet to be named, a red suit festooned with submarines was chosen. Hillman's suit was blue with satin lapels, peacocks and a golden sun on the back. Kleinow's was black with a pterodactyl soaring among the stars, of all things adorning the front. Ethridge's was white with all sorts of differently colored flowers. Parsons' suit, also white, was the most elaborate, strewn with marijuana leaves, pills, naked women, flames and flowers, topped off by a brilliant cross on the back. With two girls in tow, the group drove out to the Mojave and a photographer snapped photos, one of which ended up gracing the front of the album. It sure was a lot easier then to get albums made…

With a third ex-Byrd, Michael Clarke, finally given the drum chair, the Flying Burrito Brothers took to the rails to promote their slightly psychedelic masterpiece. The performances were loose, the band practices before the show nonexistent, the drug intake nothing short of heroic. Adding standards from the songbooks of Willie Nelson, George Jones, Hank Williams and Little Richard among others to fill out their sets, the group meandered through the country, traveling alongside ordinary people via Amtrak, eventually being cordoned off in their own private car after one too many culture clashes. 2007 saw the release of two shows from the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, where the Burritos opened for the Grateful Dead.

The experience gave Parsons and Hillman the inspiration for the Burritos' twelfth track, "The Train Song", which featured guitar from Clarence White and piano from Leon Russell. Produced by R&B pioneers Larry Williams and Johnny "Guitar" Watson, it was released in July 1969 and promptly disappeared. Why Amtrak's never hit upon using it in advertising is beyond me. Certainly, there is something missing from the mix of the Burritos track, but somebody could single-handedly revive the lagging train travel industry by recording a new version.

The song, with "Hot Burrito #1" on its flip, didn't perform. While Palace had charted at #164, the single didn't chart at all. Ethridge, frustrated at the lack of success, departed and was promptly replaced by Hillman, with Bernie Leadon joining on lead guitar, taking away a sizable chunk of the instrumental spotlight away from "Sneeky" Pete. Parsons, increasingly addicted to mind-altering substances, lost his way, preferring to hang out with the Rolling Stones than participate in the sessions for the group's second album, Burrito Deluxe. With hardly any rhythm guitar at all, the album's arrangements didn't have the drive the Palace tracks had had. Leadon's guitar playing, while good, is somewhat predictable. You almost know what he's going to play before he plays it. It goes without saying he was an original member of The Eagles. Still, without Leadon's songwriting contributions, Burrito Deluxe probably wouldn't have been finished.

A&M sat on the album for months, prompting the group to record a set of mostly country standards for another potential album (whether they were demo recordings or not is debatable). The sessions fell apart and the material wouldn't be released for years. After the label acquiesed and released their troubled group's sophomore LP, Burrito Deluxe failed to chart at all, without Parsons' dominance, the group became a collective and the spark that had lit up the sessions for The Gilded Palace of Sin was missing. After Palace's release, Parsons, it seems, had been doing his best to get fired from the group that he had founded, from missing the sessions for Burrito Deluxe to turning up late for live shows, to getting chauffeured around in one car while the rest of the group schlepped around together in another. When things came to a head in June 1970, Parsons was out and the group soldiered on.