New Riders Of The Purple Sage / Powerglide

It was good to find two N.R.P.S. albums put out on cd at a sensible price. I have been needing to replace my vinyl copy of the eponymous album - which I acquired used- for a long time. A friend had bought it because it featured Jerry Garcia but found it too country and not rockish enough for his tastes, lent it me and eventually we exchanged ownership for a couple of pints of beer.I had not come across the songwriting of John" Marmaduke" Dawson before and was very taken with it, especially "Dirty Business","Garden of Eden" and "Last Lonely Eagle" which I thought outstanding and it quickly became one of my favourite albums. I don't think any of their subsequent albums reached the standard of "N.R.P.S" where all the songs were by Dawson. Hence "Powerglide" that it is teamed with here- which only has four songs by Dawson- is okay and enlivened by Nicky Hopkins piano on six tracks but is something I regard as bonus tracks.I felt that finally getting a new cd copy of the first and best album by this band was a worthwhile purchase and it has made me very happy. This is one of the many country/rock bands who never quite found commercial success and finally disappeared after making half a dozen albums. They are really worth listening to.

two classic albums that still sound good today.

At long last on CD - and 2 on the same CD - can throw the vinyl now

New Riders of the Purple Sage, at this time had the classic line up featuring the great Jerry Garcia playing with the band full time. After the first attempts by Garcia to play the steel guitar were deemed unsuccesful by the man himself (although pretty good by any body else!), Jerry was extremely pleased with this album. It is a contentment that you can hear.The highlight of the album is the song Dirty Business. The lyrics are highly reminiscent of Bob Dylans North Country Blues, the story of a mining town slowy dying, and its people with it. The whole album in fact is perhaps more emotional than the Deads offerings, with many of the tracks suffused with a sincere sentementality not often found in contempory music. This is not to say that it is all downbeat and melancholy. On the contrary, when the band get going, they play to get you on your feet, without sacrificing their highly wrought style.I love this album. I heard it many years ago and have hunted for a copy ever since. It truly represents some of the best blues country that you will ever visit.

Nrpd won't play on one cd player.

Great to see these two albums re-released as a double. The first one, NRPS was released to great critical acclaim in 71, especially from the Rolling Stone magazine, if I remember correctly. All the songs were penned by Marmaduke Dawson and the whole album has a laid back feel about it, but with plenty of bite in some of the songs, for instance "Dirty Business." The Riders, especially with Gerry Garcia contributing on pedal steel, have been compared with the Grateful Dead during their country era, but for me the Riders are more poppy, though they had only minor commercial success.The second disc "Powerglide" (72) is again very different from NRPS. The band had recruited Canuck pedal steel guitar ace Buddy Cage to replace Garcia (who only plays a little banjo and piano on Powerglide). Listen to Cage on "Contract" and you'll undersatnd why. Garcia's steel guitar playing on NRPS is generally kept in check; Cage's work on Powerglide is exuberant and carries the album: superb stuff. All in all this double is great value: the music hasn't aged, though country rock may be out of fashion. Recommended.

thanks

cd's für Sammlung verwendet

Great

Excellent cd

It brings back old memories.