Desert Rose Band Chris Hillman The Byrds Related Live Austin City Limits Aug 5th 1987 Herb Pedersen 

Yeah, I agree. I'm 67. I started playing guitar and writing songs as my hobby in 1971 because of these guys, the Byrds, Midnight Highway Band, Poco, Los Chacanos, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills, and Nash. Linda Ronstadt, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Elvis, the Band, Canned Heat, 3 Dog Night, and Gram Parsons and so many more. I saw many of them... lol what a great era to be alive. Renascence time of music.

cool.

I can attest to all you have said. Knew them too, and was fortunate to hear their last concert here in Nashville a couple of months ago, and even without Bill, they still sounded as fantastic as ever. Chris isn’t feeling too spry these days. Walks with a cane, says he’s tired, been performing and working hard since he was a teen. Plus Jorgenson and Pedersen have their own band thing going on. The were and always be the best

Yes , there never has been a better more rounded out top notch band . Wish I could say I had seen them live in their heyday .

AMEN....NONE BETTER...,

How would you describe the "newer country sound " and why did it fade away?

@@multicaruana that’s a great question, in my opinion the DRB brought a completely new sound of music with their styles of playing at that time. They were the best line up of musicians mixing Hillman in, provided a stong 60’s rock sound mixed with a modern Country west coast style of Country, is wasn’t the typical country sound like Jones or Haggard. The mix was new and extremely refreshing. Overall mixing in as a perfect combination in 80’s/90’s Country, I know this because I was a full time working musician at that whole time. That’s just my take or opinion on it. The musicians were brilliant and their vocals were awesome making such a short history on country music but it was different. I hope the answers my opinion to that question. I love all that 90’s stuff very much and dear to my heart. I don’t listen to today’s country on a regular basis, I’m still riding on the older stuff that I can appreciate and all of these artists actually had a lot of talent. The 90’s is still the most dominant Country decade ever as the charts proved. It was HUGE. The DRB was awesome

@@davidratliff807 Thank you for your insights into the Desert Rose Band and country music in the 90's. Actually, I couldn't agree with you more. Being a musician you knew what was going on and you know what good is. Since I was a record collector I was still buying 45's- I'd drive 70 miles round trip to pick up Country 45's while our son was in class- Kathy Mattea, Suzy Bogguss, Bailey and the Boys, Highway 101, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Dwight Yokum, the Desert Rose Band, Pirates of the Mississippi, Michael Martin Murphy, etc. Coming from a kind of folk/bluegrass tradition I was enthralled with these new sounds. And, of course, Chris Hillman started out in bluegrass with The Hillmen. Which market do you think this kind of country music appealed to, and why did it fade away? What happened ? I am VERY nostalgic for this music. Thank you again!

@@multicaruana it’s hard to say why the band broke up? Maybe it was a lack of sales? I really don’t know. In my opinion it was one of the top 10 best bands ever to hit the stage. The talent was off the charts while sometimes much lesser bands made it huge. ??? I really don’t know. John left the band in 91 to form the guitar band the Hellecasters and that had a cult following including myself. He later went on to perform with Elton John and as a musician that was probably a very smart move, I’m sure he was doing extremely well and never had to worry about work again. You have to remember at that time the amount of talent was just unbelievable and will never happen again. The band ended sometime in the early 90’s but replacing JJ would have been extremely hard. They all went on to do other various careers in music, but as I still listen to their cds I’m still in complete, oh my Goddddddddd mode as a musician. So many acts at that time were coming out, all of the MEGA performers were being heard and it would have been so hard to make it to super stardom. If the DRB had come out a few years earlier they would have dominated the radio at that time, just my opinion of course. I was so young at that time doing demos for songwriters, playing guitar tracks that would be given to a number of artists to listen too. I remember listening to the DRB on the radio back then saying to myself, these guys are phenomenal. I hope my opinions answer your questions and curiosity as a working musician at that time, just my opinion of course but I can still say a huge wow for the best band musically and JJ as a guitarist I followed his career and even the equipment he used and started using some of the same amps and guitars still using them and collecting them in 2023. Thank you for taking my mind back, as a youngster I was so lucky to get to meet and share stages with so many acts as a mostly opening act, we performed with a few artists learning there stuff that was made in the studios in Nashville. The DRB played their own stuff I’m sure, not using the session players to lay the tracks down. Hope this answers your questions a little more? Sorry I got off track a little reliving the time. It was absolutely fantastic!!!! All the acts you mentioned were so great,

@@davidratliff807 Thank you, Mr. Ratliff for your thoughtful- and humble-response. Frankly I knew nothing of the career of Mr. Jorgenson at all until you mentioned his name. Yes, he is incredible.- I would like to see if there are any You Tube videos of the Hellecasters. Being a musician , can I ask if you have anything on You Tube or for sale? Did you like the music of Dwight Yokum? What's happened to him? I hope you don't mind if I send you a question now and then? I enjoy hearing from you-someone who was there- reliving this time.. You also must be an incredible musician. Thank you again!

Great songwriting was not the strong suit of either this band or the born again countrified version of The Byrds. In this case it's a compatible accessory to the band's stellar musicianship but was, as time went by, an increasingly glaring defect that ultimately and permanently grounded the latter day Byrds.

@@davidmurray2539 Yeah David the more I think about it, you are correct. The Byrd boys most often capitalized on other songwriters. Fury’ and the boys from Poco though formed up a few years later. We’re heavy in the original song material. They were good musicians too, but Poco never got the recognition, though they put out a few LP’s of great songs. Now -Robertson/Helm and the boys from the Band’ were writing good songs when the Byrds were singing Tambourine Man🇺🇸

@@ACOUSTIC_4LOVE It's an absolute pleasure and rare occasion to be in complete agreement with the opinions of another music lover, AC. I think you mean that McGuinn and co. were performing Mr Tambourine Man and even more memorably a horrendously distorted and protracted 12-15 minute stoner version of Gene Clark's Byrd masterpiece, Eight Miles High, on arena stages for the first part of the 70's, yes? And too true about Poco. I loved that band and Richie Furay's interpretations of Neil's early Buffalo Springfield songs. I think the Poco magic may have been born there. Have a great day!

@@ACOUSTIC_4LOVE The problem with Poco was very simple their songs were duds . The Byrds had a great songwriter in Gene Clark, i don't see Poco had anyone who could touch him. Hillman and McGuinn wrote 'rock n roll star' and 'chestnut mare' was a McGuinn cowrite. Their strength though was McGuinn's arrangement skills. Don't disagree that the Band were a great band but your time line is a little skewed and funny how a couple of ex band members ended up playing in Michael Clarkes bogus Byrd bands .

Chris Hillman is so good that he's effortless.

Me too!

Me too!

He's a beast.

It’s J-O-R-G-E-N-S-O-N.

My sentiments exactly.

@@allanfranklin9615 Ditto!

That's clearly an opinion, and hardly a compelling one. Typically the playing is superb, the lyrics, melody and vocals not so much. Go back to the second most significant band Hillman played in, The Flying Burrito Bros, featuring alt country's greatest interpreter of lyric and melody, Gram Parsons. In contrast to what you hear here, every song, every line sung and note struck in The Gilded Palace of Sin, set a standard that's never been equaled for this, at the time, fledgling genre of American music. Pity then that the original band members had to call it quits so early and abruptly. Understandable that McGuinn, (with the "new" Byrds), and Hillman sought safer havens from which to express their music talents after emotionally tumultuous years with The Byrds and Chris's dealing with Parsons' self-destructive ways. It's likely called preserving your self-confidence, (and sanity) by reining in your urges to experiment musically outside the boundaries of the accepted "norms".

David Murray, that's your opinion and you are certainly entitled to it.

@@allanfranklin9615 Thank you and respect to you for respecting someone else's reasonable opinion. Far too little of that sort of consideration today.

yes, this must be a new upload, and i just searched this out (after watching chris hillman interview) and learning Sin CIty

Can’t stomach brad paisley

And that’s just Hillman 🙂👍

😂@@EmersumBiggins

Devolved is right. But there's always good music. Sometimes you just need to dig a little deeper.

There's some great country from contemporary artists. Just not super mainstream. Charlie Crockett, Colter Wall et al.

Horse with

I'm not sure that a young Chris in his 20s would have had the wisdom and compassion to really help Gram, but he could have muzzled himself better in his later years when talking about him. "A cancer on the band." Really? That was pretty cruel.

There's no such thing as too 80s for me.

No such thing

Agreed. 80s production sucks. DRB certainly is killin' live!

That would be AWESOME! You ever find it?

Did you ever find it? That would be as good as it gets!

6. You're welcome.

I think Emmylou has Gram’s Gibson

She bought it from Gram's daughter. @@johnloftus6043

there's only one. He plays guitar and mandolin and plays every kind of country music in the country category and that includes bluegrass,Gospel,and rockabilly,twang.

Where do you see Marty Stuart here?