From the opening chords of the Flying Burrito Brothers classic, “Hot Burrito #2,” through his encore of the Elvis Presley rockabilly classic, “Mystery Train,” it is clear this concert recorded by the Chris Hillman Band was going to be special. The last of three concerts captured by the King Biscuit audio engineers for a sole Hillman concert broadcast in 1977, the show features material from every aspect of Hillman’s career up to that point, except his tenure with the Byrds.
It was Hillman who almost single-handedly developed the genre we now call country-rock, and this show is an…entire summary
Chris Hillman - lead vocals, bass
John Brennen - lead guitar
Tommy Buckman - bass
Mike Huey - drums
Kim O’Kelly - background
Skip Edwards - keyboards, pedal steel
From the opening chords of the Flying Burrito Brothers classic, “Hot Burrito #2,” through his encore of the Elvis Presley rockabilly classic, “Mystery Train,” it is clear this concert recorded by the Chris Hillman Band was going to be special. The last of three concerts captured by the King Biscuit audio engineers for a sole Hillman concert broadcast in 1977, the show features material from every aspect of Hillman’s career up to that point, except his tenure with the Byrds.
It was Hillman who almost single-handedly developed the genre we now call country-rock, and this show is an example of how important his influence has been. There is much material from his two solo albums on Asylum Records, and songs from his time in Souther-Hillman-Furray, the super-group he was part of from 1974 through 1976, with Richie Furray from Poco and songwriter/singer JD Souther.
There are no gimmicks or over-dramatic moments here because, frankly, Hillman could care less about those elements. What is here, however, is an exceptional commitment by one artist to make great music. Among the highlights are “Take It On The Run,” "Rise and Fall," “Rollin And Tumblin’,” “Sin City,” “Heartbreaker” and “It Doesn’t Matter/Bound To Lose.”
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