Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman & Burritos

It must have been 20 years ago that I heard a song on The Bluegrass Sound radio program called "Barbara Allen." It was incredible. Back then we would pop a cassette in the boom box and occasionally record a show or song. "Barbara Allen" got recorded, and played back at least a thousand times. It was only in the last couple of years that I figured out who sang & played that rendition - it was The Hillmen. As far as I can tell, The Hillmen only recorded one album. I own it and I love it.

It's always amazing to me how small the musical world is. Turns out Chris Hillman is the leader of that old group. Hillman is a legend in American music for a variety of reasons, most notably as leader of The Byrds, but also because of his work with Gram Parsons in The Flying Burrito Brothers. These guys wrote and recorded Christine's Tune (aka Devil In Disguise), Sin City & many other greats. Gram also played briefly in The Byrds. I've been listening to FBB quite a bit lately. It's great, and fun to listen to something that was pretty raw and innovative at the time it was recorded. Check it out.