THE COAL PORTERS
"THE GRAM PARSONS TRIBUTE CONCERT"
JUN 8, 1999
SEP 19, 1998
46:02
1/Luxury Liner
Gram Parsons/4:06
2/Hickory Wind
Bob Buchanan / Gram Parsons/3:35
3/One Hundred Years from Now
Gram Parsons/2:36
4/Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man
Roger McGuinn / Gram Parsons/4:51
5/(Sweet) Mental Revenge
Mel Tillis/3:26
6/Sin City
Chris Hillman / Gram Parsons/4:03
7/(Return of the) Grievous Angel
Gram Parsons/5:10
8/Wheels
Chris Hillman / Gram Parsons / Traditional/3:06
9/In My Hour of Darkness
Emmylou Harris / Gram Parsons/3:30
10/Older Guys
Chris Hillman / Bernie Leadon / Gram Parsons/3:10
11/Hot Burrito #2
Chris Ethridge / Gram Parsons/3:34
12/Six Days on the Road
Dave Dudley / Earl Green / Carl Montgomery/10:52
Robert Childs / Guitar, Pedal Steel, Vocals
Sid Griffin / Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals, Rhythm
Gandulf Hennig / Producer, Engineer
Pat McGarvey / Bass, Vocals, Vocal Harmony
Dave Morgan / Drums
Bob Stone / Organ, Piano
James Walbourne / Guitar
REVIEW
by Matthew Greenwald Although the Gram Parsons tribute CD on Almo Records may seem like the last word on the matter, it really isn't. Country music, in its purest form, is road music, meant to be played by and for the people. Like the blues, it comes alive on the stage. Gram Parsons -- one of the most revolutionary practitioners of the form -- knew this intrinsically, and to that end, the Coal Porters disc The Gram Parsons Tribute Concert accomplishes this simple but necessary phenomenon with grace and style. Led by Sid Griffin, who was the founder of the Long Ryders -- one of the most influential roots-based bands performing in Los Angeles in the 1980s -- the Coal Porters are a band who are not only trying to emulate Parsons' freewheeling spirit, but are also emulating what quite simply can be called a friggin' great evening on a Saturday night in a club in north London. This factor is important, because Parsons' music is neither heavy-handed nor ponderous. Spontaneous soul, direct and to-the-heart, is the agenda here, and the Coal Porters (aka "the Bootleg Burritos," for this evening) deliver that on this recording. And how. The liner notes on this CD explain that certain tunes were lost due to curfew, technical difficulties, and the like. "Wires went unplugged due to stage diving. The heat was affecting everyone." No matter; in the end, you have a recording that captures the ambience and spirit of the evening perfectly. Of course, the music deserves it -- so do you.
BIOGRAPHY
by Erik Hage
After the dissolution of the Long Ryders, musician Sid Griffin (who doubles as a music journalist, having penned Gram Parsons: A Music Biography in 1985) formed the Coal Porters in Los Angeles alongside Long Ryders drummer Greg Sowders and English bassist Ian Thomson. The group, which quickly relocated to England, debuted with Rebels Without Applause (originally an Australian 12" EP), followed in 1994 by the full-length effort Land of Hope and Crosby. The album featured such guests as ex-Green on Red organist Chris Cacavas and ex-Rockpile member Billy Bremner. Griffin continued to use a revolving cast of musicians on the band's follow-up, Los London.
The Gram Parsons Tribute Concert, a live recording taken from a London gig at the Garage in September 1998, would prove to be the Coal Porters' last electric effort before Griffin took the group in an acoustic direction. (Griffin was producing Here Comes the Neighbourhood by Lindisfarne when he found himself inspired by that group's acoustic sound.) Subsequently, the Coal Porters re-emerged as an acoustic bluegrass project, with Griffin on mandolin, Pat McGarvey on banjo, Neil Robert Herd on guitar, Alan Bisset on bass, and Ivor Ottley on fiddle. In 2001, that version of the Coal Porters released the all-acoustic bluegrass album The Chris Hillman Tribute Concerts, which explored the career of the ex-Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers member. This acoustic incarnation of Coal Porters made its studio debut in 2004 with How Dark This Earth Will Shine, followed in 2008 by Turn the Water On, Boy!, the latter of which continued Griffin's exploration of his own bluegrass roots.
"THE GRAM PARSONS TRIBUTE CONCERT"
JUN 8, 1999
SEP 19, 1998
46:02
1/Luxury Liner
Gram Parsons/4:06
2/Hickory Wind
Bob Buchanan / Gram Parsons/3:35
3/One Hundred Years from Now
Gram Parsons/2:36
4/Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man
Roger McGuinn / Gram Parsons/4:51
5/(Sweet) Mental Revenge
Mel Tillis/3:26
6/Sin City
Chris Hillman / Gram Parsons/4:03
7/(Return of the) Grievous Angel
Gram Parsons/5:10
8/Wheels
Chris Hillman / Gram Parsons / Traditional/3:06
9/In My Hour of Darkness
Emmylou Harris / Gram Parsons/3:30
10/Older Guys
Chris Hillman / Bernie Leadon / Gram Parsons/3:10
11/Hot Burrito #2
Chris Ethridge / Gram Parsons/3:34
12/Six Days on the Road
Dave Dudley / Earl Green / Carl Montgomery/10:52
Robert Childs / Guitar, Pedal Steel, Vocals
Sid Griffin / Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals, Rhythm
Gandulf Hennig / Producer, Engineer
Pat McGarvey / Bass, Vocals, Vocal Harmony
Dave Morgan / Drums
Bob Stone / Organ, Piano
James Walbourne / Guitar
REVIEW
by Matthew Greenwald Although the Gram Parsons tribute CD on Almo Records may seem like the last word on the matter, it really isn't. Country music, in its purest form, is road music, meant to be played by and for the people. Like the blues, it comes alive on the stage. Gram Parsons -- one of the most revolutionary practitioners of the form -- knew this intrinsically, and to that end, the Coal Porters disc The Gram Parsons Tribute Concert accomplishes this simple but necessary phenomenon with grace and style. Led by Sid Griffin, who was the founder of the Long Ryders -- one of the most influential roots-based bands performing in Los Angeles in the 1980s -- the Coal Porters are a band who are not only trying to emulate Parsons' freewheeling spirit, but are also emulating what quite simply can be called a friggin' great evening on a Saturday night in a club in north London. This factor is important, because Parsons' music is neither heavy-handed nor ponderous. Spontaneous soul, direct and to-the-heart, is the agenda here, and the Coal Porters (aka "the Bootleg Burritos," for this evening) deliver that on this recording. And how. The liner notes on this CD explain that certain tunes were lost due to curfew, technical difficulties, and the like. "Wires went unplugged due to stage diving. The heat was affecting everyone." No matter; in the end, you have a recording that captures the ambience and spirit of the evening perfectly. Of course, the music deserves it -- so do you.
BIOGRAPHY
by Erik Hage
After the dissolution of the Long Ryders, musician Sid Griffin (who doubles as a music journalist, having penned Gram Parsons: A Music Biography in 1985) formed the Coal Porters in Los Angeles alongside Long Ryders drummer Greg Sowders and English bassist Ian Thomson. The group, which quickly relocated to England, debuted with Rebels Without Applause (originally an Australian 12" EP), followed in 1994 by the full-length effort Land of Hope and Crosby. The album featured such guests as ex-Green on Red organist Chris Cacavas and ex-Rockpile member Billy Bremner. Griffin continued to use a revolving cast of musicians on the band's follow-up, Los London.
The Gram Parsons Tribute Concert, a live recording taken from a London gig at the Garage in September 1998, would prove to be the Coal Porters' last electric effort before Griffin took the group in an acoustic direction. (Griffin was producing Here Comes the Neighbourhood by Lindisfarne when he found himself inspired by that group's acoustic sound.) Subsequently, the Coal Porters re-emerged as an acoustic bluegrass project, with Griffin on mandolin, Pat McGarvey on banjo, Neil Robert Herd on guitar, Alan Bisset on bass, and Ivor Ottley on fiddle. In 2001, that version of the Coal Porters released the all-acoustic bluegrass album The Chris Hillman Tribute Concerts, which explored the career of the ex-Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers member. This acoustic incarnation of Coal Porters made its studio debut in 2004 with How Dark This Earth Will Shine, followed in 2008 by Turn the Water On, Boy!, the latter of which continued Griffin's exploration of his own bluegrass roots.
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