Chris Hillman at the Library of Congress

[MikeEdgerton]

If you've got an hour and twenty minutes and any interest in the history of Rock and the intertwined relationships then this video is for you. Chris Hillman speaks fairly candidly about his career. There's some great stuff here for those with an interest.

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[coletrickle]

There is a big article in Fretboard Journal about Chris in the current issue. Pictures of him with his Loar and a close up of his Red Diamond.

[brunello97]

Thanks for the link, Mike, this looks good. I'll have to settle in to watch it after work. Nice program by the LoC. I read Hillman's book on the Burritos last winter and "candid" is indeed the by-word.

Nice guitar there. I heard that Steven Stills gave him a (not The) Loar mandolin. Any truth to that?

Mick.

[coletrickle]

Yes Stills gave it to him. He says in the FBJ article that he doesn't travel with it and uses the Red Diamond for stage/studio.

[MikeEdgerton]

He tells the story in the Library of Congress video. There's some interesting remarks about Gene Clark as well. The entire video is packed with gems, again for anyone that would be interested.

[Miked]

Thanks, Mike

I'm a big fan of Chris Hillman; it looks interesting.

[Sandy Beckler]

I have always been an avid fan of Chris Hillman and have found him to be the consummate musician..The Byrds, The Burrito Brothers, Manassas, The Desert Rose Band and now the stuff he does with Herb Pedersen what an "unsung legacy"
This seems to be a natural...
Sandy

[f5loar]

It was good to see Chris back to his roots picking on the mandolin. He always had his own style of picking the mandolin. Some of his best work was with Stills after he got that '24 Loar (by the way it still has it's original Virizi in it). I just ordered a new release from his last of the Hot Burrito days with Rick Roberts and Bernie Leadon on a live show. Lots of mandolin picking on it.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Many thanks for the link Mike. Chris Hillman's one of my all time favourite Country Rock musicians.It was only after many years of listening to his CR bands,that i found out that we was also a good 'Bluegrasser' - an awesome guy ,
Ivan

[AlanN]

His fade-out solo on Pretty Boy Floyd from SOTR got the 'lift-the-needle' treatment, big time...

[MikeEdgerton]

I had a nice conversation with him a few years ago at Windgap, he seems like a genuinely nice guy as well. I was a Byrds fan as well and he speaks a bit about Gene Clark as well. The connections that he had with a lot of great players in the pop and country world is really pretty amazing. He doesn't really talk about it in this interview but he told a story when I saw him about introducing Emmylou Harris to Gram Parsons.

[Laird]

I just ordered a new release from his last of the Hot Burrito days with Rick Roberts and Bernie Leadon on a live show. Lots of mandolin picking on it.

Loved Chris's talk, and love his music. Can you give me any details on the new Burritos release?

[f5loar]

I had long heard the story of how Stills just gave Chris the Loar but this was the first time I heard why he gave it to him. Makes sense since if Chris had not gotten the newly formed Buffalo bands first big gig we would not be hearing about Stills today. They may have faded into the "one hit wonders" of the many 60's short lived rock bands. And without the Byrds there would have been no CSN or Y. Here is the info on the new release of FBB live CD coming out this month:
From England comes a brand new CD release,"The Flying Burrito Brothers-Devils In Disguise / 1971 Live Broadcast" and are now accepting advance orders at a low pre-order price of only $10.98 plus shipping until July 18, 2012. Quantities are limited, two to a customer.

This brand new 2012 import from the UK captures the "last of the red hot" Flying Burrito Bros in a live FM broadcast of an in-house performance at Sigma Studios in Philadelphia on July 22nd 1971. The band consisting of Chris Hillman, Bernie Leadon, Rick Roberts, Al Perkins, Michael Clarke in what was undoubtedly one of Bernie's last performances as a Burrito Brother. He was just days away from becoming a founding member of a new band, "The Eagles". His replacement in the Flying Burrito Bros would be Byron Berline, Kenny Wertz and Roger Bush which later in 1972, with the addition of Alan Munde, would give birth to what would become the premier West Coast bluegrass band, the "Country Gazette".

Track Listings
1. Six Days on the Road
2. One Hundred Years from Now
3. My Uncle
4. Four Days of Rain
5. She Made Me Lose My Blues
6. Shenandoah Valley Breakdown
7. Why Are You Crying
8. Dixie Breakdown
9. Can t You Hear Me Calling
10. White Line Fever
11. Colorado
12. Steel Guitar Rag
13. Christine s Tune
14. Do Right Woman
15. Dark End of the Street
16. Tried So Hard
17. Hot Burrito #2
18. Wake Up Little Suzie

Great selection of songs and those of us who were lucky enough to see this "last of the red hot Burritos", now you have a chance to hear what you missed, all on this compact disc.

The CD will be shipped starting July 18, 2012 and which time the price will increase. Any yes, if you are wondering if it is for real, I have one in my hand as of this email!

[Fiddler3]

F5Loar
What venue did you order from? I think the old album "last of the red hot burritos" had the Al Perkins and Byron Berline crew on it but soem of the same songs. that's a must have for all us old-timers, especially Chris fan's.

[f5loar]

This live set would be totally different than the Last of the Red Hot LP since Bernie is in this new one. Bernie would switch to banjo. When Bernie left they did do more acoustic/bluegrass stuff as Berline kinda took over those songs and Chris played more mandolin. You can only get this deal in the USA at sierrarecords.net

[AlanN]

Thanks, Tom, that is a must-have.

quote: Byron Berline, Kenny Wertz and Roger Bush which later in 1972, with the addition of Alan Munde, would give birth to what would become the premier West Coast bluegrass band, the "Country Gazette".

And that group recorded the seminal A Traitor In Our Midst. Has it all - great songs, great singing and playing and has the neat little multi-page cartoon-like insert with silly gags throughout...even some roaches laying around on the festive Bacchanalian food table. The cool little mando tune Aggravation is on there.

That LP and the Dirt Band's WTCBU were the intro to bluegrass for *many*.

[mandroid]

A Friend was a Stage Mom, and a SAG card is like Gold..

The Biz in LA is run off who you know, or are related to..
nepotism is how you get into the film-crew jobs too, inherit them.

good thing Chris got to know someone, with Miles Davis's phone number..

[JLewis]

There's some great stuff here for those with an interest.



Thanks so much for the post. Watched it at lunch and now I'm late getting back. Worth it!

[chukarwalker]

I'm a big Chris Hillman fan. I purchased one of his Martin OM signature guitar a few years ago and sent him an email. He got right back to me with plenty of comments and a link to the artist who he worked with to design it. I just signed up to go to a camp with Chris, limited to just 16 people, for the mandolin. Again, I sent him an email about mandos with questions about them as I was in the market. I won't mention any of Chris' recommendations here because it's his prerogative to make public endorsements, but will say that his response was lengthy, detailed and useful. Gotta love that!

[Laird]

Okay, got it ordered. I've never really got into Desert Rose Band. What's a must-have from them?

[CaskAle]

Really looking forward to watching this tonight!

I was very surprised that Chris Hillman and Herb Pederson played my local town Swindon as part of a tour about 10 years ago. I went to see Chris because I am a big Burritos and Byrds fan. I was surprised to see him play mandolin and not bass. I was surprised and totally blown away. That experience was a big part of me taking up the mandolin. Thanks, Chris!

[EdHanrahan]

Got to see Chris & Herb in Montclair, NJ, last year. Great show, and a real shot-in-the-arm for translating a bunch of long-forgotten guitar riffs over to mandolin: Turn Turn Turn, etc.

Thanks for the links, guys, both interview and CD!

Just slightly off-topic:
While working in the yard six or eight years ago, I happened across a really neat live interview on NPR with someone who obviously knew his stuff and sang some great songs from his new CD but, for much of an hour, I couldn't figure who the heck it was! Finally, at the closing credits, she said, "And we've been speaking with Bernie Leadon, founding member of ......."

[f5loar]

Desert Rose Band came out with a "Best of" CD called "A dozen Roses" and that would be the one to get. Me, I like every CD they put out plus some live stuff they didn't put out but the best of is a good one just to get an idea of what a great group they were. Should be easy to find off ebay for less than $10 like here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Desert-Rose-Band-A-Dozen-Roses-Greatest-Hits-/140748493035?pt=Music_CDs&hash=item20c54390eb

[Laird]

So, like I've said a few times before, I'm a big fan of Chris Hillman. For that reason I wish I'd never picked up the book, Hot Burritos, which Chris collaborated on with John Einarson. You know the old saying, "If you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all"? That's good advice.

Oh, I have no illusions about Gram Parsons, and I'm sure that a lot of Chris's comments are in print only because Einarson was probing for the dirt. Still, it's going to take me awhile to listen to Chris again with the same innocent admiration.

I'm not sure if this is approach to writing about music is Einarson's MO, but I sure hope not since I've got his biography of Gene Clark waiting next in my pile of books.