The Flying Burrito Brothers - Later Configurations

Later Configurations

As Gram Parsons' influence and fame grew, so did interest in the Flying Burrito Brothers. This new-found popularity led to the release of Close Up the Honky Tonks in 1974, a double-LP compilation of album tracks, B-sides, and out-takes, followed by the re-creation of the band by Kleinow and Ethridge in 1975. Floyd "Gib" Gilbeau, Joel Scott Hill, and Gene Parsons (no relation to Gram) also joined the group, and the band released Flying Again that year. Ethridge was then replaced by Skip Battin for 1976's Airborne, followed by an album of previously unreleased early material, Sleepless Nights. For the next few decades, the group continued to release albums and tour. It had a country hit with a cover-version of Merle Haggard's "White Line Fever" in 1980, and at that time became the Burrito Brothers.

Headed by songwriter and guitarist John Beland and Gib Guilbeau, and normally featuring Sneaky Pete, the Burrito Brothers scored well on the country charts in the early 1980s, marking the first significant commercial chart success the band ever had. In 1981 they received the Billboard Magazine award for "Best New Crossover Group" from pop to country. The Burrito Brothers continued to work with the top session players in Nashville and Los Angeles, logging up an impressive list of hit singles for Curb Records. In the 80's they toured Europe and were featured at the Albi Nashville Festival in Albi, France, and performed with Emmylou Harris, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Tammy Wynette at London's Wembley Stadium. Also in the early 1980s, the Burrito Brothers were responsible for a campaign that finally saw their idol, Lefty Frizzell, inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Through numerous incarnations, nearly all with Beland at the helm, the band released albums and toured throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The latter day Flying Burrito Brothers CDs, produced by Beland, featured an impressive line-up of guests, including the likes of Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Waylon Jennings, Alison Krauss, Ricky Skaggs, and Charlie Louvin. The band's final two CDs, California Jukebox in 1997 and Sons Of The Golden West in 1999, received solid critical reviews. However, Beland decided to finish with the band in 2000, and embarked upon a successful career as a record producer. Sneaky created a Burritos spin-off with his new band Burrito Deluxe, which featured Carlton Moody on lead vocals and Garth Hudson from The Band on keyboards. Burrito Deluxe gained no chart success, relying solely on live appearances in Europe. Pete left the band due to illness in 2005, leaving no direct lineage to any of the actual Flying Burrito Brothers members, past or present.