Customer Reviews

Burrito Deluxe

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

You better like it a bit rough, but if you do, then this is a great album. I am a huge Burrito fan - well not the post Hillman Burritos, but the first five albums - and I wore out more vinyl copies of this than any other Burrito album. No doubt about it, Gilded Palace of Sin was a groundbreaker. I can still remember the first time I heard it. It was stunning! What the heck are Hillman and Parson up to?? But I like it. And Christine's tune is absolutely perfect. The tune. Not the quality of the recording. But overall, Burrito Deluxe is more gritty and, at times, more engaging. Side one (of the vinyl) is like sitting in a smoke-filled country bar listening to a gritty country bar band. My favorite is the Dylan cover, If You Gotta Go. I try to sing along, but I just can't keep up with the pace. And, Sneaky Pete is downright wicked on this cut. Side two is more polished. Starting with Older Guys, side two has five straight songs that should have been singles. Short. To the point. And excellent. I have read many reviews dissing this album and I have to wonder why. It's a great one. And it captures what these guys sounded like live at the time. I remember seeing this very band at Macallister College in St. Paul shortly after this album's release. A tiny crowd, I sat on the gym floor ten feet from Chris Hillman. What a thrill. No one else quite pushed the boundaries of country and rock like the Burritos did. Don't miss this one.

The Flying Burrito Brothers follow up to 'Gilded Palace Of Sin' came about in May of 1970. The album does pale in comparison to the band's legendary debut yet sometimes it is vastly underrated. True that it does lack the same quality of songwriting as 'Gilded Palce Of Sin' posessed however 'Burrito Deluxe' holds it's own with a handful of great songs and catchy country rockers.

In my opinion the Burritos were trying to be more commercial on this record outing. The songs lean more to the rock 'n roll side rather than their more country rooted debut album. The opening track LAZY DAYS proves the Burritos are already attempting a new angle. IMAGE OF ME is like the balladry found on 'Gilded' but it just ins't in the same league as those brilliant compositons. HIGH FASHION QUEEN is an awesome country rocker. IF YOU GOTTA GO brings out the more rock side of the band. I love that guitar! MAN IN THE FOG is a goofy throw away. FARTHER ALONG is a laid back country tune. OLDER GUYS is another superb rocker. CODY CODY is a classic. GOD'S OWN SINGER passes the test. DOWN IN THE CHURCHYARD is good. The closing track on this album is a cover of the Rolling Stones classic WILD HORSES. The cover is wonderfully done and remains one of the finest songs on the album after all these years.

Overall Burrito Deluxe does not recieve the credit it deserves. Sure it's not 'Gilded Palace Of Sin' but it still an awesome country rock album in it's own right. Besides this was the last Burritos album with Gram Parsons unless you count the handful of ridiculous compilations made years later. I think this album deserves a closer look before critics write it off because it is actually quite good. Highly recommended!

'Burrito Deluxe' isn't as immediately attractive as its predecessor, 'Gilded Palace of Sin'. for one thing, it is short on those blood-freezing ballads to which Gram Parsons' beautiful voice, worn by experience, was so well suited. We have to wait for the closing track for an authentically affective moment, a cover of the Stones' 'Wild Horses', a reworking superficially faithful to the original, but burring with its own maudlin country feeling. Despite the title, it is more like a slow-motion visit to the knacker's yard. By contrast, 'Lazy Days' rollicks with energy, and is typical of the album as a whole, good-time bar-room rock tinged with Nashville stylings. while these songs are thoroughly enjoyable, full of imaginative musical flourishes, and transport you to some lively hoe-down in a mythical barn, they are rarely as memorable as the sardonic lyrics, an exception being the hazy 'Man in the Fog'.

"Burrito Deluxe" was the 1970 follow-up to the Flying Burrito Brothers' brilliant debut, and it couldn't help but be a disappointment. Parsons is somewhat disconnected and the caliber of writing is much more pedestrian. There are several great tracks which stand the test of time- 'Cody Cody', 'Image Of Me', "Man In The Fog'--but overall, this is one of the more standard Burrito albums. This was also the last one (aside from compilations) to feature Gram Parsons.