Customer Reviews

Greatest Hits

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"A Dozen Roses: Greatest Hits" is one of the best "Greatest Hits" albums that I've ever listened to. Every song on here is a true charting hit, with the exception of the new releases that are on here. Even those songs, though, are great.

For a guy like me, who was in junior high in the late 80's, songs by The Desert Rose Band were really great to listen to. I'll be honest and say that I never really knew who Chris Hillman was until just a couple of years ago.

I initially purchased this CD for one song: "One Step Forward." None of the other songs were recognizable to me until I actually received the album. "Love Reunited" was a nice beginning to this disc. It, along with just about every other track on this album, was one of those "Hey, I didn't know THESE guys sang this!" I completely forgot about songs like "He's Back And I'm Blue" and "Summer Wind." As a matter of fact, I didn't realize how many of these songs were big hits until I heard them again, so many years after they were released.

I think the real shame here, however, is that you don't hear any of these songs on so-called country radio these days. Instead, it's cluttered with plastic country by guys like Tim McGraw, and pop wannabes like Martina McBride.

There are so many great songs on this disc that I highly recommend it. If you like California-tinged country, or groups like Restless Heart, you're sure to enjoy this disc. It is full of contemporary country hits that stay true to their roots.

I love this disc.

Chris Hillman was country-rock long before the Eagles. He may not be as well-known as Roger McGuinn or Gram Parsons, but he was there at the beginning, and deserves more credit than he gets.

Hillman played bass for the Byrds, and wrote some of their country-ish songs. The rest is musical history. He left the Byrds with Gram to form the Flying Burrito Brothers; he helped form Manassas with Stephen Stills. The man is a little-known, under-appreciated legend.

But, back to DRB. DRB consisted of, among others, Chris Hillman, Herb Pedersen (who also played with Linda Ronstadt, Dan Fogelberg, Dillard & Clark, etc) and Jay Dee Maness, steel player extraordinaire. I own every single one of their albums and have played them to death. Their songs have a maturity and nuance that the cookie-cutter/mass-produced garbage coming from Nashville today can't even come close to, and a lot of them are also downright fun.

Buy this disc, sit back, and enjoy. They just don't make 'em like this anymore.

For country music, a funny thing happened on the way to the '90s. Between the modern sounds of today's country offerings (Shania, Diamond Rio, Sawyer Brown) and the Kenny and Dolly era of the early '80s, there was a time when country really WASN'T cool. While Randy Travis is usually given credit (rightly so) for carrying the torch of traditional country music during these decidedly lean times, a little band called The Desert Rose Band was doing something just as important. Lead vocalist Chris Hillman and his bandmates continued the musical tradition started by the Eagles in the '70s and successfully melded country with rock and roll. This hybrid of musical styles is most apparent in their remake of John Hiatt's "She Don't Love Nobody" and also on "Summer Wind". The harmonies are tight throughout, as are the musicianship (check out the pedal steel on "Hello Trouble"), the songwriting, and the production by Paul Worley and Ed Seay. Chris Hillman displays one of the most soulful voices in any musical genre throughout this CD, shining especially brightly in "He's Back and I'm Blue" and "I Still Believe In You". A Dozen Roses is a triumph in modern country music. It is both catchy from beginning to end and musically accomplished, a rare gem. The Desert Rose Band helped to pave the way for today's country music stars at a time when country had all but disappeared. Do give this CD a listen and I think you'll agree that it is among the best out there. If you're listening, Chris Hillman and Co., thanks for the roses. Please send us some more.

Once upon a time Los Angeles almost rivalled Nashville in the number of Country music Honky-Tonk clubs and bars. Sad to say, that scene is almost totally gone. The Palomino closed its doors years ago (I never got there) and outside of Buck's "Crystal Palace" in Bakersfield, Cody Bryant's "Viva Cantina" in Burbank, The Cowboy Palace, and a couple of places down in Riverside and Orange County, Country music is all but non-existent in Southern California.

But it was California Country that gave us Buck, Merle, Rosie Maddox, and yeah, Chris, Herb, Larry Murray, Gram Parsons, Clarence White, the Byrds, the Burritos, Poco, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Linda and Emmylou and a couple of strange dudes named Frey and Henley and their bandmates. And it was from California where this wonderful and incomparable Desert Rose Band, led by two veterans from that genre they helped to create, came out of.
And for six years and 12 top ten songs- most of 'em number one hits, the Desert Rose Band made Nashville stand up and take notice.

There's nobody out there right now with that sound, definitely not the pablum churned out of the Tennessee town. Martina is very pretty and waaay cool, but Shania and Sheryl Crow (LOL) are not really country, and neither are most of the boys (Trace Adkins?? - his last song was more like a Ted Nugent or Allman Bros. video!, and Kenny Chesney??? LOL) these days. The Desert Rose Band was both die-hard Country and Jingle-Jangle Rock. Buy this album, and you will hear Country music that touched the soul on some of the songs, but were so catchy on others that they made ya want to get up and dance.

Even today, there are many of us out here who not only call DRB "incomparable"...and...They most certainly were!

Chris was, for a time, a member of the Byrds and his enthusiasm for country music was clear even then, especially on the seminal album, Sweethearts of the rodeo. Together with Gram Parsons, he quit the Byrds after that album, formed the Flying Burrito brothers and made more brilliant country-rock music. Chris than faded into relative obscurity for a while re-emerging in the eighties as leader of the Desert rose band, the other members being Herb Pederson and John Jorgenson. The best of that group's music makes up this collection. Chris is lead singer on all but one of the tracks here.

The biggest country hits here are One step forward two steps back, Hello trouble (the only track here featuring Herb as lead singer) and He's back and I'm blue, but the other songs are all of a high quality and include a duet with Emmylou on the final track, Price I pay. Chris succeeded in country music for a while without compromising his ideals but might have achieved greater success if he had been more flexible.

You might describe this music as country-rock but it's more country and less rock than the Flying Burrito brothers. Nevertheless, if you enjoyed his earlier music you should enjoy this.

If you like progressive country you gotta get this. Every song here is a hit so it's difficult to select a favorite. "One Step Forward (Two Steps Back)", "Hello Trouble", and "He's Back and I'm Blue" were top hits in the 80's. The virtuoso guitar playing in "Price I Pay" with Emmylou Harris is guaranteed to energize. If you already own any Desert Rose, you'll want to add this to your collection. If you are new to the band's music this is the best place to start.

In their all-too-short history, The Desert Rose Band is an integral part of bringing country rock music to the mainstream of country music. This album shows them at their best - hits, near hits, a couple that I don't remember - but to this day I still enjoy listening to this album with its distinctive DRB sound. It's fine music with catchy lyrics that brings my recommendation to buy this album.

The DRB are superb musicians and Chris Hillman is a master singer/songwriter. Hillman's pipes haven't faded a bit. They can drive a song when needed, yet convey true sentiment without being sacharine. They, like the Mavericks, never fit into a convenient Nashville niche so, unfortunately, they never received the recognition or airplay they deserved. If they had been pushed like many lesser-talented acts, they would have achieved major stardom. Maybe because they didn't sell out is why I like them so much. That and they out-class 90% of today's acts.

This is the album that finally made me purchase a CD player since it wasn't released on vinyl. This album ranks up there with my other favorites from The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons, Poco, Pure Prairie League, etc. If you like this type of music, you must buy this one. BTW, I saw the Desert Rose Band a few weeks ago at a music festival at Copper Mountain in Colorado. Richie Furay was there also. He and Chris Hillman played several songs from the Souther, Hillman, Furay Band album. Fabulous!

I received this cd and I play and play it over and over again. I loved the Desert Rose band and I was glad I could get this cd. Originally I wanted it for several songs, Summer wind and One step forward and two steps back, (this song could be the story of my life) There is not a bad song on this cd. I enjoy all of it. Thanks again for this great cd.