Live: Worcester, MA 4/4/73

The New Riders of the Purple Sage | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 20, 2003)
• Original Release Date: May 20, 2003
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Kufala
• ASIN: B0000A0PJM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,399 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

In the summer of 1969, John Dawson was looking to showcase his songs while Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead was looking to practice his brand new pedal steel guitar. The two played in coffeehouses and small clubs initially, and the music they made became the nucleus for the New Riders of the Purple Sage. Along with guitarist David Nelson and the rhythm section of Mickey Hart and Phil Lesh from the Dead, the New Riders played every chance they got. By 1970, Dave Torbert took over on bass, and soon enough, smoky clubs all over the San Francisco bay area were filling up with whooping, foot-stomping crowds as their music got tighter and more dynamic. Through extensive tours with the Dead, and the addition of Jefferson Airplane drummer Spencer Dryden taking over for Hart and the talented Buddy Cage filling the pedal steel spot that Garcia had to vacate, the New Riders emerged as a fully independent unit. An excitingly creative band with a special brand of music—sweet country harmonies mixed with pulsing rock rhythms. Throughout the 1970s, the New Riders recorded seven album for Columbia, of which their 1973 release, The Adventures of Panama Red, is probably their most widely known. They wound out the seventies recording 3 albums for MCA, going through a few more personnel changes, with Dawson carrying the NRPS torch throughout the 1980s and early 1990s until he retired to the hills of Mexico. The New Riders of the Purple Sage received a Lifetime Achievement Award from High Times magazine at their Doobie Awards in September, 2002 and performed a brief set at the festivities at B.B. King's Blues Club in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ...and truthfully, 3 stars may be stretching it..., January 31, 2005

By 

Richard D. Hodgson (Madera, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Live: Worcester, MA 4/4/73 (Audio CD)

I really like New Riders, and for years there has been a serious shortage of material from this band available on CD. So in that respect it's nice to see somebody releasing "authorized bootlegs" of early concerts. It's also great that some of the early Columbia releases are starting to show up (as imports, mostly). But this release is really a disappointment. First of all, as "music fan" already noted, these really ARE CD-R's. That really doesn't bother me as such, though it seems pretty odd for a commercially released CD. More disappointing is the truly dreadful sound quality. This same label has released two other early NRPS live shows, including the really terrific "Live at Veneta, OR, 8/27/72", which I highly recommend, and another decent recording from Boston Music Hall (12/5/72). But I'm having a really hard time recommending this one. Like the Dead's "Dick's Picks" series, the box label warns that the sound quality is not superb, and that it comes from 30 year old 1/2-track (probably 1/4") reels recorded at 7 1/2 ips (which is the bare minimum tape speed for anything approaching high fidelity) so you don't expect it to sound great. But by the time you approach the end of the second disc it sounds so awful that it literally could have been recorded on a $20 cassette portable. In addition, the band is really not performing at its peak, either, depite the appearances of Keith & Donna Godchaux. If budget priced, merely for its historic value, this would still be an ok set. But all things considered, at twenty bucks it really is a bit of a rip-off. Rabid NRPS fans and completists will probably want to have this (yeah, I'm keeping mine, too) but for anyone else I'd recommend taking a pass.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars CLASSIC RIDERS, September 25, 2004

By 

D. Richards "DENNIS" (BROOKLYN, N.Y. United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Live: Worcester, MA 4/4/73 (Audio CD)

After so many years of just listening to "Home, Home On The Road"
it's really nice to see some of these classic shows being released. Though the packaging is bare to the bones this was the first of three releases that are now available and each one gets better. If your a Riders fan you have to purchase these cd's. Brings me back to a time when all we did was party. I can still smell the weed. Now I'm 48, married with three kids, but the memories of those days live on especially in these recordings. Thanks N.R.P.S.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A rare treat!, September 17, 2003

By 

James J. Jenkins (Weare, NH United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Live: Worcester, MA 4/4/73 (Audio CD)

After listening to "Home, Home on the Road" on vinal for years it is a real treat to have a remastered cd version of NRPS. I give this release four stars because of the fact that it's a complete show, not some compilation. People who care want to hear a band develop a mood, and this one just keeps picking up steam. At first, the feeling is mellow (naturally) and after "Whatcha Gonna Do" it's clear that the boys are stoned. The rest of the first set/disc is great music, but the real gem is the second disc. It is more energetic, with longer jams and more interplay on stage. If you have never listened to NRPS before, I recommend you start with their studio efforts like their debut and "Powerglide" so you'll appreciate the live versions of these songs. However, since most people interested in reading this are already hooked on the good vibrations, buy this and revel in the happy tunes emanating from your speakers. Yes, the sound quality may leave something to be desired, but it's still very good all things considered, and I just turned up the sound and imagined I was there. Since there aren't many live shows out there, this is a must!