A recording and touring musician since 1960, Chris Hillman has had one of the longest and most well-rounded careers of anyone in the contemporary music business. After working as a solo bluegrass musician (he is prolific on bass, guitar, mandolin, and many other instruments), in 1964 he was asked to be the bassist in a new rock band out of LA called The Byrds.
The Byrds would go on…entire summary
Chris Hillman - lead vocals, bass
John Brennen - lead guitar
Tommy Buckman - bass
Mike Huey - drums
Kim O'Kelly - background
Skip Edwards - keyboards, pedal steel
A recording and touring musician since 1960, Chris Hillman has had one of the longest and most well-rounded careers of anyone in the contemporary music business. After working as a solo bluegrass musician (he is prolific on bass, guitar, mandolin, and many other instruments), in 1964 he was asked to be the bassist in a new rock band out of LA called The Byrds.
The Byrds would go on to become one of the best and most popular American bands to emerge from the 1960s, and they saw numerous Top 10 hits with their covers of Bob Dylan songs and material which they wrote themselves as well. The Byrds also featured Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, and David Crosby, but it was Hillman who pushed the band in a country direction. In 1968 he brought in his pal Gram Parsons, who transformed The Byrds from a '60s pop-rock band to the first band to play authentic country rock, as they did on Sweethearts of the Rodeo. Parsons died in 1973 (both he and Hillman had left The Byrds in 1970 to form The Flying Burrito Brothers), but not before he and Hillman became the primary influence on The Eagles and several other country-rock superstars.
By the time this show was recorded in 1977 at New York's Bottom Line, Hillman had accomplished a lot since leaving The Byrds. He had recorded two solo albums; done a Byrds reunion; and formed a band called Manassas, with CSN's Stephen Stills. This show included material from the Burrito Brothers ("Hot Burrito #2"); material from his late friend, Gram Parsons ("Sin City"); material from his projects with Furray and JD Souther; material from Manassas, his band with Stephen Stills, and of course, material from his two solo albums, which he was promoting at the of this recording. Originally captured for the King Biscuit Flower Hour, this was the second of three shows the syndicated radio series recorded for its single concert broadcast of Hillman.
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