Rock Archeologia

New Riders Of The Purple Sage: 17 Pine Avenue (2012 Wienerworld / Woodstock Records)

Band: New Riders Of The Purple Sage
Album: 17 Pine Avenue
Label: Wienerworld / Woodstock Records
Catalog#: WR0037
Release: March 6, 2012
Country: San Francisco, US
Genre: Pop/Rock, Country-Rock
Duration: 00:59:51

• This new CD features 12 new songs, 7 of which were written by David Nelson and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. This legendary band's renaissance began seven years ago and continues to grow today with over 100 shows annually to audiences throughout the United States and Canada 17 Pine Avenue is psychedelic Americana at its finest On tour in the USA in March 2012.
• New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band, currently consisting of David Nelson, Buddy Cage, Michael Falzarano, Ronnie Penque and Johnny Markowski The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco, California in 1969, and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead Their best known song is "Panama Red".

• After a 20-year hiatus, original lead singer and songwriter David Nelson has put together a new version of the New Riders of the Purple Sage. (New New Riders of the Purple Sage?) Longtime NRPS pedal steel player Buddy Cage joins Nelson for this outing and takes the majority of the solos, adding plenty of feeling to the band's cosmic country meets Grateful Dead sound. Longtime Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter contributes words to seven of the album's 12 tracks, bringing his customary psychedelic sheen to the material. Nelson's familiar high tenor sounds a little gruffer these days, but it's still a beautiful instrument and brings plenty of understated emotion to the music. He's always had a gift for crafting fine melodies and hooks that stick in your mind after a single listen, so it's no surprise that a bunch of these new tunes are as good as anything NRPS have given to us in the past. "Fivio" is a triumphant love song that's a reinvention of the traditional Irish tune popularized by the Clancy Brothers and features Michael Falzarano's chiming guitar and sighing pedal steel by Cage. "Suite at the Mission" is a cryptic meditation on life's vicissitudes full of dark humor; it's marked by more sparkling pedal steel from Cage and a world-weary vocal from Nelson. The title track is a bluesy shuffle crammed with mind-bending images that compares favorably to the Dead classic "Truckin'." It's one of the album's strongest songs and Nelson delivers it with a jaunty, insouciant air. - by j. poet

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  • Tracklist:

01. Prisoner of Freedom 5:58
02. Message in a Bottle 4:03
03. Fivio 5:56
04. Just the Way It Goes 4:28
05. 17 Pine Avenue 5:15
06. Down for the Ride 3:57
07. No Time 5:32
08. Shake That Thing 4:47
09. Suite At the Mission 7:51
10. I Know There's Someone Else 3:43
11. Six of One 4:51
12. Truth Is Dead 3:31

Members:

David Nelson – Guitar, Vocals
Buddy Cage – Pedal Steel Guitar
Michael Falzarano – Guitar, Vocals
Ronnie Penque – Bass, Vocals
Johnny Markowski – Drums, Vocals
Additional musicians:
Professor Louie – Hammond Organ on tracks 4, 6, 8, 10, accordion on track 2
Lizzy Friel – Backing Vocals on tracks 1, 2, 7, 9
Christian Cassan – Percussion

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