New Riders Of The Purple Sage
Formed in 1969 the New Riders was initially envisaged as a part-time spin-off from the Grateful Dead. Group members Jerry Garcia (pedal steel guitar), Phil Lesh (bass) and Mickey Hart (drums) joined John Dawson (b. 1945, San Francisco, California, USA; guitar/vocals) and David Nelson (b. San Francisco, California, USA; guitar), mutual associates from San Francisco's once-thriving traditional music circuit. Although early live appearances were viewed as an informal warm-up to the main attraction, the New Riders quickly established an independent identity through the strength of Dawson's original songs. They secured a recording deal in 1971, by which time Dave Torbert had replaced Lesh, and Spencer Dryden (b. 7 April 1938, New York City, New York, USA), formerly of Jefferson Airplane, was installed as the group's permanent drummer. NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE blended country-rock with hippie idealism, yet emerged as a worthy companion to the parent act's lauded AMERICAN BEAUTY. Sporting one of the era's finest cover's (from the renowned Kelley/Mouse studio), the stand-out track was Dirty Business. This lengthy 'acid country' opus that featured some memorable guitar feedback. The final link with the Dead was severed when an over-committed Garcia made way for newcomer Buddy Cage (b. Canada). POWERGLIDE introduced the punchier, more assertive sound the group now pursued which brought commercial rewards with the highly popular THE ADVENTURES OF PANAMA RED. Torbert left the line-up following HOME, HOME ON THE ROAD and was replaced by Skip Battin, formerly of the Byrds. In 1978 Dryden relinquished his drumstool in order to manage the band; while sundry musicians then joined and left, Dawson and Nelson remained at the helm until 1981. The New Riders were dissolved following the disastrous FEELIN' ALRIGHT, although the latter musician subsequently resurrected the name with Gary Vogenson (guitar) and Rusty Gautier (bass). Nelson meanwhile resumed his association with the Dead in the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band, and supervised several archive New Riders sets for the specialist Relix label.