N.R.P.S. / Powerglide

Some classic gems, some run-of-the-mill but still good.

It brings back old memories.

Great

This item is a collection of New Riders' 1st two albums, "N.R.P.S." & " Powerglide". The Powerglide CD was fine, however the NRPS CD was defective. There is a stuttering sort of sound that makes the last 3 or 4 songs on the disc unlistenable. Very disappointing!

One disc bad.

The first New Riders of the Purple Sage album was recorded between December of 1970 into January of 1971 and released that August. The original line up consisted of John "Marmaduke" Dawson, David Nelson, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart. By the time the album was being recorded, the main line up had become John, David with Dave Torbert taking over for Phil and Jefferson Airplane's Spencer Dryden taking over for Mickey. Jerry was listed as an additional musician even thought he plays on the whole album. Mickey Hart and Commander Cody also make a couple of guest appearances on here. The album was produced by the band, Phil Lesh and Steve Barncard who also co produced the Grateful Dead's American Beauty.The album starts off with a nice uplifting song called I Don't Know You and is followed by the catchy What'cha Gonna Do. Portland Woman is a nice ballad and is followed By the upbeat Henry which is sort of like the Dead's Casey Jones, if you know what I mean. The first half of the album ends with the dark epic Dirty Business. The second half begins with Glendale Train which has a strong toe tapping blue grass feeling even if the story is about a train robbery. While What'cha Gonna Do has a bit of an environmentalist feel, this side is shown more on Garden Of Eden and Last Lonely Eagle. All I Ever Wanted is a nice ballad while the album ends on an upbeat note with Louisiana Lady. This is the only album that John would write all the songs for and there isn't a clinker among the batch. In 2003, Sony/Legacy issued a version with three extra songs recorded live at the Fillmore West. Unfortunately, Sony stopped issuing it quickly and replaced it with the special marketing versions which have a cheaper price but don't include the bonus songs. The bonus songs have since appeared on other releases such as Cactus Juice and another place or two.The New Riders of The Purple Sage's second album Powerglide was recorded at the end of 1971 and early 1972 with it being released in March 1972. This is the first album to feature Buddy Cage as a member playing pedal steel taking over for Jerry Garcia. The album was produced by Steve Barncard. The album starts with a cover of the country classic Dim Lights, Thick Smoke with David Nelson handling the lead vocals. John Dawson's love song Rainbow is next and features a sweet hook. Next up is the first Dave Torbert song California Day, to appear on a NRPS record and features great vocal work as well as a pretty melody. Heck, it makes me proud to be a Californian. The album is followed by John's bluegrass romp, Sweet Lovin' One. John's Lochinvar is based on the Sir Walter Scott love poem. The album ends with a smoking cover of I Don't Need No Doctor sung by Dave. the second half of the album begins with Dave's Contract which is the tale of a cowboy with a price on his head. John's Runnin' Back To You is a pretty love song with sweet pedal steel by Buddy. Next up, Dave sings a cover of Hello, Mary Lou which would get a bit of radio airplay. John sings a cover of Duncan and Brady while the album ends with a ripping Willie and the Hand Jive sung by Dave. While some people claim that this isn't as good as the first, I find it just as good in it's own way. 5 stars for both albums all the way.

N.R.P.S./POWERGLIDE is a great two-disc set of New Riders Of The Purple Sage, a side project started by Jerry Garcia that quickly developed a Southern-fried rock sound and style with a somewhat subtle though skewed sense of humor. Guitarist-singer-songwriters David Nelson and John "Marmaduke" Dawson share lead vocals on 21 songs, resulting in a varied and multi-colored Southern-fried country-rock album that's far better than most of what passes for "country" these days. DO NOT PASS THIS CD UP.

It was good to find two N.R.P.S. albums put out on cd at a sensible price. I have been needing to replace my vinyl copy of the eponymous album - which I acquired used- for a long time. A friend had bought it because it featured Jerry Garcia but found it too country and not rockish enough for his tastes, lent it me and eventually we exchanged ownership for a couple of pints of beer.I had not come across the songwriting of John" Marmaduke" Dawson before and was very taken with it, especially "Dirty Business","Garden of Eden" and "Last Lonely Eagle" which I thought outstanding and it quickly became one of my favourite albums. I don't think any of their subsequent albums reached the standard of "N.R.P.S" where all the songs were by Dawson. Hence "Powerglide" that it is teamed with here- which only has four songs by Dawson- is okay and enlivened by Nicky Hopkins piano on six tracks but is something I regard as bonus tracks.I felt that finally getting a new cd copy of the first and best album by this band was a worthwhile purchase and it has made me very happy. This is one of the many country/rock bands who never quite found commercial success and finally disappeared after making half a dozen albums. They are really worth listening to.

two classic albums that still sound good today.

Nrpd won't play on one cd player.

thanks

Excellent cd