Porter Wagoner and Gram Parsons introduced me to the Nudie suit. Gram Parsons also introduced me to country-rock, first as a member of the Byrds and later the leader of the Flying Burrito Brothers.As I rediscover my vinyl, I can't believe I neglected this record for so long. Parsons was someone who made it cool to like country, even if his country was just a bit different than the Ernest Tubb and The Statler Brothers that my dad was listening to at the time.
When I finally saw the Burritos, it was a few years later at Penn State. They were a shadow of themselves. Parsons was dead, and Chris Hillman had moved on to The Souther Hillman Furay Band. John Sebastian opened, debuting a new song that he had just written for a sitcom called "Welcome Back Kotter."
I think I was 16 when I bought "The Gilded Palace of Sin." I stared at that album cover for hours, wondering which one of those women was the "Devil in Disguise, " or if I would ever meet a woman like the song described.
I would, several times over.
I guess it goes without saying that I didn't really understand this music then. I get it now.
