Artist:     New Riders of the Purple Sage

Album:     Thanksgiving in New York City

Label:     Omnivore Recordings

Release Date:     11.23.2019

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The release of a two-disc recording of the New Riders of the Purple Sage’s 1972 Thanksgiving show at the New York Academy of Music is something to be thankful for. The New Riders, NRPS among their many hard-core fans, have their place in American music as the creators of a psychedelic country rock sound more aligned with the Grateful Dead’s bluegrass roots than the high harmonies of the Byrds. Personnel changes have defined the New Riders as much as their music, so there have been stellar periods for songwriting and live performances and less exciting stretches of lineups and material that didn’t work so well.
This recording represents the finest lineup of the band’s early years. Formed as a Grateful Dead side project, NRPS originally featured Jerry Garcia on pedal steel until guitarists David Nelson and John Dawson recruited Buddy Cage to take over full-time. When Dave Torbert joined on bass and vocals and Spencer Dryden left Jefferson Airplane to become the Riders’ drummer, things began to gel. This 11/23/72 show features a band coming into its own with standards like “Hello Mary Lou,” “Long Black Veil,” “Truck Drivin’ Man” and “Willie and the Hand Jive.” The band’s original songwriting and fondness for marijuana-related themes was just beginning to emerge on “Henry,” and there are interesting period covers of “Take a Letter Maria” and “Honky Tonk Women.”

The playing isn’t as good as it ultimately got and there are great songs like “Panama Red” and “Lonesome L.A. Cowboy” still to come, but this is a good collection of music in attractive packaging. The current NRPS lineup includes David Nelson and Buddy Cage, but it’s the period from around 1971 through 1974 that the band will be best remembered for.

—Lou Montesano