Pure Prairie League - Bustin’ Out/Two Lane Highway
Floating World Records
Floatm6210
Floatm6210
Pure Prairie League - If The Shoe Fits/Just Fly/Dance
Floating World Records
Floats6209
Pure Prairie League (PPL for short), are the oft-overlooked country-rock band of the 1970s. They seemed always to be lurking in the shadows of the Eagles, Poco and the Outlaws, yet as you listen to these five albums from the 1970s spread across these two CD packages, you’ll hear some of the finest country-rock tracks of the era. Not all of their material is top-notch, but there’s more than enough of the good stuff here to warrant more than just a cursory interest.
It was back in 1969 in Southern Ohio that the Craig Fuller-led band played a mix of covers and originals. They lifted their name from a 1939 Errol Flynn flick called Dodge City. The movie’s Pure Prairie League was the woman’s temperance union attempting to clean up Kansas’ most lawless town. They were signed to RCA the following year and over the next 20 years they released some ground-breaking country-rock albums and can count among their members Vince Gill (who joined in 1979 and sung on their pop top ten hit Let Me Love You Tonight), and award-winning songwriter Gary Burr. The original line-up comprised Fuller (vocals, guitar), George Powell (vocals, guitar), Billy Hinds (drums), John David Call (pedal steel) and Phil Stokes (bass), though over the years the band went through a myriad of line-up changes, often as they were recording their albums, leading occasionally to a diverse musical approach. Their self-titled debut was released in 1971 and the cover-art featured a unique portrait by famed painter Norman Rockwell of ‘Sad Luke’, a down-at-heel cowpoke that first appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post in 1927. They continued to use the image in various guises on all of their subsequent albums giving their releases a unique character.
Though a great slice of country-rock, that debut album sunk without trace, despite some positive reviews and the fact that I, for one, loved it. RCA stuck with PPL, disregarding the fact that the band more-or-less fell apart with just Fuller and Powell remaining. They recruited Michael Connor (piano), James Rolleson (bass), Al Brisco (pedal steel) along with Hinds (drums) for BUSTIN’ OUT, which was released in October 1972. Again it failed, initially, to make an impact. Fuller was called up by the US military in 1973, resulting in RCA dropping them from their roster. But the band had quite an underground following, including rock musician Mick Ronson, who provided string arrangements and back-up vocals on some of the tracks and also included some of the band’s songs in his own albums and live shows. Then college radio stations started playing tracks heavily and eventually in 1975 the album made the American top 40 and the single, Amie, reached 27 on the pop charts, leading to the album going gold. This led to RCA seeking out the band and re-signing them. The album deserved its success as it remains to this day a classy country-rock set with several highlights including my personal favourite, the exquisite Boulder Skies, which is up there with the finest that the Eagles ever produced.
By this time, Fuller, who had written all but two songs for the BUSTIN’ OUT album, had moved on to join American Flyer, so George Powell pulled in Hinds and Call from the first two albums, added Michael Connor (keyboards), Larry Goshorn (lead guitar) and Mike Reilly (bass) for 1975’s TWO LANE HIGHWAY. They recorded in Hollywood and Nashville and utilised such guests as Chet Atkins, Johnny Gimble, Don Felder and Emmylou Harris. Alongside group originals they featured Gene Clark’s Kansas City Southern, Tom McGrail’s Pickin’ To Beat The Devil and the humorous I’ll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle. IF THE SHOE FITS features the same PPL line-up, though this time the band members co-wrote much of the material with each other, giving the whole album a more cohesive vibe. However, that’s not apparent from the opening revival of the Crickets’ That’ll Be The Day, which sounds at odds with the rest of the album—despite it being a rather good rendition. That is the only outside song, though Sun Shone Brightly was penned by Tim Goshorn, younger brother of Larry, who was to join the band a year after the album was recorded.
DANCE maintained the same soundscape, driven by some infectious tunes like the opening title song that features horns and the loping Catfishin’ with some inspired Dobro work. The gentle, harmony-inflected In The Morning is a particular long-time favourite of mine with guest Andy Stein’s fiddle up-front and prominent. This collection closes with JUST FLY, from 1978, which was to be PPL’s penultimate RCA album. On this one steelie JD Call had been replaced by Tim Goshorn and the lack of steel, Dobro and banjo was most noticeable, and for me ranks as possibly their weakest RCA album. Despite that, there are some enjoyable moments to savour such as the acoustic-styled Slim Pickin’s and the easy-listening vibe of You Don’t Have To Be Alone. There’s also a revival of Lee Dorsey’s Working In The Coal Mine, which doesn’t work at all.
Pure Prairie League moved on in 1980 to Casablanca Records and with various personnel changes have continued to tour and occasionally record right through to today. In 1985 Craig Fuller rejoined and he has remained very much the lynchpin of PPL with their most recent recording being 2005’s ALL IN GOOD TIME. A long overdue look back at this underrated band, and overall an impressive and enjoyable listening experience. I recommend that you at least seek out the first CD set, and if you are hooked in, then I guarantee you’ll want to sample the second 2-CD set.
www.pureprairieleague.com
Floats6209
Pure Prairie League (PPL for short), are the oft-overlooked country-rock band of the 1970s. They seemed always to be lurking in the shadows of the Eagles, Poco and the Outlaws, yet as you listen to these five albums from the 1970s spread across these two CD packages, you’ll hear some of the finest country-rock tracks of the era. Not all of their material is top-notch, but there’s more than enough of the good stuff here to warrant more than just a cursory interest. It was back in 1969 in Southern Ohio that the Craig Fuller-led band played a mix of covers and originals. They lifted their name from a 1939 Errol Flynn flick called Dodge City. The movie’s Pure Prairie League was the woman’s temperance union attempting to clean up Kansas’ most lawless town. They were signed to RCA the following year and over the next 20 years they released some ground-breaking country-rock albums and can count among their members Vince Gill (who joined in 1979 and sung on their pop top ten hit Let Me Love You Tonight), and award-winning songwriter Gary Burr. The original line-up comprised Fuller (vocals, guitar), George Powell (vocals, guitar), Billy Hinds (drums), John David Call (pedal steel) and Phil Stokes (bass), though over the years the band went through a myriad of line-up changes, often as they were recording their albums, leading occasionally to a diverse musical approach. Their self-titled debut was released in 1971 and the cover-art featured a unique portrait by famed painter Norman Rockwell of ‘Sad Luke’, a down-at-heel cowpoke that first appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post in 1927. They continued to use the image in various guises on all of their subsequent albums giving their releases a unique character.
Though a great slice of country-rock, that debut album sunk without trace, despite some positive reviews and the fact that I, for one, loved it. RCA stuck with PPL, disregarding the fact that the band more-or-less fell apart with just Fuller and Powell remaining. They recruited Michael Connor (piano), James Rolleson (bass), Al Brisco (pedal steel) along with Hinds (drums) for BUSTIN’ OUT, which was released in October 1972. Again it failed, initially, to make an impact. Fuller was called up by the US military in 1973, resulting in RCA dropping them from their roster. But the band had quite an underground following, including rock musician Mick Ronson, who provided string arrangements and back-up vocals on some of the tracks and also included some of the band’s songs in his own albums and live shows. Then college radio stations started playing tracks heavily and eventually in 1975 the album made the American top 40 and the single, Amie, reached 27 on the pop charts, leading to the album going gold. This led to RCA seeking out the band and re-signing them. The album deserved its success as it remains to this day a classy country-rock set with several highlights including my personal favourite, the exquisite Boulder Skies, which is up there with the finest that the Eagles ever produced.
By this time, Fuller, who had written all but two songs for the BUSTIN’ OUT album, had moved on to join American Flyer, so George Powell pulled in Hinds and Call from the first two albums, added Michael Connor (keyboards), Larry Goshorn (lead guitar) and Mike Reilly (bass) for 1975’s TWO LANE HIGHWAY. They recorded in Hollywood and Nashville and utilised such guests as Chet Atkins, Johnny Gimble, Don Felder and Emmylou Harris. Alongside group originals they featured Gene Clark’s Kansas City Southern, Tom McGrail’s Pickin’ To Beat The Devil and the humorous I’ll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle. IF THE SHOE FITS features the same PPL line-up, though this time the band members co-wrote much of the material with each other, giving the whole album a more cohesive vibe. However, that’s not apparent from the opening revival of the Crickets’ That’ll Be The Day, which sounds at odds with the rest of the album—despite it being a rather good rendition. That is the only outside song, though Sun Shone Brightly was penned by Tim Goshorn, younger brother of Larry, who was to join the band a year after the album was recorded.
DANCE maintained the same soundscape, driven by some infectious tunes like the opening title song that features horns and the loping Catfishin’ with some inspired Dobro work. The gentle, harmony-inflected In The Morning is a particular long-time favourite of mine with guest Andy Stein’s fiddle up-front and prominent. This collection closes with JUST FLY, from 1978, which was to be PPL’s penultimate RCA album. On this one steelie JD Call had been replaced by Tim Goshorn and the lack of steel, Dobro and banjo was most noticeable, and for me ranks as possibly their weakest RCA album. Despite that, there are some enjoyable moments to savour such as the acoustic-styled Slim Pickin’s and the easy-listening vibe of You Don’t Have To Be Alone. There’s also a revival of Lee Dorsey’s Working In The Coal Mine, which doesn’t work at all.
Pure Prairie League moved on in 1980 to Casablanca Records and with various personnel changes have continued to tour and occasionally record right through to today. In 1985 Craig Fuller rejoined and he has remained very much the lynchpin of PPL with their most recent recording being 2005’s ALL IN GOOD TIME. A long overdue look back at this underrated band, and overall an impressive and enjoyable listening experience. I recommend that you at least seek out the first CD set, and if you are hooked in, then I guarantee you’ll want to sample the second 2-CD set.
www.pureprairieleague.com