17 Pine Avenue

by New Riders of the Purple Sage

Overview

After a 20-year hiatus, original lead singer and songwriter David Nelson has put together a new version of the New Riders of the Purple Sage. (New New Riders of the Purple Sage?) Longtime NRPS pedal steel player Buddy Cage joins Nelson for this outing and takes the majority of the solos, adding plenty of feeling to the band's cosmic country meets Grateful Dead sound. Longtime Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter contributes words to seven of the album's 12 tracks, bringing his customary psychedelic sheen to the material. Nelson's familiar high tenor sounds a little gruffer these days, but it's still a beautiful instrument and brings plenty of understated emotion to the music. He's always had a gift for crafting fine melodies and hooks that stick in your mind after a single listen, so it's no surprise that a bunch of these new tunes are as good as anything NRPS have given to us in the past. "Fivio" is a triumphant love song that's a reinvention of the traditional Irish tune popularized by the Clancy Brothers and features Michael Falzarano's chiming guitar and sighing pedal steel by Cage. "Suite at the Mission" is a cryptic meditation on life's vicissitudes full of dark humor; it's marked by more sparkling pedal steel from Cage and a world-weary vocal from Nelson. The title track is a bluesy shuffle crammed with mind-bending images that compares favorably to the Dead classic "Truckin'." It's one of the album's strongest songs and Nelson delivers it with a jaunty, insouciant air. ~ j. poet

Product Details

Release Date:	03/06/2012
Label:	Wienerworld / Woodstock Records
UPC:	0687241003726

Tracks

1. Prisoner of Freedom
2. Message in a Bottle
3. Fivio
4. Just the Way It Goes
5. 17 Pine Avenue
6. Down for the Ride
7. No Time
8. Shake That Thing
9. Suite at the Mission
10. I Know There's Someone Else
11. Six of One
12. Truth Is Dead

Album Credits

Performance Credits

New Riders of the Purple Sage   Primary Artist
Lizzy Friel   Vocals (Background)
Christian Cassan   Percussion
Ronnie Penque   Vocals,Bass
Johnny Markowski   Vocals,Drums
Michael Falzarano   Vocals,Guitar
Buddy Cage   Pedal Steel
Professor Louie   Organ (Hammond),Accordion
David Nelson   Vocals,Guitar

Technical Credits

Captain Toast   Road Manager
Bobby Driscool   Executive Producer
Brad Kotzmoyer   Engineer
Christian Cassan   Mixing
Ronnie Penque   Composer
Johnny Markowski   Composer
Michael Falzarano   Producer,Composer,Mixing
New Riders of the Purple Sage   Arranger
Ed Littman   Mastering
Rob Bleetstein   Historical Research
David Nelson   Composer
Mike Tut   Photography
Larry Levine   Engineer
Traditional   Composer