John\'s long awaited retrospective CD is finally available here. With a stellar line up of country rock giants, John takes you on a musical journey through his years with legendary pioneering country rock band, The Flying Burrito Brothers.
All 15 \"original\" recordings, featuring such famous guest artists as BUCK OWENS, RICKY SKAGGS, ALISON KRAUSS, SAM BUSH & SONNY LANDRETH.
Also featured are performances by past FBB alumni, SNEAKY PETE KLEINOW, CHRIS ETHRIDGE, GIB GUILBEAU, AL PERKINS, BRIAN CADD & LARRY PATTON.
If you\'re a fan of the west coast country rock era, you won\'t want to pass up
JOHN BELAND-THE FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS YEARS.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT JOHN BELAND
by Frank Retford
John Beland is one of the true pioneers of the southern California country rock era, an era which gave us such landmark bands as the Eagles, Byrds, Poco and, the Flying Burrito Brothers. In fact, it was with the Flying Burrito Brothers that John Beland\'s role as chief writer and producer came to be.
Coming into the band fresh from helping rock icon Rick Nelson score his last hit record, \"Dream Lover\" ( a Beland arrangement), John\'s creative direction led the once legendary Flying Burrito Brothers to a resurgence in the early 80\'s with 9 top country hits for Curb Records, earning the Burritos Billboard Magazine\'s \"Crossover\" Award (from pop to country) in 1981, and Record World Magazine\'s \"Best New Vocal Group\" of 1981.
Although Beland joined the band 10 years after is formation by Gram Parsons & Chris Hillman, John was no stranger to the tight knit circle of the country rock scene going down in Hollywood in the 1960\'s and 70\'s. His previous work as one LA\'s top session guitarists, and hit songwriters, established his credibility in Hollywood long before he was asked to join the Burritos in 1980.
Throughout the 1970\'s, Beland had already recorded with the likes of Eagles Bernie Leadon and JD Souther, as well as playing along side of such high profile country rock musicians as Herb Pederson, James Burton, Buddy Emmons, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Jim Keltner, Glenn D Hardin, Byron Berline, Clarence White, Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, Don Everly and many others.
John brought with him credentials that read like a \"who\'s-who\" of California country rock history, having already recorded and toured with such legendary artists as LINDA RONSTADT, ARLO GUTHRIE, GLEN FREY & JD SOUTHER, KIM CARNES, THE BELLAMY BROTHERS, MAC DAVIS, DOLLY PARTON and RICK NELSON, before he ever stepped onstage with the FBB.
Beland\'s busy session schedule shuttled him back and forth from Nashville to Hollywood throughout the 1970\'s, where he recorded with such trail blazing acts as KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, EARL SCRUGGS, JOHNNY DARRELL, ODETTA, PETER YARROW, JOHNNY TILLOTSON, PETE DRAKE,SCOTTY MOORE, JOAN BAEZ and many many more. Beland was one of the very few Hollywood session aces who was successful both in LA as well as Nashville as a top session ace.
After a decade of astounding success in the studio and on tour, John was asked to join the Flying Burrito Brothers, then consisting of players he had already worked with in the studio many years prior, such as Sneaky Pete Kleinow and Gib Guilbeau.
However, the band had seen better glory days by the time Beland joined in 1980, fresh from being band leader for none other than Rick Nelson\'s Stone Canyon Band. The FBB had lost their record deal, and were now working small honky tonks and occasional overseas festivals at low money and low visibility. The Flying Burrito Brothers had crash landed hard.
Beland, who had a writer\'s deal with Criterion Music in Hollywood, took the band into the studio, and recorded a series of songs he had written with fellow bandmate Gib Guilbeau. At the time, Beland was still playing for Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band. The demos of those sessions made their way to Curb Records A&R head Dick Whitehouse, who instantly signed the band.
From the groups very first debut outing \"HEARTS ON THE LINE\", for Curb, the act scored three top 20 singles, the first chart showing in the band\'s entire 10 year prior history..and two of the three songs were co-penned by John.
More hits followed, and soon the Burritos were now a certified country hit act, touring the planet with Emmylou Harris, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Jerry Lee Lewis and many more.
Beland stuck with the band for nearly 2 decades, recording some of the most commercially successful albums of their career. Never copying, nor choosing to follow in the footsteps of the band\'s legendary founder, the late Gram Parsons, but riding on the power of all new original material, still reflecting the true spirit of the west coast country rock sound, a sound that Beland helped play a part in it\'s creation many years prior.
This CD reflects Beland\'s production, vocal, songwriting and guitar playing work with the band in the 90\'s, focusing primarily on the bands final three albums, and their most critically acclaimed in years.
Guests include Alison Krauss, Ricky Skaggs, Buck Owens, Sonny Landreth and a few more friends who stopped by to pick & grin with the Burritos.
It\'s a great testament to John\'s creative input that gave this band new life, new integrity and an international popularity which still remains to this day.
Included in this great package of FBB tunes is a brand new bonus track,recently recorded in Texas by Beland titled, \"TENDER HEART.\" From the very first power guitar chord off his famous Telecaster BBender, you can tell that John Beland hasn\'t lost the creative spirit and the commercial talent he brought to the FBB more than two decades earlier.
The legend continues...
Frank Retford
\"The Final Say Report\"
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