New Riders Of The Purple Sage Tour History, May-September 1973 (NRPS V)
The music of Jerry Garcia casts a large shadow, if a shadow that is bright rather than dark. It is so large, however, and so bright, that it outshines many things around it. In the 21st century, the New Riders of The Purple Sage are best known as the vehicle through which Jerry Garcia created an opportunity to play pedal steel guitar as a sideman in 1970 and '71. When the demands of playing full-time with both the Grateful Dead and the New Riders became too gargantuan a task, Garcia had stepped aside from the Riders. For most Deadheads, that's where the story ends.
Yet the story of the New Riders of The Purple Sage was only beginning. For obvious reasons, the Riders are always compared to the Dead, and like almost every other 20th century rock band, the Dead outshone NRPS by many orders of magnitude. Compared to all the other bands struggling to make it in the early 1970s, however, the New Riders of The Purple Sage were hugely successful. After their debut album with Garcia in late 1971, they released four more albums with Buddy Cage on pedal steel in 1972 and 73. The albums sold well--Panama Red eventually was certified Gold--and the New Riders were a popular concert attraction.
On top of the Riders' undeniable success, they were still part of the Grateful Dead's business operation. Grateful Dead tours were booked by their in-house Agency, Out-Of-Town Tours, led by Sam Cutler. Cutler and Out-Of-Town also booked the New Riders. So a review of the New Riders touring history in 1972 and '73 shows both what lessons Cutler had learned from the Dead's rise to success in 1970 and '71, and also provided an avenue for Cutler to expand his relationships with promoters who worked with the Grateful Dead. So the New Riders touring schedule was both a do-over and a rehearsal, for what had come before and what would come later for the Grateful Dead.
This post will continue the series on the tour history of the New Riders of The Purple Sage in 1972 and '73, with a particular emphasis on how their saga was similar to and different from that of the Grateful Dead. These posts would not have been possible without the stellar research of fellow scholar David Kramer-Smyth, whose contributions have been both deep and broad. The first post focused on the New Riders' performance history from January to April, 1972. The next post focused on the New Riders' performance history from May through August 1972, then the New Riders' performance history from September through December 1972, and then the New Riders' performance history from January through April 1973. This post will focus on the New Riders' performance history from May through September 1973. Anyone with additions, corrections, insights or just interesting speculation, please include them in the Comments. Flashbacks welcome.
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| Gypsy Cowboy, the third album by the New Riders of The Purple Sage (Columbia Records December 1972). The title (and title track) were inspired by a hippie boutique in St. Louis. |
New Riders of The Purple Sage Status Report, May 1, 1973
By May, 1973, the New Riders of The Purple Sage had released three albums on Columbia Records, all of which had been moderately successful. The band had established themselves as a successful touring entity independent of Jerry Garcia. They were inevitably associated with the Grateful Dead, which was not at all a bad thing, but it made it harder to establish a fully separate identity. Long-haired country rock seemed to be rising in popularity, although no one suspected that the Outlaw Country sound coming out of Austin at this time would supersede it. The New Riders were becoming an established act in the Northeast, able to fill the smaller halls and college gyms that the Grateful Dead had been filling just a few years earlier.
The New Riders were now a tight live band, playing two-hour shows that were a mix of old and new material, originals and covers. John Dawson was still the focal point, but Dave Torbert's singing and writing made a nice contrast. David Nelson sang the occasional country cover, too, just to widen the band's scope. The record industry was booming, the concert industry was booming, the New Riders were good and signed to a major record label. By any reasonable standard, the future looked very bright for the band in the middle of 1973.
The New Riders were still part of the Grateful Dead family, and not just socially. Grateful Dead manager Jon McIntire shared the same duties for the New Riders, along with NRPS road manager Dale Franklin. McIntire was the principal go-between for the record companies, while Franklin dealt with the day-to-day. The Riders were booked by Sam Cutler and Out-Of-Town Tours, who also booked the Dead. By booking multiple bands, Cutler had more to negotiate and thus more leverage with promoters and agents throughout the country. The Riders didn't have to worry about being left out of the mix--Cutler's principal assistant was Sally Mann Dryden, the drummer's wife (whom Cutler refers to in his book as "Mustang Sally," perhaps a reference to her 428ci Ford Mustang). Travel arrangements were made by the Grateful Dead's in-house agency, Fly By Night Travel.
The New Riders of The Purple Sage, May-September 1973
John Dawson-vocals, rhythm guitar
Buddy Cage-pedal steel guitar (ex-Great Speckled Bird and Anne Murray)
David Nelson-lead guitar, vocals (ex-New Delhi River Band)
Dave Torbert-bass, vocals (ex-New Delhi River Band, Horses)
Spencer Dryden-drums (ex-Jefferson Airplane)
The New Riders’ Northeastern tour had ended in the second week of April, and the band had returned to California and took most of the month off, prior to a run along the West Coast later in May. In between, however, there was one extremely interesting performance in downtown Los Angeles, a reminder that the hippie New Riders were signed to a very big corporation.
Columbia Records was the largest record label in the world, and also a division of the powerful Columbia Broadcasting System, so the label could do things on a scale beyond that of other record companies. In early 1973, Columbia chose to book all their major acts in Los Angeles' finest theater for seven consecutive nights. The real purpose of this mini-festival was to showcase their acts for radio djs, talent agents and Columbia sales staff. This was commonly done at company sales conventions. At a typical sales convention, however, with the drinks flowing, newly-signed bands found themselves playing to drunk industry pros catching up on gossip with their pals. By selling tickets at a big theater, the hall was filled with regular civilians who liked the bands. It was more of a true concert atmosphere, and the pros could more fairly gauge the impact of each band.
The Ahmanson Theatre had opened in 1967, as part of the Los Angeles Music Center. It was Los Angeles' premier theater, and regularly featured prominent Broadway productions. For the week of April 29-May 5, Columbia booked the 2084-capacity Ahmanson for seven nights, with three acts each night. The acts ran the gamut, as Columbia was prominent in rock, soul, country, jazz and pop styles. Billboard reviewed all seven nights, which were apparently 95% sold out (Part 1 is here, and Part 2 can be seen here).
The New Riders played Tuesday, May 1, headlining the show over Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show. Dr. Hook had released their album Sloppy Seconds, which included their most famous single, “Cover Of The Rolling Stone." Opening the show, however, was one Bruce Springsteen, who had released his debut album Greetings From Asbury Park in January 1973. Columbia recorded and filmed all the Ahmamnson shows professionally. Bits and pieces of all seven nights have turned up over the years. A tape of the five-song Springsteen set has circulated for decades, a fragment of the video even turned up in a 1998 BBC documentary, and one song has turned up on the internet, so the video at least exists.
An unnamed Billboard reviewer ran down the Ahmanson show in the May 19, 1973 issue:
If any one artist captured the essence of what the week was really about it was Bruce Springsteen. Latest in Columbia's recent acquisitions of singer-songwriters (Bill Quateman & Andy Pratt) he has an appeal that borders on the universal...a glowing and vibrant performer in his own right.Conversely, the reviewer was scathing about Dr Hook, calling them "insufferably self-indulgent...instrumental sloppiness and vocal insipidity did nothing to salvage their performance."
All in all, the Riders came out fairly well. He said:
The New Riders of The Purple Sage have uncovered nothing new or outrageous, but they do what they do very well and with more than a little bit of inspiration. The mode is country, mellow and laid back yet ready to set off sparks at a moment's notice. Joined by Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Keith Godchaux and Donna Godchaux they transformed the staid Ahmanson into a veritable hoe-down.
So Bob
Weir made his last appearance with the New Riders, and Keith and Donna
played yet another gig with the band, lending a little star power to the
proceedings. This was never nothing in status-conscious LA. Also, given
that we know the Springsteen material exists, it's just possible that
there is professional audio and video of the May 1 NRPS Ahmanson show,
deep in the Columbia vaults.
May 8, 1973 Churchill High School Gym, Eugene, OR: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Old and In The Way (Tuesday)
Pacific Presentations had booked the Grateful Dead for three shows in the Pacific Northwest in May of 1973, in the biggest arenas available (May 3-Portland Coliseum, May 5-PNE Vancouver and May 7-Seattle Center). Bill Kreutzmann had cut his finger, however, so the shows were rescheduled for June. The interesting detail was that the New Riders were booked for two shows in Oregon, with Old And In The Way as the opening act, right after the scheduled May shows. Since Sam Cutler booked the Dead and, the New Riders.
The Grateful Dead shows were rescheduled, but Garcia kept the Old And In The Way dates. Cutler replicated the Dead's strategy from before, booking one show in Eugene and one in Portland. He also booked the Riders into the Paramount in Portland, where the Dead had played the Summer before. Cutler regularly booked the New Riders into smaller theaters around the country where the Dead had played previously, taking advantage of relationships with promoters and fans that had already been established.
Note that Old And In The Way is noted on the poster as "Brand New Bluegrass Ensemble." No mention of Jerry Garcia. No doubt the crowd was surprised to see Jerry there playing banjo.
May 9, 1973 Paramount Theater, Portland, OR: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Old And In The Way (Wednesday)
Back in '72, the Grateful Dead had played the Paramount Northwest Theater in Seattle, so the New Riders were following the Cutler playbook. The Paramount Portland Theater (now the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall)
had been built as a movie theater in 1928. Located at 1037 SW Broadway, it seated about 3,000. It had shown its last movie in 1972, when it was
converted to a concert hall.
Per an eyewitness, there were about 1500 fans in attendance. That's actually pretty good for a Wednesday night. The eyewitness said (per Jerrybase), "it didn't seem to be much of a secret that Garcia was in town to play, but most thought he would be doing his steel guitar thing with the New Riders." The New Riders did have a guest, though--Old and In The Way fiddler Richard Greene sat in with the New Riders. Most people didn't know that Greene had been in a bluegrass band in Los Angeles with David Nelson (the Pine Valley Boys) back in '64. Greene had played a little bit on Gypsy Cowboy, so he had remained connected with the band. Darlene DiDomenico, another band friend (both a singer and a Grateful Dead staff employee, I believe for the Fly-By-Night travel agency), sang on a few numbers. She, too, had been on Gypsy Cowboy.
May 11, 1973 ABC In Concert Broadcast, New Riders from Bananafish Gardens, Brooklyn, NY on March 22, 1973The New Riders didn't perform on Friday night, but they may as well have. Back on March 22, the band had recorded a set at the Bananafish Gardens in Brooklyn (known back in 1970 as the 46th St Rock Palace). They were filming for ABC In Concert, the groundbreaking Friday night 90-minute concert show on ABC. I have written about this show elsewhere, but speaking as a suburban teenager, I cannot emphasize how amazing it was to see actual rock bands with their real live rigs playing in front of a live audience. I already had the first three NRPS albums, but I had never seen the band on stage, not even a picture—I was totally awestruck when they rocked out on "Willie And The Hand Jive." I had no idea.
This Friday night broadcast would have been a huge factor in introducing the New Riders to a broad national audience, just as it was every other Friday night for every band that appeared on ABC In Concert at 11:30 pm.
Freeborn Hall, built in 1961 as Assembly Hall, was the main auditorium at UC Davis. It held about 3000. The Grateful Dead had played there as recently as 1971. The New Riders headlined a Saturday night, with fellow Out-Of-Town Tours client Ramblin' Jack Elliott opening the show. The New Riders played a lengthy show, joined on various numbers by Ramblin' Jack, Darlene DiDomenico and, on harmonica, Matthew Kelly. Kelly was an old friend of Torbert's, and had recently returned to the Bay Area. He, too, had played on Gypsy Cowboy and sat in regularly.
May 20, 1973 Harder Stadium, UC Santa Barbara, Goleta, CA: Grateful Dead/New Riders of The Purple Sage (Sunday)
The New Riders had released three albums, and were starting to establish an identity somewhat distinct from the Grateful Dead. Nonetheless, the band had a vested interest in emphasizing their intimate connection to the Grateful Dead. It's important to remember that while the Dead were no longer a hip underground band in '73, they weren't yet being written off as an old hippie band--hippies weren't even old yet. Also, around the country, there weren't even "Jam Bands," much less Dead cover bands (ok--there was one in New Jersey called Calvary). If fans were going to get a hit of the California sunshine embodied by the Grateful Dead, the New Riders were pretty much alone as the alternative choice.
Thus, not only did the New Riders benefit financially from the bookings opening for the Grateful Dead, it was part of the strategy of Jon McIntire and Sam Cutler to build a Grateful Dead community that extended beyond the band. Ultimately, that strategy was spectacularly successful, even though McIntire and Cutler could only witness it from afar.
Harder Stadium at UC Santa Barbara had been built in 1966. It had a football capacity of about 17,000. For concerts, with fans on the field, the capacity was nearly twice that. Ironically, in 1971, the UCSB Gauchos dropped football. In an unexpected twist, Harder Stadium became an attractive concert venue, since it was about the same size as a basketball arena, but outdoors in beautiful Santa Barbara weather and with no competition from sports bookings. The New Riders opened for the Dead on this Sunday afternoon, joined for a few numbers by Darlene Domenico.
May 26, 1973 Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, CA: GD/Waylon Jennings/New Riders of The Purple Sage (Saturday)
Bill Graham was not only a pioneer of the rock concert business, but he had dreams of empire beyond the Bay Area. On this weekend, Graham planned to break in two substantial venues for rock music shows. On Sunday, May 27, Graham had booked the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers at the Ontario Motor Speedway just outside of Los Angeles. This show was canceled, probably due to poor ticket sales, but two months later the headliners would attract 600,000 to Watkins Glen Speedway, and the next year (April 6, 1974) Ontario Motor Speedway was the site of what was at the time the concert with the highest paid attendance ever up to that time (168,000). So Bill was right, but a little early.
Ontario was planned for Sunday, but on Saturday the Grateful Dead were headlining at a football stadium in Golden Gate Park. The San Francisco 49ers had moved from Kezar Stadium to Candlestick Park after the 1971 stadium, so Kezar could be booked for rock concerts without major conflicts. Graham had booked the Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin for consecutive weekends, in anticipation of establishing a new, major venue for high-profile Bay Area concerts.
The most intriguing aspect of the Kezar show was Waylon Jennings, second on the bill. Everyone expected the New Riders to open for the Dead, that was a regular thing. But Waylon Jennings was seen as a country act. By '73, Jennings (1937-2002) was already an established country singer, but he had roots in rock and roll. Jennings had been the bass player for Buddy Holly and The Crickets, and had graciously offered to give up his seat on the airplane to The Big Bopper, on the fateful flight on February 3, 1959 that crashed, killing Holly, the Bopper, and Ritchie Valens.
Jennings had gone on to success as a Nashville singer, but he
had never been happy with how his records were made. By '73, country
rock was starting to become a commercially viable enterprise, with the
Eagles as the most prominent band, along with a slew of other groups
like Poco, the New Riders and Pure Prarie League. The unhappy Jennings,
however, would manage to tap into something much more potent than hippies playing
rock and roll with a twang.
The more potent and lasting merger of country music and the 60s would be the music coming out of Austin, TX. Genuine country musicians, with proper Nashville pedigrees, would move to Austin, grow their hair, light one up and pretty much play the same music they had been playing before. OK--maybe there was a bit more attitude, but that wasn't incompatible with older roughneck country, anyway. One of the earliest converts was Jennings.
In 1972, Jennings had had a pretty good hit with the song "Ladies Love Outlaws," and RCA still wanted him to be a typical Nashville artist. By 1973, however, Jennings had moved to Austin, TX, to join fellow outcast Willie Nelson, and RCA finally saw the light. Jennings kept the beard he had grown, and "Outlaw Country" followed, with Willie and Waylon in the forefront. Sharing bills with the Grateful Dead and in California was a huge break from country practice. Jennings was consciously and enthusiastically aligning his music with long hair, weed and loud, loud music.
Booking Waylon in between the Dead and the New Riders was noticed by the whole record industry. The Kezar show with the Dead, Waylon and the Riders drew about 30,000. Jennings was a big hit with the Dead crowd, and abruptly long-haired country and country rock were starting to merge. Ultimately, Waylon, Willie and their pals benefited more from the confluence than hippie bands like the New Riders or Poco would, but that was still a few years in the future.
For the Kezar encore, Keith Godchaux and Matthew Kelly joined the Riders for "Willie And The Hand Jive." After the Kezar show, the New Riders took a break from touring. Soon, the band would begin recording their next album for Columbia at the Record Plant, with established Nashville producer Norbert Putnam.
June 24, 1973 The Orphanage, San Francisco, CA: New Riders of The Purple Sage (Sunday)
In the Sunday SF Chronicle of June 24, music critic John L Wasserman reported that the New Riders were recording in the Bay Area with Norbert Putnam. They were recording the album that would become The Adventures of Panama Red, the Riders' only gold album. In the 60s, Putnam had been the bass player in the house band for Muscle Shoals' legendary FAME Studios in Florence, AL (he surely knew Donna Thatcher, later Donna Godchaux). He left Alabama to become a producer in Nashville around 1969. In Nashville, he mostly produced "non-country" acts, which was a perfect fit for the New Riders: a Nashville producer with an R&B pedigree.
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| "Peter Rowan alias Panama Red" playing Thursday, March 5, 1970 at Berkeley's Freight and Salvage folk club. Had he already written the song? |
"Panama Red" is probably the New Riders' best known song. It was written by Peter Rowan, and Rowan had been performing the song for some time. Rowan had certainly been performing "Panama Red" with Jerry Garcia and Old And In The Way since March of '73, but in fact Rowan had written the song in Spring 1969, after the California break up of his band Earth Opera. Rowan himself explained the genesis of the song in a personal email (via David Gans)
Panama Red was written in 1969 in Cambridge Mass, the summer after Earth Opera’s March breakup after our last gig in Long Beach at the Golden Bear. Seatrain felt the song was too “funky-country” for the band’ pop-classical recording direction. We did perform it in the early days. The subject was "taboo” in those days. You did jail time for pot. So that might have scared commercial interests.
But Garcia was a green light all the way! “ Oh sure” was his motto, both ironically and straight but always with a twinkle in his eye! True to form when the Riders got a hit with Panama Red, the Seatrain management kept all the money! Oh sure!
Jerry suggested I bring the song to Marmaduke and Nelson!
Rowan had played gigs at the Freight and Salvage in February and March 1970 as "Panama Red," so the song had a longer history than we initially realized.
Garcia must have known that Putnam and the New Riders were looking for songs, which was a very Nashville approach to a new album. According to legend, Rowan pitched his songs like he was in a building in Nashville, strumming away on his acoustic guitar and singing his proverbial heart out. Rowan's pitch worked--the New Riders recorded great versions of "Panama Red" and "Lonesome LA Cowboy." When exactly Rowan sang his songs to the New Riders isn't clear, but I would guess March or April. Most likely, Rowan went to the New Riders rehearsal space at 20 Front St. The Dead also stored equipment there. Ultimately, the Dead would take over the entire Front Street space. My guess is that the real audience for Rowan wasn't the Riders, but producer Norbert Putnam.
Although New Riders' setlists are incomplete, the first known appearance of "Panama Red" was on July 21, 1973 (see below). We don't have any other setlists before May, however, and those all happened before the recording of the album. The New Riders did play this one club gig, at the Orphanage in San Francisco on June 24. The Orphanage, at 807 Montgomery (near Columbus) wasn't a premier club, but established bands played there periodically. Based on the timing, I think the band was near the end of recording Panama Red. I suspect they tried out a few numbers for the Sunday night Orphanage crowd, so I would bet that their first live version of their most famous song was at the Orphanage.
The New Riders were initially advertised as performing at a Folk Festival in Pennsylvania, but they appear to have canceled (the Folk Festival was scheduled for June 29-July 4 at Valley View Park in Hellam Township, near York. Thanks as always to David Kramer-Smyth for his spectacular research on concert dates).
July 6-7, 1973 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: Doobie Brothers/New Riders of The Purple Sage/Barnstorm w/Joe Walsh (Friday-Saturday)
The New Riders got back on the touring horse at Winterland in early July. Back in October '72, the Riders had opened for the Doobie Brothers in Sacramento. By July '73, the Doobies had some huge hits: "Listen To The Music," "Long Train Running" and the newly-released single "China Grove" were the most prominent. The band's March '73 album on Warners, The Captain And Me, would go double platinum. The Doobies were big and getting bigger. While most people tend to think of the 1960s as the time when Bay Area rock music shone the brightest, and it's true, the fact is that popular bands like the Doobies, Malo and The Tubes continued to come out of the Bay Area throughout the early 1970s as well.
Opener Joe Walsh had recently quit the James Gang. His second solo album The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get had just been released on ABC-Dunhill. It included the soon-to-be hit single "Rocky Mountain Way." At this time, Walsh was trying to sound more like CSN than the rocking James Gang. Barnstorm had been the name of his 1972 solo debut, and his touring band was named after it. Drummer Joe Vitale and bassist Kenny Passarelli anchored Barnstorm, along with organist Rocke Grace. Walsh was great live. The New Riders were a fine live act themselves, but there would have been a lot of competition on the Winterland stage this weekend.
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| An article in The Albertan on July 10 suggests that the New Riders might "bring a few friends" |
July 12-13, 1973 Summertown Stampede '73: Tent Village Stampede Park, Calgary, ALB (Thursday-Friday)
The New Riders kicked off their National tour with two nights at the Calgary Stampede. The Riders were an excellent choice for the Stampede, young and long-haired, still country, but with a rowdy rock and roll edge. Per Wikipedia:
The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth," attracts over one million visitors per year and features one of the world's largest rodeos, a parade, midway, stage shows, concerts, agricultural competitions, chuckwagon racing, and First Nations exhibitions.
Still, an article in the July 10 Albertan indicated the price the New Riders often paid for their intimate affiliation with the Grateful Dead
"there is a strong possibility they might bring a few friends with them" said Debbie Dean, Summertime committee member in charge of musical entertainment, the nightly feature of the Stampede's annual youth fair.
Somehow, the underground telegraph seemed to know that Jerry Garcia and three other members (Weir and the Godchauxs) had made an extended appearance at the Felt Forum in March, and perhaps that the Godchauxs had sat in for several shows in March and April. Even if the locals didn't know these for facts, the general rumor was probably about, and it wasn't false. In this case, however, no members of the Dead were showing up. It meant that no matter how long or well the New Riders played, a segment of the crowd would go home disappointed.
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| An ad for the Milwaukee Summerfest, a Pabst sponsored festival from July 13-22. Tickets for each day were only $2. The weekend headliners were Humble Pie and the Steve Miller Band. |
July 16, 1973 Schlitz Tent Theater, Summerfest, Milwaukee, WI: Doobie Brothers/New Riders of The Purple Sage/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (Monday)
The Summerfest in Milwaukee, sponsored by Schlitz Beer, was a week-long event that booked major acts throughout the week. Schlitz subsidized the event, so tickets were only $2. The bookings went beyond just rock music. The actual bookings had changed by the time the shows actually happened, but the weekend headliners were the Milwaukee Symphony (Thursday July 19), Buck Owens (Friday July 20), Humble Pie (Saturday July 21) and Sergio Mendes (Sunday July 22). Back on Monday, the newly-huge Doobie Brothers were headlining again over the New Riders. Out in the hinterlands, the New Riders were still relatively unknown, while the Doobies had a huge new album and single.
Based on a tape, Commander Cody and Matthew Kelly sat in. I assume Cody and the Airmen were on the Summerfest bill by this time, because they wouldn't likely have been in town otherwise. I'm not sure why Kelly would have been in town, but he was always welcome to sit in.
July 20, 1973 Cape Cod Coliseum, S. Yarmouth, MA: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (Friday)
The Cape Cod Coliseum was in South Yarmouth, about 90 minutes (75 miles) Southeast of Boston. The Cape Cod Coliseum, at 225 Whites Path, had only been built in 1972, and had a capacity of about 6000. Since Cape Cod was a vacation destination in New England, I believe the Coliseum provided entertainment for all the vacationers in the Spring and Summer. In the Fall and Winter, the Coliseum hosted minor league hockey teams (in 1973, the home team was the Cape Codders of the Northeastern Hockey League).
In the Summer of 1973, the New Riders started to perform regularly throughout the country with Commander Cody and The Lost Planet Airmen. Of course, Cody and the Riders had known each other from the Bay Area, but now they were working together everywhere. The bands were close in style, as pot-smoking hippies playing music inspired by Buck Owens, but it ended up being far more important than that.
At this time, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen were managed by Joe Kerr, who was an old college friend of George (Commander Cody) Frayne. Kerr also managed Asleep At The Wheel and Clover. By the end of 1973, Kerr would be co-manager of the New Riders along with road manager Dale Franklin. Kerr effectively replaced Jon McIntire as co-manager. Although McIntire hadn't really had an official status with the Riders, Kerr's status was formal. I don't know exactly when Kerr took over.
July 21, 1973 Capitol Theater, Port Chester, NY: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (Saturday) Arty Schaub and Ken Hersh Present 7:00 and 10:30
The New Riders and the Airmen played two Saturday night shows at the 1800-seat Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York. The Capitol, 30 minutes North of Manhattan, and near the Connecticut border, was legendary in rock history from the 1970-71 period, when Howard Stein booked the Grateful Dead and many other great bands.
Stein had moved out of Port Chester in Summer '71. The Capitol was too small, and Bill Graham had closed the Fillmore East, so Stein had started booking shows in Manhattan. The Port Chester Capitol had not closed, however, and various promoters rented the venue for shows up until about 1978. This show was presented by Arty Schaub and Ken Hersh.
We have a setlist from the Capitol, though whether from the early or late show isn't clear. It's the first show where we have a setlist since the recording of the new album was complete, so it was the first confirmed sighting of "Panama Red" and "Lonesome LA Cowboy," among other songs. I assume they had been playing these songs for a while.
The New Riders and Cody were booked on Sunday, July 22 at the Great McGonigle's Seaside Park in Annapolis, Maryland, promoted by New Era Follies, but the show was canceled.
July 24, 1973 [venue], Auburn U. Auburn, AL: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (Tuesday)
Following a general strategy that would end up working for the Grateful Dead, Cutler had started booking the Riders at colleges in the Southeast, trying to build an audience. Although the New Riders were an excellent match for Southeastern musical tastes at the time, the band never really established itself in the region.
Auburn University, initially founded in 1856 as East Alabama Male College, ultimately became Alabama's land-grant engineering university. Today it has around 30,000 students. While it probably didn't have that many students in 1973, it was a large school. I'm not sure what venue the Riders and the Airmen played. Finding that out would tell us a lot about how well-known the bands were in Eastern Alabama.
July 26 1973 Municipal Auditorium Nashville, TN: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (Thursday)
The Nashville Municipal Auditorium had been built in 1962, and it was the first "public assembly" building in the Mid-South with air conditioning. The auditorium was at 417 4th Avenue North, and could seat around 9,300 in the round. I highly doubt that the New Riders and the Airmen could sell anywhere near that number of tickets on a Thursday night, and so I assume that part of the arena was cordoned off.
July 28, 1973 Park Center, Charlotte, NC: New Riders of The Purple Sage (Saturday)
The Grateful Dead would go on to build a substantial audience in North Carolina by playing numerous shows in Charlotte and Durham throughout the 1970s. Clearly, Sam Cutler was planning a similar assault with the New Riders, even though it never really got that far. The Park Center, now the Grady Cole Center, was an auditorium at the Piedmont Community College. The building, at 310 North Kings Drive had opened in 1956. The 3000-capacity arena is now part of Mecklenburg County Sportsplex.
It would be an interesting to know how many fans the New Riders could draw in Charlotte on a Saturday night in 1973, but we have no intel at this time. I assume that Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen opened the show, but that's logic, not yet supported by solid evidence.
July 31, 1973 Fairgrounds Educational Building, Tulsa, OK: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (Tuesday)
The Tulsa County Free Fair began in 1903 at the Western Association baseball park at Archer and Boston. With enactment of the Oklahoma Free Fair Act in 1915, a 15-acre tract of land north of Archer and Lewis was purchased to provide more suitable grounds. In 1923, thanks to a land donation from J.E. Crosbie, the fair was moved to a portion of the present Expo Square between 15th and 21st Streets. The fair board acquired land adjacent to the gift acreage in later years, and the "state fair" was born. Fairgrounds.
I'm not sure which building the New Riders and the Airmen performed in, and in any case due there has been substantial remodeling since then. I assume that there were regular music events at the Tulsa Fairgrounds throughout the Summer.
August 1, 1973 Memorial Hall, Kansas City, KS: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (Wednesday)
Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas (also known as Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall) was opened in 1925. The 3500-capacity hall remains open today at 600 N. 7th Street. The New Riders had already played the hall, headlining over Loggins & Messina on Friday, June 30, 1972 (Kenny Loggins performed a slow version of "Friend Of The Devil," and Betty Cantor, doing sound for the New Riders, taped it and played it for Jerry Garcia, who liked it so much he adopted the arrangement).
The Riders probably didn't sell out on a Wednesday night, but since they were established they probably drew a decent crowd. At the time, fans in places like Kansas City generally accepted that touring acts came through when they had an open night, and the weekend gigs were often reserved for bigger cities like St. Louis and Chicago.
August 3 1973 American Theatre, St Louis, MO: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (Friday) Contemporary Productions Inc Presents 2 shows (7:30 & Midnight)
The New Riders were actually fairly well established in St. Louis. St. Louis, as Jesse Jarnow has illuminated, was a major Midwestern stronghold of Deadheads. The New Riders had played there a number of times, and had even headlined the Fox Theater in December of 1972. The most recent New Riders album, Gypsy Cowboy, was actually named after a hippie boutique not too far from the Fox itself.
The American Theater seems to have been somewhat similar to the Fox. The theater at 416 N. 9th Street had opened in 1917 as a Vaudeville House, but had been sold to Warner Brothers as a movie theater in 1930. Its exact capacity is uncertain. At some point it was re-named the American Theater and restored by the 1980s (currently it is closed, but there are plans to re-open it as the Orpheum Theater). There's a small chance that this venue isn't the one on N. 9th Street, but it seems the most likely fit.
The Fox Theater was still mainly a movie house, so it may not have been available. I'm not sure who Contemporary Productions might have been. Since there were two shows, then it's a sign that the promoters thought the Riders had drawing power in St. Louis.
Like most touring bands, the New Riders saved the weekends for the best bookings in the biggest markets. The New Riders had headlined in St. Louis the year before, and they had played the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago as well. Back on December 16, 1972, the New Riders had played the 3,800-seat hall along with Mott The Hoople, a fellow Columbia act riding a hit record. This time, the New Riders were the sole headliner, and once again I have every reason to assume that Commander Cody was opening the show.
The Auditorium Theatre (at 50 Ida B Wells St) had been built in 1889.
The Dead and the Riders had played two nights there in 1971 (October 21-22), and then the Riders had returned with Mott (Dec 16 '72) with Mott the Hoople and now they were headlining alone. This was how the rock business was designed to work, and in the Upper Midwest, at least things were going according to plan.
August 5, 1973 Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, MN: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (Sunday) Gulliver Presents
The New Riders played Sunday night in Minneapolis. They had also played Minneapolis in 1972, at the relatively tiny Guthrie Theater (on December 17, 1972). The Municipal Auditorium was actually quite large, holding up to 10,000. I'm confident that the New Riders and Cody did not want to play to a semi-empty house, so I'm sure there was a configuration where they would play to a much smaller segment of the building. It was still a good booking.
The Minneapolis Auditorium had been built in 1927, and was the principal public hall until it was replaced by the Met Center in suburban Bloomington. The Minneapolis Lakers had played there from 1947-1959. Ultimately the building was torn down in 1989. The approximate location was 1301 2nd Avenue South.
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| The Colorado Springs Gazette (Aug 19) mentioned two Monday night (August 20) shows at the City Auditorium with Waylon Jennings and the New Riders |
August 20, 1973 City Auditorium, Colorado Springs, CO: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Waylon Jennings (Monday)
The New Riders took a couple of weeks off. Although Norbert Putnam was in charge of their next album, they may have also been needed for some final harmonies or other touches.
The New Riders had an interesting booking in Colorado Springs, a double show on a Monday night that was unconnected to any other leg of the tour. They were sharing the bill again with Waylon Jennings. Colorado Springs is all groovy today, but in 1973 it was cowpoke country. The Grateful Dead had played there once in 1969, and there had been a whiff of a counterculture, but on the whole it was more Waylon territory than a Riders zone.
Note that the article in the Gazette says "The New Riders formerly played with the hard-rock group the Grateful Dead." It adds "the concerts are the first appearances for both groups in Colorado in two years." With respect to the New Riders, they had been booked in Aspen in February of '73, but those gigs had been sort of a stealth appearance (indeed they might not have happened). If Waylon Jennings hadn't been around in a while, however, his return with the New Riders in tow was a clear sign of how we was making a name for himself as a long-haired outlaw aligned with rock bands, not as a Nashville guy.
The Colorado Springs City Auditorium is at 221 E. Kiowa Street, with a capacity of 2200. It had been built in 1923. I would love to know any scrap of information about these shows: how many attended, how each act went over and so on, but I have nothing. Based on the schedule, it's clear that the New Riders flew in from California and flew on to the East Coast.
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| The Troy Times-Record from Saturday, August 25, 1973 reported on the New Riders show at the Lebanon Valley Speedway in W. Lebanon, NY |
August 24, 1973 Lebanon Valley Speedway, W. Lebanon, NY: New Riders of The Purple Sage/John Lee Hooker/Star Spangled Washboard Band (Friday)
The New Riders played two more weeks in the Northeast. This leg of the tour was notable for some interesting venues. The rock concert industry was expanding rapidly at this time, and all sorts of venues were in play that might not have been considered before. Sam Cutler, Chesley Millikin and the New Riders followed the Grateful Dead's playbook, always willing to take a chance on a new venue or an imaginative promoter.
I previously wrote about the history of auto racing tracks as concert facilities, although I focused on Grateful Dead concerts, in order to keep the topic manageable. Yet some less prominent auto racing tracks had brief histories as concert venues in the 70s. One of the smallest was the Lebanon Valley Speedway, in tiny West Lebanon, NY, between Albany and Pittsfield, MA.
West Lebanon, NY is a tiny hamlet (current population: 132) in Columbia County, about 25 miles Southeast of Albany and just 15 miles West of Pittsfield, MA and the Berkshires. The Mohicans originally lived in the area, but the Dutch started to move in to the region in the 17th century. Columbia County itself was founded in 1786. The Vermont Central Railroad was built through the area in the 1850s, linking Portland and other cities in New England with Chatham, NY, thus linking to Manhattan. The nearby town of New Lebanon was the home of the Shaker religious community.
West Lebanon was on US Route 20, the longest transcontinental road, which stretches from Boston to Newport, OR. US-20 was the main route through Columbia County prior to the introduction of Interstate 90 in 1957. Lebanon Valley Speedway commenced racing in 1953, and the track is still open (using the name Lebanon Valley Raceway). It currently features a half-mile clay oval track for dirt track racing as well as a quarter-mile dragstrip. There are SuperModified and Sportsman Dirt Track Races every Saturday night starting in May. The venue lists a capacity for racing at 7100 fans. An historic site has a good summary of the track history.
A characteristic of regional tracks like Lebanon Valley Speedway was that they typically held races only one weekend night a week, on either Friday or Saturday. For one thing, rural areas couldn't really support more than one night. More importantly, some of the more serious regional racers would race at one track on Friday and another track on Saturday, ensuring that the fields were larger and more competitive at more than one track. In the case of Lebanon Valley Speedway, Saturday night has been "Race Night" since 1957, so that left Fridays open for other kinds of promotions. Thus the first rock concert at Lebanon Valley Speedway was on a Friday night.
In the 1960s, kids in Columbia County would have liked rock music, but would have had a hard time knowing about all but the most famous groups. By 1973, however, they would all have been listening to FM radio and reading Rolling Stone, just like their peers throughout the country. All the Riders needed was a venue in the right place. Someone seems to have figured out that a Friday night at the Lebanon Valley Speedway would work. It was a standing venue with power, water, bathrooms, parking and crowd control. Rock concerts can be noisy, but they aren't necessarily noisier than the Saturday night Super Modifieds. So the New Riders of The Purple Sage were booked to open their tour on Friday, August 24, supported by blues legend John Lee Hooker and a local group. The concert was supported by radio station WGFM in Albany, NY.
The Troy (NY) Times-Record article from Saturday (August 25)
told the tale. The event was a modest success, and a good time seemed to
be had, but attendance wasn't up to expectations.
Quiet Night At Speedway 'Blues' Concert (Bill Rice, Troy Times-Record, Saturday, August 25, 1973)
WEST LEBANON-It might be the first and last, and it might be the first of many.
Some 4,700 young people attended the first country blues concert ever held at Lebanon Valley Speedway here last night.
On the program were the New Riders of The Purple Sage, John Lee Hooker and The Star Spangled Washboard Band.
Promoters of the concert, National Student Productions and Radio station WGY-WGFM were not hoping for another Watkins Glen or Woodstock. A crowd of around 6,000 was anticipated by Bill Brina of National Student Productions.
The crowd was quiet and orderly, as The Star Spangled Washboard Band did the opening act.
Brina said there were no problems with gate crashers. A Lebanon Valley security officer said
"The kids are minding their own business and playing it cool. What they do someplace else doesn't interest us. We have had more trouble with Saturday night race crowds."
He did say about 200 youngsters tried to go over the fence, and half made it without paying the $5 admission fee
August 25, 1973 Central Maine Youth Center, Lewiston, ME: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Fabulous Rhinestones (Saturday) Maine Man Music Productions presents
The Central Maine Youth Center was a hockey arena in Lewiston, then rated to handle up to 7000 patrons. Mostly high school hockey teams played there (per former resident Grateful Seconds). It was also the biggest arena in the area until the Cumblerland County Civic Center would open around 1978, so occasionally there were major events there. The biggest event in the history of the arena was the Cassius Clay vs Sonny Liston heavyweight title boxing match on May 25, 1965.
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| Joan Margalith reviewed the August 25, 1973 show in the Lewiston Sun-Journal. She found the Riders stiff, and raved about the Fabulous Rhinestones. |
This show was presented by Main Man Music Productions, but I don't know who that may have represented. Real touring rock bands didn't get to Maine very often. The Grateful Dead had played Bangor in 1971, and sometimes bands would play the University of Maine in nearby Orono, but it was pretty far off the path. Joan Margolith of the Lewiston Sun-Record (August 28, above) and reported that 4500 people attended the show. She called the Riders "structured and somewhat unemotional...polished, almost structured." She raved about the Fabulous Rhinestones, however.
The Fabulous Rhinestones had formed in San Francisco, but most of the musicians were from Chicago or New York. Chicago guitarist Kal David (ex-Illinois Speed Press) was the main
songwriter, and other members
included bassist Harvey Brooks (ex-Electric Flag), organist Marty Grebb
(another Chicagoan, ex-Buckinghams) and drummer Gregg Thomas (ex-Mint
Tattoo). The band had moved to Woodstock, NY, and would ultimately
release three albums. By 1973, they had just released their second album Freewheelin'.
August 27-29, 1973 Paul's Mall, Boston, MA: New Riders of The Purple Sage (Monday-Wednesday) early and late shows each night
The New Riders had been booked to play as part of a rock concert series at Suffolk Downs, the historic East Boston thoroughbred track, on Monday, August 27, but that show had been canceled (I'm not sure if the whole series was canceled, or just their event). With an opening in their schedule, Sam Cutler booked the New Riders at the prestigious but small Paul's Mall, a rock club in downtown Boston. A Monday-thru-Wednesday gig at Paul's Mall wasn't going to pay that well, but the New Riders would have had the same hotel bills anyway, so anything they made offset their costs. A casual, friendly review of the Monday night show in the Boston Globe acknowledged that the Riders were just filling out their tour schedule. For the locals who went, it was probably a lot of fun.
733 Boylston Street was the entrance to a pair of side-by-side nightclubs, the Jazz Workshop and Paul's Mall. The Jazz Workshop, at least, had opened in 1963. Paul's Mall wasn't large, but its location ensured that performers regularly got reviewed in the paper. WBCN often broadcast from one of the two clubs, and it appears that one set of the Wednesday night show (July 29) was broadcast over WBCN.
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| Village Voice ad from August 30 for the Sunshine Inn in Asbury Park, NJ. The New Riders were booked for Friday August 31 |
August 31, 1973 Sunshine Inn, Asbury Park, NJ: New Riders of The Purple Sage/David Buskin (Friday)
The Sunshine Inn in Asbury Park was another small, legendary Northeastern venue. At the time, Asbury Park had been a sort of resort town, with a beach boardwalk and various arcades along the shore. By 1973, it was decaying, the perfect metaphor for then-aspiring songwriter Bruce Springsteen. The Sunshine Inn was on First Avenue and Kingsley, near the shore, and near the boardwalk. Bruce had opened many shows at the Sunshine Inn with various bands, and even headlined a few.
The Sunshine Inn had opened in December 1970. A lot of touring bands had an extra night in the Northeast and would play shows there, with local bands--like Springsteen's--opening up. Many young Asbury rock fans have fond memories of seeing bands at the Sunshine. Bands, however, have less fond memories, as owner Bob Fischer (actual name: Herbert Fleisher) was notorious for underpaying, or not paying at all (for those who know their Springsteen lore, Fleisher also owned the Student Prince, a bar that was across the street, and he didn't always pay bands there either). John Scher had gotten his start in New Jersey booking the Sunshine Inn in 1971, but he had moved on the Capitol Theater in Passaic and bigger venues by this time. Fleisher finally gave up on the Sunshine Inn in late 1974, but the performances are fondly remembered by then-locals.
September 1, 1973 Gym, Staples High School, Westport, CT: New Riders of The Purple Sage (Saturday) early and late shows
The Staples High School gym was just another gymnasium in a suburban high school, but it had an intriguing rock and roll history. In 1966, some enterprising students had been looking to raise money, and realized they could book popular rock bands. At the time, there were so few rock venues that working bands had plenty of free nights. While the high school students at Westport had no experience or background, that was true of most of the rock venues at the time. As a result, groups like The Doors and Cream played Westport High School from 1966-68. Afterwards, there were more rock venues and major acts weren't going to play some High School.
Still, the initial blast led to a sort of tradition of using the Westport High gym for rock shows, and bands continued to play there intermittently. Westport is on Long Island Sound, about 50 miles North of Manhattan, so it made a convenient gig for touring rock bands. The audience would likely have been young people who weren't able (or allowed) to get all the way into Manhattan to see rock bands. The Riders appear to have played early and late shows.
Nassau Community College was in Garden City, NY, in Long Island, and had opened in 1959. By 1973 it had expanded substantially (today it has around 10,000 students). Nassau County was prime Deadhead territory, and the New Riders had already opened for the Dead at the Nassau County Coliseum in nearby Uniondale. Given the date, this show would have likely been a start-of-term event.
September 5, 1973 Philharmonic Hall, New York, NY: New Riders of The Purple Sage (Wednesday) 8pm & 11pm
Howard Stein presented the New Riders for two shows on a Wednesday night at Philarmonic Hall. This was probably the booking that the tour was built around. Philharmonic Hall had been built in 1962, and was the home of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Of course, the hall was regularly used for other performances, including rock bands. The hall was at 10 Lincoln Center Plaza, near Broadway and West 65th Street. Shortly after this, Philarmonic Hall would change its name to Avery Fisher Hall (it is now the David Geffen Hall at the Lincoln Center).
The room had 2738 seats, so Howard Stein was confident that the Riders could sell almost twice that many tickets. That's a pretty good marker for how popular the New Riders were in New York Metro at the time. Keep in mind that the location made it easy to get there for Deadheads throughout the region. The Grateful Dead did not play Manhattan proper from 1972 until 1976, so the New Riders would also have been a kind of proxy event for local Deadheads.
September 6, 1973 Palace Theater, Albany, NY: New Riders of The Purple Sage (Thursday)
After the Philarmonic Hall show, the New Riders played the next night for Shelly Finkel and Jim Koplik at a now-legendary venue called the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. Waterbury is between Hartford (33 miles to the Northeast) and New York City (77 miles to the Southwest). It had (and has) a population of around 110,000. In the first half of the 20th century, it was a thriving industrial city. From the 60s onward, however, Waterbury underwent a severe economic decline. As a rock peculiarity, however, Waterbury had a large movie theater from its glory days, and easy freeway access from larger areas. The Palace Theater, at 100 E. Main Street in downtown, had been built in 1922. By the early 1970s, it wasn't apparently in great shape, but it had a capacity of a few thousand and fantastic acoustics. It went from being an oversized movie house to a destination rock concert venue.
The New Riders had played the Palace in May 1972 (for different promoters), and had returned to play for Finkel and Koplik on March 21, 1973. By this time, Finkel and Koplik had booked both the Grateful Dead and the New Riders many times. The most famous booking, of course, was when Finkel and Koplik had put on the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen with the Dead, the Band and the Allman Brothers, on July 28, 1973. Waterbury was the perfect distance from New York, a separate market, but still an easy trip for the band and crew, and both Cutler and the Riders had a good relationship with the promoters.
A listing in Billboard had the New Riders playing the Rock Quarry Festival in Lowellville, OH on Saturday, September 8. We could not find any sort of confirmation, even to know if the event occurred. It does seem like a logical booking, though--Thursday in in Waterbury, Sunday in Pennsylvania, so a Saturday night show near Youngstown, not too far from Penn State (175 miles), would have been smart.
September 9, 1973 [venue?], State College, Penn State U,. State College, PA: New Riders of The Purple Sage (Sunday)
The New Riders ended their Northeastern tour with a long show at Penn State. Penn State University was established in 1855, and it is in the countryside, midway between Pittsburgh (135 miles to the West) and Philadelphia (200 miles to the Southeast). Even by the standards of flagship state institutions, Penn State is huge--it currently has a 90,000 students. While probably not that large in 1973, it still would have been a city unto itself.
I don't know what venue the New Riders played at Penn State. We do have a setlist, however, and even by the standards of 1973 it's a really long show. All of the Panama Red material was part of the set.
First Set
Six Days On The Road / Teardrops In My Eyes / It's Alright With Me / Panama Red / One Too Many Stories / Hello Mary Lou / Henry / School Days / Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music) / Rainbow / Important Exportin' Man / She's No Angel / Contract / Sutter's Mill / LA Lady / Lonesome L.A. Cowboy / I Don't Need No Doctor
Second Set
Sea Cruise / You Should Have Seen Me Runnin’ / Whiskey / Take A Letter Maria / Groupie / Parson Brown / Glendale Train / Lochinvar / Duncan And Brady / Truck Drivin' Man / Portland Woman / Louisiana Lady / Last Lonely Eagle / Willie And The Hand Jive / Encore: Kick In The Head
The New Riders were at their peak as performers, the Grateful Dead affiliation had its greatest power, and the band had a great new album coming out.
September 29-30, 1973 Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, CA: Waylon Jennings/New Riders of The Purple Sage/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen/Roger McGuinn (Saturday-Sunday)
Billboard listed a date for the New Riders in Houston, venue unstated, on September 28, but we can't confirm it and it doesn't seem to fit any touring schedule, so I'm assuming it didn't happen.
On the weekend of September 29-30, the New Riders played two outdoor shows at the 6,000 seat Universal Amphitheatre. The Amphitheatre was part of "Universal City," an adjunct to the Universal Studios tourist attraction. The then-outdoor venue had started putting on rock concerts in 1972.
Waylon Jennings is headlining over the New Riders, continuing the pattern of performing together. Since playing with the Dead and the New Riders back at Kezar Stadium in April, Jennings had released his Honky Tonk Heroes album on RCA in June. He had two big hit singles on it, "You Asked Me To" (reaching #8) and "We Had It All" (#28). With songs mostly co-written by Jennings and Billy Joe Shaver, the album was a seminal record in the emerging sub-genre of "Outlaw Country." Ironically, although Jennings and the New Riders were initially closely aligned, the Outlaw Country style of Jennings and Willie Nelson would thrive, while the country-rock of the New Riders and Commander Cody would slide in importance.
Roger McGuinn had gone solo, since the Byrds had broken up. His debut album on Columbia had been released in June of 1973. He had started to tour around a little bit in support, accompanied by Mike Wofford (keyboards), David Vaught (bass) and John Guerin (drums).
The New Riders of the Purple Sage had toured heavily throughout 1973. The band had a genuine following in the Northeast, and seemed to be drawing well in the Midwest as well. While still in the inevitable shadow of the Grateful Dead, that was not a bad place to be. Country rock was on the rise, in parallel with the newly-arrived "Outlaw Country" longhairs.
When headlining, the New Riders would play a pair of hour-long sets, with a mixture of originals and covers, and including new, unrecorded songs as well. The band had just completed a new album with Nashville producer Norbert Putnam, and they must have known it was going to be good. Many of the songs from the forthcoming Panama Red album, including the title track, were already regular parts of their live repertoire.
The New Riders were an excellent live band, with a promising fourth album coming out soon, and in tune with the popular music trends of the day. Things looked bright indeed for the band.
