New Riders of the Purple Sage – Hempsteader – Live at the Calderone Concert Hall
The sound for a live recording from 1976 is quite good & gets better as it progresses. It’s especially fine since the performance is always energetic & that comes through. It opens with the classic “Panama Red,” from a group that shared audiences with The Grateful Dead since 1969. The group had several Grateful Dead members who played with them & that’s credibility you couldn’t buy. Their debut album came a few years later & went gold (1971 – peaking at #39) & like The Dead, their live shows were fun & defining.
There are 18 live New Riders of the Purple Sage performances presented here from a June 23rd, 1976, show in Hempstead, NY for Hempsteader – Live at the Calderone Concert Hall (Drops April 19/Omnivore/79:00). Produced for release by Rob Bleetstein the band covers songs by artists as diverse as Delbert McClinton (“Honky Tonkin’ – I Guess I Done Me Some”), Hazel Dickens, Jack Tempchin, Loudon Wainwright III, Chuck Berry, an old Otis Redding hit & the Rolling Stones — among many originals.
As for capturing the live experience & its invigorating performance, I know some artists display this kind of music on stage today but the atmosphere – that’s missing from today. The comraderies of the musical endeavor, the audience exuberance – it was of a time. It is indeed captured on these once-buried nuggets.
The band does manage to mix up the repertoire with a balanced set of tunes, some pure country, country-rock, folky elements, bluegrass & an excellent 12-minute plus jam “Portland Woman.” They were a bit ahead of their time but while listeners enjoyed them as they were, they didn’t realize how ahead they were. But maybe it was in the way they cultivated & captured their rootsy feel with an aesthetic that enlivens the moments laid down in 1976.
Unfortunately, there are no guest musicians during this show, but the upside is that it showcases the band — bare bones. They were accomplished musicians & even though they weren’t heralded as a full-blooded country band in the Grand Ol’ Opry sense these men were entertaining & could play. One listen to “Henry” or “Whiskey” would solidify that. Maybe it was the subject matter that put off the country boys.
So, while this is more of a completist document it’s to be enjoyed in the spirit in which it was made.
Highlights – “Panama Red,” “Fifteen Days Under the Hood,” “Henry,” “Portland Woman,” “Whiskey,” “Teardrops In My Eyes,” “The Swimming Song,” a hot “You Never Can Tell” & “Dead Flowers.”
Musicians – John “Marmaduke” Dawson & Dave Nelson (guitars/vocals), Buddy Cage (pedal steel guitar), Stephen Love (bass/vocals) & Spencer Dryden (drums).
Cover photo courtesy of NRPS Archives. CD @ https://nrps.net/ & https://omnivorerecordings.com/shop/hempsteader/
Enjoy our previous coverage here: REVIEW: New Riders of the Purple Sage “Lyceum ’72”