New Riders of The Purple Sage Powerglide

These 1971-74 LPs-"New Riders of the Purple Sage," "Powerglide," "Gyspy Cowboy," "The Adventures of Panama Red" and "Home, Home on the Road"-saw this band evolve from a Grateful Dead offshoot to a simply stellar country-rock band. Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Nicky Hopkins and Donna Jean Godchaux are heard with John Dawson, David Nelson, Dave Torbert and the rest of the Riders; includes "Portland Woman," "Louisiana Lady," "California Day," "Contract," "Panama Red," their spins on "Willie and the Hand Jive," "Hello Mary Lou" and more! Sony UK.

With Billboard magazine hailing the New Riders Of The Purple Sage as “the definitive band of the country-rock genre,” 1972 was a year of major growth for the band. By the time Summer rolled around, Buddy Cage was now firmly entrenched as Jerry Garcia’s replacement on pedal steel guitar and their second studio album, Powerglide, was getting rave reviews. On the live front, they were beginning to fill concert halls across the U.S. while continuing to emerge from the shadows of the Grateful Dead with an intoxicating mix of classic and original American songwriting from the worlds of country, rock, bluegrass, and soul.August 27, 1972 found the New Riders once again on the bill with the Grateful Dead for what turned out to be one of the more legendary events in this subculture’s history. On the grounds of what is now the Oregon Country Faire, Chuck Kesey (brother of author and Merry Prankster icon Ken Kesey) put together this benefit concert, which quickly became known as the “Field Trip,” for the local Springfield Creamery. As fellow Prankster Ken Babbs recalls, “no one ever suspected it would become a historic event with an attendance of 20,000 on the hottest day ever—they ran out of water, the guitars warped in the heat and now everyone you talk to, hundreds of thousands, were there on that all time greatest most spectacular day.”