The post-Parsons FBB fills his gap with future soft-rock
maestro Rick Roberts—yet, instead of the expected sharp decline, it coalesces
around a remarkably organic mellow cohesion that the first two lacked. Was
Parsons a better songwriter? Yeah, probably (though Roberts offers more competition than you might expect based on his later Firefall sleepwalking). But Parsons always strained to cultivate his proto-urban-cowboy affect, whereas the
lower-stakes Roberts songbook sounds like he’s actually been to Colorado on the song of that title. Chris Hillman takes a
performing backseat, relegated to bass, but the four songs he co-wrote with
Roberts have precisely the low-key appeal that Parsons, whatever his other
merits, rarely achieved. Michael Clarke drums with the usual rote disinterest,
but ghosts of Byrds past appear more vividly with the Gene Clark cover “Tried
So Hard”—not first-class Clark material, but perfect for this album’s drowsy
charm. If these guys had stepped out of the GP-shadows with a new band name, this one might be remembered for the soft gem it is, instead of being unfairly relegated to an imaginary aftermath.
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