The first impressions of this 2-disc set effectively cancel
each other out: Amoeba has outdone itself with lovely packaging, full of great
archival photos and two short essays, one a loving recollection of
Parsons and the Burrito Bros by Pamela Des Barres, the other a nicely detailed
recounting of digging through the Grateful Dead archives (for whom the FBB were
opening) for these tapes, and then the desperate quest to secure rights, by
Dave Prinz. But then, that title: I’m hardly here to demand a place on the
marquee for Michael Clarke, but it simply misrepresents things—as the opening
audio itself makes clear—to credit this to Parsons and reduce the FBB to a
supporting band. For a release so committed to musical history, that’s an
unfortunate concession to (admitted) market realities, and a bit of an insult
to (perhaps overly sensitive) listeners.
Well, there’s also music here—though mostly, nothing crucial
from the two (April 4 and 6) very-similar live sets that replaces any LP versions. The real
treasures are the two demos on disc 1, especially a spare, heartbreaking
“Thousand Dollar Wedding.” "Nothing crucial" doesn't mean unworthy of a listen, though--learning the story of the "old boy" line from "Hot Burrito #1" while hearing it is worth a sniffle or two.
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