I became interested in New Riders of the Purple Sage when I learned that it was essentially (early on) an offshoot of the Grateful Dead. Knowing that, you might assume that this is Country Music with a bit of a leaning toward Jazz, Rock, and even some of the old jug-band style stuff. You'd be right. This is quality stuff and deserves a listen by Country fans, Dead fans, and people who are just interested in unique and eccentric but GREAT music.

1st and Best effort from the New Riders

Like many other reviewers have noted, Jerry Garcia plays pedal steel on this album and it was the connection to the Grateful Dead that initially sparked my interest in NRPS. That said I've come to appreciate this group on their own merit, and strongly suggest anyone who enjoyed the sound the Dead at the same time period (early 70s) to check them out.

If Amazon had half-stars I would have given this 4.5 simply because I like the next NRPS album "Panama Red" better than this one.

The middle of the album is my favorite part Henry, Dirty Business, and Glendale Train are the best songs on the album, although the inclusion of The Weight live is nice as well.

If you like this look around online and you should be able to find some bootlegs of NRPS and the Dead performing together, pretty good stuff.

Classic NRPS with Gerry Garcia on pedal steel.

Ok