Burrito Deluxe DISCIPLES OF THE TRUTH CD Review

New Music Weekly
March 30, 2007
by Chuck Dauphin

Have you ever picked up an album and felt a bond so familiar that made you think ‘Where have I heard this before?’ While Burrito Deluxe is relatively a new group (formed in 2000), the inspiration is legendary. Founded by “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow, the band was designed around his legendary steel playing in the Flying Burrito Brothers back in the 1960s. If the names Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman, and Chris Etheridge ring a bell to you, then you know about the Flying Burrito Brothers. If not---think of the classic California style of music that was later popularized by acts like the Eagles, Poco, and Pure Prairie League, and there you have it. In the late 60s, the mixture of Country and Rock that these guys fused together made for some classic moments on record.

The members of Burrito Deluxe might not have been there for that era, but they have musical resumes a mile long---separately. Featuring Carlton Moody (the Moody Brothers), Walter Egan (“Magnet and Steel”), Jeff “Stick” Davis (the Amazing Rhythm Aces), Richard Bell (Janis Joplin Full Tilt Boogie Band), and drummer Bryan Owings (Delbert McClinton, Shelby Lynne), the group is long on experience and skill. Even so, there have been countless instances of bands with impressive pedigrees that just don’t strike a universal chord.

Burrito Deluxe is not one of those bands. Starting with the lead track, “Out Of The Wilderness,” it’s apparent that the band comes together on a very natural level. Moody’s lead vocals are very traditional Country, but one can also hear a hint of the style the band was formed upon. “Sun Will Rise” is chock full of classic 70s sensibilities, as well. The lyrics, courtesy of Edwin McCain, are equally strong as well. He showcases the proper amount of emotion on “Front Row Seats To Heaven,” then turns bluesy on the Texas Roadhouse feel of the title cut. Musically, he excels as well with some nice banjo work on “On A Roll,” a track featuring the time-tested vocals of Egan.

  Lyrically, the group knows they are just as good as the material they surround themselves with, and with songwriters represented on DISCIPLES OF THE TRUTH like Rob Crosby, Clay Blaker, Roxie Dean, and Rivers Rutherford, they rise to the occasion with some cream-of-the-crop material. Longtime Pirates Of The Mississippi front man Bill McCorvey contributes the haunting “When The Summer’s Over,” my favorite track off the disc, and Robert Ellis Orrall pitches in with the swamp-ish “Who’s Gonna Love You.” Besides the songwriters, the guest musician list isn’t anything to sneeze at either. Cindy Cashdollar, Joy Lynn White, and the timeless steel work of Al Perkins get their individual moments in the spotlight, and each more than deliver.

  It’s interesting to listen to Burrito Deluxe with 2007 ears, because to mine they sound very much Country as anything that gets played on the radio today. If you go back a few decades or so, it wasn’t so. It’s amazing how things have changed since the 1993 Eagles tribute COMMON THREAD was released, showing how Country acts were influenced from outside what was considered Country at the time---and as great as the Eagles were (and are)…this is where the style was born! Pick up a copy of DISCIPLES OF THE TRUTH……You’ll enjoy it!