Rick Roberts | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Richard James Roberts |
Born | Clearwater, Florida, U.S. | August 31, 1949
Genres | Country rock |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
Years active | 1969–1992, 2010–present |
Formerly of | |
Website | rickrobertsmusic |
Richard James Roberts (born August 31, 1949) is an American country rock and soft rock singer-songwriter who recorded with many influential artists over several genres. He is best known as a founding member and lead singer of Firefall from 1974 to 1981, as well as his work with The Flying Burrito Brothers on their 1971 self-titled album. [1] He also recorded two solo albums, Windmills in 1972 and She Is a Song in 1973.
In the fall of 1981, Roberts played dates in tandem with fellow former Burrito Brother Chris Hillman.
In 1985, he was a member of "A 20th Anniversary Tribute to The Byrds", a band co-founded by ex-Byrds Gene Clark and Michael Clarke. The group also originally included former members of The Band, Richard Manuel and Rick Danko, as well as Blondie Chaplin and John York (who was Chris Hillman's replacement in The Byrds in 1968). [2] The band generated controversy through public confusion in relation to the original Byrds, at times being billed at some venues as "The Byrds". [3]
In 1987, he teamed up with ex-Eagle Randy Meisner in the short lived Roberts-Meisner Band and then rejoined his bandmates in Firefall from 1989 to 1992. But he was sidelined due to health issues for a number of years before eventually returning to the road as a solo act. In 2010 he returned to music and released three 4-song-EPs on iTunes - 'Phases'; 'Same Mirror, Different Images' and 'Full Bloom' (the latter having two different track listings) - and launched his website and in the summer and fall of 2019, he toured together with fellow Firefaller Larry Burnett. [4]
1971: Stephen Stills, Chris Hillman, It Doesn't Matter, Manassas, Track 12
The Byrds were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member. Although their time as one of the most popular groups in the world only lasted for a short period in the mid-1960s, the Byrds are considered by critics to be among the most influential rock acts of their era. Their signature blend of clear harmony singing and McGuinn's jangly 12-string Rickenbacker guitar was "absorbed into the vocabulary of rock" and has continued to be influential.
The Flying Burrito Brothers are an American country rock band best known for their influential 1969 debut album, The Gilded Palace of Sin. Although the group is perhaps best known for its connection to band founders Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, the group underwent many personnel changes and has existed in various incarnations. Now officially known as The Burrito Brothers the band continues to perform and record new albums.
Al Perkins is an American guitarist known primarily for his steel guitar work. The Gibson guitar company called Perkins "the world's most influential Dobro player" and began producing an "Al Perkins Signature" Dobro in 2001—designed and autographed by Perkins.
Sweetheart of the Rodeo is the sixth album by American rock band the Byrds and was released in August 1968 on Columbia Records. Recorded with the addition of country rock pioneer Gram Parsons, it became the first album widely recognized as country rock as well as a seminal progressive country album, and represented a stylistic move away from the psychedelic rock of the band's previous LP, The Notorious Byrd Brothers. The Byrds had occasionally experimented with country music on their four previous albums, but Sweetheart of the Rodeo represented their fullest immersion into the genre up to that point in time. The album was responsible for bringing Parsons, who had joined the Byrds in February 1968 prior to the start of recording, to the attention of a mainstream rock audience for the first time. Thus, the album is an important chapter in Parsons' crusade to make country music fashionable for a young audience.
Harold Eugene Clark was an American singer-songwriter and founding member of the folk rock band the Byrds. He was the Byrds' principal songwriter between 1964 and early 1966, writing most of the band's best-known originals from this period, including "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better", "She Don't Care About Time", "Eight Miles High" and "Set You Free This Time". Although he did not achieve commercial success as a solo artist, Clark was in the vanguard of popular music during much of his career, prefiguring developments in such disparate subgenres as psychedelic rock, baroque pop, newgrass, country rock, and alternative country. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a member of the Byrds.
Christopher Hillman is an American musician. He was the original bassist of the Byrds.
Firefall is an American country rock band that formed in Boulder, Colorado, in 1974. It was founded by Rick Roberts, former member of the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Jock Bartley, who had been Tommy Bolin's replacement in Zephyr. The band's biggest hit single, "You Are the Woman", peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976. Other hits included "Just Remember I Love You", "Strange Way", "Cinderella", "Headed for a Fall", and "Staying with It".
Michael Clarke was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the 1960s rock group the Byrds from 1964 to 1967. He died in 1993, at age 47, from liver failure, a direct result of more than three decades of heavy alcohol consumption.
Byrds is the twelfth and final studio album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released in March 1973 on Asylum Records. It was recorded as the centerpiece of a reunion among the five original band members: Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke. The last time that all five members had worked together as the Byrds was in 1966, prior to Clark's departure from the band. During the reunion, the current, latter-day lineup of the band continued to make live appearances until February 1973, with McGuinn being the only member common to both versions of the group.
Peter E. "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow was an American country-rock musician and animator. He was a member of the band the Flying Burrito Brothers, and worked extensively as a session musician, playing pedal steel guitar for Joan Baez, Jackson Browne, The Byrds, Leonard Cohen, Joe Cocker, Rita Coolidge, Eagles, The Everly Brothers, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, The Steve Miller Band, Joni Mitchell, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Spencer Davis, Little Richard, Linda Ronstadt, Jimmie Spheeris and many others. He is a member of the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.
The Flying Burrito Bros is the third album by the country rock group, The Flying Burrito Brothers, released in the spring of 1971. Before recording sessions for the album began, Chris Hillman fired Gram Parsons from the band, leaving Hillman and "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow as the only original continuing members. In Parsons' place, the band hired a young unknown musician named Rick Roberts, who later was the primary lead singer of Firefall. Guitarist Bernie Leadon would also leave the band shortly after the album's release, going on to co-found the Eagles.
Last of the Red Hot Burritos is the fourth album by country rock group The Flying Burrito Brothers, released in 1972. By the time this album was recorded, "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow and Bernie Leadon had left the band, leaving Chris Hillman as the sole founding member. In their places, Hillman recruited Al Perkins and Kenny Wertz respectively. Wertz had previously played with Hillman in the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers. The band also added two guest musicians for their fall 1971 tour in Byron Berline and Roger Bush from Country Gazette. This lineup toured until Hillman left the band in October 1971, leaving the rights to the band's name to Rick Roberts. Once Hillman departed, A&M Records apparently lost faith in the group. Instead of allowing a Roberts-led version of the band to record a new studio album, A&M released this live recording. It fulfilled the band's contract, but it was subsequently dropped from the label.
Roadmaster is the third studio album by Gene Clark, released in January 1973. The album was compiled from various unreleased recordings for A&M Records made in 1970 through 1972. Eight tracks are from an April 1972 recording session featuring Clarence White, Chris Ethridge, Spooner Oldham, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Byron Berline and Michael Clarke; two tracks derived from an unissued single reassembling the five original Byrds prior to their 1973 reunion album; and the remaining track, "Here Tonight", had been recorded with The Flying Burrito Brothers. Initially released in the Netherlands and Germany only on the A&M subsidiary Ariola, it was reissued on compact disc for the American market in 1994. Other recordings of songs on Roadmaster featuring Clark have been released elsewhere: "One in a Hundred" initially appeared on Clark's previous solo album White Light, Full Circle Song was later rerecorded with the Byrds for the Byrds reunion album, and was released as the albums only single, while "She Don't Care About Time" had originally been recorded with the Byrds in 1965 and was released as the B-side to "Turn! Turn! Turn!".
Windmills is the debut solo album by country rock musician Rick Roberts. The album was recorded a year after his stint as lead singer of The Flying Burrito Brothers, and two years before co-founding the band Firefall.
"You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" is a song written by American musician Bob Dylan in 1967 in Woodstock, New York, during the self-imposed exile from public appearances that followed his July 29, 1966 motorcycle accident. A recording of Dylan performing the song in September 1971 was released on the Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II album in November of that year, marking the first official release of the song by its author. Earlier 1967 recordings of the song, performed by Dylan and the Band, were issued on the 1975 album The Basement Tapes and the 2014 album The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete.
Hot Burritos! The Flying Burrito Brothers Anthology 1969–1972 is an album by the country rock band the Flying Burrito Brothers. It was released in 2000. A forty-three song compilation on two CDs, it includes all of their first three albums — The Gilded Palace of Sin (1969), Burrito Deluxe (1970), and The Flying Burrito Bros (1971) — along with eleven additional songs.
Gene Clark was an American singer-songwriter and founding member of the Byrds. His discography consists of 7 studio albums, 3 live albums, 11 compilations, 2 EPs, and 10 singles.
Bernie Leadon is an American musician and songwriter. In addition to his solo album and recordings with Eagles, Hearts & Flowers, Dillard & Clark, and the Flying Burrito Brothers, he has been featured as a performer and composer on many albums by other artists.
Chris Hillman is an American musician and songwriter. In addition to his solo albums and his recordings with the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and the Desert Rose Band, he has been featured as a collaborator with and composer for many other artists.
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