New Riders Of The Purple Sage Adventures Of Panama Red Vinyl

If there was ever any doubt that The New Riders of the Purple Sage were the ultimate hippie country rock band-and having had Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead as early members meant that there wasn't much-The Adventures of Panama Red put them to rest.

This 1973 album's loosely connected tall tales of drug culture, complete with the album's underground comic book graphics, ensured that this gatefold record was a long-time dorm room favorite for separating out those stems and seeds.

But Panama Red (their only gold record) had a lot more going for it than just countercultural kicks-the band, by now consisting of John Dawson, David Nelson, Dave Torbert, pedal steel ace Buddy Cage and Jefferson Airplane drummer Spencer Dryden-was much tighter than any outfit this stoned had a right to be, and with songwriting contributions from Peter Rowan (the hit "Panama Red" and "Lonesome L.A. Cowboy") and Robert Hunter ("Kick in the Head") as well as from the band's own fine tunesmiths in Dawson and Torbert, the songs were of a uniformly high quality.

Production by multiinstrumentalist Norbert Putnam, charts by the Memphis Horns and vocal contributions by Buffy Sainte-Marie and Donna Godchaux helped enshrine this record as one of the finest country-rock outings of the '70s.

Now, Real Gone Music is reissuing this classic album for the first time on vinyl, remastered by Vic Anesini at Battery Studios in NYC and lacquer cut by Kevin Gray, with a limited edition pressing of 1000 in-what else?-purple vinyl, with the original gatefold album and inner sleeve graphics (with lyrics) intact. Time to add to your stash of essential '70s vinyl!