Kleinow and Ethridge instigated a reformation of the band in 1975 which continued through 1984. The band was reformed once again in 1985 and were disbanded for a final time in 2001.
The band best known as the "Flying Burrito Brothers" actually 'borrowed' their name from the original "Flying Burrito Brothers", composed of bassist Ian Dunlop and drummer Mickey Gauvin, bandmates of Parsons from the Boston-based International Submarine Band, plus any of a loose coalition of musicians, including Parsons himself from time to time. In a deliberate choice of focusing on just creating and playing music without the distractions of the music industry, in 1968 the original Brothers moved from Los Angeles to New York City. From this base they continued to tour the Northeast playing their eclectic traditional/rockabilly/blues/R&B-oriented version of rock, using the name "The Flying Burrito Brothers East" after Parsons' group became famous.
Meanwhile, on the West Coast, Parsons and guitarist/mandolinist/bassist/vocalist Chris Hillman thought this same moniker would be perfectly suited to the band they had been dreaming of since early 1968, when, as members of Roger McGuinn's band The Byrds, they created one of the first country-oriented rock albums, Sweetheart of the Rodeo. They immersed themselves in their vision in their house in the San Fernando Valley, dubbed "Burrito Manor", even replacing their wardrobe with a set of custom country-Western suits from tailor to the C&W stars, Nudie's Rodeo Tailors (Parsons's had marijuana leaf embroidery) and began a period of intensely fruitful creativity. At this juncture, the band also included pianist/bassist Chris Ethridge and pedal steel guitarist "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow.
Their first album The Gilded Palace of Sin (1969) did not sell terribly well, being a radical departure from anything most of the record-buying public (either rock or country) had ever seen, but the group had a cult following which included several famous musicians, such as Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones. Parsons soon became friends with Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and left the group after 1970's Burrito Deluxe, which also saw the departure of Ethridge and addition of guitarist/dobro player/vocalist Bernie Leadon and drummer Michael Clarke (of The Byrds). Rick Roberts replaced Parsons and released a self-titled album with the group in 1971. Kleinow then left to become a session musician and Leadon joined The Eagles. Al Perkins and Roger Bush replaced them, and Kenny Wertz and Byron Berline joined as well, releasing The Last of the Red Hot Burritos (1972), a live album. The band fell apart. Hillman and Perkins joined Manassas, while Berline, Bush and Wertz formed Country Gazette. Roberts reassembled a new group for a 1973 European tour, and then began a solo career before forming Firefall with Michael Clarke.
As Gram Parsons's influence and fame grew, so did interest in the Flying Burrito Brothers, leading to the release of Honky Tonks (1974), a double album, and the recreation of the band by Kleinow and Ethridge in 1975. Floyd "Gib" Gilbeau, Joel Scott Hill and Gene Parsons (no relation to Gram) also joined, and the band released Flying Again that year. Ethridge was then replaced by Skip Battin for Airborne (1976), followed by an album of unreleased early material, Sleepless Nights. For the next few decades, the group released albums and toured and had a country hit with "White Line Fever" (1980, a cover by Merle Haggard) and then became the Burrito Brothers. Headed by prolific songwriter and ace guitarist John Beland and Gib Guilbeau, and normally featuring Sneaky Pete, this incarnation scored moderately well on the Country charts in the early 1980s. Through numerous incarnations (including Brian Cadd for a time), the band released albums and toured throughout the 1980s up till 2001 when John Beland "officially" ended FBB. While the bands work during the 1980-1999 period was exceptional, after 1984 none of the many releases had any chart impact. Sneaky created a Burritos spinoff in his new band Burrito Deluxe, which featured Carlton Moody on lead vocals and Garth Hudson from The Band on keyboards. While a good band, there has never been any real continuity with the true Burritos and this group can not be considered anything more than a spinoff. Pete however, left the band due to illness in 2005, leaving no direct lineage to the original masters.
Gram Parsons died on September 19, 1973. "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow died on January 6, 2007. Chris Hillman is still a very successful singer-songwriter, having been part of Souther-Hillman-Furay, McGuinn-Clark-Hillman, then going on to form the Desert Rose Band (1986-1993) with Herb Pedersen. He still sings with Pedersen today as Chris and Herb, having released "The Other Side" (2005).
We
The Flying Burrito Brothers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Take some time and talk it over
We've got to get ourselves together
Try to understand each other
The time has come it's now or never
We cannot wait until it's gone
Maybe it seems like everything's gone wrong
I don't know who can stand it
I can awake the people there's a way
We've got to get ourselves together
Take some time and talk it over
We've got to get ourselves together
Try to understand each other
The time has come it's now or never
We mustn't wait until it's gone
So many things we didn't talk about
We thought we had the whole world of time
Then a man keeps smiling all the time
This world is so peculiar, you have to be so
We've got to get ourselves together
Take some time and talk it over
We've got to get ourselves together
Try to understand one another
The time has come it's now or never
We mustn't wait until it's gone
The song "Get Ourselves Together" by The Flying Burrito Brothers is a message of hope in times of trouble. The lyrics encourage people to work on understanding each other and bridging the gaps that may have caused misunderstandings before. The song seems to suggest that the solution to personal issues and the wider problems in society is achievable if people communicate and work together. They need to come together and talk things over, not just to put an end to confusion but also for the sake of humanity's greater good.
The song paints a picture of a world where things have gone awry and people are divided. But it also highlights the fact that it is never too late to make amends; "The time has come it's now or never, we cannot wait until it's gone." The urge to come together and repair what's been broken is not just important to salvage personal relationships, but also to fix the larger problems in society. The chorus of the song emphasises this need for unity and understanding by insisting repeatedly that "We've got to get ourselves together, try to understand each other."
In conclusion, "Get Ourselves Together" by The Flying Burrito Brothers is a call for people to come together and work towards a shared goal of understanding each other. The lyrics remind us that it's not too late to mend things, and real progress can be made by listening and communicating effectively.
Line by Line Meaning
We've got to get ourselves together
We need to regroup and come together as a unified group
Take some time and talk it over
We need to have open and honest conversations about our issues
Try to understand each other
We need to empathize and see things from another's perspective
The time has come it's now or never
We can't procrastinate any longer, we need to address our problems now
We cannot wait until it's gone
We can't let our problems fester and escalate until they become irreparable
Maybe it seems like everything's gone wrong
It's possible that we feel like nothing is going right and we're stuck in a bad situation
Misunderstandings are the "who's right, who's wrong"
The root of our issues may be disagreements about who is correct and who is mistaken
I don't know who can stand it
It's difficult to bear the weight of our problems and disputes
I can awake the people there's a way
I can inspire others to find a solution to our problems
So many things we didn't talk about
There are numerous topics and concerns we haven't discussed yet
We thought we had the whole world of time
We believed we had plenty of time to address our issues
Then a man keeps smiling all the time
Despite our problems, someone is still able to maintain a positive attitude
This world is so peculiar, you have to be so
The world is full of strange and unexpected situations, so we need to be adaptable and open-minded
Try to understand one another
We need to attempt to comprehend and relate to the feelings and perspectives of others
We mustn't wait until it's gone
We can't afford to wait until it's too late and our problems have become irreversible
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BONNIE LYNN BRAMLETT, CARL D. RADLE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Margaret Ross
Those vocals! So good.
supergroovepimp
Deffinately one a' my favorite FBB tunes. Such a positive and uplifting message. - Gram at his best.
Jason Burke
I've heard this recording. A keeper!
Jojo heartspaypay
How awesome is GP? I gotta get my mitts on this Avalon ballroom:D
Gabe Hampton
@jojoheartspaypay This show is one you can buy.It is an official release and not a hard to find bootleg, so.. It's definitely worth having.. It's one of my all time favorite things to listen to all of the way through.