''Gypsy Cowboy'' is the third album by the country rock band the New Riders of the Purple Sage. It was recorded and released in 1972. The album includes six original songs by John Dawson and three by

Dave Torbert David Edwin Torbert (June 7, 1948 – December 7, 1982) was a Bay Area musician, best known for his associations with the Grateful Dead and the New Riders of the Purple Sage. He played bass for the latter group, replacing Phil Lesh during the ses ...

, plus cover versions of country classics "She's No Angel" and "

Long Black Veil "Long Black Veil" is a 1959 country ballad, written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin and originally recorded by Lefty Frizzell. It is told from the point of view of a man falsely accused of murder and executed. He refuses to provide an alibi, ...

Donna Jean Godchaux Donna Jean Thatcher Godchaux-MacKay (born August 22, 1947) is an American singer who was a member of the Grateful Dead from 1972 until 1979. Biography Donna Jean Thatcher was born in Florence, Alabama. Prior to 1970, she had worked as a sessi ...

of the Grateful Dead sings background vocals on two songs, "Whiskey" and "Long Black Veil". One single was released in conjunction with the album — "Groupie" / "She's No Angel".''Gypsy Cowboy''
at nrps.net, the NRPS official website In 2007, ''Gypsy Cowboy'' was re-released on the

Wounded Bird Records Wounded Bird Records is an American compact disc only re-issue record label that was founded in 1998 in Guilderland, New York. They re-release lesser known albums from popular and lesser known artists, including Paul Butterfield, Cactus, Herb ...

label, with four bonus tracks. These were live versions of "Groupie", "Sutter's Mill", "Superman", and "She's No Angel". All except "Superman" were from the New Riders' 1974 album '' Home, Home on the Road''.

Track listing

#"Gypsy Cowboy" (

) – 4:17 #"Whiskey" ( John Dawson) – 3:33 #"Groupie" (Torbert) – 2:40 #"Sutter's Mill" (Dawson) – 1:52 #"Death and Destruction" (Dawson) – 8:39 #"Linda" (Dawson) – 3:04 #"On My Way Back Home" (Torbert) – 3:29 #"Superman" (Dawson) – 3:09 #"She's No Angel" (Wanda Ballman) – 2:51 #"

" (

Danny Dill Horace Eldred "Danny" Dill (September 19, 1924 – October 23, 2008) was an American country music singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975. Biography Dill, born in Clarksburg, Tennessee, got h ...

Marijohn Wilkin Marijohn Wilkin ( Melson; July 14, 1920 – October 28, 2006) was an American songwriter, famous in country music for writing a number of hits. Wilkin won numerous awards over the years and was referred to as "The Den Mother of Music Row," a ...

) – 3:56 #"Sailin'" (Dawson) – 2:49

Personnel

New Riders of the Purple Sage

* John Dawson – rhythm guitar, lead vocals on "Whiskey", "Sutter's Mill", "Death and Destruction", "Linda", "Superman", 1st joint lead vocal on "Long Black Veil", and "Sailin'" * David Nelson –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...

, dobro, mandolin, bagpipes, lead vocals on "She's No Angel", 2nd joint lead vocal on "Long Black Veil" *

– bass, acoustic guitar, lead vocals on "Gypsy Cowboy", "Groupie", and "On My Way Back Home", 3rd joint lead vocal on "Long Black Veil" *

Buddy Cage Buddy Cage (February 18, 1946 – February 5, 2020) was an American pedal steel guitarist, best known as a longtime member of the New Riders of the Purple Sage.

– pedal steel guitar *

Spencer Dryden Spencer Charles Dryden (April 7, 1938 – January 11, 2005) was an American musician best known as the drummer for Jefferson Airplane and New Riders of the Purple Sage. He also played with Dinosaurs, and the Ashes (later known as the Peanut B ...

– drums

Additional musicians

*Darlene DiDomenico – backing vocals on "Whiskey", "On My Way Back Home", and "Superman" *

– backing vocals on "She's No Angel", and "Long Black Veil" *

Richard Greene Richard Marius Joseph Greene (25 August 1918 – 1 June 1985) was a noted English film and television actor. A matinée idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series ' ...

–

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

Mark Naftalin Mark Naftalin (born August 2, 1944) is an American blues keyboardist, recording artist, composer, and record producer. He appears on the first five albums by Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the mid 1960s as a band member, and as such was induc ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

*Jack Schroer –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

Production

*Producer: Stephen Barncard and NRPS *Recording Engineers: Stephen Barncard, Dave Brown, Ellen Burke *Cover Art: Lore Orion *Liner notes: John Tobler

Notes

{{Authority control New Riders of the Purple Sage albums 1972 albums Albums produced by Stephen Barncard Columbia Records albums