''Relix's Best of the Early New Riders of the Purple Sage'' is an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

by the country rock band the New Riders of the Purple Sage. It was released on August 5, 1995. It contains previously released songs that were recorded between 1969 and 1975 and were selected from three albums on the Relix Records label — '' Before Time Began'', '' Vintage NRPS'', and '' Live on Stage''. The songs on ''Relix's Best of the Early New Riders of the Purple Sage'' that were excerpted from ''Before Time Began'' were recorded in November, 1969 at the Pacific Heights Recording studio in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. They feature the original lineup of the New Riders – John Dawson, David Nelson, and three members of the Grateful Dead — Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, and Mickey Hart. The songs taken from ''Vintage NRPS'' were recorded live in February, 1971, at the Capitol Theatre in

Port Chester, New York Port Chester is a village in the U.S. state of New York and the largest part of the town of Rye in Westchester County by population. At the 2010 U.S. census, the village of Port Chester had a population of 28,967 and was the fifth-most popu ...

. Garcia also plays on these tracks. The songs from ''Live on Stage'' were recorded live in 1975 at the Beacon Theatre in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and the Keystone in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

Track listing

From ''Before Time Began'': #"Henry" ( John Dawson) – 3:36 #"Last Lonely Eagle" (Dawson) – 4:43 #"Cecilia" (Dawson) – 4:03 From ''Vintage NRPS'': #

"Dirty Business" (Dawson) – 11:40 #"

Honky Tonk Women "Honky Tonk Women" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was released as a non-album single on 4 July 1969 in the United Kingdom, and a week later in the United States (although a country version called "Country Honk" was ...

" (

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

) – 5:51 #"Portland Woman" (Dawson) – 5:21 From ''Live on Stage'': #

"Panama Red" (

Peter Rowan Peter Rowan (born July 4, 1942) is an American bluegrass musician and composer. Rowan plays guitar and mandolin, yodels and sings. Biography Rowan was born in Wayland, Massachusetts to a musical family. From an early age, he had an interest ...

) – 3:05 #"Glendale Train" (Dawson) – 5:36 #" Nadine" (

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

) – 6:27 #"Singing Cowboy" (

Skip Battin Clyde "Skip" Battin (February 18, 1934 – July 6, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter, bassist, performer, and recording artist. He was a member of the Byrds, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Εarly life C ...

, Kim Fowley) – 4:26 #" La Bamba" (

Ritchie Valens Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens was killed ...

) – 4:56

Personnel

* John Dawson –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

* David Nelson – guitar, vocals * Jerry Garcia – pedal steel guitar on tracks 1 – 6 *

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 on tracks 7 – 11 * Phil Lesh – bass on tracks 1 – 3 *

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 ...

– bass, vocals on tracks 4 – 6 *

– bass, vocals on tracks 7 – 11 * Mickey Hart – drums on tracks 1 – 3 *

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 on tracks 4 – 11

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Relix's Best Of The Early New Riders Of The Purple Sage 1995 greatest hits albums New Riders of the Purple Sage compilation albums Relix Records compilation albums