Instant Armadillo Blues
Instant Armadillo Blues is a two-CD compilation album by the country rock band the New Riders of the Purple Sage. Subtitled "Best of 1971–1975", it contains songs selected from the first seven New Riders albums. It was released in Australia on the Raven Records label on November 21, 2011. The songs on "Instant Armadillo Blues" were excerpted from "New Riders of the Purple Sage" (1971), "Powerglide" (1972), "Gypsy Cowboy" (1972), "The Adventures of Panama Red" (1973), "Home, Home on the Road" (1974), "Brujo" (1974), and "Oh, What a Mighty Time" (1975). Jerry Garcia of the Grateful  Dead plays pedal steel guitar on the first nine tracks of the album. Guest musicians who contribute to individual songs include Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Donna Jean Godchaux, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Commander Cody, Nicky Hopkins, and Sly Stone. The photo on the front cover of the album is from approximately 1975, and depicts, from left to right, David Nelson, John Dawson, Skip Battin, Buddy Cage, and Spencer Dryden. Critical reception. On Allmusic, Thom Jurek wrote, "Australia's excellent Raven reissue label offers a definitive double-disc anthology of the New Riders of the Purple Sage's tenure with Columbia Records ... The sound on this collection is completely remastered and the set contains an excellent liner essay by Raven's own Glenn A. Baker. "Instant Armadillo Blues" trumps the original Columbia best-of collection, as it goes far deeper, and is right to have left off the material they later recorded for MCA and A&M, which was wildly inconsistent. This collection is the standard-bearer of essential material by this often overlooked but excellent country-rock band." "Record Collector" magazine said, "This two-disc set collates all of their better moments. The New Riders made eight albums in the early 70s , and the compilers haven't missed any tricks by including bassist Dave Torbert's "Groupie" or the dope anthem "Panama Red" — lent a real swing time thrust thanks to Norbert Putnam at the controls. The quality drops off when gaze turns to the so-so "Gypsy Cowboy" album and the Bob Johnston-produced "Oh, What a Mighty Time" (a cover of Bob Dylan's "Farewell, Angelina" aside). Still, Sage lovers can find plenty here to back the view that Dawson and Nelson's troupe once gave the Flying Burrito Brothers and Poco a run for their money." Track listing. Disc  1. From "New Riders of the Purple Sage": From "Powerglide": From "Gypsy Cowboy": Disc 2. From "Gypsy Cowboy": From "The Adventures of Panama Red": From "Home, Home on the Road": From "Brujo": From "Oh, What a Mighty Time":