Along with frequent collaborator
Gram Parsons,
Chris Hillman was the key figure in the development of country-rock, virtually defining the genre through his seminal work with
the Byrds and
the Flying Burrito Brothers.
Hillman was born on December 4, 1944, in Los Angeles, where he grew up listening to
Spade Cooley and
Cliffie Stone and taught himself to play guitar. In 1961, he and a pair of high school friends formed
the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers and cut an album; a year later, he joined the Golden Gate Boys, a bluegrass band featuring
Vern Gosdin. In honor of their new vocalist's prowess on the mandolin, the group renamed itself
the Hillmen; after recording a self-titled LP with producer
Jim Dickson, they broke up in 1963.
In 1964, the Beefeaters, an L.A. folk trio comprised of guitarists
Jim (later
Roger)
McGuinn,
David Crosby, and
Gene Clark, released a single, "Please Let Me Love You"; after its commercial failure, they decided to add a bassist and drummer to their lineup. Their producer,
Dickson, suggested
Hillman for the bass position; although he had never picked up the instrument before, thanks to his bluegrass background he was able to quickly develop his own unique, melodic performance style. After the addition of drummer
Michael Clarke, the quintet renamed itself
the Byrds. At their label's insistence, they cut their first record with sessionmen, which meant that
Hillman and
Clarke sat on the sidelines during production; the resulting single, a jangly cover of
Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man," was a tremendous hit that marked the birth of the folk-rock form.
During the mid-'60s,
the Byrds ranked as one of the most successful and influential American pop groups, issuing a string of massive hits like "Turn! Turn! Turn!," "Eight Miles High," and "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" along with acclaimed albums like 1967's
Younger Than Yesterday and 1968's brilliant
The Notorious Byrd Brothers. Internal strife dogged the band, however, and by late 1967, only
Hillman and
McGuinn remained from the original roster. At about the same time,
Gram Parsons entered the picture, and in December 1967,
McGuinn invited him to join the group as a jazz pianist for a planned project embracing the history of American popular music. However,
Parsons' mastery of country soon became the sessions' dominant focus, much to
Hillman's delight, and the album
the Byrds ultimately recorded, 1968's
Sweetheart of the Rodeo, became the blueprint for all country-rock efforts released in its wake.
A tour followed, and so did disaster;
Parsons did not agree with the group's decision to play apartheid-torn South Africa and subsequently quit
the Byrds in July 1968. Three months later,
Hillman followed suit and joined
Parsons as a vocalist and guitarist in the re-formed
Flying Burrito Brothers along with bassist
Chris Ethridge, pedal steel player
"Sneaky" Pete Kleinow, and drummer
Jon Corneal. Further honing their hybrid sound by combining the energy and instrumentation of rock with the issues and themes of country,
the Burritos recorded the landmark
Gilded Palace of Sin, followed in 1970 by
Burrito Deluxe. After
Parsons left the group in 1971,
Hillman stayed on for two less successful records, a self-titled 1971 effort and the following year's
Last of the Red Hot Burritos. After they disbanded,
Hillman joined
Stephen Stills'
Manassas, where he remained until 1973, when he briefly rejoined
the Byrds.
In 1974,
Hillman teamed with singer/songwriters
John David Souther and
Richie Furay to form
Souther Hillman Furay; after recording two LPs with the trio,
Hillman issued a pair of solo albums, 1976's
Slippin' Away and 1977's
Clear Sailin'. By 1978, he had rejoined
McGuinn and
Clark to record a 1979 album under the name
McGuinn, Clark & Hillman, producing the Top 40 pop hit "Don't You Write Her Off." The album
City followed a year later, this time as "
Roger McGuinn and
Chris Hillman featuring
Gene Clark." They soon went their separate ways, and in 1982
Hillman issued a straightforward country record,
Morning Sky. Two years later, he released
Desert Rose, which contained the minor country hits "Somebody's Back in Town" and "Running the Roadblocks." The album's title proved indicative of things to come, and in 1986 he formed
the Desert Rose Band, a country-rock outfit featuring Nashville session aces
Herb Pedersen,
John Jorgenson,
Jay Dee Maness,
Steve Duncan, and
Bill Bryson.
The Desert Rose Band proved to be
Hillman's most commercially successful post-
Byrds project; their first LP, an eponymously titled 1987 outing, generated a pair of Top Ten country hits in "Love Reunited" and "One Step Forward," which peaked at number two. Released in 1988, "He's Back and I'm Blue" topped the country charts, as did "I Still Believe in You," from the album
Running. Two other singles from the record, "Summer Wind" and a cover of
John Hiatt's "She Don't Love Nobody," reached the Top Five. The follow-up, 1989's
Pages of Life, was also highly successful, with two more Top Ten hits, "Start All Over Again" and "Story of Love." Subsequent releases like 1991's
True Love and 1993's
Traditional failed to achieve the same degree of popularity, however, and after one final LP, Life Goes On, the group called it quits in 1994.
At the peak of
the Desert Rose Band's success,
Hillman had also begun appearing infrequently with
McGuinn, releasing the Top Ten country duet "You Ain't Going Nowhere" in 1989. Soon, the pair joined
Crosby in a re-formed
Byrds, playing a handful of club dates. In 1990, they appeared at a tribute to the late
Roy Orbison, performing "Mr. Tambourine Man" along with the song's composer,
Bob Dylan. The same year,
the Byrds cut four new songs for inclusion in a career-spanning box set and in 1991 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1996,
Hillman reunited with
Desert Rose alum
Herb Pedersen for
Bakersfield Bound.
Like a Hurricane followed in 1998. After a short hiatus,
Hillman returned in 2002 with
Way Out West, a sprawling 17-track collection of country, roots rock, Americana, and folk that reunited the artist with
Pedersen and
the Desert Rose Band. It was followed by The Other Side in 2005. Continuing to work with
Pedersen,
Hillman released
At Edwards Barn, a sort of live career retrospective recorded at Edward's Barn in Nipomo, California, on Rounder Records in 2010.
Hillman would tour through the 2010s with
Herb Pedersen, who also served as the executive producer for the
Tom Petty-produced 2017 album
Bidin' My Time. ~ Jason Ankeny