Despite emerging from the San Francisco psychedelic scene of the Sixties, New Riders of the Purple Sage took their name from a Zane Gray oater. NRPS is a country rock band that’s still hanging in there some 36 years after releasing their first album. They started life as something of a Grateful Dead spin-off before blazing their own trail as it were.
The Adventures of Panama Red was the band’s fourth LP. It remains something of a cult classic, especially the title track, Panama Red. I’ve always loved the cover art, which was done by Lore and Chris. There’s no folklore about them on the interwebs but it’s a fine image nonetheless:
Here’s a close up of the back cover:
It’s gatefold time. Many a joint was rolled on this LP since Panama Red was a type of weed quite popular in the Bay Area back then:
Finally, here’s the title track:
Marmaduke was a friend of mine. I met him a few weeks before the first album came out. He and the band get a mention in my book, Fat Tire Flyer: Repack and the Birth of Mountain Biking.