The Desert Rose Band

The Desert Rose Band
Pictured from left to right Herb Pedersen, Chris Hillman and John Jorgenson
Background information
Origin	California, United States
Genres	Country, Country Rock
Years active	1985–1994; 2008–2010
Labels	MCA, Curb
Associated acts	The Byrds Flying Burrito Brothers
Past members
Chris Hillman Herb Pedersen Bill Bryson John Jorgenson Steve Duncan Jay Dee Maness Tom Brumley Jeff Ross Tim Grogan

The Desert Rose Band is a US country music band from California founded by Chris Hillman (formerly of the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers) along with Herb Pedersen and John Jorgenson in 1985. Rounding out the original lineup were Bill Bryson on bass guitar, Jay Dee Maness on pedal steel guitar, and Steve Duncan on drums. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band charted several hit singles on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts until disbanding in February 1994.

Formation

The Desert Rose Band was formed in 1985 by frontman Chris Hillman, formerly a member of The Byrds, and later co-founder, along with Gram Parsons, of the country-rock band Flying Burrito Brothers. Additional members included John Jorgenson, who was mainly responsible for the instrumental arrangements of the songs; Herb Pedersen for the vocal arrangements. Herb sang the high tenor part above Chris' tenor and each Desert Rose Band album featured Herb on one lead vocal. Drummer Steve Duncan and bassist Bill Bryson provided background vocals. Pedal steel player Jay Dee Maness rounded out the group.

Career

1987-1988: The Desert Rose Band

Their eponymous debut album was issued in 1987 on MCA/Curb. It contained their first hit "Ashes of Love" which was a Johnny & Jack song from the early 1950s. It was the second time Hillman and Pederson recorded "Ashes of Love", the first being on Hillman's just prior album Desert Rose on the Sugar Hill label. The Desert Rose Band's debut also featured a remake of Chris Hillman's "Time Between" which he previously recorded as a member of the Byrds, as well as the band's first chart-topper "He's Back and I'm Blue".

1988-1989: Running

Their second album Running (1988) featured the John Hiatt-penned hit "She Don't Love Nobody", "Running", and a remake of Buck Owens's "Hello Trouble".

1989-1990: Pages of Life and Jay Dee Maness departure

The third album Pages of Life featured a remake of "Desert Rose" as well as a remake of Pedersen's folk song about his daughter "Our Baby's Gone" which was originally recorded on his 1976 album Southwest. Jay Dee Maness left the band in 1990 and was replaced on pedal steel guitar by Tom Brumley whom Jay Dee replaced in the Buckaroos. Jay Dee Maness would again play with Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen on their post Desert Rose Band duo albums Bakersfield Bound and Way Out West.

1991-1993: True Love and Life Goes On'

The fourth album, True Love, was released in 1991. It was followed by 1993's Life Goes On, released only in Europe. Several prominent country and bluegrass musicians made guest appearances on Life Goes On including Sam Bush on fiddle, Tony Rice and Larry Park (of Boy Howdy) on guitar, and Al Perkins on dobro.

Post-Desert Rose Band

John Jorgenson and Steve Duncan left the band in 1991. John would go on to form the Hellecasters with Will Ray and Jerry Donahue; Duncan would join the Hellecasters as well. John Jorgenson is currently playing gypsy jazz with his John Jorgenson Quintette. Chris and Herb recorded an acoustic album called The Other Side in 2005. They continue to tour as an acoustic duo. Former Buck Owens steel player Tom Brumley played with Joey Riley's band in Branson, Missouri. He passed away on 3 February 2009.

2008-2010 Reunion

Chris Hillman, Herb Pederson, JayDee Maness, John Jorgenson, Bill Bryson, and Steve Duncan performed their first reunion concert on August 27, 2008, at the Belly Up in Solano Beach. Before this date Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen were as a duo joined by John Jorgenson on the 2nd of May 2008 for a small DRB set. The full lineup is the best known and included all of the original members present on the hit albums and singles from the 1980s. At this show in Nashville, Hillman stated that it was the first time that they had played together in 19 years. They went through a string of DRB hits, but were unable to play "He's Back & I'm Blue" because Hillman had forgotten the words. This sold-out show prompted Hillman and the band to play a handful of other reunion shows at clubs and music festivals throughout the U.S. Several of the reunion shows were to be recorded for inclusion on an upcoming live album. This would be the only official live album released by the Desert Rose Band. However, the project was later delayed and pushed back until further notice.

In 2010 the Desert Rose Band announced more reunion shows throughout the US.

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions[1]
		US Country	US
The Desert Rose Band	Release date: June 2, 1987 Label: MCA/Curb Records	24	—
Running	Release date: September 6, 1988 Label: MCA/Curb	26	—
Pages of Life	Release date: January 16, 1990 Label: MCA/Curb	17	187
True Love	Release date: October 1, 1991 Label: Curb	—	—
Life Goes On	Release date: September 21, 1993 Label: Curb	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Compilation albums

Title	Album details	Peak positions
		US Country
A Dozen Roses – Greatest Hits	Release date: January 4, 1991 Label: MCA/Curb	44
Traditional	Release date: January 26, 1993 Label: Curb	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions[2]		Album
		US Country	CAN Country
1987	"Ashes of Love"	26	37	Desert Rose Band
	"Love Reunited"	6	5
	"One Step Forward"	2	2
1988	"He's Back and I'm Blue"	1	1
	"Summer Wind"	2	*	Running
	"I Still Believe in You"	1	*
1989	"She Don't Love Nobody"	3	4
	"Hello Trouble"	11	11
	"Start All Over Again"	6	3	Pages of Life
1990	"In Another Lifetime"	13	18
	"Story of Love"	10	6
1991	"Will This Be the Day"	37	44	A Dozen Roses
	"Come a Little Closer"	65	67
	"You Can Go Home"	53	64	True Love
1992	"Twilight Is Gone"	67	82
1993	"What About Love"	71	—	Life Goes On
"—" denotes releases that did not chart * denotes unknown peak positions

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
1988	"Summer Wind"
1989	"She Don't Love Nobody"	Bill Pope
	"Hello Trouble"
1990	"In Another Lifetime"
1991	"Will This Be the Day"	Gerry Wenner
	"You Can Go Home"	Gustavo Garzon
1993	"What About Love"	Michael Merriman

References

• Humphrey, Mark. Paul Kingsbury. ed. The Encyclopedia of Country Music. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 143–4. ISBN 0-19-511671-2. 

1. ^ Chart performance of the albums of the band at allmusic
2. ^ Chart performance of the singles by the band at allmusic

External links

• CMT.com profile
• chrishillman.com
• herbpedersen.com
• johnjorgenson.com
• drb-fans.com