by William Ruhlmann
Last of the Red Hot Burritos, the fourth Flying Burrito Brothers album, was a live recording by the current lineup led by sole original member Chris Hillman, billed as the group's swan song and released after their breakup. By now, the Burritos had evolved into a competent country-rock band with a repertoire of country standards such as &Orange Blossom Special& (featuring Byron Berline on fiddle), but few of the originals by Gram Parsons and Hillman. Last of the Red Hot Burritos would have been a respectable, if unexceptional, way to go out, if in fact this had been the end of the group. But three years later, Kleinow and original bass player Chris Ethridge would resurrect the name, and there would be editions of the Burritos performing and recording, with legal, if not moral, legitimacy, long into the future.