![]() Pure Prairie League built up a following in Ohio, playing around Cincinnati for a year before earning a record contract with RCA Victor. Pure Prairie League was formed in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969 by singer/songwriter/guitarist Craig Fuller, bass player Jim Lanham, and drummer Tom McGrail, who named the band after a women's temperance group in the 1939 Errol Flynn movie Dodge City. It amuses me.Despite significant personnel changes, Pure Prairie League maintained itself as a successful country-rock band during the 1970s and early '80s, releasing ten albums and enjoying hits including "Amie" and "Let Me Love You Tonight" with different configurations of the group. “I got tired of trying to contact people and say, ‘By the way, this is actually the way it was.’ … A lot of people still think Vince is in the band or Craig, so we have to clear that up. “Wikipedia, All Music and different sites write ‘biographies’ of us,” Reilly said. Today, he appreciates sharing his story to combat misinformation on the internet. “That was once again a Jeff Wilson song,” Reilly said. It was a really good pop song written by our guitar player Jeff Wilson.”įans of the band will also remember the 1981 hit “Still Right Here in My Heart.” … David Sanborn’s saxophone didn’t hurt anything. “The big disco scare finally ended and we had signed with Casablanca Records after RCA finally let us go. ![]() In 1980, Pure Prairie League found another hit with “Let Me Love You Tonight.” … Whenever Vince is interviewed today, he’s always very gracious mentioning his day in Pure Prairie League as giving him his start.” “It was just great watching Vince’s genesis starting out as a songwriter. “Talent like that is a God-given gift and it’s just unmistakable,” Reilly said. I said, ‘Vince do you want to stick around and jam?’”Īfter jamming for four hours, Gill finally agreed to join the band - and the rest is history. “I asked him after the show, ‘Do you want to join a rock ’n roll band?’ He said, ‘Nah, I’m a grasser, I’m a bluegrass player’ … In ’78, we were auditioning guitarists. “In ’76, Vince was in a band, Mountain Smoke … that opened for us in Vince’s hometown,” Reilly said. In 1978, the band was joined by future country superstar Vince Gill. … I think we did a pretty decent, muscular version, but Ronstadt is Ronstadt.” She came out with the single right when we came out with ours, so of course, ours got the cold shoulder. “Little did we know he was also involved with Linda Ronstadt recording that song. “John Boyle, who was producing us at the time, actually made the suggestion,” Reilly said. In 1976, they covered Buddy Holly’s hit rock ‘n roll classic “That’ll Be The Day,” which was inspired by a John Wayne quote in John Ford’s western “The Searchers” (1956). … We were lucky enough to hit upon a harmony and it just worked.” “When guys get together and sing, that’s where magic happens. “‘Amie’ was written as a harder, rockin’ song, but when we got into the studio, we turned it into an acoustic guitar song,” Reilly said. … I basically stepped up, I think by default, and grabbed the reins and kept trying to steer the buggy.”Īfter a self-titled debut, the band followed with its breakthrough album “Bustin’ Out” (1972), featuring the song “Amie,” which was later released as a single in 1975. “We felt bad for Craig and went out to Springfield, Missouri, to bring him a chessboard, his guitar and stuff like that. “He filed as a conscientious objector and the judge in New York didn’t want to hear it, so he threw him in prison,” Reilly said. Reilly joined in 1973 amid frontman Craig Fuller’s draft issues during the Vietnam War. “The drummer at the time, Tom McGrail, was watching late-night TV and when he saw that he said, ‘Wow, this would be a great name for a band,” Reilly said. The band was formed in Waverly, Ohio in 1970, named after the fictional temperance union in the classic western film “Dodge City” (1939), which reunited actor Errol Flynn with director Michael Curtiz a year after “The Adventures of Robin Hood” (1938). 9’ from ‘Bustin’ Out’ and they’re a gas.” “We’ve brought back a few tunes from the really early days that we’ve never really done before, songs like ‘Call Me, Tell Me’ and ‘Angel No. “We’ll be playing all the hits and misses,” Bassist and frontman Michael Reilly told WTOP. ![]() On Thursday night, the band hits The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia. Pure Prairie League helped define an entire era of country-rock music. WTOP's Jason Fraley previews Pure Prairie League at The Birchmere (Part 1) Business & Finance Click to expand menu. ![]()
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