A tribute to Sneaky Pete

Few people today know the name Gram Parsons, or remember the seminal country rock band that he founded, the Flying Burrito Brothers.

But the Brothers were really the first to meld traditional country with a California rock sensibility, paving the way for the Eagles, Poco and other influential country-rock bands (including Pure Prairie League, led for a time by now-legend Vince Gill).

Parsons has been gone for a long time, but one of the other original members of the Burritos, "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow, died today at the age of 72. Kleinow was the group's steel guitar player, and his distinctive sound helped give the Flying Burrito Brothers their country feel.

It's no surprise that I really like the music of the Flying Burrito Brothers, as they took the AM radio-centric Bakersfield sound of Buck Owens and built upon it. If you're interested, the YouTube clip below features one of the Brothers' biggest hits, "Sin City" -- a sad song that sounds even sadder thanks to Sneaky Pete's crying pedal steel.