Wild Horses by The Flying Burrito Brothers

Album: Burrito Deluxe (1970)

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Songfacts®:

"Wild Horses" was originally a Rolling Stones song, written by Stones frontmen Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. The Stones were working on it for their Sticky Fingers album, but Gram Parsons approached them and asked permission to record it with his band The Flying Burrito Brothers. Longtime friends, they were more than happy to oblige. Even though "Wild Horses" was already in the can for Sticky Fingers, the Burrito Brothers' version came out first, raising the interesting question of "Does it still count as a cover if you beat the original to the store shelf?"

That's just the beginning of the hands this song has passed through. Future artists to cover the song would include The Sundays, Elvis Costello, Neil Young, Guns N' Roses, Jewel, Dave Matthews, Indigo Girls, Sheryl Crow, Susan Boyle, and BlackHawk, to name a few. To anyone reading this, please check and see if you have made a cover version of this song as well.
Longtime fans might be confused with visions of Clydesdale horses galloping in slow motion in a beer commercial. Right song, wrong band. It's The Sundays' version that got famous and played in commercials. It's also the version included in the soundtrack to the 1996 thriller film Fear, episodes of TV series CSI and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and other places. The song is also regularly re-recorded for other media usage.

Meanwhile, The Flying Burrito Brothers went through one of their characteristic personnel shuffles, with bassist Chris Ethridge ditching for greener pastures while Chris Hillman picked up the bass and Bernie Leadon was brought on for the new guitar. Michael Clarke, formerly of The Byrds, also signed on for drums.

Burrito co-fronter Chris Hillman noted that the connection between himself and Parsons seemed to fade away during this time. Hillman cited Parson's increased drug use, which would prove his defeat just three years hence.

Comments: 4

Daniel from UsaAnd speaking of bluegrass versions, don't forget the one Leon Russell and New Grass Revival did on their live album.
Daniel from UsaPer the liner notes on the "Close Up the Honky Tonks" compilation album, Parsons/the Burritos first became aware of this song when the Stones, who I believe were recording in New York, sent a copy of the work-in-progress master tape to Sneaky Pete Kleinau, the Burritos' pedal steel guitar player. They asked him to record some tasty steel licks, hoping to 'countrify' the track a bit, which he did. In the meantime, the Burrito's listened to the tape, fell in love with the song, and asked if they could cover it, pretty much as described here. The Stones eventually released their version, but without Sneaky Pete in the mix. Perhaps they feared that the steel guitar now made their version sound too much like the Burritos' version which, as pointed out, had already been released some weeks or months earlier.
Michael Rieck from Des Moines, IaSadly overlooked the bluegrass version by "Old and in the Way."
Eric from Springfield, IlThe Rolling Stones recorded the song in December of 1969 in Alabama. That is documented in the film “Gimme Shelter.” In fact, Keith Richards finished writing the song in the studio’s bathroom.

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