Marin County Line was the second of two NRPS studio albums to feature
Stephen Love on bass guitar. Love wrote all of the songs on side one of the
LP. It was also the band's first album with Patrick Shanahan. Shanahan had recently replaced
Spencer Dryden as the New Riders' drummer, and Dryden had become the band's manager. Love and Shanahan were both former members of
Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band. Also in the NRPS lineup for this album were co-founders
John "Marmaduke" Dawson and
David Nelson, and long-time member
Buddy Cage. A concert performed by this version of the band was released in 2009 as the album Winterland, San Francisco, CA, 12/31/77.