Tribute albums can be a tricky thing to pull off, but my all time favorite is Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons. Gram was one of the brightest bulbs to burn out the fastest in music history. I'm sure he would hate this, but the guy basically invented the genre of music that has become known as Alternative Country. That basically means the music is rooted in traditional country music, but has a modern spin on it. Now it sounds commonplace, but back in 1968-1970 when the guy was recording this stuff, he must have seemed like an alien life form.
Anyway, the album is a must and features great versions of Gram songs by the likes of Beck, Wilco, The Pretenders, Cowboy Junkies, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams, David Crosby, Steve Earle, Chris Hillman. What I wasn't aware of is a 1999 PBS special that aired for the record which featured live performances by most of the artists. I have posted all the clips I could find of this great special. As a bonus, I found a great version of Elvis Costello and Emmylou Harris doing Gram's classic "Love Hurts" on the Letterman show.
Enjoy and have a Gram weekend!
1 comment:
I wonder why Love Hurts never made it to the album.
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