Grievous Angel [LP]

by Gram Parsons

Overview

Gram Parsons fondness for drugs and high living are said to have been catching up with him while he was recording Grievous Angel, and sadly he wouldn't live long enough to see it reach record stores, dying from a drug overdose in the fall of 1973. This album is a less ambitious and unified set than his solo debut, but that's to say that G.P. was a great album while Grievous Angel was instead a very, very good one. Much of the same band that played on his solo debut were brought back for this set, and they perform with the same effortless grace and authority (especially guitarist James Burton and fiddler Byron Berline). If Parsons was slowing down a bit as a songwriter, he still had plenty of gems on hand from more productive days, such as "Brass Buttons" and "Hickory Wind (which wasn't really recorded live in Northern Quebec; that's just Gram and the band ripping it up live in the studio, with a handful of friends whooping it up to create honky-tonk atmosphere). He also proved to be a shrewd judge of other folks material as always; Tom T. Hall's "I Can't Dance" is a strong barroom rocker, and everyone seems to be having a great time on The Louvin Brothers's "Cash on the Barrelhead." As a vocal duo, Parsons and Emmylou Harris only improved on this set, turning in a version of "Love Hurts" so quietly impassioned and delicately beautiful that it's enough to make you forget Roy Orbison ever recorded it. And while he didn't plan on it, Parsons could hardly have picked a better closing gesture than "In My Hour of Darkness." Grievous Angel may not have been the finest work of his career, but one would be hard pressed to name an artist who made an album this strong only a few weeks before their death -- or at any time of their life, for that matter. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	06/24/2014
Label:	Reprise / Rhino / Warner Bros.
UPC:	0081227959555
Rank:	2070

Tracks

1. Return of the Grievous Angel
2. Hearts on Fire
3. I Can't Dance
4. Brass Buttons
5. $1000 Wedding
6. Medley Live from Northern Quebec: Cash on the Barrelhead/Hickory Wind
7. Love Hurts
8. Ooh Las Vegas
9. In My Hour of Darkness [Remastered Album Version]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Gram Parsons   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals,Guitar (Acoustic)
Bernie Leadon   Dobro,Lead Guitar,Slide Guitar,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Kim Fowley   Vocals (Background)
James Burton   Guitar (Electric)
Emmylou Harris   Vocals,Featured Artist
Emory Gordy Jr.   Bass
Jane Doe   Vocals (Background)
Ronnie Tutt   Drums
Ron Tutt   Drums
N.D. Smart II   Drums
Tom Guidera   Vocals
Glen D. Hardin   Piano,Piano (Electric)
Herb Pedersen   Guitar,Guitar (Rhythm),Guitar (Electric)
Linda Ronstadt   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Steve Snyder   Vibraphone
Byron Berline   Fiddle,Mandolin
Ed Tickner   Vocals (Background)
Joe Doe   Vocals (Background)
Phil Kaufman   Vocals (Background)
Herb Pederson   Guitar (Rhythm),Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)

Technical Credits

Bob Buchanan   Composer
Boudleaux Bryant   Composer
Ira Louvin   Composer,Lyricist
Emmylou Harris   Composer,Lyricist,Performer
Walter Egan   Composer,Lyricist
Hugh Davies   Mixing,Engineer,Mixing,Engineer,Remix Engineer
Tom T. Hall   Composer,Lyricist
Tom Guidera   Composer
Earl Montgomery   Composer
Charlie Louvin   Composer,Lyricist
Lee Herschberg   Digital Mastering
Rick Grech   Composer,Lyricist
Gram Parsons   Composer,Lyricist,Producer,Performer
Thomas Stanley Brown   Composer
Dick Bernot   Photography
Bob Buchanon   Composer,Lyricist
Ed Thrasher   Art Direction
Dave Bhang   Design
Rick Gretch   Composer
Shawn R. Britton   Mastering
Ginny Winn   Photography
Bouldeaux Briant   Composer
Tommy Brown   Composer
Thomas Brown   Composer