Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel [Reprise] * ORIGINAL 1974 PRESS UK VINYL LP * VG+

	£		25
	$		33

Description

Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel, Reprise Records K54018 Matrix Information (A Side: Stamped) : K-54018-A-2 W-3 ALLEN | (B Side: Stamped) : K-54018-B-2 W-2 ALLEN
ORIGINAL 1974 PRESS UK VINYL LP Gram Parsons' second solo and final studio album, benefits from the beefed up presence of Emmylou Harris. The album was supposed to be credited to both of them ala George Jones/Tammy Wynette but a few weeks after recording it, he would die of a alcohol and drug overdose and his family decided to release it crediting only Gram. The opener, "Return Of The Grevious Angel" is a perfect country rock story song and the harmonies are glorious. Parsons sounds a little hazy and liquored up but his voice lifts over the smoky room ambience. It gives me chills just to listen to his voice on the chorus and the way he bends the notes on the word ‘town’ and how his voice jumps the octave on the final repetition. "Hearts On Fire" is a beautiful slow sad tune. Tom T. Hall's "I Can't Dance" is a rare attempt at a humorous song by Parsons and he handles it very well. The heart warming song about lost love, "Brass Buttons" and the haunting, mysterious, spine tingling "$1000 Wedding" are both melancholy country ballads with Parsons singing his very best. The not really live “Quebec Medley” is a particular standout. His take on the Louvin Brothers' “Cash on the Barrelhead”, with its lighting quick banjo picking seems like country Chuck Berry. And the rendition of “Hickory Wind” is definitely superior to the Byrds if only for the Harris harmony part. "Love Hurts" is perfection, Gram & Emmylou singing in unison, rather than solo, somehow becomes lonelier and more desperate. Will he hit the notes? Will they get together? It’s the definitive version of an American songbook classic.the sound of Parsons & Harris taking this old song and making it forever theirs.  “Ooh Las Vegas”, a Parsons original with Rick Grech, is a fantastic rocker with clever lyrics about, perhaps the closet thing in the 1970s to the Old West. Those bass riffs that form the basis of the tune keep it moving at a driving speeding, giving plenty of room for Perkins’ own rhythmic phrases to duck in and out. The final Burton guitar picking solo during the fade out causes the listener to be attentive to the last second. The album ends with what turned out to be Parsons' ultimate song, "In My Hour Of Darkness". It is a stone cold classic, a fitting end to his great career, although at the time he recorded it he didn't know it would be the closing track of his last ever album. He really sounds like a man, at his wits end, who is trying to hold it together and sing the best he can. The Grand Ole Opry is collapsing around him but Parsons will keep belting through it all. The fact that this LP was released posthumously only enhances the last writ ambience of the track. Harris, joined by Linda Rondstat creates a gospel choir of heavenly angels lifting our balladeer away. The wonderful vocal harmonies of Emmylou Harris also add a lot to the album's brilliance. Then there's the excellent backing band featuring, among others, James Burton, Ronnie Tutt and Glenn D Hardin (later Emmylou's Hot Band).

Grading scale: NM > EX > VG+ > VG > Good > Poor)

Vinyl: VG+. Signs of use but nothing that really compromises the record visually or audibly. The finish is shiny with light scuffs or very light scratches that do not affect the listening experience. Labels are superb, clean and bright without marks. Spindle shows no sign of wear. And no warps.

Cover: EX. SPINE: Clear, readable text | SEAMS: Top & Bottom intact without splits | CREASES: None or minor only | RING WEAR : Light,(barely noticeable) | DEFACING: None | (Actual images so you can check the condition)

Will combine for shipping if you buy mixed singles and albums. If you buy multiple items wait for invoice with correct shipping cost.

Records are packed well with extra protection and LPs taken out of sleeves. Double-LP usually works as 1LP but no extra protection.

Tracks:

• A1Return of the Grievous Angel4:19
• A2Hearts on Fire3:50
• A3I Can't Dance2:20
• A4Brass Buttons3:27
• A5$1000 Wedding5:00
• B1Medley Live From Northern Quebec
• a. Cash on the Barrelhead2:12
• b. Hickory Wind4:15
• B2Love Hurts3:40
• B3Las Vegas3:29
• B4In My Hour of Darkness3:42

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