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The Complete Reprise Sessions

Gram Parsons - The Complete Reprise Sessions Audio CD

A fair review of the Gram Parsons "The Complete Reprise Sessions" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Gram Parsons reviews here, or go back to the Gram Parsons tabs.

Band: Gram Parsons
Title: The Complete Reprise Sessions
Rating:

Release Date: 2006-06-20
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Still Feeling Blue 2: We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning 3: A Song For You 4: Streets Of Baltimore 5: She 6: That's All It Took 7: The New Soft Shoe 8: Kiss The Children 9: Cry One More Time 10: How Much I've Lied 11: Big Mouth Blues 12: GP Radio Promo [Bonus Track] 13: Gram Parsons Interview: How Did You Meet Emmylou Harris?, What Is The Story Behind "A Song For You?", What Is The Story Behind "The New Soft Shoe?", WBCN Interview With Maxine Sartori [Bonus Track] 14: Love Hurts [Bonus Track) -- With Emmylou Harris 15: Sin City [Bonus Track] -- With Emmylou Harris & N.D.Smart 16: Return Of The Grievous Angel 17: Hearts On Fire 18: I Can't Dance 19: Brass Buttons 20: $1000 Wedding 21: Medley Live From Northern Quebec: Cash On The 22: Barrelhead, Hickory Wind 23: Love Hurts 24: Ooh Las Vegas 25: In My Hour Of Darkness 26: Return Of The Grievous Angel (Instrumental) [Bonus Track] 27: Gram Parsons Interview: Did You Sing "Hickory Wind" At The Grand Ole Opry?, What Differences Do You See Between Pure Country And Country Rock (Bonus Track] 28: She (Alternate Version) 29: That's All It Took (Alternate Version) 30: Still Feeling Blue (Alternate Version) 31: Kiss The Children -- Duet With Barry Tashian 32: Streets Of Baltimore (Alternate Version) 33: We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning (Alternate Version) 34: The New Soft Shoe (Alternate Version) 35: Return Of The Grievous Angel #1 (Alternate Version 36: In My Hour Of Darkness (Alternate Version) 37: Ooh Las Vegas (Alternate Version) 38: I Can't Dance (Alternate Version) 39: Sleepless Nights (Alternate Version) 40: Love Hurts (Alternate Version) 41: Brass Buttons (Alternate Version) 42: Hickory Wind (Alternate Version) 43: Sleepless Nights 44: The Angels Rejoiced Last Night

Great collection with wonderful alternate takes!
So why buy this collection? Well, the most immediately obvious reason is that it's nicely presented: a sturdy box and with a nice booklet with lots of cool and rare photos. The two regular LP's ("GP" and "Grievous Angel") re-released in this collection have been released together (and more inexpensively) on a single CD elsewhere.

The best reason, though is the third disc of alternate takes. I know lots of folks will say, "Yeah, sure, I've heard THAT before!" What I'll share is that, almost alone amongst all the thousands of reissues promising "revealing" alternate takes, this one really delivers the goods! The primary reason is that the alternate takes allow you to hear Gram and Emmylou working on their harmonies and, in some amazing instances, the alternate takes are better.

The very best example is "Return of the Grievous Angel #1. " As the "#1" would suggest, it's an early take and Gram and Emmylou are still working on the harmonies and remembering the words. Their performance, however, is full of daring harmony ideas they left off the final version and is so utterly charming that it makes the "final" version sound mannered and stiff by comparison. After a listen or two, it'll be your favorite version.

Of course, the opportunity to hear some of the greatest backing musicians in the world working up their parts and going through the same type of discovery is also awesome to hear. Don't miss this collection!.

Start as a novice, end as a die-hard.
Well, I bought this as a novice and I'm quickly becoming a die-hard. I've read in some other reviews that if you're a novice fan that this collection might be too much for you and if you're a die-hard that it's not enough. When I first bought this I wasn't sure if I liked it but I knew that I didn't dislike it. Maybe it was more country than rock which I didn't expect. But like all great music there's something there that pulls you in whether you realize it or not. Gram Parsons was just an excellent songwriter and what he lacked in voice he made up for in charisma and authenticity, or at least he seemed authentic. His heart was clearly in the right place and his love of the music shines through. His and Emmylou Harris's vocals blend together so well the songs are basically duets even if they weren't intended to be. The packaging is nice with the LP-style sleeves and for around $30 the price is pretty good. This is a nice collection for anyone that's interested in Parsons. If you even have a fleeting interest in this mans work I'd buy this and you won't be disappointed.

the veil is lifted
A long time ago I had the vinyl, and more recently picked up the double disc of GP and Grievious Angel and although I thoroughly enjoyed their spirit, still secretly wished that the quality of the recorded sounds could be magically updated to reflect the quality of today's studio techniques, -especially in the tonality and separation of instruments that may have been somewhat cloudy in the original mastering. Nice. I'm a steel guitar player so I'm particularly picky about recorded steel guitar tones. Happily, in this 3 disc set, it's as if a veil has been lifted from the original sounds to reveal the sparkle of those sounds as they were originally performed in the studio sessions. Steel guitar, dobro, and acoustic guitars shimmer and the voices have a newly revealed intimacy in them that, to my ears, had not been previously present and now informs the songs in ever more poetically musical ways. The alternate take/additional tracks on disc three are a treasure that reveal a distilled presentation of the Emmy Lou/Gram vocal harmonies. All 3 of these discs are enjoyable top to bottom and the newly exposed clarity on GP and Grievous Angel is a gift to those of us who appreciated their original forms.

Excellent introduction to Gram--also great to complete collection
It includes all the songs from both of his solo albums. This box set is an excellent introduction to Gram Parsons' music. However, even if one has "GP" and "Grievous Angel," I still recommend this box set, since it includes a third disc that has alternate takes. The stripped down alternate takes give a nice feel of what it must have been like to be in the studio with Gram, Emmylou, and the band while they were learning and practicing the songs. I also enjoyed the short interviews. The comments added a personal experience that one would not have gotten otherwise. The remastering of all the songs is superb. This CD is a must-have for both new fans who are just discovering Gram and old fans who want to complete their collections.

Classic Parsons albums receive deluxe treatment
P. Casual fans may want to pick up the single CD that has Parsons' two solo albums "G. " and "Grevious Angel". It sounds fine but this box set has just about every worthwhile outtake from sessions for both albums and is certainly for the hardcore fan.

Gram Parsons helped kick start a revolution in country music AND rock 'n' roll by helping to invent country rock (or as Parsons preferred to call it, "American cosmic music"). Sure the genre has taken its knocks over the years but Parsons along with Gene Clark (also a former Byrd), Michael Nesmith, Chris Hillman and Roger McGuinn helped give birth to a musical form that captured all the soulfulness of GREAT country music, injected rock 'n' roll spirit into it(and soul of course). Who can forget Emmylou Harris who came to the attention of the public after Gram went to see her in a bar invited to record and tour with him? She provides a terrific complement to Gram's soulful vocal performances.

This terrific box set features Parsons' solo albums "G. P" and "Grevious Angel" as well as a selection of outtakes from the same sessions found in the Reprise vaults presented on a third disc. Make no mistake the original combo CD "G. P. " and "Grevious Angel" sounded extremely good on CD and for new fans that might be the way to go but for fans who ate of every Gram release during his short life and after, this truly is an essential collection. I'd also recommend "Live at the Avalon Ballrom 1969" featuring Gram with his band The Flying Burrito Brothers and released by Amoeba Records last year.

Disc 1 consists of all 11 tracks from "G. P. " plus a "G. P" radio promo, interviews and two performances "Love Hurts" and "Sin City" featuring Emmylou on both plus N. D. Smart on the latter with Gram. Sadly, even with the weight of Reprise behind the album "G. P. " didn't sell in droves.

Disc 2 features all of "Grevious Angel" plus an instrumental track of "Return of the Grievous Angel" and an interview recording that local D. J. 's could use to make it sound like they were interviewing Gram. That was pretty common practice back then particularly to help promote an album.

Disc 3 has all of the rarities, outtakes and alternate takes from both albums. A lot of them have shown up on bootlegs over the years and offical releases but we do get nine tracks that have never shown up on offical releases some of which have NOT been on bootlegs either. 18 tracks in all, the third disc sounds terrific with a huge improvement over the bootlegs released over the years from second and third generation tapes.

Kudos to Rhino for the lovely box set that holds these CDs and the min-reproductions of the original album gatefold sleeves for the two releases. The remastered sound by Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch supervised by compilation producers Emmylous Harris and James Austin sounds terrific. The booklet includes comments from those that worked with Gram as well as an overview of his life and the history behind each album.

My only complaint is that, once again, Rhino has put the CDs in a reproduction of the cardboard vinyl WITHOUT any inserts which does lead to scratching of the CDs as you slide them in and out. For the extra $2. 00, I'd be willing to pay for a plastic sleeve for each one of these or even see them released in a digipack since it tends to prevent wear and tear. I ended up copying the artwork and putting them in plastic cases to protect them. It's a minor point but it does show a lack of attention to detail on the part of Rhino for such a great release.

Highly recommended. .

You can see a complete list of all Gram Parsons discography, or go back to the Gram Parsons tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.