It seems safe to assume that without the late Gram Parsons, the No Depression

movement would be a boat without a rudder. Parsons, the tragic figure often

called the "father of country rock," almost single-handedly birthed a thousand

urban cowboy imitators, including the upstart band that would outstrip his own

meager sales by many millions just a few years after his death, the Eagles.

Few of Parsons' disciples matched the troubled singer/songwriter's wit,

purity and depth. As a tribute to his continued influence, Rhino Records has

just released an album of one of Parsons' last concerts, Gram Parsons & the

Fallen Angels Live 1973 a re-issue of a previously-released album that's

been remastered and features Parsons singing alongside his trusty foil, a young

Emmylou Harris. The concert was originally recorded for the Hempstead, Long

Island radio station WLIR, which used to broadcast live shows throughout the

metropolitan New York area in the early 70's.

This 12-song set is one of

the few documents featuring material from Parsons Flying Burrito Brothers days,

his short-lived Byrds days (Parsons was around only long enough to put his

touch on their breakthrough country-rock album Sweetheart of the Rodeo)

and his brief solo career. It includes the songs "Drug Store Truck Drivin'

Man," covered most memorably by Joan Baez at Woodstock, classic Parsons tunes

"Big Mouth Blues" and "The New Soft Shoe," a cover of an early J. Geils band

composition "Cry One More Time," and a grab-bag of countrified covers of songs

like "Streets of Baltimore," "That's All it Took," "Love Hurts" (nominated for

a Best Country Duo or Group Grammy in 1983) and a countrified closing medley of

the early rock classics "Bony Moronie/Forty Days/Almost Grown.