About 12 years ago I was enjoying myself thoroughly at a Steve Earle show, when he introduced his next song as being written by the guy who made it cool to play country music--it was Gram Parsons' "High Fashion Queen." First of all I want to thank Matt Hansen of the band Trigger Locks for pointing me in the direction of this incredible compilation. I've listened to nothing else since I picked it up. One need only glance down the amazing line-up of talent to get an idea of how well-regarded Gram's music is among his peers and contemporaries--Sheryl Crow, Cowboy Junkies, Evan Dando, Julianna Hatfield, Steve Earle, Beck, The Pretenders, The Mavericks, Elvis Costello, Wilco, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, EmmyLou Harris, both Lucinda and Victoria Williams, and Gillian Welch. Wow--this is a serious treat.

For those of you unfamiliar with Gram, he was the Harvard-educated hillbilly who invented country-rock in the mid-sixties. He developed his patented formula with the International Submarine Band, and then perfected it with The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and on two extraordinary solo albums, before his unfortunate death in 1973 at the age of 26.

While The Eagles turned Parson's style into multi-platinum history, his original vision was honest, raw, and heartbreaking. He called it Cosmic American Music and the fact that this description so aptly fits this collection of tribute interpretations as well as it fit the original recordings is testament to the timelessness of his songs. Parsons was a rebel who refused to be pigeon-holed into any musical categories and a good number of those who've chosen to honor him on this tribute have followed that same fine tradition.

Parsons joined The Byrds in 1968 and was the obvious catalyst behind the band's sudden excursion into traditional country music. Considering the strong-willed nature of Roger McGuinn, it's remarkable how effortlessly the 19 year old Parsons was able to make the Byrds fly south. Sweethearts of the Rodeo, stands as Parsons' biggest mainstream contribution.

Parsons went on to form and record two albums with The Flying Burrito Brothers, and later teamed up with Emmy Lou Harris on his solo albums--GP and Grievous Angel. To give you an idea of what this album sounds like, think in terms of The Band, crossed with The Eagles, and toss in a little Willie Nelson. I wasn't familiar with more than a handful of these songs and listening to them is a revelation not unlike watching The Last Waltz or seeing the Dead live for the first time.

For me the albums' highlights start off with the who-wouldÕve-ever-thought duo of Beck and EmmyLou Harris doing a pretty straight version of "Sin City." From here on in it just keeps getting cooler and cooler. Next comes one of the sadder tunes featuring Evan Dando (formerly of The Lemonheads) with ex-bandmate Julianna Hatfield (who, years ago, teamed with Dando in The Blake Babies) doing "$1000 Wedding." These are two of my favorite people and to hear them twang it up is pure Zen.

The Mavericks make a nice bid for stealing the show with "Burrito #1." A song that I thought was written by Tanya Donnely because of a terrific rendition that I have on a Japanese Belly import. What a truly gorgeous song--and Raul Malo's rich vocal squeezes out every gorgeous drop.

This is followed by ex-Byrd and Flying Burrito Brother, Chris Hillman teaming up with my favorite country-cat, Steve Earle, on the toe-tapping rave up, "High Fashion Queen." Honkeytonk heaven--this tune. Sheryl Crow displays how soulful she can go, teaming up with EmmyLou on the lovely "Juanita" a haunting ballad with harmonies so visceral it makes your teeth hurt.

Elvis Costello (who's covered a few Parsons songs in his day) turns in a lovely stripped down version of "Sleepless Nights," which is followed by the best cover of them all by the finally coming into her own Lucinda Williams. Accompanied by the spot-on harmony of ex-Byrd David Crosby, she commandeers Return of the Grievous Angel like a pirate. And drives home the lyric that best describes Parsons spiritual conflict between wanderlust and the lure of home: "But I remember something you once told me/ and I'll be damned if it did not come true/ twenty thousand roads I went down, down, down/ and they all led me straight back home to you."

Wilco, lead by Jeff Tweedy, (whose former band Uncle Tupelo is highly regarded among alt-country aficionados) takes ahold of "One Hundred Years From Now" and cranks it out like a raunchy rocker that brings Lynyrd Skynyrd or the Stones to mind.

The album closes out with "In My Hour Of Darkness" a reverent almost hymn-like song rendered by The Rolling Creekdippers. The Dippers are a one-off alt-country supergroup featuring Victoria Williams, her present partner and former leader of The Jayhawks, Mark Olsen, and Julie Miller.

The album also feature nice turns by The Pretenders, the Cowboy Junkies, Whiskeytown, and Gillian Welch. This is unquestionably the most effective and cohesive tribute compilation I've ever heard and our cowboy hats are off to EmmyLou Harris for gluing it all together with such amazing grace.
Note: If you like this stuff, the soundtrack to The Horse Whisperer is remarkably similar, replace Beck with Dwight Yoakam and it's pretty much the same folks. This is an album we overlooked last year and I'm glad to have an opportunity to call it to your attention.