SACD Gram Parsons – Grievous Angel

Grievous Angel as a hybrid stereo SACD from Analogue Productions’ Acoustic Sounds 40th Anniversary Series, mastered to DSD by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab. The complete programme plays in one sequence – from “Return Of The Grievous Angel” to “In My Hour Of Darkness”.

Two voices, one album

At the musical heart of Grievous Angel stand two voices: Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. Harris sings on every selection except “Brass Buttons” – far more than a single guest appearance. The bond between the two voices shapes almost the entire album, and following the second voice, the way it colours a phrase or carries it further, is just as rewarding as following the lead.

The recordings were made in Hollywood in the summer of 1973, at Wally Heider and at Capitol Studios, with Parsons producing himself. By the time the album appeared in January 1974, he had died; it became his second and last solo album. That story belongs to it – and at the same time the performances show focused musical work with a carefully assembled band.

A band with Elvis experience

James Burton on lead guitar, Glen D. Hardin on keyboards and Ron Tutt on drums had all played with Elvis Presley. Emory Gordy Jr. on bass, Herb Pedersen on rhythm guitar and Al Perkins on pedal steel complete the line-up – musicians who can carry a singer and still draw clear lines of their own.

“Return Of The Grievous Angel”, “Hearts On Fire” and “I Can’t Dance” open the programme. Parsons’ own songs stand beside material by other writers, among them Tom T. Hall and Boudleaux Bryant. And “Love Hurts” – in the publisher’s words, “a duet for the ages” – takes its meaning on this album from the way Parsons and Harris sing it together.

A concert that never happened

The “Medley Live From Northern Quebec” carries a little piece of theatre in its very title: it was recorded in the studio, with applause and concert atmosphere added. It links “Cash On The Barrelhead” and “Hickory Wind”. So instead of a documented Canadian concert, you hear a deliberately staged studio scene – one of the album’s charming surprises.

Later come “Ooh Las Vegas” and, as the finale, “In My Hour Of Darkness”, which Parsons wrote together with Harris; according to the publisher, Linda Ronstadt joins the harmonies on this closing track. Outside repertoire, his own songs and shared authorship all find their place. Hear the album as more than a posthumous farewell, and these choices come into focus: which voices meet, which songs are chosen and how a band shapes them into an album.

The hybrid stereo SACD from Analogue Productions

CAPR 008 SA is a hybrid stereo SACD from Analogue Productions’ Acoustic Sounds 40th Anniversary Series. According to the publisher, Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab mastered it to DSD from the original analogue master tape. The SACD layer plays on SACD-capable players, the CD layer on any conventional CD player. The disc follows the original programme; the publisher’s listing “Las Vegas” refers to the song “Ooh Las Vegas”.

You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and ship from Hilden.

More from the series: Acoustic Sounds 40th Anniversary Series

Also in another edition: Grievous Angel

Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe

Musicians

Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.