This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Cosmic country soul man Gram Parsons may be one of the most influential — and one of the most underappreciated — artists of the ’70s.
By the time he died at 26 in 1973, this Harvard-schooled hillbilly had turned The Byrds into Sweethearts Of The Rodeo, helped The Rolling Stones rouund up Wild Horses, taught his Burrito Brothers to fly and blazed the trail for every alt-country act from Wilco to Whiskeytown. Both of the latter repay the debt on this long-overdue tribute to Parsons, overseen by his musical protege-turned-flame keeper Emmylou Harris. Fittingly, she teams up with several artists here, backing Chrissie Hynde on the lightly funky She, joining Beck on the country honk of Sin City and supporting Sheryl Crow on the tender Juanita. Tack on rockier covers from Cowboy Junkies (Ooh Las Vegas), The Mavericks (Hot Burrito #1), and Steve Earle and Chris Hillman (High Fashion Queen) and you’ve got an album as cool as Parsons’ dope-leaf embroidered Nudie suit.
