Preserving the Parsons’ Legacy

Gram Parsons is as an excellent example of why you can’t measure greatness in pop music by sales charts alone.

Though he never had a Top 50 album or single, Parsons, who died in 1973 at 26, was one of the most soulful and visionary figures in American pop music.

Blessed with a wistful, angelic voice and a simple, poetic writing style, he mixed country and rock instincts in a richly original and evocative way that influenced everyone from the Eagles and Tom Petty to Emmylou Harris and Elvis Costello.

Parsons’ uniquely compelling mix of disillusionment and idealism was also reflected in some of the Rolling Stones’ country expeditions, notably the wistful “Wild Horses.”

The late singer-songwriter’s work with the Byrds (the essential country-rock blueprint offered in the “Sweethearts of the Rodeo” album) and the Flying Burrito Brothers (the even more landmark material found in a “best of” album on A&M; Records) is already available in compact disc.

But Reprise Records has just released in a single CD package another vital part of Parsons’ musical legacy: his two solo studio albums, 1973’s “GP” and 1974’s “Grievous Angel.”

Parsons is backed on much of the two Reprise albums by members of Elvis Presley’s ‘70s band, and it is an appropriate pairing because Parsons, like Presley, refused to remain within musical or cultural boundaries.

The 75-minute disc, coordinated by Marley Brant and John Delgatto, includes an illustrated booklet and features a dozen Parsons songs plus versions of such country hits as “We’ll Sweep out the Ashes in the Morning” and “Streets of Baltimore”.