Various: Grand Theft Parsons

By GRAHAM REID

(Label: * * * )

Drugs, compadre of the Stones and Byrds, loud Nudie suits and a death too young made Gram Parsons the legend who is credited with inventing country-rock

When country-rock legend Gram Parsons died in late 73 his friend Phil Kaufman kept their pact: he stole Parsons' body from LA airport before it was shipped home to Florida and took it out to the Joshua Tree desert and torched it. That piece of rock history is the story for the cult movie Grand Theft Parsons, in which Johnny (Jackass) Knoxville plays Kaufman. This 22-track soundtrack puts Parsons' classics (A Song For You, Love Hurts) alongside his finest acolytes interpreting his material (Evan Dando with Brass Buttons and How Much I've Lied, Wilco with One Hundred Years From Now).

There's other pertinent material like the Flying Burrito Brothers (in which Parsons played) on the Stones' Wild Horses, which Parsons influenced through his friendship with Keith Richards. Also here is Gillian Welch with Parsons' beautiful Hickory Wind, incidental music by Richard G. Mitchell, period pieces by Country Joe and the Fish (Flying High from 67) and Eddie Floyd rocking through Big Bird. Slide guitars and sadness. Evocative.

Label: shock