Thread: GRAM PARSONS GRIEVOUS ANGEL SACD

Posts: 6

Post by Mobster November 9, 2011 (1 of 6)
Numbered, Limited Edition! Mastered From Original Master Tapes!

Heaven-Sent: 1974 Record Among Best Harmony Albumss Ever Recorded, Replete With Emmylou Harris and Parsons’ Matched Voices

Parsons’ Swan Song Achieves His Goal of Bridging '60s Rock Consciousness, Traditional Country Sounds, Folk Roots Forms

Mastered from the Original Master Tapes: Record Has Never Sounded So Warm, Open, Intimate, or Organic

Grievous Angel has been called the best harmony records of its era. Actually, it’s one of the best of all-time. Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris’ voices seamlessly match in a wedding of deep emotion, graceful beauty, and soulful communion. Behind it all, Parsons and an all-star band achieve their collective desire to unite roots country with the rejuvenated social consciousness present in late '60s rock. That it constitutes Parsons’ swan song adds another layer of depth to its tremendous importance.

Mastered from the original master tapes, and going far beyond the multiple digital reissues etched with flaws, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered limited edition hybrid SACD brings to the surface unprecedented degrees of fireplace-hearth warmth, airy instrumental accents, and distinctive vocal timbres of Parsons and Harris.

Audiophiles will revel in the distinctive channel separation and extra-wide soundstage in which Parsons’ voice is on the left and Harris ‘on the right. Despite having used different microphones, the pair recorded close enough together that they stared into one another’s eyes while singing, lending to the beauty contained within. In addition, a majority of the sessions were captured live in the studio, with scant overdubs smoothing out a ragged edges. Mobile Fidelity’s reissue preserves the album’s prized combination of intimacy, warmth, and rawness. The performance and sound are heaven-sent.

Most famously known for the inclusion of the definitive version of “Love Hurts,” Grievous Angel is widely considered Parsons’ most cohesive and consistent work. While it only features two new Parsons compositions, the record works as a synthesis of time, place, spirit, and kindred togetherness. Akin to the musician’s famous Nudie suit, which featured a Christian cross on one side and cannabis leaves on the other, the album bridges seemingly opposed styles and concepts, channeling a laidback spirituality that owes to songs gleaned from the past and present, memories lamented and cherished.

Whether expressing tenderness (“Brass Buttons,” an homage to Parsons’ mother that died from alcoholism when he was 18), making confessions (“Return of the Grievous Angel,” steeped in unrequited love), reliving failed romances (“$1000 Wedding”), or remembering cherished deceased friends (the hymnal “In My Hour of Darkness”), Parsons and Co. don’t strike a false note. In pianist Glen Hardin, guitarist James Burton, drummer Ronnie Tutt, and bassist Emory Gordy, Parsons couldn’t have assembled a more sympathetic band. Add Bernie Leadon on Dobro and Al Perkins on pedal steel guitar, and you have one of the best country ensembles ever assembled.

Achingly gorgeous, sincerely heartfelt, and extraordinarily melodic, this harmony-rich classic is a landmark of what’s now recognized as Americana. You could say that, along with GP, it birthed the genre.

Experience the inimitable beauty and country-rock brilliance of Parsons’ final career statement by ordering this definitive version on SACD!

Features:
• Hybrid SACD
• Numbered, Limited Edition
• Mastered from the original master tapes

Selections:
1. Return of the Grievous Angel
2. Hearts on Fire
3. I Can't Dance
4. Brass Buttons
5. $1000 Wedding
6. Medley Live from Northern Quebec: Cash on the Barrelhead/Hickory Wind
7. Love Hurts
8. Ooh Las Vegas
9. In My Hour of Darkness

Post by Johnbs November 10, 2011 (2 of 6)
Yippee! One of my all-time favourite recordings! Just a shame that they could not add all the extra tracks in the recent CD box reissue.

Post by Tim-sacd November 10, 2011 (3 of 6)
This sacd was anounced at the same moment as Beach Boys "Today"-sacd....

Post by rflaugher April 30, 2012 (4 of 6)
Why isn't this listed on this site?

Post by zeus April 30, 2012 (5 of 6)
rflaugher said:

Why isn't this listed on this site?

This has just been released? It's not even on MoFi's own site. This site is unlikely to bother with putative releases six months out. But if you do have a copy it should be relatively easy to confirm the details above, fill in the missing information and submit it to the database.

Post by rammiepie April 30, 2012 (6 of 6)
zeus said:

This has just been released? It's not even on MoFi's own site. This site is unlikely to bother with putative releases six months out. But if you do have a copy it should be relatively easy to confirm the details above, fill in the missing information and submit it to the database.

This release along with the upcoming SACD of Gram Parson's album "GP" were included on Music Direct's Spring 2012 flyer which I received the other day.

Seems like a smallish company like MoFi would be eager to supply SA.CD.net's database with relevant SACD info but then again, they probably want you to buy it directly from their own website at list price before it appears on the various Amazons discounted by third party sellers.

Only a theory.

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