The Complete Reprise Sessions (US Release)

Gram Parsons | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: June 20, 2006
• Release Date: June 20, 2006
• Label: Atlantic Records/ATG
• Copyright: 2006 Warner Bros. Records Inc. Manufactured and Marketed by Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company
• Total Length: 2:40:07
• Genres:
• ASIN: B00123IATC
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,241 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great album!, July 5, 2006

By 

Fred Z. Dobbs "Bruno Traven" (Topolobambo, Sinaloa, Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Reprise Sessions (Audio CD)

Don't believe the reviewers who say this is for completists only. I listened today to much of it today and found that I had to order the Reprise Sessions immediately. The remastering is fantastic, the information booklet and pictures are great, and the hitherto unissued songs are out of this world. This collection far exceeds any other collection of Gram's works, including the extended version of the Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

59 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost Complete, Ethereal Beauties, June 20, 2006

By 

John Ellis "jonthes" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Complete Reprise Sessions (Audio CD)

First of all, this is an amazing issue. The first album, GP, is so well mastered the entire album sounds like an alternate version, but not in some jarring way, it's just that the wonderful musicians are so well articulated on this that the music seems new even if you know it very well. It also reveals how shaky Gram's vocals were on a couple of cuts, but Gram shaky is like Billie Holiday shaky. The second LP is more familiar, but for instance the steel pedal guitar on "Love Hurts" is subtly augmented without in any way stepping on the duet, which has never sounded so ethereal, the voice of a fallen angel merged with a soaring angel. So just to have the two LPs like this is worth the money.

The bonus material - the interviews are to the point and fine. You get a sense of how oddly shy Gram was, and extremely sensitive, fragile. The acoustic radio session with a very spare "Love Hurts" and Emmylou, Gram and N.D. Smart on a wonderful "Sin City" is not great sound, but a treat all the same. And the third CD alternate takes, which are simpler and sometimes fresher, are like the Rolling Stones' outtakes, arguably superior to the issued cuts on a few songs.

Complaints? Why are the three cuts left off "Grievous" stuck on the third disk instead of extending what is acknowledged in the booklet as a short LP? Why only one of what are obviously several wonderful instrumental backing tracks from one of the greatest backup bands ever assembled, since this issue is obviously for Gram devotees. There is at least an hour of unused CD space available. And most grievously, why not issue the two cuts that were tricked up with fake audience sounds 'naked' as bonus tracks? Lastly, why not put the two cuts remixed in the 80s on, rather than a tiny note that they were excluded? The CDs, issued in LP repro cardboard covers, should also have inner sleeves to protect them, a good idea in the vinyl era and now.

Kivetch, kivetch, kivetch. It's a wonderful collection, hope something like this turns up soon on the Flying Burritos. Judging from the bootlegs, there is still a lot of Gram to unearth. But it will have to go some to be as choice as what is here. These recordings reach a level of ethereal beauty that is unique in this genre.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Complete? Yes and No!, June 28, 2006

By 

Christopher L. Dolmetsch (Hurricane, WV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Complete Reprise Sessions (Audio CD)

Having been treated to so many outstanding career retrospective CD boxsets over the past twenty-four years, we've come to expect several things from such compilations: 1. Remastered tracks; 2. Outtakes and demos; 3. Insights into the creation of the music through studio chatter, false starts and mistakes; 4. Rarities and previously unreleased songs. How does this set stack up? It is reasonable in the first and second instance, but has nothing in the third and fourth areas. Do these things exist? Previous bootlegs and a rare out-of-print "Cosmic American Cowboy" collection say so. So, what we have are the two original Gram Parsons solo albums, an interesting and likely incomplete set of outtakes, and some teasers from interviews and radio performance. For the novice, this box is probably too much (stick with the previous Gram Parson anthology!) and for the diehard fan, there is just not enough.