In digging through the several boxes of returned CDs from the demise of Tower and Virgin Record Stores, a VERY small quantity of the extremely rare (out of print since 1996) and dubious 1995 US release of "GRAM PARSONS: COSMIC AMERICAN MUSIC" have been discovered!!

When it was first release, it was not carried by Sierra as the sound quality was, putting it bluntly, bad. However, over the past decade this CD has been sought after by many die hard Gram fans who missed out the short time it was available.

Currently you can find a used copy here and there on amazon, ebay etc. going for as much as $200! Is it worth it? Not at those prices. But to those faithful Gram Parsons fans who just need to have a copy, you can purchase now a new sealed copy for just $15.98 plus shipping! They will go fast.

So what is album? For those of you who need to know more first, these recordings are the 1972 rehearsal tapes for what became the Warner Bros Records "GP" album. Contained on five audio cassettes, these recordings were once owned by Gram and in the possession of the late Ric Grech who co-produced the album with Gram. Many of the recordings were made by someone, probadly Grech, holding a hand held microphone to a speaker, recording it into a portable cassette recorder during the playback of sessions. In short, the sound is poor. The audio cassettes were eventually auctioned at Christie's in the UK in the early 90s after Grech's death, it was released in the UK and the USA on Magnum Force Records.

This 22 song, 79 minute USA released CD was short lived for all kinds of reasons and an instant collectors item. The same CD was also released in 2005 as "GRAM PARSONS : THE LOST RECORDINGS" in the UK. But that release too only saw the light of day for a less than a year.

Unless you are a "die hard, you have to have everything" Gram Parsons fan, you might be disappointed or..... maybe not.

From the "ALL MUSIC GUIDE" review: "Cosmic American is a collection of demos made in various homes and hotel rooms in 1972. In an informal, sing-a-long environment, Parsons works through embryonic versions of songs and old favorites with friends Emmylou Harris, Barry Tashian, and Ric Grech (among others) -- several songs never making to the studio. Though the quality of the recordings can be off-putting to the casual fan, those who count themselves among GP's ever-growing cult will find this intimate look a compulsive listen."

EXCERPT FROM THE NOTES:

"....... while the sonic quality of these tapes is hardly state of the art ... tapes made so Gram could have some idea how songs, arrangements, vocal lines and harmonies were going to come out later. This album is not the Gram Parsons disc to pick should you be curious about starting your GP collection, it is the one to pick when you've digested the others and have become as enthralled by him ........"




Songs: Song For You / Kentucky Blues / Streets Of Baltimore / Folsom Prison Blues / Lovesick Blues / The New Soft Shoe / How Much I've Lied / Still Feeling Blue / Still Feeling Blues / Ain' No Beatles, Ain't No Rolling Stones / Medley: How Can I Forget You - Cry One More Time / A Song For You / Streets Of Baltimore / That's All It Took / Somebody's Back In Town / More And More / Teaching Emmy To Sweep Out The Ashes / Daddy's Fiddle / We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning / Cold Cold Heart / That's All It Took / Song For You