The finest country-rock album of all time earned its reputation retrospectively. On its release in 1969, The Gilded Palace Of Sin by the Flying Burrito Brothers sold fewer than 60,000 copies and barely troubled the bean-counters.
Today, its influence can be heard in the music of Wilco, Son Volt, Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams, and in earlier works by mainstream artists such as Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam and the Eagles.
Its effortless balance of traditional and modern forms continues to attract acolytes keen to discover more about the Nudie suit-wearing band and about Gram Parsons, the gifted singer/songwriter at its helm.
Parsons formed the Burritos shortly after standing down from the Byrds, having left his mark on that band's pioneering country-rock classic Sweetheart Of The Rodeo (1968).
Along with fellow ex-Byrd and songwriter Chris Hillman, pedal steel player Sneaky Pete Kleinow, bassist/pianist Chris Etheridge and a handful of guest drummers, he recorded an album that sought to manifest his passion for the rootsy country sounds from Nashville, Bakersfield and Texas while allowing room for experimentation and exploration of contemporary themes.
Gilded Palace blends melancholic, lonely-guy ballads and twanging slow-shufflers with cheeky, light-tripping country-rockers - all originals, bar covers of Do Right Woman and Dark End Of The Street.
Hillman harmonises with Parsons throughout, their voices panned hard left and right against a background of guitars and mandolins as Kleinow's pedal steel weaves expertly between the two. Occasionally, Kleinow employs fuzz box and a Leslie speaker to give tunes a psychedelic twist.
Opener Christine's Tune is an irresistible, bustling sing-along number but Parsons' more plaintive songs are the real treasures, foreshadowing the two brilliant solo albums he would release before his death at age 26.
Sin City is a stinging commentary on materialism, Juanita an inspiring tale of an addict's redemption and Hot Burrito #1 an achingly beautiful study in melody.
