Return to Sin City: A Tribute to Gram Parsons
June 2005 Reviewed by: Joseph Taylor Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

While Gram Parsons was at Harvard in the mid-‘60s, a fellow musician reintroduced him to the country music he had heard as a child. Within a couple of years, Parsons would join the Byrds and help bring country music to the attention of ‘60s rock fans on Sweetheart of the Rodeo. He stayed with the Byrds for one album, then started the Flying Burrito Brothers (another heavily C&W-influenced band) before recording two solo albums, GP (1973) and Grievous Angel (1974).

Parsons would live to see the release of only GP. In September 1973, he died from an overdose of heroin and tequila. He didn’t sell a lot of records during his lifetime, but because of his association with the Byrds and his friendships with other musicians, especially Keith Richards, he helped create what would become "country rock," a term he disliked. In July 2004, Parsons’ daughter, Polly, organized a tribute to her father, the proceeds of which went to the MusiCares Musicians Assistance Program for musicians with drug and alcohol problems. Return to Sin City documents that show, and the best reasons to watch it are Raul Malo and Dwight Yoakam, who sing as well as Parsons did and share his instinctive understanding of country music. Jim Lauderdale sings a spirited version of "Big Mouth Blues" and adds some strong backing vocals throughout. The playing by the backing band, the Sin City All Stars, and such guests as James Burton and Keith Gattis (Yoakam’s guitarist) is frequently stunning.

The biggest surprises are John Doe and Keith Richards, both of whom bring a tremendous amount of feeling to their performances. You’d never confuse Richards’ lived-in voice with the beauty and purity of Parsons’, but Richards expresses a deep understanding and love of his long departed friend when he sings "Hickory Wind." Most of the other performances are heartfelt, but two of them seem wrongheaded. Susan Marshall gives "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" an over-the-top performance that shows little understanding of Parsons’ approach to soul music. And Lucinda Williams whines through her two songs, causing me to puzzle over her high standing with critics.

I found the sound to be quite good throughout Return to Sin City, and I enjoyed the charming audio commentary by Polly Parsons and Shilah Morrow. The stage lighting for the show was particularly well done and the DVD is sharply filmed (it’s always nice when the camera actually focuses on the soloist). My only complaint is that the song selection menu was a little difficult to negotiate on my television -- the numbers beside the song titles are flush left against the screen and I couldn’t tell which song I was choosing.

Had Gram Parsons lived, he probably wouldn’t have recognized what now passes for country music, let alone country rock. Perhaps this DVD will spark an interest in his music and in the real country music that inspired him.

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