On GP, Parsons finds a soul mate in backup singer Emmylou Harris. The album’s melancholy edge cuts deep on songs like “Streets of Baltimore” and “The New Soft Shoe,” though GP could stand a touch of the Flying Burrito Brothers’ warped humor.  

 His final album displays the full range of Parsons’ talents. Emmylou Harris sings pristine harmony, the pair working wonders with familiar songs (“Love Hurts”) and neotraditionals (“In My Hour of Darkness”). On “$1000 Wedding,” Parsons pinpoints the details of heartbreak with surgic... 

 Flying Burrito Brothers material along with later solo recordings gives an overview of Parsons’ career on Sleepless Nights. 

 Parsons concocted his notion of country soul, or “Cosmic American” music, after pursuing traditional folk as a teenager, with the Shilohs (rereleased on The Early Years). 

 Paired on a single-CD reissue, Parsons’ two solo albums form a monumental document.  

 For groups like the Jawhawks and Wilco, Parsons assumed the role that Hank Williams had held for Parsons’ generation: a primal country muse, gloriously doomed and nearly inviolable. A bit too romanticized, this version of Parsons drags down Conmemorativo. 

 Emmylou Harris gathered a diverse set of Parsons disciples to put forth a rounded covers portrait of the artist that’s brilliantly represented on Return of the Grievous Angel, an ideal supplement to the splendid Sacred Hearts and Fallen Angels retrospective. 

 During a quick stint in college in 1965, he dug in to the relatively bitter literary side of the urban-folk revival, documented on Another Side of This Life, which edges closer to the GP of legend.  

 A great compilation for those looking to get introduced to Parsons, Sacred Hearts collects songs from the International Submarine Band, the Flying Burrito Brothers and Parsons' solo career. 

 The Complete Reprise Sessions includes Parsons’ two seminal country-soul albums and adds some rawer bonus cuts that give a bit of insight into Parsons’ songwriting technique.