Happy 75th birthday to Linda Ronstadt.  She doesn't have the same alt-country cred as Emmylou, but she deserved it. She didn't have that direct link to Gram, but she probably did the best job of pulling off his mix of rock, country and soul. Maybe our ilk holds the Eagles against her. Maybe it's because there was nothing "alt" about her. Growing up, her music was everywhere, whether it was Dad's country station - WMAQ, or my aunt's pop station - WOKY.  Her last two "rock" albums - Mad Love and Get Closer - ventured away from the country. Perhaps too established to be new wave or power pop, she put some punchy covers by the Cretones and Billy Thermal and Elvis Costello. While her earlier cover of "Allison" featured the anodyne west coast production values of the time, two of the three covers on Mad Love  hold their own. Even her oldies covers are primarily British Invasion era pop of the type favored by the skinny tie set. Over the pas...

Gram Parsons died on this day in 1973. His manager, Phil "the Road Mangler" Kaufman - Charles Manson's old cellmate - hijacked his body and burned it at the Joshua Tree National Park in accordance with Gram's wishes. Oh, Gram. We hardly knew ye. Soon thereafter, Emmylou Harris began her solo career throughout which she preserved Gram's legacy. She hired several of the players from his solo albums and - through the years - recorded several of his songs in tribute. These playlists include those tributes, beginning with Emmylou's "Boulder to Birmingham" from Pieces of the Sky . The first half consists of songs Gram wrote (or co-wrote), followed by tracks he recorded with the International Submarine Band, the Byrds, Burritos,  and as a solo artist. Songs from The Return of the Grievous Angel tribute album are not included. Four of the songs here are repeated - "Love Hurts", "Boulder to Birmingham", and "Wheels" - were all ...