"Love Hurts"

The Complete Reprise Sessions is a 3-CD box set of early-'70s material from Gram Parsons. Beth has covered GP and Grievous Angel here already. They are the two albums included here, with bonus material. Beth has hit on two of my favorites, "She" and "Brass Buttons."

Another of my favorites is "Love Hurts," an Everly Brothers album track and Roy Orbison b-side written by Boudleaux Bryant. (Yes, this is the same "Love Hurts" later covered by the band Nazareth, among others.) Among the bonus cuts is a wonderful live-in-studio performance of "Love Hurts" with Emmylou Harris, recorded at WBCN in March 1973. "Love Hurts" was later included on Grievous Angel, which was released posthumously in 1974.

If, like me (until this week), you've never checked out Gram Parsons, you probably should. This is especially true if you've ever enjoyed any of the many country-rock and alt-country acts upon which Parsons was such a huge influence.