Stars And Stripes, Vol.1 (Digi-Pak)

STARS AND STRIPES VOL. 1 features a who's who of country music singing 12 classic Beach Boys songs, with the Beach Boys themselves laying down their trademark harmonies and assuming production duties. These are heart-stoppingly beautiful songs, and while they're delivered with an obvious respect and love for the originals, they also get a wide variety of Nashville twists.

Junior Brown adds a rowdy guitar solo to "409." Willie Nelson makes "The Warmth Of The Sun" sound like a reconstructed pre-war standard. Elsewhere, country stars Lorrie Morgan, Doug Supernaw and others lay their own claim to such Beach Boys staples as "Don't Worry Baby" and "Help Me Rhonda" as well as a couple of more cowboy-friendly tunes, like "Long Tall Texan." Each performance combines the Beach Boys' advanced melodic and harmonic aesthetic with the vocal talents of performers who may have made their name in Nashville, but obviously owe a spiritual debt to the boys from California.