Farther Along: Best Of The Burrito Brothers

Includes material from THE GILDED PALACE OF SIN, BURRITO DELUXE, SLEEPLESS NIGHTS and various outtakes.

Ask any ten alternative country artists to name the album that most influenced them and nine will name THE GILDED PALACE OF SIN, the first (and best) of the Flying Burrito Brothers' records. This album and several subsequent Burrito releases constitute the mythical starting point of country-rock, fusing rock instrumentation and energy with country's melancholy themes and plaintive vocals. Most importantly, they feature Gram Parsons, a gifted singer and songwriter who exuded the vulnerability necessary to pull this music off.

FARTHER ALONG compiles tracks from both "official" Parsons-Burrito albums as well as several outtakes from an abortive session of straightforward honky-tonk songs. The disc begins with nine tracks from GILDED PALACE (omitting only "My Uncle" and "Hippie Boy," neither of which has aged well). Next comes the best of the rest: five tracks from BURRITO DELUXE and seven previously released outtakes (including a killer version of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody"). In short, FARTHER ALONG includes all the Parsons-era Burritos you'll ever need. Subsequent Burrito albums failed to recapture the initial magic, but the band has endured the years and numerous lineup changes to release nearly a record a year over the past three decades.