The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Gilded Palace of Sin (1969) [UICY-94243 Japan SHM]

After exiting the Byrds, Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman formed the Burrito Brothers and recorded The Gilded Palace of Sin, an alternative country record before there even was such a thing. It's all thrilling: the country-ish covers of soul classics such as "Dark End of the Street," the distorted pedal-steel fills of Sneaky Pete Kleinow, and the classic country-rock compositions like the bluegrassy draft-dodger's anthem "My Uncle" and the amazingly twangy critique of capitalism, "Sin City." Along with the Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo, this is the premier example of Parsons and Hillman's prescient hippie-from-Muskogee aesthetic.