What a bumper time for fans of the Grievous Angel. First, a documentary about country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons, Fallen Angel, which screened at the 2004 edition of the Vancouver International Film Festival. Next, a straight-to-DVD effort called Grand Theft Parsons that posited the wasted singer's early death as a stoner comedy in three acts, complete with Johnny Knoxville (horrible). Now we have Return to Sin City, which puts the emphasis back on the music. The presence of Keith Richards at this tribute concert will guarantee the full attention of completists and compensates for the absence of Emmylou Harris. (She threw her own Cosmic American ball a few years back in a final act of Parsons revisionism.) Return to Sin City was organized by Gram's daughter, Polly. She also contributes to the disc's sole extra, a commentary describing how one sets about pulling so much talent together. In short, you go bankrupt and you blag a private plane for Mr. Richards ("Large enough that he can stand and walk around in"). And the performances? There's lots of fluffed lines (Jim Lauderdale, Jay Farrar, John Doe, Keef), and the band grinds the clutch occasionally (Norah Jones can't get far enough behind the beat on "She", while the band can't get far enough ahead), but if you're in love with these songs, who cares? Lucinda Williams, with Gram's guitarist, James Burton, thrives inside the brain-fogged and tequila-soaked poetry of "A Song for You", and Richards's uninhibited funkiness—he's sloppy, weird, exciting, and looks like a bird shat on his head on the way in—makes his equally lawless old buddy a little more tangible for us.

Georgia Straight, October 2005