GRAM PARSONS, as a member of both The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, and as a solo artist, anticipated the so-called country rock of the 1970s and the alt-country movement that began around 1990. There is not a lot of GP video floating around, but "Christine's Tune" is a good place to start, though the video for "Older Guys" is great because someone made them go out to christen Judge Smails' sloop. The Hell's Angels make an unfortunate cameo in the clip of "Six Days o­n the Road" from the infamous Altamont festival in 1969. The posthumous video for "Sin City" is nice also. Steve Earle,Dwight Yoakam,Emmylou Harris and Chet Flippo give good quote in a five-minute BBC story o­n Parsons. BONUS: Dwight Yoakum covers "Wheels" at a Parsons tribute concert. DOUBLE BONUS: Frequent duet partner Emmylou Harris covers "Return of the Grievous Angel" with alt-country icon Ryan Adams (and Buddy Miller o­n bass) at a different tribute.

THE ALL-TIME 100 ALBUMS, unranked by decade in Time magazine. The mag wants you to "Read and listen to the arguments for the selections, then tell us what we missed or got wrong." Missed? Dark Side of the Moon, though argubly overrated. Elvis Costello, The Replacements and Husker Du... and more, I'm sure. The inclusion of "Greatest Hits" albums is also debatable... but (as I've long maintained) debate is the point of The List.

MODEST MOUSE: Hearsay is among those posting live tracks of new songs featuring new Mouse ( and ex-Smith) Johnny Marr. You can stream 'em via the Hype Machine.

MOTORHEAD is sponsoring an under-10 boys soccer team. The team runs out to "Ace of Spades," with the band's skull logo o­n their jerseys.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS had a cameo from Bruce Springsteen o­n Lil' Son Jackson's "Disgusted" and her own "Joy" in London: "I'm just beside myself about this... It's o­ne of the highlights of my entire life."

PATE recorded, but never released, a cover of the Bee Gees' "Nights o­n Broadway." Pate's version rawks much harder than the original. But Pate never got to play theirs o­n The Helen Reddy Show.

P.J. HARVEY: Her Peel Sessions are streaming from The Booth at MySpace.

CALEXICO: False 45th posted three high-quality bootleg tracks from the 2005 Telluride Bluegrass Festival. You can stream 'em via the Hype Machine.

BONO is getting his cowboy hat back. It's a proud day for the Irish legal system.

PETE DOHERTY UPDATE: The Daily Mail has been cleared of breaking the Press Complaints Commission code after a reporter entered a "private" area of celebrity rehab clinic The Priory without permission to find out whether the troubled singer was complying with a court order to visit the clinic..

TOM-KAT UPDATE: Former Cruise target Brooke Shields will likely attend the Cruise-Holmes wedding. Which makes it even more indefensible that they did not invite Oprah. They should have invited Matt Lauer, too. They could have had a wedding photo that would be like the cover of Sgt. Pepper's for Cruise's Year of Crazy, but they've blown their opportunity. And having reported o­n Holmes buying wedding lingerie yesterday, it's o­nly fair that I note Cruise has bought boxers and briefs -- perhaps the latter will be part of a Risky Business re-enactment for Holmes. Ironically, while Cruise was directly involved in whipping Holmes back into shape for the wedding, he is having trouble fitting into his wedding suit. Let's call him Tom-Fat, just for spite.

MADONNA now wants to adopt a second youngster from Malawi -- this time a baby girl, to "redress the balance" in her family. Which is a great reason to adopt.

BRITNEY BREAK-UPDATE: A handwritten letter from Fed-Ex, mostly blaming Britney for all their problems, was the last straw for the pop tart, according to US Weekly. The blog entry asks, "Who staged an intervention o­n November 1 and finally convinced Britney that Kevin was wrong for her?" (Her family and returning manager Larry Rudolph) and "What has Britney been doing to get revenge o­n Kevin?" (Cutting off his credit cards and cellphone, leading him to ask for doggy bags at a Manhattan burlesque spot.)

THE NAME IS BOND: The Casino Royale countdown continues with IGN's list of Top Ten Bond Gadgets.

BRADGELINA: Jolie must have deserved a break from filming A Mighty Heart, as she hit the Mickey D's in Mumbai while still in hair and makeup. She had the McVeggie burger, so I don't know whether the joint serves the Royale with Cheese (an obvious profanity warning).

GEORGE CLOONEY been named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive for 2006

SELLING OUT: RetroCrush has posted a video-filled feature o­n "Favorite Retro Pop Songs Ruined in Commercials." Pop Candy solicited more ads from readers (AdFreak responds that punk bands selling out is the worst), while Whitney Matheson took issue with Of Montreal's "Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)" appearing in an Outback Steakhouse ad (the band also covers "Everyday Is Like Sunday" for NASDAQ). Stereogum cringes over Coldplay in a CineMax promo for an upcoming Star Wars marathon, as well as Gary Jules' Tears For Fears cover in an XBox ad, with even more commercial mentions. This topic has come up here before, most recently in May and March.

LLOYD COLE laments (sort of) places that are gone: "That idea of Lauren Bacall walking across the bar to Humphrey Bogart, it's an incredibly dated mid-20th century concept that really does place me in the sense of where my aesthetic is rooted. And it's rooted in the past, in a place that no longer exists..." He is talking about "Woman in a Bar," but there's more to stream via the Hype Machine.

RYAN ADAMS has lost his mind again, posting another eight albums of... "stuff" o­n Cardinal Radio. Lots more bad rap songs; check under WereWolph for his mercifully brief cover of Creed's "Higher."

WOLFGANG'S VAULT: Rolling Stone notes that the memorabilia store is streaming soundboard tapes from 300 concerts, with the promise of more o­n the way. Recommendations at that link, with more from Stereogum. Wolfgang says downloads are coming, but you may want to register to start listening now.

XTC ECSTACY: At Chromewaves, Frank recently posted an audio/video link-rich piece o­n XTC and frontman Andy Partridge. Even more recently, he noted the official XTC fans MySpace page, which has a nifty blog that interviews the reclusive Partridge about the songs streaming o­n the main page each week.

THE RONETTES perform "Be My Baby" & "Shout" for a screaming throng o­n The TAMI Show in 1964, even getting a bit raucous o­n the latter.

I DID NOT PAY THE BOSTON GLOBE TO WRITE this: "Adults of all ages, especially in their 20s and 30s, aren't willing to give up the kind of freewheeling fun that they had when they were teenagers. That refusal to give it up is much less stigmatized now. You're not thought of as being insane if you're a 30- something snowboarder or extreme-sports guy or you're into indie rock and anime. In fact, those things now mark you as kind of iconoclastic and hip."

CHRIS SMITHER has been around since 1970, so I'm very late to his party. He plays the kind of smart, sometimes funny folk-blues that I think Friend of Pate Sylvia Hauser would like a lot. NPR has three streaming tracks, including covers Mississippi John Hurt's "Blues in the Bottle" and Bob Dylan's "Visions of Johanna." (His songs have been covered by Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt and Diana Krall.) There's also a streaming set from the World Cafe. He also has studio tracks posted o­n MySpace.

THE ARTIST CURRENTLY KNOWN AS PRINCE was so moved by the dancing penguins in the upcoming movie Happy Feet that he wrote an original song as well as modifying his classic "Kiss."

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The troubled singer -- who had to promise the supposedly sober supermodel he would stay clean before she would agree to marry him -- has told the BBC: "Abstaining isn't really my thing. I don't think I'll ever give up drugs. But I do know I don't think I can keep smoking crack anymore. Not just because of the police, but because it was f***ing my life up." Moss, his attorney and the British courts will all love to hear that.

TOM-KAT UPDATE: Holmes spent about three grand o­n lacy underthings, a grand of which was for a "bridal collection" set. Oh, that will work. Holmes' camp "respectfully declined" an offer to include her name for a possible Oscar nod o­n the screener of Thank You for Smoking sent to Academy members. I'm sure that was her idea. Oprah Winfrey was not invited to the Cruise-Holmes wedding. That's a big mistake; in an Oprah-Xenu smackdown, put your money o­n the Big O. Apparently, Cruise's ex-companion Penelope Cruz was not invited, either.

THE McCARTNEYS: Page Six reports that the question of whether Heather Mills McCartney was o­nce a high-priced hooker for wealthy Arab clients has been put to reputed arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi -- the man who is accused of hiring her -- and he's not denying it.

NOT-SO-BLIND ITEM: Page Six asks: "Which singer had to deliver her child via Cesarean because of a raunchy STD her estranged husband gave her?"

THE NAME IS BOND: In preparation for Casino Royale this Friday, Cinematical has every Bond movie trailer posted o­n YouTube. Entertainment Weekly lists The 10 Worst Bond Girls.

BRADGELINA: It's a nix day for a wax wedding. Las Vegas' Madame Tussauds wax museum nixed a plan to stage a depiction of a fictional Jolie-Pitt wedding today after Pitt's rep protested. The couple visited an orphanage in Pune, India. I would go with the "just window-shopping" joke, but Madonna owns those now. Lost hottie Evangeline Lilly wants Jolie to be the first female American president.

NATALIE PORTMAN was caught canoodling with ex-beau and Mexican movie hunk Gael Garcia Bernal at a Seu Jorge show in London.

TOBEY MAGUIRE: He's your friendly neighborhood Spider-Dad.

JUDE LAW-SIENNA MILLER BREAK-UPDATE: Law reportedly dumped Miller over her party girl lifestyle.

TARA REID: Speaking of party girls, Ms. Reid cleaned up nicely for the red carpet premiere of The Fountain.

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY says she's done with piracy after Pirates Of The Caribbean: At Worlds End.

EVA LONGORIA and BEYONCE KNOWLES are not lesbian lovers in an upcoming movie adaptation of Sarah Waters's love story Tipping the Velvet.

KRISTANNA LOKEN (the T3) and MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ (Lost), otoh, seem to be chummy enough for The Advocate. NTTAWWT. The two co-starred in BloodRayne.

AUSTRALIA'S TOP MUSLIM CLERIC, who used a Ramadan sermon to complain about long sentences for gang rare and to compare immodestly dressed women to uncovered meat, suggesting they invited sexual assault, has decided not to resign, after all.

MIDEAST CONFLICT in the MEDIA: At Lightstalkers, a forum for pro photogs, Bruno Stevens claims that both Time and US News & World Report distorted his photos with false and misleading captions slanted against Israel.

IRAN is seeking to take control of al Qaeda and is supplying terrorists with weapons and cash in Iraq. The regime is also supplying anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to Islamists in Somalia. Meanwhile, Pres. Ahmadinejad said time is running in favor of Iran going nuclear, even as International Atomic Energy experts found unexplained plutonium and enriched uranium traces in a nuclear waste facility in Iran.

IRAQ: The Iraq Study Group -- mentioned here as far back as September -- is all over the headlines now. But those familiar with the panel's work predict that the recommendations will not be new and that there are few, if any, good options left facing the country. Reuel Marc Gerecht, an adviser to the group, wrote as much in The Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Iraqi officials say a report that most of the academics kidnapped Tuesday in Baghdad were released is false, while the exact number of victims has yet to be confirmed Note the academics were with the Higher Education Ministry is controlled by Sunnis, while the Interior Ministry -- whose employees may be implicated -- is controlled by Shiites. Note also that about 50 Shiites were kidnapped by Sunni gunmen o­n Nov. 11th.

A DEER whose head was stuck in a plastic jack-o'-lantern for nearly a week has freed itself and will be fine.

A WISCONSIN BUCK attacked a ceramic deer in someone's front yard. Excitable Buck, they all said.

A DRUNKEN ELK is scaring some schoolkids in Sweden.

WEST PALM BEACH PIGEONS are trippin' their tailfeathers off o­n hallucinogenic corn, but locals hope it's not a bummer for the local falcon.

GIANT PYTHONS are being forced to inform o­n their fellow snakes in the Everglades, by way of implanted radio transmitters.

...AND THERE WERE FROZEN PIGS all over the highway in Sylmar, Calif.

A GREENER SHADE OF PALE: Procol Harum's former organ player, Matthew Fisher, is suing singer Gary Brooker for a share of copyright in the multimillion-selling "A Whiter Shade of Pale." Fisher claims to have composed the organ melody, and particularly the eight-bar Hammond organ solo which gives the song its distinctive baroque flavor. Johann Sebastian Bach was unavailable for comment. Luckily for them, Judge William Blackburne studied both music and law at Cambridge University and has requested the keyboard and sheet music of the song so he could run through it after court hours. You can watch the original lineup play it o­n Top of the Pops.

NEW RELEASES: It's pretty much a lull in advance of the storm of the holdiay season. Neil Young (Live at the Fillmore East) is streaming in full from AOL. Joanna Newsom releases the much-anticipated and previously leaked Ys -- an album sure to make many year-end "best of" lists. Legacy Recordings releases the super-expanded Johnny Cash: At San Quentin, which includes the entire concert (including performances from Carl Perkins, the Statler Brothers and the Carter Family), plus a DVD of a British documentary o­n the concert. Legacy is also releasing The Clash Singles Box, which is why Mick Jones has been turning up in the press recently.

CULT of the iPod: The Wall Street Journal covers MOG.com, a site that links its users -- including a number of alt-musicians -- by displaying the digital music stored o­n their computers.

THE THEME IS BOND: In advance of Casino Royale hitting theaters this Friday, NPR has an audio feature and streaming tracks from four Bond films. The ANALOG Blog featured all of the Bond themes last month.

FRANK BLACK takes compliments for the Pixies from Radiohead's Thom Yorke and songwriter P.F. Sloan in an interview with the Daily Californian. He tells the Seattle Times that Kim Deal remains reluctant to record a new Pixies album: "She doesn't want it to be fake

PATE frontman Jon Pratt e-mailed the other day, and noted in passing that his daughters are digging the site, which is very cool. I've probably embarrassed them by mentioning it, but I think friends of Pate will think it's cool also. (For that matter, friends of Pate know that embarrassing people -- myself most of all -- is what I do.)

ROBERT POLLARD played Chicago's Abbey Pub Friday night; Ken King and I went, solely as a service to Pate visitors. Ken thought that Uncle Bob was about as drunk as we've ever seen him. Granted, he started hitting the Cuervo Gold about three songs into the set, but I think he just seemed more drunk because his backing band -- unlike Guided by Voices -- tends to stay relatively sober. And that's still a pretty good combo.

Ostensibly touring in support of Normal Happiness, he played a load of stuff from his upcoming Silverfish Trivia -- "We're always o­ne tour ahead, kids!" But the more conventional tone of Normal Happiness seemed to color the setlist, which favored poppy solo tracks like "Supernatural Car Lover," "The Accidental Texas Who" and "Dancing Girls and Dancing Men." The set also included songs from Pollard side projects like The Takeovers' "Fairly Blacking Out." Ironically, Bob was a bit sloppy by the time they got to "Top of My Game," but he pulled off a top-notch take o­n "The Right Thing." There was also the the usual plowed Pollard patter about college football and other bands, including a more profane jab at the Hold Steady than the o­ne he made in the Wilmington News-Journal recently. And the crowd went wild for the GbV material, which included some of the lesser-known songs from Under the Bushes, Under the Stars during the main set, and roaring versions of classics like "Motor Away" and "Game of Pricks" during the encore.

The evening closed with "The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory," which is a great segue to noting that ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead recorded a wicked cover of that song.

THE HOLD STEADY: Pollard ought to consider that the band has plenty of drinking songs. Maybe he considers them competition.

DAVID BOWIE joined ALICIA KEYS o­nstage at the Black Ball in NYC November 9th. Here's a little clip of "Changes."

GRIZZLY BEAR wuz robbed! In Brussels! If you stream their stuff and dig it, you might help 'em out by buying their album.

PETE TOWNSHEND talks to the Salt Lake Tribune about rock operas by Pink Floyd and Green Day, noting that The Who's are intentionally vague. So it's not a bug, it's a feature!

SEEN YOUR VIDEO: Some 36 actors and musicians appear in the video for Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down." Stereogum has posted a list of 37, so you can play "Which o­ne of these is not like the others?"

MICK JONES talked to the Twin Cities' City Pages about his late bandmate Joe Strummer, as well as his current project, Carbon/Silicon. He talked about The Clash's ever-evolving sound and rock as an attitude with Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times.

BILLY BRAGG tells Scotland o­n Sunday that he was inspired by The Clash, but frets that people miss out o­n the love songs that he's written.

THE DECEMBERISTS: YouTube video clips show the band covering REM's "Begin the Begin" and the Clique's "Superman" in their Halloween Costumes in Northampton and starting a dance contest in Toronto. You can stream and download the band's mini-set for the Interface via AOL.

ART BRUT frontman doesn't just encorage the fans to start their own bands. There are over 100 Art Brut franchises, which is raising issues of quality control of the brand.

JOANNA NEWSOM is getting loads of press in advance of the release of Ys tomorrow. Carl Wilson identifies the interview highlights, including a bit of Joanna talking about her wardrobe.

BRITNEY BREAK-UPDATE: The uber-reliable News of the World claims that Spears is facing a mega divorce payout because Fed-Ex is touting a four-hour sex tape for sale and has already been offered

ARE YOU READY? ARE YOU READY TO GO BACK...

...to the WRECK of the EDMUND FITZGERALD? The legend lives o­n from the Chippewa o­n down of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee. Today is the 31st anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald -- 729 feet-long, 75 feet in breadth, 39 feet in depth, weighing 13,632 gross tons -- an ore bulk carrier with a capacity of 25,000 tons. When it was launched o­n June 7 1958, at the Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge, Michigan, Fitzgerald was the largest ship o­n the Great Lakes. Here's misty, water-colored video of the launch.

The "Queen of the Great Lakes" sank in the eastern end of Lake Superior during a fierce storm -- including snow squalls -- that pounded the ship with 30-foot waves. The crew of 29 men perished; without witnesses, a definitive reason has never been determined. A Coast Guard report suggested that faulty hatches failed to keep water out of the ship's cargo holds, though others believe the ship struck an uncharted shoal and took o­n water. A documentary created and aired by the Discovery Channel concluded the loss of the due to freak waves that overwhelmed the faulty hatches.

After the wreck, the Reverend Richard Ingalls went to Mariners' Church in Detroit and rang its bell 29 times, o­nce for each life lost. The church continues to hold an annual memorial, which includes reading the names of the crewmen and ringing the church bell. Here's video of Rev. Ingalls recounting that night.

At the request of family members surviving her crew, Fitzgerald's 200 lb. bronze bell was recovered by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society in 1995, as a joint project with the National Geographic Society, Canadian Navy, Sony Corporation, and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. The bell is now o­n display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. Here's a brief video from o­ne of the underwater explorations of the wreck. The Mpls. Star-Tribune still has a nifty interactive exhibit o­n its website, too. Throw in the 3-D animation, and you'll feel just like Bill Paxton.

The song by Gordon Lightfoot spent 21 straight weeks o­n the pop charts, peaking at No. 2. And there's a homemade video for it o­n YouTube, which I highly recommend. Beats the tar of Celine Dion! (PS:  Ken King -- who has lived o­n the U.P. of  Michigan, says the gales of November are quite something.)

REM vs. U2: Slate has a piece arguing: "With U2 triumphant and R.E.M. fading into near-obscurity, And I Feel Fine reminds listeners that R.E.M., not U2, made the most memorable music of the 1980s." I suspect this piece was inspired by the piece in Stylus I linked earlier this week.

BILLY NICHOLS, backed by the Small Faces and future Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, recorded Would You Believe -- this week's NPR Shadow Classic -- in 1967. Though Nichols was heavily influenced by Brian Wilson's Pet Sounds, the piece suggests a commonality with The Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society and The Small Faces' Odgen's Nut Gone Flake.

BILLY BRAGG, BADLY DRAWN BOY and others tell the Telegraph why they love the Boss, along with never-before seen photos of Springsteen's Born to Run album cover shoot in 1975.

SEEN YOUR VIDEO: I had a little jones for the neo-classic rock of Diamond Nights' "Destination Diamonds" after hearing the band's newest track, the slightly more new-wavey "Medusa." (via Stereogum.)

PROFESSOR MURDER made NPR's Song of the Day with "Free Stress Test." Sylvia Hauser made sure I noticed it, as the headline was "Four Minutes of Surprises, with a Cowbell to Boot." The son's alright, but... well, you know.

SUFJAN STEVENS: Stereogum can hook you up with YouTube clips of his Austin City Limits segment, plus an animated video for the near-seasonal "Put the Lights o­n the Tree."

PETE DOHERTY UPDATE: The troubled singer was fined