Gram Parsons

Gram Parsons (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. A solo artist as well as a member of the International Submarine Band, The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, he is best known for a series of recordings which anticipate the so-called country rock of the 1970s and the alt-country movement that began around 1990. Parsons described his records as "Cosmic American Music". He died of a drug overdose at the age of 26. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #87 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time

Parsons attended Harvard University, studying theology but departing after a semester. Despite being from the South, he first became serious about country music during his time in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1966, he and others from the Boston folk scene formed the International Submarine Band.

By 1968 Parsons had come to the attention of Chris Hillman of The Byrds who, depleted by the firing of David Crosby and the departure of Michael Clarke, were seeking new members. During this period Parsons became friendly with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. While in England, Parsons developed a close kinship with Richards and reintroduced him to country music. Sitting around for hours, the twosome would play obscure records and trade off on various songs with their guitars.

Returning to Los Angeles, Parsons was soon joined by Hillman (both as rhythm guitarists), and the two formed the Flying Burrito Brothers with bassist Chris Ethridge and pedal steel player Sneaky Pete Kleinow. Parsons's own use of drugs had increased to the extent that new songs were rare and much of his time was diverted to partying with the Stones, who briefly relocated to America in the summer of 1969 to finish their forthcoming Let It Bleed and prepare for an autumn cross country tour.

The singer's dedication to the Rolling Stones was rewarded when the Burrito Brothers were booked as the opening act of the infamous Altamont Music Festival. Playing a short set including "Six Days on the Road" and "Bony Moronie", Parsons left on one of the final helicopters and attempted to pick up Michelle Phillips. "Six Days..." was included in Gimme Shelter, a documentary of the event.

Burrito Deluxe, was released in April 1970. The album is notable for the Parsons-Hillman-Leadon song "Older Guys" and for its take on Jagger and Richards' "Wild Horses"—the first recording released of this famous song. Burrito Deluxe underperformed commercially but faced the double whammy of being lambasted by critics. Disenchanted with the band, he left the Burritos in mutual agreement with Hillman, at his wit's end after two years of babysitting Parsons. Under his direction, the group recorded two more LPs.

Parsons immediately signed a solo deal with A&M Records and partnered with producer/scenester Terry Melcher, who had produced The Byrds' Mr. Tambourine Man and worked with The Beach Boys. With a mutual penchant for alcohol, cocaine, and (by this juncture) heroin, the sessions were unproductive and found the singer in a holding pattern of covering country hits and himself ("Hot Burrito #1"). Eventually losing interest altogether, he checked the master tapes out in 1971. He accompanied the Stones on their 1971 tour in the hope of being signed to the newly formed Rolling Stones Records, intending to record a duo album with Richards. Moving into Villa Nellcôte with the guitarist during the sessions for Exile on Main Street, Parsons remained in a consistently incapacitated state and frequently quarreled with his much younger girlfriend, aspiring actress Gretchen Burrell.

He returned to the US for a one-off concert with the Burritos, and at Hillman's instigation went to hear Emmylou Harris sing in a small club in Washington, D.C. They became friends and, within a year, he asked her to join him in Los Angeles for another attempt to record his first solo album.

Parsons, by now featuring Harris as his duet partner, played dates across the United States as Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels. For his next and final album, 1974's Grievous Angel, he again used Harris and Burton. The record, which was released after his death, received even more enthusiastic reviews than had GP, and has since attained classic status.

Before recording, Parsons and Harris played a preliminary three show mini tour as the headline act in a Warner Brothers country-rock package. The backing band included Clarence White, Pete Kleinow, and Chris Etheridge. On July 14, 1973, the legendary White was killed by a drunk driver while loading equipment in his car for a concert with the New Kentucky Colonels. At White's funeral, Parsons and Bernie Leadon launched into an impromptu touching rendition of "Farther Along"; that night, the distraught and drunken musician reportedly informed Phil Kaufman of his final wish: to be cremated in Joshua Tree. Despite the almost insurmountable setback, Parsons, Harris, and the other musicians decided to continue with plans for a fall tour.

In the summer of 1973 Parsons' Topanga Canyon home burned to the ground, the result of a stray cigarette. Nearly all of his possessions were destroyed with the exception of a guitar and a prized Jaguar automobile. The fire proved to be the last straw in the relationship between Burrell and Parsons, who moved into a spare room in Kaufman's house.

In the late 1960s, Parsons became enamored with Joshua Tree National Monument. Alone or with friends, he would disappear in the desert for days, searching for UFOs while under the influence of psilocybin or LSD. After splitting from Burrell, Parsons would frequently spend his weekends in the area with Margaret Fisher and Phil Kaufman. Before his tour was scheduled to commence in October 1973, Parsons decided to go on one more excursion. Accompanying him were Fisher, personal assistant Michael Martin, and Dale McElory, Martin's girlfriend. Less than two days after arriving, Parsons died September 19, 1973 in Joshua Tree, California at the age of 26 from an overdose, purportedly of morphine and alcohol. According to Fisher in the 2005 biography Grievous Angel: An Intimate Biography of Gram Parsons, the amount of morphine consumed by Parsons would not be lethal to an addict and that he had likely overestimated his tolerance considering his past experience with opiates. Fisher and McElroy were returned to Los Angeles by Kaufman, who dispersed the remnants of Parsons' stash in the desert.

In a story that has taken on legendary stature, Parsons' body disappeared from the Los Angeles International Airport, where it was being readied to be shipped to Louisiana for burial. Maintaining his alleged promise, Kaufman and a friend managed to steal Parsons' body from the airport and, in a borrowed hearse, drove Parsons' body to Joshua Tree where they attempted to cremate it, by pouring five gallons of gasoline into the open coffin, and throwing a lit match inside. The two were arrested several days later and fined $700 for burning the coffin, since stealing a body was not a crime. The burned remains were eventually returned to Parsons' stepfather and interred in New Orleans.

A petition was begun in May 2007 in an attempt to induct Gram Parsons into the Country Music Hall of Fame, based on his contribution to the evolution of country music. Backed by Parsons' daughter Polly, among many other friends and admirers, it is targeting the Country Music Association and the Country Music Hall of Fame, which will be presented with a complete list of signers on the 35th anniversary of Parsons' death in 2008.



Grevious Angel:


Christines Tune:


Big Mouth Blues (Live):