Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons, born Ingram Cecil Connor III in 1946 in Winter Haven, Florida, was a pivotal figure in the fusion of rock and country music, a genre he described as "Cosmic American Music." He initially gained attention as a member of the Byrds, contributing to their country-influenced album *Sweetheart of the Rodeo*. After leaving the band due to creative differences, he co-founded the Flying Burrito Brothers, where he showcased his songwriting skills in their debut album, *The Gilded Palace of Sin*, which blended rock, country, and soul. Parsons later embarked on a solo career, releasing critically acclaimed albums such as *GP* and *Grievous Angel*, the latter featuring memorable collaborations with Emmylou Harris. Despite his musical innovations and emotional lyrics, Parsons struggled with substance abuse, leading to his untimely death from an overdose in 1973. His legacy continues to influence a wide range of artists, and he is remembered for both his contributions to music and his complex personal life.
Gram Parsons
Singer-Songwriter
- Born: November 5, 1946
- Birthplace: Winter Haven, Florida
- Died: September 19, 1973
- Place of death: Yucca Valley, California
American rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter
With his band the Flying Burrito Brothers, Parsons was a major figure in the emergence of country-rock.
Member of International Submarine Band; the Byrds; the Flying Burrito Brothers
The Life
Ingram Cecil Connor III was born in Winter Haven, Florida, to a mother who was heir to a wealthy citrus grower and a father who suffered severe mood swings and later committed suicide. Parsons took the last name of his stepfather and even changed his name on his birth certificate. After seeing Elvis Presley in 1957, Parsons devoted himself to music and played in various bands. He went to Harvard, spending only a semester studying theology before he left to form the International Submarine Band.
After relocating to Los Angeles, Parsons was recruited by Chris Hillman to play with the Byrds, and Parsons strongly influenced the creation of what became the band’s first country-influenced album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo. A disagreement over a concert in South Africa led to his departure from the band, though later he and Hillman reunited and launched the Flying Burrito Brothers. After two albums, Parsons departed again, developed a close relationship with Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, and then embarked on a solo career that produced a pair of superlative albums.
Parsons’s early death from an overdose and the grisly cremation of his body in the Joshua Tree National Monument by his road manager often overshadowed his considerable contribution to modern music.
The Music
Although Safe at Home, the International Submarine Band’s only recording, includes “Luxury Liner,” a Parsons song popularized by Emmylou Harris, Parsons did not come to any real public attention until he appeared with the Byrds on Sweetheart of the Rodeo, taking lead vocals on a few of the songs and contributing the standout cut “Hickory Wind” (which he recorded on a solo album six years later). Hired originally as a piano player, Parsons became the guiding force on the record.
The Gilded Palace of Sin.The debut of the Flying Burrito Brothers, The Gilded Palace of Sin, represented a heady fusion of rock, country, and soul. It featured inspired songwriting by Hillman and Parsons, audacious, beautiful arrangements, and original steel guitar playing by “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow, complete with swooping fills and fuzz-distorted solos. The band had no lead guitarist, so Kleinow assumed those duties and produced a sound never before heard in either traditional country or rock music. Songs such as “Christine’s Tune,” “Sin City,” “Hot Burrito #1,” and “Do You Know How It Feels?” reveal a rare depth of perception. Startling, yet surprisingly effective, are two cover versions of the soul classics “Do Right Woman” and “Dark End of the Street,” which retain their soul roots but in the band’s hands become neocountry in style.
Parsons and the Rolling Stones. During this period Parsons developed a near-symbiotic relationship with Keith Richards that resulted in the Flying Burrito Brothers’ appearance at the Altamont Speedway Free Festival (a 1969 concert in California notorious for its disorganization and violent incidents) along with the Rolling Stones. Parsons inspired such countrified Rolling Stones tracks as “Country Honk,” and it is rumored that Parsons did background vocals on “Sweet Virginia.” Parsons’s consumption of alcohol and drugs escalated and led to erratic behavior and poor stage performances. By the time the band recorded its second album, Burrito Deluxe, Parsons was contributing little, and his distinct lack of energy and inspiration is palpably evident, though most remember the album for the cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses.” The band immediately went back into the studio with plans to record a more traditional country album, and nine of those tracks can be found on Sleepless Nights.
GP.Discouraged by poor sales, a critical drubbing, and tensions in the band, Parsons embarked on a solo career and released GP, backed by a host of seasoned veterans from Presley’s crack stage band. The album also features the debut of Emmylou Harris, whose duets with Parsons are inspired. Gone are the soul covers and the rock influences; Parsons gives himself over to pure country in six original compositions and covers of various country songs, one of the best of which is “Streets of Baltimore.” While the arrangements are lively, the lyrics are often rueful, even dolorous, on songs such as “We’ll Sweep Out the Ashes in the Morning” and “A Song for You.” The most memorable tracks are “She,” a song recorded by various other artists, and “The New Soft Shoe.” Grievous Angel.His second and last studio album was the posthumous Grievous Angel, another beautiful collaboration with Harris and members of the Presley band. Once again the disc combines original material with country standards, and tracks such as “Brass Buttons,” “$1000 Wedding,” “Ooh Las Vegas,” and “In My Hour of Darkness” further confirm his reputation for brilliant songwriting. The result was another critical success.
After Parsons died, a few more recordings, of disparate quality, surfaced. Gram Parsons and the Shilos: The Early Years, 1963-1965 features folk interpretations with his first band, the Shilos; Another Side of This Life: The Lost Recordings of Gram Parsons, 1965-1966 presents demos and early acoustic versions of many songs. Two live recordings reveal his work with the Flying Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons Archive, Vol. 1: Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969, and his solo band, Live 1973.
Musical Legacy
Those who knew Parsons well have commented on the range of his musical tastes and his extraordinary knowledge of musical history. While many today regard him as a musical innovator and prescient in recognizing the viability of country music among rock aficionados, Parsons always referred to his work as Cosmic American Music.
Although his vocal range was limited, his singing was overwhelmingly evocative, often characterized by an aching, throbbing eloquence. His best songs offer a sense of brutal honesty, deeply felt emotion, and thorough conviction. Friends and bandmates were often appalled by his sloppy, unprofessional behavior, but many remarked on his fundamental decency and kindness. Parsons’s influence on other artists is staggering, and an adequate testament to that influence can be seen in the various interpretations of his songs on the superb Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons (1999), with contributions from Harris, David Crosby, Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams, and others.
Principal Recordings
albums (solo): GP, 1973; Gram Parsons and the Shilos: The Early Years, 1963-1965, 1979; Live 1973, 1981; Another Side of This Life: The Lost Recordings of Gram Parsons, 1965-1966, 2000; Gram Parsons Archive, Vol. 1: Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969, 2007.
albums (with the Byrds): Sweetheart of the Rodeo, 1968.
albums (with Emmylou Harris): Grievous Angel, 1974.
albums (with the Flying Burrito Brothers): The Gilded Palace of Sin, 1969; Burrito Deluxe, 1970; Sleepless Nights, 1976.
albums (with the International Submarine Band): Safe at Home, 1967.
Bibliography
Fong-Torres, Ben. Hickory Wind: The Life and Times of Gram Parsons. New York: Pocket Books, 1991. An early biography chronicles Parsons’s background of privilege and family dysfunction and relies on interviews with key figures in the singer’s life and career.
Hundley, Jessica, and Polly Parsons. Grievous Angel: An Intimate Biography of Gram Parsons. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2005. A biography by a rock journalist and Parsons’s daughter emphasizes his early Southern upbringing and features personal photographs, unpublished letters, and detailed interviews with friends and associates.
Kaufman, Phil, with Colin White. Road Mangler Deluxe. Glendale, Calif.: White-Boucke, 2005. Kaufman gives a detailed, if irreverent, account of his association with Parsons, paying particular attention to his fulfilling the singer’s last wish that he be cremated in his favorite spot.
Meyer, Kevin N. Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music. New York: Villard Books, 2007. A comprehensive biography, with meticulous research and carefully documented interviews with all the major figures in Parsons’s life and career.