Gram Parsons

[Guest BANKYWOOD]

Anyone ever jammed to Gram Parson's and his country stylings? If not, check it out. He was the former frontman/guitar player for the Flying Burrito Brothers and guitar player for the Byrds. His solo stuff in the early 70's changed country music from its Grand Ole Opery and typical Nashville sound. He was the first guy to actually incorporate rock n'roll into country and break the clean cut image mold in the years prior. His two solo albums GP and Grevious Angel weren't hits, but they are pretty damned good stuff.

 

Its the kinda music you'd listen to after being dumped, having no prospects, and only a bottle of Jack Danials in front of you. His soothing harmonies with EmmyLou Harris are amazing in the ways of George Jones and whatsherface from back yonder. His lyrics described his hard living and dispicable behavior. Anyone who does have a vice of any sort, or just a knack for being rotten in their love lives will be able to relate to this stuff.

 

Parsons died in 1973 from a heroin overdoes before he could truly make a name for himself. But his image and style lived on through Willie Nelson, Waylond Jennings, and Merle Haggard.

 

 

As an interesting side note to his story, I'd like to share the creepy events that happened after his death. Prior to his death, Gram had made a pact with his roadie that the first person to die between them would take the other out to the desert and burn their body under a cactus they used to get high under. So, after Gram died, the roadie slammed back a bottle of Jack Danials, stole Gram's casket from the funeral home, drove out to the desert, and burned his body underneath the cactus. He had to pay for destroying the casket.

[Guest Heavy As Hell]

Thats a pretty hilarious story about the pact he made with the roadie. Oddy, that's not even the remote bit shocking to me....

 

Did he ever have any of his stuff put out on cd? I'd be interested in downloading some to check out if i can.

[Guest BANKYWOOD]

Thats a pretty hilarious story about the pact he made with the roadie. Oddy, that's not even the remote bit shocking to me....

 

Did he ever have any of his stuff put out on cd? I'd be interested in downloading some to check out if i can.

Yea his GP/Greivous Angel cd's are combined and can be purchased at any music store for like 6 bucks. He has tons of stuff on kazaa, just type in his name. I'll warn you he has some odd two step shit in there, you just have to decipher through the typical country shite.

[Guest Heavy As Hell]

Old style country does have an odd kind of charm with me so I imagine I probably wont hate it.

[Guest Heavy As Hell]

Oh, by the way, while I'm remembering it Banky you might want to check out a couple bands I was thinking of while listening to The Mars Volta songs you recommended to me. The Jelly Jam, and Cosmosquad. A couple of blues/jazz fusion type of bands. Pretty technical stuff. I heard a couple songs of each and Mars Volta kinda reminded me of them. Check em out if you are so inclined.

[Guest BANKYWOOD]

Oh, by the way, while I'm remembering it Banky you might want to check out a couple bands I was thinking of while listening to The Mars Volta songs you recommended to me. The Jelly Jam, and Cosmosquad. A couple of blues/jazz fusion type of bands. Pretty technical stuff. I heard a couple songs of each and Mars Volta kinda reminded me of them. Check em out if you are so inclined.

I'll check them out, tell you what I think.

[Guest Kinetic]

"Hot Burrito #1" is, in my opinion, one of the best country songs ever written. Have you ever heard the Gram Parsons tribute record, Banky? It's pretty good stuff. Beck and EmmyLou Harris do a classic version of "Sin City" that's probably the best track on there.

[Guest BANKYWOOD]

"Hot Burrito #1" is, in my opinion, one of the best country songs ever written. Have you ever heard the Gram Parsons tribute record, Banky? It's pretty good stuff. Beck and EmmyLou Harris do a classic version of "Sin City" that's probably the best track on there.

I like that one. My favorite is $1000 Dollar Wedding covered by Dando/Hatfield.

[Guest HungryJack]

I kinda dig really old country, Charlie Pride was badass in his day. Don't ask me why, maybe it's cuz my grandparents listened to him all the time.

[Guest BANKYWOOD]

I kinda dig really old country, Charlie Pride was badass in his day. Don't ask me why, maybe it's cuz my grandparents listened to him all the time.

I agree 100%. Old time country is bad ass. They were the hardest living musicians of that time. Now, we get pussified Tim McGraw and his supremely hot wife.

[rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0]

Oh, by the way, while I'm remembering it Banky you might want to check out a couple bands I was thinking of while listening to The Mars Volta songs you recommended to me. The Jelly Jam, and Cosmosquad. A couple of blues/jazz fusion type of bands. Pretty technical stuff. I heard a couple songs of each and Mars Volta kinda reminded me of them. Check em out if you are so inclined.

Hey, Mars Volta love! In a Gram Parsons thread! What are the chances? The MV album is stunning by the way.

 

As for Gram Parsons, I've never really got all the love for him. Sure, he's good, but no more so than many other artists. Maybe it's because I have other artists I'll go to when I'm in that state of mind. Mainly Sigur Ros, Jeff Buckly and Pulp, though they are wildly different.

 

Then again, I've got a lot of friends who swear by him. Any complete and utter stand-out tracks that might help me 'get him'?

[Guest The Winter Of My Discontent]

Bump this, so JSYK and I won't crud up the NHB folder with actual discussion.

[justsoyouknow 0]

Ah, my question of his downfall has been answered.

 

I'm still not quite sure what you mean by saying that Adams will meet the same fate if he doesn't "slow down". Only instances I remember are when he quit the music industry on his website after smoking a shitload of hash. He had one of those Mariah Carey-ish breakdowns where he claimed that the instruments in his apartment didn't talk to him anymore and he didn't even like the sound of his own songs anymore.

 

Although chain-smoking and heavy drinking will probably lead to his downfall, unless he smokes, what, seven times his body weight in hash, I doubt he'll die from a drug overdose.

[Guest The Winter Of My Discontent]

Parson's father killed himself when he was 4 years old and his mother died of cirihossis (terrible spelling) when he was 12. He got a lot of money from their estate and lived a priveledged life that eventually landed him in Harvard. After a few months there, he dropped out and formed the Flying Burrito Bros.

 

The Flying Burrito Bros. were a cult success who were the originators of the country/rock fusion. The released their solo album, name of which escapes me, which was a critical success yet commerically a failure. Around this time, Parsons began to dabble in heroin and other drugs...along with alcohol. By the time the second album was to be reocrded, Parsons began to read his own hype. He began hanging out with the Rolling Stones and shooting up with his drug buddy Keith Richards. Their relationship spawned several country style Stones tracks, namely Wild Horses, which Parsons original recorded on his own with the FBB. Wild Horses by Parsons was far suprior to the Stones BTW.

 

After hanging out with the Stones and getting too involved in the rock n'roll lifestyle, he was fired from the FBB. From there, he joined the Byrds for one album. He influenced the country style of the album released in 68, again the name escapes me, but didn't have as much personal influence as he wanted. After a year of being with the Byrds, he was fired for his habits.

 

Soon after this he met Emmylou Harris and began to experiment with the George/Tammy country duet style. She often credits him as the one who boost started her career. He recorded GP with her in 72 and went on tour with her. During this time, he was drinking heavily and shooting up quite regularly. His career seemed to be spiralling downwards as he wasn't getting the commerical success that he wanted. He slowly began to wane himself off of the drugs and such, and recorded Grievous Angel.

 

Before Grievous Angel was released, he and some friends went out to the Joshua Tree to get stoned and become one with the desert. While out there, he overdosed on a lethal dose of Morphine and Tequila. This was in '74, right before Grievous Angel was to be released. The events surrounding his death and burial are accounted for earlier in this thread.

 

Since then, Parsons has reached iconical status amongst the alt-country scene...he is far more popular now than he ever was while alive. Many artists have claimed to be influenced by his such as the Eagles, Adams, Evan Dando, Elvis Costello, and others.

[Guest The Winter Of My Discontent]

Ah, my question of his downfall has been answered.

 

I'm still not quite sure what you mean by saying that Adams will meet the same fate if he doesn't "slow down". Only instances I remember are when he quit the music industry on his website after smoking a shitload of hash. He had one of those Mariah Carey-ish breakdowns where he claimed that the instruments in his apartment didn't talk to him anymore and he didn't even like the sound of his own songs anymore.

 

Although chain-smoking and heavy drinking will probably lead to his downfall, unless he smokes, what, seven times his body weight in hash, I doubt he'll die from a drug overdose.

He's had numerous flake-outs that have upset many people. I don't think this guy is only into hash. He is a heavy drinker, and seemingly, a drug abuser. No one thought Parsons was going to die, but just a comination of alcohol and drugs can mess anyone up. It seems that many of the these newer country stars idiolize Parson's life of access as both Adams and Evan Dando have fallen into the same lifestyle. Neither have died, but there is definate similarities between the two.