Gram Parsons is often credited with inventing Country Rock although he hated the term and preferred the label Cosmic American Music. He did this first with the Byrds and their Sweetheart of The Rodeo album, then with The Flying Burrito Brothers, finally solo with Emmylou Harris at his side.
His credentials are further enhanced by having helped The Rolling Stones and in particular Keith find their country side. He claimed to have helped write Wild Horses and his own cover almost beat The Stones' version to release. The icing on the cake in terms of setting his credentials, however would have to be his early hatred of The Eagles, a band he must have considered to be his and the Devil's spawn which may explain that his citing of them as a "plastic dry fuck".
I enjoy the albums he did with The Byrds and The Burritos but Grievous a Angel is this one I keep coming back to. Grievous Angel was his final album before dying of a drug overdose at 26. The album is a mixture of covers and old and new Parsons' songs. The pairing of Parsons' and Emmylou Harris vocals is spellbinding bringing magic to Hickory Wind, In My Hour of Darkness, and Love Hurts in particular. I particularly enjoy the latter played very loud on a good stereo - it can be breathtaking.
Parsons' death of a drug overdose and the events that followed are now legendary. They include the theft of his coffin and body and an aborted attempt at cremation in the desert at Joshua Tree in California. They have been memorialised in both Film with Grand Theft Parsons and song with Emmylou's magnificent homage Boulder to Birmingham.
His credentials are further enhanced by having helped The Rolling Stones and in particular Keith find their country side. He claimed to have helped write Wild Horses and his own cover almost beat The Stones' version to release. The icing on the cake in terms of setting his credentials, however would have to be his early hatred of The Eagles, a band he must have considered to be his and the Devil's spawn which may explain that his citing of them as a "plastic dry fuck".
I enjoy the albums he did with The Byrds and The Burritos but Grievous a Angel is this one I keep coming back to. Grievous Angel was his final album before dying of a drug overdose at 26. The album is a mixture of covers and old and new Parsons' songs. The pairing of Parsons' and Emmylou Harris vocals is spellbinding bringing magic to Hickory Wind, In My Hour of Darkness, and Love Hurts in particular. I particularly enjoy the latter played very loud on a good stereo - it can be breathtaking. Parsons' death of a drug overdose and the events that followed are now legendary. They include the theft of his coffin and body and an aborted attempt at cremation in the desert at Joshua Tree in California. They have been memorialised in both Film with Grand Theft Parsons and song with Emmylou's magnificent homage Boulder to Birmingham.
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