PREMESSA: LA SUPERIORITA' DELLA MUSICA SU VINILE E' ANCOR OGGI SANCITA, NOTORIA ED EVIDENTE. NON TANTO DA UN PUNTO DI VISTA DI RESA, QUALITA' E PULIZIA DEL SUONO, TANTOMENO DA QUELLO DEL RIMPIANTO RETROSPETTIVO E NOSTALGICO , MA SOPRATTUTTO DA QUELLO PIU' PALPABILE ED INOPPUGNABILE DELL' ESSENZA, DELL' ANIMA E DELLA SUBLIMAZIONE CREATIVA. IL DISCO IN VINILE HA PULSAZIONE ARTISTICA, PASSIONE ARMONICA E SPLENDORE GRAFICO , E' PIACEVOLE DA OSSERVARE E DA TENERE IN MANO, RISPLENDE, PROFUMA E VIBRA DI VITA, DI EMOZIONE E  DI SENSIBILITA'. E' TUTTO QUELLO CHE NON E' E NON POTRA' MAI ESSERE IL CD, CHE AL CONTRARIO E' SOLO UN OGGETTO MERAMENTE COMMERCIALE, POVERO, ARIDO, CINICO, STERILE ED ORWELLIANO,  UNA DEGENERAZIONE INDUSTRIALE SCHIZOFRENICA E NECROFILA, LA DESOLANTE SOLUZIONE FINALE DELL' AVIDITA' DEL MERCATO E DELL' ARROGANZA DEI DISCOGRAFICI .

GRAM PARSONS & the Shilos
the early years 1963-1965 volume 1

Disco LP 33 giri , 1979,   sierra / briar records, SRS - 8702   , USA

ECCELLENTI CONDIZIONI, vinyl ex++/NM , cover ex++/NM, shrink although open , enclosed 12 pages color cm.29x29 gorgeous booklet / completo del favoloso booklet di 12 pagine cm. 29x29 a colori allegato.

Gram Parsons, di Ingram Cecil Connor III (, – , ), è stato un , e .

Ha avuto una carriera come solista ma è stato anche membro di note band fra cui , e ).

È conosciuto principalmente per una serie di dischi che hanno aperto la strada al cosiddetto degli e, poi, all' (o Alt-country) degli .

Parsons ha definito la propria musica come "Cosmic American Music".

La sua morte a ventisei anni di età è avvenuta per un' di .

                                                                    

were one of countless folk and folk-based groups that appeared in the early '60s, in the wake of acts like the Kingston Trio and the Highwaymen. They showed an extraordinary level of talent and virtuosity, sufficient to make them successful in the southeast where they were based. They were also first the professional group of which was a member. (banjo, guitar, vocals), Joe Kelly (upright bass, vocals), and George Wrigley III (lead vocals, guitar, banjo) got together as a trio in Greenville, SC, in the early '60s. Their main influences at the time were the Kingston Trio and the Journeymen, of which Surratt, in particular, was a serious devotee. It was while Wrigley was hospitalized, and and Surratt were working as a duo, that crossed paths with them at a folk concert in Cypress Gardens, FL. He decided after the performance that he had to join the Shilos and did just that. became a quartet, managed by Lewis Freeman, who had been ' manager, and they became very popular locally, playing at charity events, department store openings, amusement parks, and luncheons for civic and professional groups. In between the occasional originals (often by Parsons), the Shilos became especially proficient at covering songs by their idols, the Kingston Trio and the Journeymen, and also incorporated elements of their respective sounds into many of their own songs. Their lineup also included two female singers, and Kathy Fowler, and Parsons and Fowler did spots of their own at the group's shows.

For all of their activities in and around South Carolina, and despite the best efforts of Freeman to boost the group's profile, the Shilos never made the jump to a recording contract. They made one body of nine songs as a demo, cut in March of 1965 at the radio station at Bob Jones University, in the hope of securing a recording contract. The music on that tape, later released as an album by Sierra Records called Gram Parsons & the Shilos: The Early Years, Vol. 1, is extraordinary -- the nine songs, featuring a handful of Parsons originals interspersed with covers of songs by (of the Journeymen) and others, show a command of traditional folk styles ranging from country blues to gospel to bluegrass; the harmonies are some of the most beguiling of the whole early '60s folk revival, and Surratt's rippling banjo is a wonder to behold. Additionally, they were true believers in their repertory, their arrangement of "The Bells of Rhymney" is sung with the passion of an original composition, and Dennis Hupp's "Mary Don't You Weep" sounds like it is the last message of the singer.

The group was perhaps just a little late getting started professionally. The folk boom peaked in 1963-1964 -- the British invasion took a lot of the commercial wind out of its sails (and sales), and when and the Byrds added electric instruments to the music, they took the youngest and most active chunk of the folk audience away with them. Additionally, there were splits within the group, even though they played and sang beautifully together; Parsons was developing interests in country music and rock and was hoping to work in those areas, while Surratt and the others were more focused on traditional folk music. By 1965 when they cut their demo tape, time had run out for the group, not only commercially but also in terms of their internal dynamics. The quartet played one last show at a beach party in Garden City, SC, and went their separate ways the next day. Parsons took off for Harvard and then the West Coast to carve out a unique place for himself in the history of rock music, while the other members initially left music -- in recent decades, however, has been a major force as a producer and archivist in preserving the legacies of groups like the Kingston Trio and the Journeymen, as well as the Shilos.

Etichetta: Sierra / Briar records
Catalogo:  SRS-8702 Matrici : SRS-8702 A  FOLK IS BACK / SRS-8702 B CRAZY EYES
Data di pubblicazione: 1979 Supporto:vinile 33 giri Tipo audio: stereo Dimensioni: 30 cm. Facciate: 2 12 page color booklet / inserto a colori di 12 pagine, Sierra catalog and mailing list voucher included / comprendela la cartolina postale per la richiesta del catalogo e l' iscrizione alla mailing list  , white paper inner sleeve The Early Years: 1960-1965 vol. 1  () Gram Parsons (Cecil Connor), cresciuto in Georgia e in Florida, perse il padre e la madre prima di finire l'high school (il padre si suicido` e la madre mori` alcoolizzata). A soli sedici anni aveva formato gli Shilos, il cui materiale del 1963-65 e` stato raccolto su questo Early Years (Sierra, 1979).

The Early Years: 1960-1965 vol. 1 Contains tracks recorded with the Shilos, one in '64, the others in early 1965.

"Another posthumous release chronicles the beginning of Gram's musical career with his first professional band The Shilos. Holding firmly onto the American Folk Music scene made popular by The Journeymen and the Kingston Trio, a 17 year old GP displays a rock solid, warm and powerful voice which draws a startling contrast to his later wobbly white soul vocals."

This album is dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Avis Parsons, Gram's mother, Paul Lewis Surratt, Sr., Paul's father; and Mike Bixel, the Shilo's most devoted fan.

This album of early tapes by Gram Parsons with the group, The Shilos, has been issued by Sierra/Briar Records partly as an historical record illustrating the development of Parsons as a gifted performer and songwriter; and partly as a means of demonstrating our respect for and thanks to an artist who has given - and, through his later recordings, continues to give - joy to countless fans around the world. May his legend never stop growing.

Track listing I May Be Right (Dick Weissman) 2:03 Big Country (Jay Irwin) 2:53 Zah's Blues (Gram Parsons) 4:02 Mary Don't You Weep (Dennis Hupp) 2:21 Bells of Rhymney (I.D. Ris Davis, Pete Seeger) 5:38

Goin' Away, Don't You Wanta Go (Pat Sullivan) 3:43 They Still Go Down (Dick Weissman) 2:02 On My Journey Home (Traditional) 2:07 Surfinanny (Gram Parsons) 3:09 Oh Didn't They Crucify My Lord (Traditional) 2:51
Lineup

Banjo: Paul Surratt
Bass: Joe Kelly
Guitar: Gram Parsons
Guitar: George Wrigley
                                             This wonderful album contains the complete recorded legacy of the Shilos, nine songs cut as a demo tape at Bob Jones University in March of 1965, and one home recording of improvising a potential theme song for a park at Cypress Gardens, Florida. The harmonizing on the group numbers is gorgeous, a rival to the best work of the Kingston Trio or the Journeymen, and the playing is spirited and of virtuoso quality. Opening up with a very bracing, energetic cover of 's "I May Be Right," the album carries you through myriad sounds and genres, including a beautiful original called "Zah's Blues" that sounds like a descendant of the Kingston Trio's "Scotch and Soda," and the sweetly passionate "Mary Don't You Weep." The group was equally fine doing covers of songs (there's a very animated rendition of "The Bells of Rhymney" here) and gospel-themed material. And then there's "Surfinanny," the theme park theme song -- he never cut another song as sweetly innocent or beguiling in the eight years he had left to live. Any of the tracks here were worthy of release, and "On My Journey Home" and "They Still Go Down" should have been especially attractive as potential singles at the time. Anyone who loves the Kingston Trio or similar groups will have to own this record, and it's worth tracking down, especially with the killer photo book/biography that came with it as an insert. Gram Parsons

Gram Parsons was born Cecil Ingram Connors on November 5, 1946 in Winterhaven, Florida. His parents were Avis Snively Connors, (whose family made a fortune in the citrus business) and Cecil "Coon Dog" Connors, of Waycross, Georgia. Gram's father died on Christmas Day, 1959. Two years later his mother Avis married Robert Ellis Parsons of New Orleans, who formally adopted then 15 year old Gram and his younger sister Avis. Cecil Ingram Connor became Gram Parsons.

Gram's first band, when he was 12 years old, was The Pacers. They played mainly Buddy Holly music.His next band, The Legends, was a folk group with Jim Stafford and Kent Lavoie. Shiloh, with Paul Surratt, Joe Kelly and George Wrigley, was formed in 1963.

In 1965, Gram briefly attended Harvard University. From all accounts, he spent more time on music then he did on college. During this time, Gram met his freshman advisor, Reverend James Ellison Thomas ("Jet" ), who would become a close friend. While at Harvard, Gram formed the original International Submarine Band and then moved out to Los Angeles to record "Safe at Home", produced by Lee Hazelwood.

In 1968, he joined the and recorded "Sweetheart of the Rodeo", their only country album and a classic today. Gram left the Byrds prior to their South African tour and formed the Flying Burrito Brothers in 1969 with Chris Hillman, Chris Ethridge, Sneaky Pet Kleinow and later Michael Clarke. They recorded "Gilded Palace of Sin" and toured the Southwest, along with playing local gigs. In 1970, the Burritos recorded "Burrito Deluxe".

Later in 1970, Gram had a motorcycle accident and left the band. He married model Gretchen Burrell, in a ceremony performed by Jet Thomas. They honeymooned at Disneyland. The Parsons' spent time with friends in Europe and the United States. Gram hung around the Rolling Stones while they were recording "Exile on Main Street" and his influence on them can be seen in their more country flavored songs, such as "Country Honk", "Dead Flowers" and "Wild Horses."

In 1972, Gram met Emmylou Harris. He asked her out to California to do harmonies on his first solo album, "GP", for Warner Bros. Also recruited for the album were three members of Elvis Presley's band, James Burton, Glen D Hardin and Ronnie Tutt. Barry Tashian was enlisted as well. Burton, Hardin and Tashian would all go on to be members of Emmylou's Hot Band.

1973 found Gram, Emmylou and the Fallen Angels touring the U.S. and recording "Grievous Angel."

September 19, 1973, while on vacation, Gram died in a motel in Joshua Tree, CA, a hauntingly beautiful part of the Mojave/Sonoran Deserts. The coroner ruled "natural causes." Phil Kaufman stole the body and burned it in the National Monument, fulfilling a pact that he and Gram had made.

In January 1974, Grievous Angel was released.

The long list of musicians Gram Parson influenced includes but is not limited to , , Rodney Crowell, Dave Edmunds, The Jayhawks, Marty Stuart, , The Lemonheads, Nick Lowe, , , Tom Petty, The Eagles, The Rolling Stones and of course, Emmylou Harris, who carried his musical vision to fruition and beyond.

Why Gram Parsons never achieved fame is a mystery. His songwriting, voice and his choice of musicians was a winning combination. Even in death, he was eclipsed by Jim Croce (of "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" fame), who died the day after Gram and received the media attention that still eluded Parsons.

                                                                              

Quella faccia d'angelo traeva in inganno. Sembrava un rampollo della buona borghesia americana, Ingram Cecil Connor III, da Waycross, Georgia. E invece, sotto quell'aspetto da angelo biondo, covava un fuoco distruttivo e potente. L'amico Chris Hillman, compagno di strada, di musica e di vita, un giorno disse che Gram sarebbe stato perfetto per un dramma di Tennessee Williams. Come dargli torto? Bastava scavare un po' nella sua vita per carpirne i profondi tormenti che lo attanagliavano. Bastava andare a guardare nell'album di famiglia. Il padre Gram lo aveva perso, suicida, a soli 11 anni. Un colpo di pistola alla testa, un figlio lasciato solo. La madre, discendente di una delle famiglie più importanti della Georgia, non aveva retto il colpo. Si era risposata con una specie di arrivista, un tipico hustler di pochi scrupoli, ma, soprattutto, aveva cominciato ad annegare i suoi pensieri nella bottiglia. Come poteva Gram non rimanere marchiato a fuoco da quelle esperienze? Avevano provato, la madre ed il patrigno, ad inquadrarlo, spedendolo a soli 12 anni in una scuola militare. Niente da fare. Lo avevano cacciato per problemi disciplinari. Il ragazzo, dicevano, ha un carattere fiero e instabile, non è avvezzo ad obbedire a regole ferree. A far venire fuori l'indole ribelle di Gram, poi, si era messo pure il rock 'n' roll. Voleva diventare come quei personaggi maledetti della Sun Records. Si era messo anche a suonare la chitarra ed a cantare con dei gruppetti di provincia. Aveva assorbito il rock'n'roll fino in fondo e ci dava dentro con quella musica, per allontanarsi per qualche interminabile minuto da quei fantasmi che lo inseguivano costantemente. Aveva capito che con la musica si poteva fare sul serio, che la musica lo poteva far evadere dalla sua triste realtà quotidiana. Erano i primi anni '60. "C'era musica nei caffè la notte e la rivoluzione era nell'aria" avrebbe poi cantato Bob Dylan. Il posto del rock'n'roll stava per essere preso dal movimento del folk-revival. Quelle canzoni, che raccontavano storie di perdizione e redenzione, di vita e morte, furono una scoperta grandiosa per Gram. Nel frattempo, un'altra tragedia sconvolse la sua vita. La madre, da tempo dipendente da farmaci ed alcool e con problemi psichici sempre più evidenti, morì nell'ospedale dove stava cercando di disintossicarsi. Il patrigno, che si era immediatamente risposato con la domestica di famiglia, poco tempo dopo confessò al figliastro che era stato lui a preparare il cocktail fatale che aveva ucciso sua madre. Gram, già segnato dal suo passato difficile, crollò. Fu lì che iniziò la sua dipendenza dall'alcool e da ogni genere di droga. Era il 1965 e Parsons aveva soltanto 19 anni. Da allora gli eventi si susseguirono in maniera folgorante e senza sosta. Intanto l'incontro col country, soprattutto con Hank Williams e Merle Haggard. Poi, il suo primo gruppo importante, la International Submarine Band, il primo contratto con la Reprise, l'ingresso nel luccicante mondo del music-business. Il primo disco della ISB, Safe at Home, usciva nel 1968 ma Gram allora aveva già lasciato la band per unirsi ai Byrds, allora orfani di David Crosby. Fu una fiammata. Gli bastarono pochi mesi per rivoluzionare la storia della musica americana. Un solo disco, Sweetheart of the Rodeo, e, come per incanto, era nato il country rock. Parsons era ormai diventato una star. Si faceva vedere in giro con Mick Jagger e Keith Richards, lasciandosi andare ad ogni genere di eccessi. Era diventato intrattabile, al punto che Roger McGuinn, a cui oramai aveva "rubato" lo scettro di leader, lo cacciò senza troppe remore dal gruppo. Si portò via Chris Hillman e con lui fondò i Flying Burrito Brothers. I due presero con loro Sneaky Pete Kleinow, genio della pedal steel, e Bernie Leadon, poi negli Eagles, e vennero raggiunti dopo poco tempo da un altro ex-Byrd, il batterista Michael Clarke. Bastarono un anno e mezzo e due album, The Gilded palace of Sin e Burrito Deluxe, per segnare un'altra tappa fondamentale nella storia del rock. Quell'impasto tra country da grandi spazi, soul e rock'n'roll, con la pedal steel di Kleinow a disegnare paesaggi inesplorati non si era mai sentito da nessuna parte. L'avrebbero poi chiamato "country cosmico". Il riscontro di pubblico, però, tardava ad arrivare. Parsons, oltre tutto, era oramai incontrollabile. La stretta frequentazione con Keith Richards lo portava sempre di più verso l'autodistruzione e nemmeno la nascita di una figlia riuscì a frenarlo nella sua corsa verso l'abisso. Incontrò una giovane cantante country, Emmylou Harris, che cercò di allontanarlo dal baratro, intraprendendo con lui un sodalizio artistico ed umano. Sembrava l'inizio di una rinascita ma era solo un illusione. Nemmeno Emmylou riuscì a salvare Gram da quei fantasmi che lo inseguivano da tutta la vita. Un'overdose, infatti, lo stroncò nel deserto del Joshua Tree il 19 settembre 1973. Gram Parsons se ne era andato, a 27 anni, lasciandoci in eredità due album perfetti.

                                                                   

The Immortals - The Greatest Artists of All Time: 87) Gram Parsons By Keith Richards

Like I know the blues, Gram Parsons knew country music -- every nuance, every great country song that was ever written. And he could express it all -- the music from Nashville and Bakersfield, California, the stuff from Texas -- in his singing and songwriting. But he also had intelligence and honesty. That's the kind of guy I like to hang with. Also, he loved to get stoned. At the time, that was an added plus.

I first met Gram in 1968, when the Byrds were appearing in London -- I think it was a club called Blazes. I knew the Byrds from Mr. Tambourine Man on; the Stones had worked some shows in California with them back then. But when I saw them at Blazes with Gram, I could see this was a radical turn. I went backstage, and we hooked up. Then the Byrds came through London again, on their way to South Africa. I was like, "Man, we don't go there." The sanctions and the embargo were on. So he quit the Byrds, right there and then. Of course, he's got nowhere to stay, so he moved in with me.

Basically, we hung around together, like musicians do. We'd spend hours and hours at the piano, swapping ideas. Gram and I both loved the songs of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant -- the Everly Brothers stuff they wrote. We both loved that melancholy, high-lonesome shit. We were always looking for the next heart-tugger, looking to pull that extra heartstring.

As a songwriter, Gram worked very much like I do, which is knock out a couple of chords, start to spiel and see how far it can go. Rather than sitting around with a piece of paper and a pen, trying to make things fit neatly together, if you just get on the microphone, things come to you. Lines come to you that you wouldn't dream of, because they have to come to you in a split second. Gram liked to do that. But he would also work very hard -- harder than I ever did -- on honing it down.

It's difficult for me to pick one of his songs as a favorite. "Sin City," on the Flying Burrito Brothers' first album, is great. I love "I Can't Dance," on GP. But you'll never get a full portrait of him from one or two songs.

Mick and Gram never really clicked, mainly because the Stones are such a tribal thing. At the same time, Mick was listening to what Gram was doing. Mick's got ears. Sometimes, while we were making Exile on Main Street in France, the three of us would be plonking away on Hank Williams songs while waiting for the rest of the band to arrive. Gram had the biggest repertoire of country songs you could imagine. He was never short of a song.

The drugs and drinking -- he was no better or worse than the rest of us. He just made that one fatal mistake -- taking that one hit after he cleaned up, still thinking he could take the same amount. And it was too fucking much. But he didn't get into dope because of us. He knew his stuff before he met us.

I think he was just getting into his stride when he died. His actual output -- the number of records he made and sold -- was pretty minimal. But his effect on country music is enormous. This is why we're talking about him now. But we can't know what his full impact could have been. If Buddy Holly hadn't gotten on that plane, or Eddie Cochran hadn't turned the wrong corner, think of what stuff we could have looked forward to, and be hearing now. It would be phenomenal.

In a way, it's a matter of lost love. Gram was everything you wanted in a singer and a songwriter. He was fun to be around, great to play with as a musician. And that motherfucker could make chicks cry. I have never seen another man who could make hardened old waitresses at the Palomino Club in L.A. shed tears the way he did.

It was all in the man. I miss him so.

                                                                                The Like: 1965

In 1965, Parsons enrolled at Harvard University to study theology. Never a serious student, Parsons immediately set about establishing himself as a presence on the local folk music scene. Parsons' first band, which he named 'The Like', featured only Parsons and students from the . Given that Parsons was interested in pursuing a career as a folksinger at this time, his bandmates' jazz training proved incompatible with Parsons's musical aspirations. The group disbanded late in 1965, when Parsons met , a guitarist with another local group called '', who convinced the singer to pursue a country rock aesthetic.

ISB, v1: Country Rock, 1965-1966

It was not until he met that Parsons began to openly pursue an explicit country rock aesthetic. According to Nuese: "I was the only one with experience playing and listening to a lot of country music. Gram, who had been exposed to country music during his formative years, was doing commercial folk music. It was my influence that turned him onto country music." Sufficiently impressed with what he heard, and more interested in "chasing tail and dropping LSD" than completing his degree, Parsons dropped out of Harvard before his first semester was over. Immediately, Parsons and Nuese formed "The International Submarine Band," named after an old comedy routine in which kids auditioned for a radio programmed as "The International Silver String Submarine Band." Featuring Parsons on guitar and vocals, on bass and on drums, the "ISB" failed to make a lasting impression on either the Top 40 Pop or Country charts with any of their recordings, though they are largely considered one of, if not the, most influential pioneer country rock groups.

In early 1966, the "ISB" moved to New York City, where they lived in a house purchased through Parsons' large trust-fund. While in New York, the ISB recorded two singles for , and an album which went unreleased and was eventually lost  The group's first release, a single in April of 1966 called "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming," was a largely forgettable cover of Johnny Mandel's tune of the same name composed for the eponymous Norman Jewison film. On the B-side, however, was the group's raucous cover of a Buck Owens song, namely, "Truck Driving Man," their recording now largely considered the first country rock recording. Later that same year, Goldstar released another single, featuring "Sum Up Broke" — a collaborative effort between Parsons (lyrics) and Nuese (music) — on the A-side, and Parsons' "" on the flip side.

Undaunted by his failure to achieve overnight commercial success with the "ISB", Parsons began to consider moving the group to Los Angeles, spurred on by child actor 's promise that he could get the group appearances in films. In November, Parsons headed out to Los Angeles' Laurel Canyon district on a scouting trip; while there, he stole away from , and began a torrid love affair with the aspiring film star. After promised to find for Parsons and the "ISB" official representation in Los Angeles, Parsons convinced the group to move later in the year. As was his custom, Parsons used his trust-fund money to purchase a house for his band, while he stayed in a rented apartment with . Introduced by to (as promised), the eventual star of the counter-culture classic , Parsons convinced Fonda to advocate a cameo for the "ISB" on 's psychedelic film, , in which Fonda was starring at the time. The "ISB" recorded "Lazy Days" for the film, but the song was eventually rejected; it was replaced with music by , though the "ISB" still appeared on screen.

Frustrated by his inability to find commercial success with the "ISB," Parsons soon took to playing honky-tonks in the Los Angeles area with his friend, (co-author of ""), and eventually decided to focus exclusively on . Almost immediately after Parsons informed them of his new focus, and left the "ISB", forming a group called . The split was amicable: Parsons played the group's first gig.

ISB, v2: Country Rock, 1967-1968

Only days before the "ISB" officially split, , a would-be record producer from the area, observed a rehearsal. Impressed, Hokom convinced her boyfriend, , owner of , to sign the post-breakup Parsons and Nuese to an exclusive contract as the "ISB". Immediately, Parsons and Nuese began their search for musicians to complete the band. , a drummer from an earlier Parsons band, answered the call, though he was making a good living playing as a session musician in Nashville. Three session musicians were hired to augment the threesome: on bass, on piano and on pedal steel.

The newly re-formed "International Submarine Band" recorded their first single in July of 1967, under the watchful gaze of producer Hokom: two Parsons compositions, "" and "". Four months later, in November of 1967, the same group, plus newcomer on bass, entered the studio to record what would become the band's only full length release, . Two more Parsons originals made the album: "" and "".

Parsons Becomes A Byrd: the ISB's Demise, 1968

Though was finished by December 1967, the ISB's debut LP went unreleased for several months. Parsons' left the "ISB" fold in February of 1968, to perform with The Byrds.. As recalls, " thought he was hiring a piano player but, as he's said, 'We got George Jones in a suit... He had a great insight into country, real country music as well as R&B... you know, the working man's songs" . More importantly, contrary to what is often claimed, Parsons was never an official member of The Byrds. "Gram was hired," Hillman continues. "He was not a member of The Byrds, ever — he was on salary, as was my cousin , but he just took over. We were tired old Byrds — we'd been doing this for three or four years. You know, we just said, 'Whatever you wanna' do kid.' But I loved it, 'cause it was my kind of music. It was an exercise for us — Country Music 101" . Nonetheless, was less than pleased. He successfully gained ownership from Parsons of the name "International Submarine Band," and successfully prevented Parsons' vocal tracks from appearing on ' . The ISB's only full length release, was finally released by in spring of 1968, by which point the group had officially ceased to exist. Nonetheless, their debut and final album, Safe at Home, is considered one of the first authentic country rock albums.

Gram Parsons e` per molti versi l'inventore del country-rock, uno dei generi piu` popolari degli anni '70, e (per aver registrato cosi` poco materiale) ha esercitato un'influenza enorme sui folksinger degli anni '90.

Gram Parsons (Cecil Connor), cresciuto in Georgia e in Florida, perse il padre e la madre prima di finire l'high school (il padre si suicido` e la madre mori` alcoolizzata). A soli sedici anni aveva formato gli Shilos, il cui materiale del 1963-65 e` stato raccolto su Early Years (Sierra, 1979). Nel 1965 si iscrisse al corso di Teologia dell'Universita` di Harvard. Abbandono` presto gli studi e si trasferi` al Greenwich Village di New York, dove nel 1966 formo` la International Submarine Band. L'anno successivo il gruppo si trasferi` a Los Angeles e registro` Safe At Home (LHI, 1968), un'ingenua raccolta di brani tradizionali con qualche originale (Luxury Line, fedele rievocazione dello stile di Haggard, Do You Know How It Feels To Be Lonesome, emblematica del personaggio), in cui per la prima volta il folk-rock interpreta il country, con gran spiegamento di strumenti "taboo" (per il rock), dalla chitarra steel al piano honky-tonk. Affermatosi nei locali per "redneck" di Hollywood, nonostante certi atteggiamenti da playboy e hippie (che gli valsero l'appellativo "cosmic cowboy"), nell'aprile del 1968 Parsons venne assunto dai . Parsons vi rimase soltanto fino all'autunno, ma abbastanza per provocare una sterzata storica, documentata dall'album Sweetheart Of The Rodeo che usci` a luglio (sua la Hickory Wind che impreziosisce l'opera). Il country-rock era ufficialmente nato, e tutti, da Bob Dylan ai Grateful Dead, ne sarebbero stati influenzati. Parsons e Hillman lasciarono i Byrds e formarono , appunto per dar libero sfogo alla nuova ispirazione.

Dopo due soli album, Parsons perse il posto, per colpa della vita sregolata che conduceva nell'angelico inferno di Los Angeles cantato dai suoi testi. Traviato dagli amici , Parsons si diede a una vita opulente e decadente, conteso dalle donne e dalla motocicletta, dall'alcool e dall'amfetamina. Nel 1972 ricomincia una carriera in proprio, che frutta gli album G.P. (Reprise, 1972) e Grievous Angel (Reprise, 1973), entrambi con il veterano James Burton alla chitarra, e che si conclude tragicamente con la morte (causata da una combinazione fatale di morfina e tequila) nel settembre 1973 all'eta` di ventisei anni.

Alla compagna Emmylou Harris, le cui celestiali armonie vocali avevano in qualche modo redento il punk, non resta che diffondere le sue composizioni, intensamente dolorose nello stile di George Jones. She, The New Soft Shoe, How Much I've Lied, Streets Of Baltimore sono i classici del primo album, che e` pero` zeppo di insipide cover. Grievous Angel, $1,000 Wedding, Las Vegas, In My Hour Of Darkness e Brass Buttons le vignette narrative piu` felici (ovvero infelici) del secondo album.

                                                                             
GRAM PARSONS
The Early Years: 1960-1965
The level of detail in this profile is possible only because of two fine books. Both are essential reading for anyone who wants to learn more about Gram Parsons; together these books cover his story in much more detail than is possible here. The first, by Ben Fong-Torres, is a thoroughly researched and crisply written biography called . The second is by , a Parsons authority. Griffin is a musician who has played his own brand of Cosmic American Music with the Long Ryders and the Coal Porters. His book is a compendium of essays and interviews with key figures from the life of Gram Parsons, including John Nuese, Chris Hillman, and Emmylou Harris. As such, it is a perfect compliment to the Fong-Torres bio. Follow the links for each of the titles for further information on each of these books.


Gram Parsons had many gifts: his ground-breaking artistic vision, his infectious enthusiasm, and his undeniable musical talent. But his tragically short life was punctuated from the start by drink, drugs, and death. Parsons came from a family of wealthy Southerners with a weakness for alcohol and a history of mental instability. As Chris Hillman has observed, they could have come straight out of Tennessee Williams. Gram Parsons struggled with that legacy and lost. He didn't live to see how profoundly his music and ideas would influence both rock and country music.


The Connors of Waycross:

Parsons was born Ingram Cecil Connor III in Waycross, Georgia on November 5, 1946. His mother Avis came from the prosperous Snively family, whose orange groves made them millions by the mid '50s, when Snively Groves was the largest shipper of fresh fruit in Florida. The Snivelys later owned an interest in Cypress Gardens, the popular tourist attraction built on part of the Snivelys' land in Winter Haven, Florida.
His father, Cecil "Coon Dog" Connor, Jr., was the son of a wealthy salesman from Columbia, Tennessee. During World War Two, Coon Dog Connor was a major in the Army Air Force and flew over fifty combat missions. By 1946 he was running a box-making factory in Waycross, Georgia, owned by his new in-laws, the Snivelys. The Connors lived in a comfortable home in the nicest section of town.
By age nine, Gram Connor was taking piano lessons and listening to country music. By 1956, early rock and roll had captured his interest. He was partial to Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and Carl Perkins, but nobody made a greater impression on him than . The nine-year-old fan saw Elvis perform in Waycross in February 1956, when he opened for Little Jimmie Dickens -- only weeks before "Heartbreak Hotel" made Presley a star. He got Elvis's autograph, and soon was lip-synching Elvis numbers on his front stoop for the neighborhood kids. Those young friends remember Gram Connor as smart, charismatic, and prone to spinning wild tales.
The next year Avis Connor sent her son to the Bolles School, a military prep school in Jacksonville, Florida. His stay was interrupted when his father killed himself with a .38 caliber bullet to the head in December of 1958. Coon Dog Connor had grown to feel trapped in his job with the Snively family business, and perhaps in his marriage as well. His son was seriously shaken; within a few months, he was kicked out of Bolles because of disciplinary problems.
He returned to Winter Haven, where his mother had married Robert Ellis Parsons, described by sources of Fong-Torres as a transparent fortune hunter. Bob Parsons immediately adopted Gram Connor and his little sister Avis as his own children, which his wife's family regarded as part of an effort to get hold of the Snively fortune.
Gram Parsons, by 1959 a thirteen-year-old ladykiller, became more interested in music. Elvis's career was in eclipse, and Philadelphia pretty boys like Bobby Vee and Bobby Vinton dominated radio. Parsons had no use for the American Bandstand brigade; he still preferred the first-generation rockers and the R&B bands that toured the Southern frat-party circuit.


The Pacers

In 1960, the eighth-grade Parsons joined his first band, the Pacers. He was the lead singer; the others were older guys from Winter Haven High. The Pacers covered Elvis songs to the delight of the local high school girls. After a year with the clean-cut Pacers, Gram defected to a rival local band that had several promising musicians.


The Legends

Parsons became the lead singer for the Legends, another rock and roll cover band. Other members included Jim Carlton on upright bass, Lamar Braxton on drums, and future hitmaker on lead guitar. The Legends covered Ray Charles and , Little Richard and , Duane Eddy and the Ventures. It was a loose aggregation; later members included on drums, on guitar, and Kent LaVoie, who also achieved fame in the early '70s as . The Legends earned a decent living for a high school band, playing gigs in Winter Haven and around Florida. They even earned a regular slot on a local TV dance show.
By 1962, Parsons had involved himself in several musical side projects while still a member of the Legends. He sometimes sat in on keyboards with Kent LaVoie's full-time band, the Rumors. As the folk music boom filtered onto the charts, Parsons also started dabbling in that genre. Occasionally he would play solo gigs with an acoustic guitar. With Legends bassist Jim Carlton, he worked up a folk and comedy duo in the style of the Smothers Brothers. Next, Parsons put together the Village Vanguards, a folk trio patterned after Peter, Paul & Mary that featured Parsons, his girlfriend Patti Johnson, and his friend Dick McNeer. For the most part, the Vanguards played during intermissions at shows by the Legends.
Meanwhile, Avis Parsons had given birth to a daughter by her new husband, but before long Bob Parsons was spending an unseemly amount of time with their 18-year-old babysitter. Avis Parsons in turn became increasingly dependent on alcohol and on the pharmacopoeia she had accumulated with the help of a neighboring doctor. Gram Parsons began to sample from her medicine cabinet as well.
With music, girls and pills to distract him from his schoolwork, he failed his junior year at Winter Haven High. Patti Johnson's father prevented an attempted elopement with Parsons that summer, incidentally putting an end to the Vanguards. Family friends pulled strings, and in fall of 1963, Parsons returned to the Bolles School, now a college prep school with no military ties, to repeat his junior year. Without Parsons, the Legends dissolved.


The Shilos

Greenville, South Carolina was the home of Buddy Freeman, an old family friend who began to manage Parsons. Freeman had no prior music experience but threw himself into the job with enthusiasm. As a result, the young singer developed a following in Greenville. In 1963, Parsons played a teen music show there on local television. An area deejay saw the program and asked Parsons to judge a talent contest and sing a couple numbers.
Before the show, Parsons met two-thirds of a singing trio from the area called the Shilos. They discovered a mutual appreciation for and ran through one of their songs backstage. The resulting harmony impressed them all. The next night Parsons chose the Shilos as the winners of the contest and the prize money, after which the group joined him onstage to perform. (Remarkably, none of the other contestants protested.)
Before long, the 17-year-old Gram Parsons was a member of the Shilos. The other members -- Paul Surratt, Joe Kelly, and George Wrigley -- were also in high school, but the addition of Parsons and the hustling of Freeman led to impressive success for the band. The Shilos played dances, coffee houses, colleges, and TV shows; in time they commanded several hundred dollars per performance.
In the summer of 1964, the Shilos spent a month a New York City. They played often at the small Café Rafio, but also performed at more prestigious venues like the Bitter End and Café Wha. They managed to ingratiate themselves with their idols the Journeymen, so much so that Dick Weissman and Parsons recorded some tracks together -- tracks which are now, sadly, lost. even brought the Shilos to the office of Albert Grossman, manager. A Grossman underling was intrigued, but balked when he learned the Shilos were all too young to sign a contract.
The Shilos returned South. In March of 1965, they recorded nine tracks at the radio station of Bob Jones University, a Greenville religious college (which became famous in the '80s for refusing to integrate). These tracks surfaced many years later on Gram Parsons: The Early Years, Volume I (1963-1965) (Sierra, 1979). Among the songs were two by Journeyman Dick Weissman, and most interestingly, a version of Pete Seeger's "Bells of Rhymney" that predates the Byrds' version by several months.


The Early Years: 1963-1965.
Courtesy .

The record shows a young group very much fixated on the sound of the Journeymen and the Kingston Trio. But by early 1965, that form of folk music was being drowned out by Beatlemania -- and soon it would be displaced by the folk rock of Dylan and the Byrds. Not surprisingly, the group's attempts to generate record company interest in the demo proved fruitless.
Parsons's high school graduation arrived in June of '65. That same morning he learned that his mother had died of alcohol poisoning after a period of hospitalization. Aside from her husband's conduct, Avis Parsons had other troubles: she had been embroiled in a bitter internecine legal struggle over her brother's management of the Snively businesses -- a struggle that helped cause the loss of the entire family fortune by 1974. These emotional strains worsened her substance abuse so much that her death was no surprise to the family.
Bob Parsons soon moved to Florida and married the family's babysitter, though she was only a few years older than the teenaged Gram. Despite considerable strain in their relations, Bob Parsons helped his step-son wangle a draft deferment (on the grounds that he was supposedly 4-F), and encouraged him to apply to Harvard.
"I did a back-dive into Harvard," Parsons said in a 1972 Warner/Reprise PR bio. "They were looking to break out of their traditional mold of choosing students, and I was way out of the traditional mold." His grades and test scores were unimpressive, so his own assessment seems plausible: "I guess they figured they had enough class presidents and maybe they needed a few beatniks." The young singer arrived in Cambridge in the fall of '65.



What's up with the strange end of country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons? November 14, 1997

Dear Cecil:

While watching a recent interview with Emmylou Harris, I was horrified when a member of the audience asked a rather personal question about Gram Parsons ("Why did Gram Parsons kill himself at such a young age?"). Ms. Harris handled the question gracefully and moved on to other, more pertinent topics (the sad state of commercial country music), but the question got me thinking. I've been a fan of Parsons's music but don't really know all that much about him as a person, other than he died young and there was some controversy surrounding his death. Can you fill me in?

— Jamie D., East Lansing, Michigan

Dear Jamie:

Glad to. Some guys lead weird lives, some guys have weird deaths. Not everybody has a weird cremation.

Gram Parsons has become something of a cult figure in the music business. He never hit it big, and few outside a small circle remember him now. But people who ought to know say he was one of the pioneers behind the country-rock phenomenon of the late 60s and early 70s. A member of the Byrds for a short time, Parsons was the creative force behind their 1968 country album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo, which many consider a classic. He went on to form the Flying Burrito Brothers and later invited then unknown Emmylou Harris out to LA to sing on his solo album, GP (1973), helping to launch her career. He hung out with the Rolling Stones (his influence can be heard on several cuts from Exile on Main Street) and had a big impact on Elvis Costello, Linda Ronstadt, Tom Petty, and the Eagles. Remember New Riders of the Purple Sage and Pure Prairie League? They owed a lot to Parsons. He's received many posthumous honors and musical tributes; Emmylou Harris is working on a tribute album now, 25 years after his death. Best of all, he was born Ingram Cecil Connor III (Parsons came from his stepfather), and you gotta love a guy with a name like that.

Parsons wasn't a suicide, but he killed himself all right. Blessed with charm and cash (his mother's family had made a pile in the citrus business), he got into booze and drugs early. In September 1973 he finished recording an album and went with some friends to an inn at Joshua Tree National Monument, one of his favorite places. The group spent much of the day by the pool getting tanked. By evening Gram looked like hell and went to his room to sleep. Later, on their way out for some food, his friends were unable to rouse him, so they left, returning a little before midnight. By that time Parsons was pretty far gone. Taken to a hospital, he was pronounced dead shortly after midnight on September 19. A lab analysis found large amounts of alcohol and morphine in his system; apparently the combination killed him. News coverage of his demise was eclipsed by the death of Jim Croce around the same time. Parsons was 26 years old.

So far, your typical live-fast-die-young story. Then it gets strange. Before his death Parsons had said that he wanted to be cremated at Joshua Tree and have his ashes spread over Cap Rock, a prominent natural feature there. But after his death his stepfather arranged to have the body shipped home for a private funeral, to which none of his low-life music buddies were invited. Said buddies would have none of it. Fortified by beer and vodka, they decided to steal Parsons's body and conduct their own last rites.

Having ferreted out the shipping arrangements, Phil Kaufman (Parsons's road manager) and another man drove out to the airport in a borrowed hearse, fed the poor schmuck in charge of the body a load of baloney about a last-minute change of plans, signed the release "Jeremy Nobody," and made off with Parsons's remains. They bought five gallons of gas, drove 150 miles to Joshua Tree, and by moonlight dragged the coffin as close to Cap Rock as they could. Kaufman pried open the lid to reveal Parsons's naked cadaver, poured in the gas, and tossed in a match. A massive fireball erupted. The authorities gave chase but, as one account puts it, "were encumbered by sobriety," and the desperadoes escaped.

The men were tracked down a few days later, but there was no law against stealing a body, so they were charged with stealing the coffin or, as one cop put it, "Gram Theft Parsons." (Cops are such a riot.) Convicted, they were ordered to pay $750, the cost of the coffin. What was left of Parsons was buried in New Orleans.

So, youthful high jinks or breathless stupidity? All I know is, I'd want my friends to show a little more enterprise keeping me alive than torching my corpse.

— Cecil Adams