Alan Morgan 12-4-13 Student #: S00778534 Gram Parsons

Ingram Cecil Connor III was born on November 5th, 1946 to parents, Ingram Cecil, Coon Dog, Connor, and Avis Snively Connor, in Winter Haven, Florida. Ingram was raised in the small town of Waycross, Georgia and would later adopt the name, Gram Parsons, following his fathers suicide during Grams adolescence. Parsons mother was the heiress to a citrus-growing fortune, and sent Gram to a prestigious boarding school in Florida prior to his attendance at Harvard University. It was at Harvard that Gram grew very fond of traditional country music, discovering the likes of Merle Haggard and decided that music was his lifes calling. Following a stint in New York, where Parsons formed his first band, The International Submarine Band, he would move out West where his sound and musical style would perpetuate, ultimately resulting in his association with California bands such as the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Despite his struggle with drugs and alcohol, Gram became a well-known innovator in what we now know as country-rock or, Alternative Country. To preface the story of Gram Parsons life, it is important to know that in the years after his untimely death, many of his friends and family would agree that Grams life was on a destructive path from the beginning. Former Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers member and friend, Chris Hillman, described Parsons life as a, Tennessee Williams-style, Southern Gothic. Grams fondness for drugs and alcohol

began to prevail following the suicide of his father, and then later the death of his mother from an alcohol-related disease in 1965. In 1968, shortly after relocating to Los Angeles, Gram was invited to audition for the piano spot in the West-Coast rock n roll band, the Byrds. Though Parsons was hired to play piano in the band, he quickly took over as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitar player and influenced the band to go to Nashville to record, Sweetheart of the Rodeo. The record was intended to evolve from bluegrass to rock, but ended up being a full-length country album. Despite Gram recording the lead vocal spot, and writing several tunes on the album, the vocals later had to be stripped, almost entirely, due to a disagreement with a previous record label. Just as the Byrds were preparing to strip Gram from his deciding role in the band, Gram quit while in London for refusing to travel to South Africa because of their apartheid laws. Shortly after Gram departed from the Byrds, he contacted Chris Hillman, a founding member of the Byrds, to form a new country-inspired rock group that would be called, The Flying Burrito Brothers. The two hired bass player, Chris Ethridge and pedal-steel player, Sneaky Pete Kleinow to round out the new formation. The Burritos, primarily Parsons, had a very specific sound in mind and ultimately become known as, the pioneers of country-rock, following their debut album, Gilded Palace of Sin. The album featured a range of songs that came from both traditional country writers, and from Gram Parsons and his co-writers. Today, the album would most certainly be pushed into the traditional country genre, but at the time, the bands use of effect pedals, and the subject matter in songs such as Parsons, Hot Burrito #1, were cutting edge and not accepted in the hardcore

country community. The band would only come to achieve minor success, mostly due to their opening slots with the Rolling Stones, who had become close friends with Parsons. Following the release of the Flying Burrito Brothers second album, Gram Parsons agreed with Chris Hillman to leave the band due to Hillmans discontent with Grams sloppy drug-induced behavior, and failure to hold it together on stage. Following the years that Parsons spent with the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers, he wanted to continue blending the genres of country and rock music, and would do so on his own, without the input from a band. Gram spent 1971 hanging out with the Rolling Stones, primarily Keith Richards playing obscure traditional country songs and learning from each other. The Stones had to ask the oftenincapacitated Parsons to leave their camp later that year. Gram flew back to the US and discovered a talented young vocalist and folk singer from the East Coast, Emmylou Harris. Parsons convinced Harris to move out to LA shortly after meeting each other to sing with him in his newly formed band formation; Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels. The new formation featured a sprawl of session players that were already well known and highly regarded in both the country and rock world, as well as Emmylou Harris as Parsons vocal duet partner. The pairing of the twos vocals began making waves in the music industry and would become a template for many male/female vocal partners in the future. The Fallen Angel Band continued to play live shows throughout the US in 1972 and 1973, embarking on sometimes wild and sloppy tours led by road manager, Phil Kaufman, who had met Gram through his affiliation with the Rolling

Stones. Gram and the Fallen Angels recorded their debut album, titled, GP in early 1973 and featured the work of Elvis Presleys guitar player, James Burton. The album received good reviews but did not place highly on the music charts; primarily because nobody knew whether it was a country or a rock n roll album. Grams personal life would continue to crumble around him that year, and following the recording of his second solo album, Grievous Angel, Parsons and some friends traveled to their favorite spot in the desert; Joshua Tree National Monument, to relax before his upcoming tour. Gram Parsons was found dead in his hotel room at the Joshua Tree Inn on September 19th, 1973 from an overdose of morpheme and alcohol. Earlier that year, while attending the funeral of Clarence White, Parsons and road manager Phil Kaufman made a pact that whichever one of them died first; the other would cremate the body at Joshua Tree. Parsons body was scheduled to be flown back to Louisiana to stepfather, Bob Parsons for what has been said to be inheritance purposes. Knowing that this would upset Gram, Phil Kaufman borrowed a hearse, broke in to Los Angeles International Airport and stole Grams body. Kaufman and another friend, (it has never been disclosed who), took the body and the casket to Cap Rock in Joshua Tree, doused the body in five gallons of gasoline and threw a match on it, igniting a huge fireball. The pair fled as police began to arrive and were eventually caught, only being fined $750 dollars, as there was no law against stealing bodies. Gram Parsons legacy holds true today in the form of bands that followed him in creating rock music with country instrumentation, roots-inspired

harmonies and songwriting. Artists such as the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, and then later, Ryan Adams have attributed their sound and inspiration to the music of Gram Parsons. His work with Emmylou Harris continues to be carried on through Harris ever-evolving musical journey, as well as other progressive male/female countryrock outfits. Countless festivals and memorials still occur each year to celebrate the life, innovation and music of Gram Parsons.

Sources: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gram_Parsons All Music; http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gram-parsonsmn0000987491 Rolling Stone; http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/gramparsons