Gram Parsons went down twenty thousand roads to head straight back home with this poignant cosmic cowboy country rock. Cecil Ingram Connor III weathered a troubled childhood and was inspired to play in rock and roll bands in his teenage years after seeing Elvis Presley perform live. He moved on to folk; and, while studying at Harvard Divinity School, he saw Merle Haggard and became obsessed with country music, forming the International Submarine Band. The group moved to Los Angeles and recorded 'Safe at Home' for LHI Records in 1967. The next year he was recruited by the Byrds for their album 'Sweetheart of the Rodeo' on Colombia Records. He was instrumental in steering the album toward a more country sound; but his involvement was contested by LHI and Roger McGuinn rerecorded new vocals for three of the songs on which Parsons had sung. Parsons left the band while they were in England planning a tour to South Africa. During this time he also developed a friendship with Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. When he returned to Los Angeles he reconnected with Chris Hillman, who had also left the Byrds and together they formed the Flying Burrito Brothers, recording two albums of country rock for A&M Records ('The Gilded Palace of Sin' and 'Burrito Deluxe'). Both albums sold poorly; but were influential as they bridged country and rock like never before.
Parsons signed a solo deal with A&M and did some sessions with Terry Melcher; but not much came of it as they were both lost in a haze of heroin and cocaine. He accompanied the Rolling Stones on tour and moved in with Keith Richards at Villa Nellcôte during the recording of 'Exile on Main Street'. Parsons and Richards spent a lot of time playing music together and doing lots of drugs; exacerbating Parson's tempestuous relationship with Gretchen Burrell and contributing to their being asked to leave by Richards' girlfriend Anita Pallenberg. Back in the states, Parsons and Burrell got married; and then, while visiting friends in England, Parsons was able to kick heroin. After doing a one off show with the Burrito Brothers, Chris Hillman suggested that Gram go and see Emmylou Harris perform at a club in Washington D.C.; after which Parsons invited her to come to Los Angeles and sing on his debut solo album, 'GP'. The album also featured Elvis Presley's guitarist James Burton.
Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels did a tour for the album with a new lineup that featured Harris singing duets with Gram, a situation that created problems with Gretchen. Parsons would express at the time: "I was trying to find out more about everything I wanted to do and the kind of way I wanted to do it and it's sometimes not as easy as just popping a pill and sitting down and having a big lightbulb shine above your head. Sometimes you have to really get down into it and clean out all the old ideas. It takes a while sometimes. You shouldn't expect miracles or anything. But it's come along; it's coming together...All that matters is that you play music...I played a lot of sessions but I played mostly with friends. It's a hard thing to do making a living; but I have some good friends. They all wanted to play music and that kept it going. I just ain't into the old group thing too much anymore. I like working as a solo artist and there are a couple of people I like to sing with and if they want to stick around, fine. But I think a lot of musicians these days feel that they don't want to be tied into an organization inside a record company. Its a lot like being in the penitentiary. They'd rather work just as solo freelance people. I mean, get connected and get an identification with a couple of people, sure. If that happens fine. But people should understand that you can't stick together as 'Billy, Fuzzy, and Bobby' for very long."
His second album 'Grievous Angel' was recorded during the summer 1973 at Wally Heider Studio 4 in Hollywood, California. The sessions featured Gram Parsons on production, lead vocals and acoustic guitar; Emmylou Harris on vocals on all songs except "Brass Buttons"; Glen D. Hardin on piano and electric piano on "Brass Buttons"; James Burton on electric lead guitar; Emory Gordy, Jr. on bass; Ronnie Tutt on drums; Herb Pedersen on acoustic rhythm guitar and electric rhythm guitar on "I Can't Dance"; Al Perkins on pedal steel; with Bernie Leadon on acoustic guitar on "Return of the Grievous Angel", electric lead guitar on "Hearts on Fire", and dobro on "In My Hour of Darkness"; Byron Berline on fiddle on "Return of the Grievous Angel", "Medley Live from Northern Quebec" & "In My Hour of Darkness", mandolin on "Medley"; N.D. Smart on drums on "Hearts on Fire" and "In My Hour of Darkness"; Steve Snyder on vibes on "Medley Live from Northern Quebec"; Linda Ronstadt on harmony vocal on "In My Hour of Darkness"; and Kim Fowley, Phil Kaufman, Ed Tickner, Jane & Jon Doe doing the "Background blah-blah" on "Medley Live from Northern Quebec". When the sessions were over, Parsons separated from Gretchen and went to Joshua Tree National Park with his childhood sweetheart Margaret Fisher, with whom he had recently reconnected. While there, he overdosed on morphine and tequila and died just after midnight on September 19, 1973.
Harris reveals: "I felt he was on the upswing. He had stopped drinking. He seemed to me like he had more and more sober moments. He seemed healthier. But I do remember Bernie Leadon coming over. We had a funny old softball game, just a bunch of crazy hippies pretending they knew how throw a ball, Phil Kaufman being the umpire - just a fun day, out in the sun. And I heard Bernie say, 'Gram looks terrible.' And I thought, 'It's not true - he doesn't look terrible.' In my mind, because I had got so close to him, and because he was sober, I could only see that he was getting better; getting out of an abyss. Maybe I was just in denial, I don't know. But his death came as a real shock to me, because I thought that if he had been in any danger, he had escaped, or he was on his way out of that... A lot of that had to do with my naivete. And just being young and thinking, 'Well, this just can't possibly happen.' And also, he was so important in my life. I was looking to him for so much. And the music had become so important: I was a part of something that seemed bigger than both of us. All I could see was the future, and all the work we were going to do, and all the great music we were going to make. It just seemed like it was the beginning, instead of the end. It never occurred to me that it could be the end ... Working with Gram was a wonderful experience. He was wildly misunderstood, too country for the rockers and too weird for the Nashville establishment. But he had a vision and a love for those old Louvins harmonies that was intense and powerful...I had no fire in me until Gram died; but afterwards I felt strongly that I had to continue his work. It was hard going solo but my attitude was always, ‘How would Gram do this?’ and somehow my sound evolved."
'Grievous Angel' was released in January of 1974 and only charted at number one hundred and ninety five. It remains an underground classic.
http://www.gramparsons.com/
http://www.gramparsonsproject.com/
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKxFoJnNQYJC0kfZJI4v38WFuuzwdyX4H
https://myspace.com/gramparsons/music/album/grievous-angel-10986843
full album:
"Return of the Grievous Angel" (Gram Parsons, Thomas Brown) – 4:19
Won't you scratch my itch sweet Annie Rich
And welcome me back to town
Come out on your porch or I'll step into your parlour
And I'll show you how it all went down
Out with the truckers and the kickers and the cowboy angels
And a good saloon in every single town
And I remember something you once told me
And I'll be damned if it did not come true
Twenty thousand roads I went down, down, down
And they all lead me straight back home to you
'Cause I headed West to grow up with the country
Across those prairies with the waves of grain
And I saw my devil, and I saw my deep blue sea
And I thought about a calico bonnet from Cheyenne to Tennessee
We flew straight across that river bridge, last night half past two
The switch-man wave his lantern goodbye and good day as we went rolling through
Billboards and truck stops pass by the grievous angel
And now I know just what I have to do
And the man on the radio won't leave me alone
He wants to take my money for something that I've never been shown
And I saw my devil, and I saw my deep blue see
And I thought about a calico bonnet from Cheyenne to Tennessee
The news I could bring I met up with the king
On his head an amphetamine crown
He talked about unbuckling that old bible belt
And lighted out for some desert town
Out with the truckers and the kickers and the cowboy angels
And a good saloon in every single town
And I remember something you once told me
And I'll be damned if it did not come true
Twenty thousand roads I went down, down, down
And they all lead me straight back home to you
Twenty thousand roads I went down, down, down
And they all lead me straight back home to you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PytxPaU6k4
"Hearts on Fire" (Walter Egan, Tom Guidera) – 3:50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDDh-CHZyA4
"I Can't Dance" (Tom T. Hall) – 2:20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BXUdxNi1j8
"Brass Buttons" (Parsons) – 3:27
"$1000 Wedding" (Parsons) – 5:00
"Medley Live from Northern Quebec:"
(a) "Cash on the Barrelhead" (Charlie Louvin, Ira Louvin) – 2:12
(b) "Hickory Wind" (Parsons, Bob Buchanan) – 4:15
"Love Hurts" (Boudleaux Bryant) – 3:40
"Las Vegas" (Parsons, Ric Grech) – 3:29
"In My Hour of Darkness" (Parsons, Emmylou Harris) – 3:42
"Sleepless Nights" was the intended title track.
"The Angels Rejoiced in Heaven Last Night"
"Brand New Heartache"
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