super groovy delicious bite: gram parsons

The Flying Burrito Brothers built the perfect bridge between rock and country with the Bakersfield blues meditations of this sinfully sweet underground classic. Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons had met while they were both members of the Byrds working on the album 'Sweetheart of the Rodeo'; and both of them left the band during the tour that followed. The pair met up again in Los Angeles and moved into a house in the San Fernando Valley they called "Burrito Manor." They teamed up with Chris Ethridge and "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow to form The Flying Burrito Brothers, taking the name from a group started by Parson's old bandmates Ian Dunlop and Mickey Gauvin, the rhythm section from the first incarnation of International Submarine Band.

'The Gilded Palace of Sin' features Gram Parsons on harmony and lead vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, and organ; Chris Hillman on harmony, lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and mandolin; "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow on pedal steel guitar; and Chris Ethridge on bass guitar, piano, and backing vocals; with Jon Corneal playing drums on tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7; Popeye Phillips playing drums on tracks 8, 9, and 11; Eddie Hoh playing drums on tracks 2 and 10; Sam Goldstein playing drums on track 6; David Crosby on backing vocals on track 3; and the Hot Burrito Chorus on backing vocals for track 11. The sessions were produced by The Flying Burrito Brothers, Larry Marks, and Henry Lewy at A&M Records in Hollywood, CA. The sound of the album was a hybrid of gospel, country, rock, and soul that struck a responsive chord with critics; but only made it to number one hundred and sixty-four on the US album chart.

Hillman considers: "To this day the most productive time I've ever had, including all the bands I was ever in, the most productive time was living with [Parsons] in Reseda in 1968 when I was getting a divorce and so was he and we shared a house and we were putting the Burritos together then. We didn't have a drummer, we had Chris Ethridge and Sneaky Pete. We woke up in the morning and we would write every morning.... It was a great time. To this day I've never peaked like that working with other people ... That first album was a lot of fun. It’s funky and it’s crude and technologically not even on the mark for what we were doing then. But it’s got some magic to it...The best thing about the Burrito Brothers experience was plugging into Gram’s insight on the R&B stuff, where he took ‘Do Right Woman,’ which was really a woman’s song [originally cut by Aretha Franklin] and performed it with a man’s point of view. Gram gave that and ‘Dark End of the Street’ – these beautiful rhythm & blues ballads – a country presentation, which really worked wonderfully. That’s where he shined. His knowledge and taste in music was impeccable...I give Gram full credit for getting me into playing R&B. It was not my doing – I was very country-oriented. I loved the older blues thing, but that was something I couldn’t quite ever do. It was ludicrous for a middle-class white surfer kid from California to be trying to do Muddy Waters. Gram had more of an affinity to that, and it certainly opened my eyes to it and the fact of blending it with country...It was too country to get on FM rock radio, and it wasn’t slick or polished enough to get on country radio. But I’m sure we influenced lots of musicians out there – and that certainly outweighs monetary gain."

Parsons described the sound: “It’s basically a Southern soul group playing country and gospel-oriented music with a steel guitar.”

http://www.theburritobrothers.net/

http://www.chrishillman.com/

http://www.gramparsons.com/

"Christine's Tune" (Parsons, Hillman) - 3:04
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BITiY8M_oDo

"Sin City" (Parsons, Hillman) - 4:11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCqxq6xqoXI

"Do Right Woman" (Chips Moman, Dan Penn) - 3:56
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8mqq1x0rQU

"Dark End of the Street" (Chips Moman, Penn) - 3:58
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VYxdqt4k3A

"My Uncle" (Parsons, Hillman) - 2:37
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9zbia8-dVg

"Wheels" (Hillman, Parsons) - 3:04
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCGbLZO4lGo

"Juanita" (Hillman, Parsons) - 2:31
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0vWVpXHQNQ

"Hot Burrito #1" (Ethridge, Parsons) - 3:40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rrqBsG1yXs

"Hot Burrito #2" (Ethridge, Parsons) - 3:19
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gOeU0MDTmc

"Do You Know How It Feels" (Parsons, Barry Goldberg) - 2:09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVQ1VVHzDdE

"Hippie Boy" (Hillman, Parsons) - 4:55

'The Gilded Palace of Sin'
full album:

Side one
"Christine's Tune" (Parsons, Hillman) - 3:04
"Sin City" (Parsons, Hillman) - 4:11
"Do Right Woman" (Chips Moman, Dan Penn) - 3:56
"Dark End of the Street" (Chips Moman, Penn) - 3:58
"My Uncle" (Parsons, Hillman) - 2:37
Side two
"Wheels" (Hillman, Parsons) - 3:04
"Juanita" (Hillman, Parsons) - 2:31
"Hot Burrito #1" (Ethridge, Parsons) - 3:40
"Hot Burrito #2" (Ethridge, Parsons) - 3:19
"Do You Know How It Feels" (Parsons, Barry Goldberg) - 2:09
"Hippie Boy" (Hillman, Parsons) - 4:55

Flying Burrito Brothers
Fillmore East,NYC
November 7,1970 Late Show

1. Lazy Days 00:27
2. One Hundred Years From Now 4:14
3. My Uncle 7:08
4. Cody Cody 9:48
5. Christine's Tune 12:45
6. Am A Pilgrim 17:45
7. Dixie Breakdown 21:19
8. Hand Jive 24:15
9. Wild Horses 28:10
10. Feel Good Music 33:11
11. Hot Burrito # 2 36:57
12. Six Days On The Road 41:45

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.