Grand Theft Parsons : The Cult Of Gram Parsons


"He is the patron saint of alternative country, a role model for a nation of Ryan Adamses"
Neil Strauss, the New York Times



Gram Parsons is a modern country cult hero, probably known more for influencing other artists than appreciated in his own right. Parsons was one of the first long haired boys on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Though he never had a great commercial success his music influenced many of today's country and rock performers from The Rolling Stones to Fleetwood Mac. His duets with Emmylou Harris launched her onto a successful career in country and though recorded twenty years ago are still state of the art. As Neil Strauss wrote in the New York Times in December 2002, "For someone who sabotaged himself so much - who often put the musicians he worked with second to his musical vision, who could be difficult to work with in the studio and who got so drunk and high that he exasperated those around him - Parsons still managed to be the force behind five of the greatest albums of the late 60's and early 70's. They were "Exile on Main Street," by the Rolling Stones, a record he influenced but didn't play on; "Sweetheart of the Rodeo," by the Byrds, though more than half of Parsons' vocals were replaced in the final version; "The Gilded Palace of Sin" by his band the Flying Burrito Brothers, and his two solo albums… "GP" and "Grievous Angel." Even the Eagles, to some extent, spun out of the Flying Burrito Brothers."


In the 1970s country music was politically incorrect and associated with right wing republicans but to Parsons it was "cosmic American music". At a time when country music and rock music were poles apart, he alone thought they belonged together. Dwight Yoakam says in the BBC documentary series, Lost Highway, "I really do believe that there probably never would have been a 'country rock' movement if there hadn't been Gram Parsons." In the words of Emmylou Harris, "Until I'd met Gram and started working with him, I didn’t really understand or have a real love or feel for country music… He taught me the beauty and the poetry, the simplicity, the honesty in the music and the love of harmony came from really singing with him...My whole artistic life was bound up in working with him… after his death it was almost like, well, what would Gram do?" Emmylou went on to write Boulder to Birmingham in 1975 to enable her to come to terms with Gram's death. Yoakam says, "When I listen to Gram Parsons sing with Emmylou I feel the kind of melancholy that only comes from youthful innocence. It was not just music of the jaded and whisky soaked. It was also the music of the disillusioning experiences of youth."


Born Ingram Cecil Connor III, Parsons hailed from a Southern family that was wealthy but troubled. His maternal grandfather had founded a citrus and real estate empire. Gram Parsons’ mother, Avis, died of alcohol poisoning on the day Parsons graduated from high school. He attended Harvard for four months before dropping out and moving to New York, where he set up the International Submarine Band.

In 1968, Parsons joined the Byrds as their keyboard player before graduating to vocals and featuring on the "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" album. That summer, while on tour, Parsons left the Byrds to spend time with the Rolling Stones where he became close friends with Keith Richards. "It's my observation that Gram Parsons thought that he had Keith Richards' metabolism," said Phil Kaufman, who was working with the Stones when he met Parsons. "The two of them hung out and said they had a common love for music and a common love for drugs. Keith can eat nails and sweat rust, and Gram thought he could too." Parsons provided the Stones with a crash course in country music. "Country music was really hokey to them before that", says Kaufman, "the Stones wanted to learn country music and Gram had it." When Parsons formed the Flying Burrito Brothers in 1968 with Chris Hillman of the Byrds, the Stones allowed the band to be the first to record "Wild Horses".


The Flying Burrito Brothers' first album, "The Gilded Palace of Sin," was, according to Neil Strauss, "the turning point for the rock and country crossover." Parsons' drug and alcohol addiction caused rifts and he left the band to record two solo albums, "GP" and "Grievous Angel" with a 25-year-old Emmylou Harris on back-up harmonies.

After finishing "Grievous Angel" Gram and three friends went to Joshua Tree to get high and commune with nature. After a day of drinking Gram started overdosing. He was just 26. At the time of Parsons' death the Stones were on tour in Innsbruck and Keith Richards went on a three day binge to come to terms with the news. In a 2002 Rolling Stone article Keith Richards was asked who he missed the most during his long career and his answer was "Gram Parsons".


In recent years the cult of Gram Parsons has had something of a lift with tribute concerts and albums featuring Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow and Beck. Two Parsons fans have bought the Joshua Tree Inn, where Parsons died, which they intend to preserve in part as a shrine and die-hard Parsons fans have even been given a name - "grampires". Yet there's still a long way to go before Parsons gets the recognition he deserves. His ghost has been excised from the Joshua Tree National Park tourist literature and during the filming of Grand Theft Parsons none of the park rangers claimed to have any knowledge of the Kaufman/Parsons story. Johnny Knoxville says, "He's up there with David Bowie and Johnny Cash for me. Coupled with his death and what happened with his body, that smacks of cult following to me."