The sum of Gram Parsons' parts and how you can measure your life's impact. His place in music history is as mysterious as it is meaningful. His exit was as swift and jarring as his entry. He came out of nowhere and was everywhere all at once. A trust fund baby turned champion of country music - and then some.
There are many tribute albums with current musicians singing the songs of Gram. There is one I think tops all the rest. It's out of print and not easy to find. There is a YouTube playlist with all the songs. It's worth listening to. Chrissie Hyde, Emmy Lou, Lucidna Williams, David Crosby, Wilco, Evils Costello, Ryan Adams, Cowboy Junkies, Beck, Whiskeytown, Evan Dando, Julian Hatfield, Steve Earle. It's good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn-3W2WL08o&list=PLE8xfi3WEfBihPHtG_v7W0syILDDPtl81
Great piece of one of my favorite musicians. I came to him kinda backwards, through my love for Emmy Lou and Clarence White. Grams persona totally fits the songwriting. Or I wonder if the songs created the persona!
A friend of mine who's the biggest GP fan I know has a correction for you: he said Gram's maternal grandfather, not his father, was the citrus magnate. His father worked for his maternal grandfather.
This is great, Judd. I'm a big GP fan, and even I learned a few things in here. Agree 100% about the tribute album. I love Chrissie Hynde's cover of "She" (one of my favorite GP songs) and Evan Dando's "$1,000 Wedding," another classic. Check out my substack, "Matt Berenson's Newsletter for Music Obsessives," if you haven't already. I'm pretty confident you'll discover music there you've never heard before that will blow your mind. My last post was about the 60 Best Debut albums of the last 60 Years. Can't believe I didn't include "Gilded Palace of Sin." Huge oversight.
"You live eternally as a music luminary, or you die in infamy with a bunch of ice cubes shoved up your ass. Take your pick."
Love this ^
Me too! I have hung on to wayyyy too many cd's, but that's one I'm glad to still own.
There are many tribute albums with current musicians singing the songs of Gram. There is one I think tops all the rest. It's out of print and not easy to find. There is a YouTube playlist with all the songs. It's worth listening to. Chrissie Hyde, Emmy Lou, Lucidna Williams, David Crosby, Wilco, Evils Costello, Ryan Adams, Cowboy Junkies, Beck, Whiskeytown, Evan Dando, Julian Hatfield, Steve Earle. It's good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn-3W2WL08o&list=PLE8xfi3WEfBihPHtG_v7W0syILDDPtl81
Great piece of one of my favorite musicians. I came to him kinda backwards, through my love for Emmy Lou and Clarence White. Grams persona totally fits the songwriting. Or I wonder if the songs created the persona!
A friend of mine who's the biggest GP fan I know has a correction for you: he said Gram's maternal grandfather, not his father, was the citrus magnate. His father worked for his maternal grandfather.
This is great, Judd. I'm a big GP fan, and even I learned a few things in here. Agree 100% about the tribute album. I love Chrissie Hynde's cover of "She" (one of my favorite GP songs) and Evan Dando's "$1,000 Wedding," another classic. Check out my substack, "Matt Berenson's Newsletter for Music Obsessives," if you haven't already. I'm pretty confident you'll discover music there you've never heard before that will blow your mind. My last post was about the 60 Best Debut albums of the last 60 Years. Can't believe I didn't include "Gilded Palace of Sin." Huge oversight.