Album: GP
Artist: Gram Parsons
Born: Winter Haven, Florida
Released: January 1973
Genre: Country Rock
Influenced: Elvis Costello, The Modern Lovers, Nick Lowe, Ryan Adams, Bonnie Prince Billy
Gram Parsons and his music are beyond easy definition. He was raised by wealthy parents and went to Harvard, but suffered great personal tragedy and discovered country music as a teenager. Moving to LA, his records with the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers were dismissed by the country music establishment on the grounds of impurity (long haired hippies with electric guitars playing hybrid country rock in marijuana-themed nudie suits). Parsons himself descried his sound as "cosmic American music", with soul an equally important influence on his songs as country and rock & roll. Time spent with the Stones in exile and drug use, especially heroin, took a heavy toll on Parsons in the early 70s and it was an encounter with Emmylou Harris and a new record deal that gave him the impetus to record his first solo album, GP. As celebrated in that catchy First Aid Kit song, Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris' relationship is now seen as one of the great country music love affairs, on a par with Johnny Cash & June Carter. There's very little footage online of them performing together; this is the best quality video I could find.
As well as Emmylou, Gram also recruited some of the backing band of his hero, Elvis Presley, for the recording of GP, including guitarist James Burton. This line-up would play on both solo albums, GP and Grievous Angel. I bought a double CD copy of both albums as a teenager, and would listen to it all the way through as if it were one indistinguishable whole. The songwriting is stronger on GP, but they're both great records. She is one of the standout tracks, a song written by Parsons with ex-Burrito Brother Chris Ethridge that explores the same themes of doomed love found in Hot Burrito #1. My real favourite though is A Song For You, not least for the way Parsons stretches his voice to hit the emotional high notes backed by the clear melodies of Emmylou. The songwriting is mysterious and mournful but never fails to move me ("oh, take me down to your dance floor / I won't mind the people when they stare"). How Much I Lied is like a companion piece to Love Hurts on follow-up album Grievous Angel, full of heartbreak, self-loathing and tenderness. As Emmylou says in this brilliant Independent interview, in which she reflects on her time with Gram, "I get a great joy out of singing sad songs. It's why country music works well for me."
Gram Parsons and his music are beyond easy definition. He was raised by wealthy parents and went to Harvard, but suffered great personal tragedy and discovered country music as a teenager. Moving to LA, his records with the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers were dismissed by the country music establishment on the grounds of impurity (long haired hippies with electric guitars playing hybrid country rock in marijuana-themed nudie suits). Parsons himself descried his sound as "cosmic American music", with soul an equally important influence on his songs as country and rock & roll. Time spent with the Stones in exile and drug use, especially heroin, took a heavy toll on Parsons in the early 70s and it was an encounter with Emmylou Harris and a new record deal that gave him the impetus to record his first solo album, GP. As celebrated in that catchy First Aid Kit song, Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris' relationship is now seen as one of the great country music love affairs, on a par with Johnny Cash & June Carter. There's very little footage online of them performing together; this is the best quality video I could find.
As well as Emmylou, Gram also recruited some of the backing band of his hero, Elvis Presley, for the recording of GP, including guitarist James Burton. This line-up would play on both solo albums, GP and Grievous Angel. I bought a double CD copy of both albums as a teenager, and would listen to it all the way through as if it were one indistinguishable whole. The songwriting is stronger on GP, but they're both great records. She is one of the standout tracks, a song written by Parsons with ex-Burrito Brother Chris Ethridge that explores the same themes of doomed love found in Hot Burrito #1. My real favourite though is A Song For You, not least for the way Parsons stretches his voice to hit the emotional high notes backed by the clear melodies of Emmylou. The songwriting is mysterious and mournful but never fails to move me ("oh, take me down to your dance floor / I won't mind the people when they stare"). How Much I Lied is like a companion piece to Love Hurts on follow-up album Grievous Angel, full of heartbreak, self-loathing and tenderness. As Emmylou says in this brilliant Independent interview, in which she reflects on her time with Gram, "I get a great joy out of singing sad songs. It's why country music works well for me."
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