Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons is best known for anticipating the country rock movement of the 1970s and the alt-country movement that began around 1990. Parsons described his records as Cosmic American Music. By 1968, Parsons had come to the attention of Chris Hillman of The Byrds who were seeking new members. Originally conceived as a history of twentieth-century music, Sweetheart of the Rodeo was their only album with Parsons as a member. Parsons was joined by Hillman to form the Flying Burrito Brothers. Their 1969 album The Gilded Palace Of Sin was a modernized version of the Bakersfield style of country music made popular by Buck Owens, and the band appeared on the album cover wearing Nudie suits emblazoned with all sorts of hippie accoutrements. After hearing Emmylou Harris sing in a small club in Washington, D.C. They became friends and, within a year, he asked her to join him in Los Angeles for another attempt to record his first solo album. The two were to eventually record two albums, GP in 1973 and the posthumously-released Grievous Angel in 1974. Parsons died September 19, 1973 in Yucca Valley, California at the age of 26 from a drug overdose, purportedly of morphine and tequila. In a story that has taken on legendary stature, Parsons' body disappeared from the Los Angeles International Airport and his former road manager, Phil Kaufman, and a friend managed to steal Parson's body from the airport and, in a borrowed hearse, drove Parsons' body to Joshua Tree where they cremated it. More information about Gram Parsons can be found at: Wikipedia and at Larry Clug's excellent and authoritative Gram Parsons Homepage
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