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Ingram Cecil Connor III (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973), known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American musician. He recorded with the International Submarine Band, the Byrds, and the Flying Burrito Brothers, popularizing what he called "Cosmic American Music", a hybrid of country music, rhythm and blues, soul music, folk, and rock music. He has been credited with helping to found the country rock and alt-country genres and received a ranking of No. 87 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Avis was the daughter of citrus fruit magnate John A. Snively, who held extensive properties in Winter Haven, Florida and Waycross, Georgia, where the Connors normally lived. Parsons attended The Bolles School in Jacksonville before transferring to the public Winter Haven High School; after failing his junior year there, he returned to Bolles. On his graduation day, June 5, 1965, his mother died of complications from alcoholism. Robert Parsons had been having an affair with Parsons' half-sister's nanny; they married shortly after Avis’ death. Gram went on to Harvard University, which he attended for one semester. At age 21, he began to receive his annual trust fund income of $30,000 .
The International Submarine Band appeared in the Peter Fonda film The Trip (1967) as a performing band in one of the clubs. Their song "Lazy Days" was offered for the film's soundtrack, but the soundtrack was done by Mike Bloomfield's Electric Flag. In 1967, Peter Fonda recorded a version of Parsons' song "November Nights" titled "November Night". The song was released as a single in March 1967, with Donovan's "Catch the Wind" on the B side.
Although Parsons was an equal contributor to the band, he was not regarded as a full member by the band's label, Columbia Records.Rogan, Johnny. (1998). 095295401X, Rogan House. 095295401X Consequently, when the Byrds' recording contract was renewed on February 29, 1968, it was signed only by original members Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman. Parsons, like fellow new recruit Kevin Kelley, was hired as a sideman and received a salary from McGuinn and Hillman. In later years, this led Hillman to state, "Gram was hired. He was not a member of the Byrds, ever. He was on salary; that was the only way we could get him to turn up." Parsons and Kelley were given equal billing alongside McGuinn and Hillman on the Sweetheart of the Rodeo album, and in press coverage.
Sweetheart of the Rodeo was conceived by McGuinn as a double-album history of American popular music. It was to begin with bluegrass music, then move through Country music, jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock music, before ending with electronic music. However, as recording plans were made, Parsons persuaded the other members to leave Los Angeles and record the album in Nashville. McGuinn's concept was jettisoned in favor of a country project, which included Parsons' songs "One Hundred Years from Now" and "Hickory Wind", and songs by Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie and Merle Haggard.
Recording sessions for Sweetheart of the Rodeo commenced at Columbia Records' recording studios in the Music Row area of Nashville on March 9, 1968. Mid-way through, the sessions moved to Columbia Studios, Hollywood and were completed on May 27, 1968.Rogan, Johnny. (1998). 095295401X, Rogan House. 095295401X However, Parsons was still under contract to LHI Records and Hazlewood threatened legal action over Parsons' appearance on the album. As a result, McGuinn replaced three of Parsons' lead vocals with his own; in 1973, in an interview with Cameron Crowe, Parsons said that McGuinn "erased it and did the vocals himself and fucked it up." Parsons remained as lead vocalist on the songs "You're Still on My Mind", "Life in Prison", and "Hickory Wind".
While in England with the Byrds in the summer of 1968, Parsons left the band over a planned concert tour of South Africa and his opposition to apartheid. During this period Parsons became acquainted with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. After leaving the band, Parsons stayed at Richards' house and the pair developed a close friendship, with Parsons reintroducing the guitarist to country music.
Original drummer Eddie Hoh was unable to perform adequate takes due to a substance abuse problem. He was dismissed after two songs and the band used session drummers, including former International Submarine Band drummer Jon Corneal and Popeye Phillips. Before commencing live performances, the group settled on original Byrds drummer Michael Clarke.
The Gilded Palace of Sin was commercially unsuccessful. Critic Robert Christgau called it "an ominous, obsessive, tongue-in-cheek country-rock synthesis, absorbing rural and urban, traditional and contemporary, at point of impact." Parsons suffered from fear of flying and the band toured via train. The band members lost most of their money in a perpetual poker game and their concerts were met with bewilderment. Parsons was taking psilocybin and cocaine, so his performances were erratic. The most successful appearance was in Philadelphia, where the group opened for the reconstituted Byrds. Midway through their set, Parsons joined the headline act and fronted his former group on renditions of "Hickory Wind" and "You Don't Miss Your Water".
After returning to Los Angeles, the group recorded "The Train Song", written during an increasingly infrequent songwriting session on the train and produced by 1950s R&B legends Larry Williams and Johnny "Guitar" Watson. Despite a request from the Burritos that the remnants of their publicity budget be diverted to the promotion of the single, it also flopped. During this period, Ethridge departed, saying that he did not share Parsons' and Hillman's affinity for country music. He was replaced by lead guitarist Bernie Leadon, while Hillman reverted to bass.
By this time, Parsons's drug use had increased to the point where new songs were rare, and much of his time was spent partying with the Rolling Stones, who were in America finishing Let It Bleed. As the Stones prepared to play the nation's largest venues, the Burritos played to dwindling nightclub audiences. But they were booked as one of the acts at the Altamont Music Festival. They played a short set, including "Bony Moronie" and "Six Days on the Road", which was included in the event's documentary Gimme Shelter.
With mounting debt incurred, A&M hoped to recoup some of its losses by marketing the Burritos as a straight country group. Manager Jim Dickson instigated a session where the band recorded honky tonk staples and contemporary pop covers in a countrified vein, but this was scrapped in favor of a second album of originals on an extremely reduced budget.
Faced with a dearth of new material, most of the album was hastily written in the studio by Leadon, Hillman, and Parsons, with two Gilded Palace of Sin outtakes thrown into the mix. The resulting album, Burrito Deluxe, was released in April 1970. Although it is considered less inspired than its predecessor, it is notable for the song "Older Guys" and for the band's take on "Wild Horses".
Like its predecessor, Burrito Deluxe under-performed commercially but also failed to carry the critical cachet of the debut. Disenchanted, Parsons left the Burritos in mutual agreement with Hillman; under Hillman, the group recorded one more album before dissolving in 1971.
Parsons accompanied the Rolling Stones on its 1971 U.K. tour in the hope of being signed to the newly formed Rolling Stones Records. He lived at Richards' French villa Nellcôte during the recording of Exile on Main Street, though he contributed little to the process. His drug use and constant quarrelling with his girlfriend, Gretchen Burrell, led to a request to leave by Richards' girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg. Parsons attempted to rekindle his relationship with the band on its 1972 American tour, to no avail.
Parsons returned to the US for a one-off concert with the Burritos. In Washington, D.C., he met Emmylou Harris and asked her to join him in Los Angeles to record his first solo album. It came as a surprise to many when Parsons was signed to Reprise Records by Mo Ostin in mid-1972. The ensuing GP (1973) featured several members of Elvis Presley's TCB Band. It included six new songs from Parsons alongside several country covers, including Tompall Glaser's "Streets of Baltimore" and George Jones' "That's All It Took".
Parsons, now featuring Harris as his duet partner, toured across the U.S. as Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels in February–March 1973. Unable to afford the TCB Band, the group featured guitarists Jock Bartley and Larry Coryell, Neil Flanz on pedal steel, bassist Kyle Tullis, and drummer N.D. Smart. The touring party also included Parsons' new wife, Gretchen Parsons, who was envious of Harris and her young daughter. Coordinating the spectacle as road manager was Phil Kaufman, who had served time with Charles Manson on Terminal Island but who ensured that the performer stayed clear of drugs and limited his alcohol intake during shows. At first, the band was under-rehearsed and played poorly; however, they improved with steady gigging and received rapturous responses at several counter-cultural venues, including Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Max's Kansas City in New York City, and Liberty Hall in Houston, where Neil Young and Linda Ronstadt sat in for a filmed performance. Nevertheless, the tour failed to galvanize sales of GP, which never charted in the Billboard 200.
For his next and final album, 1974's posthumously released Grievous Angel, Parsons used Harris and members of the TCB Band. The record received more enthusiastic reviews than GP. Although Parsons only contributed two new songs to the album ("In My Hour of Darkness" and "Return of the Grievous Angel"), he was reportedly enthusiastic with his new sound and seemed to have finally adopted a diligent mindset to his musical career, limiting his intake of alcohol and opiates during most of the sessions. Grievous Angel peaked at number 195 on the Billboard chart.
Before recording, Parsons and Harris played a preliminary four-show mini-tour as the headline act in a June 1973 Warner Bros. Records country rock package with the New Kentucky Colonels and Country Gazette. A shared backing band included Clarence White, Pete Kleinow and Chris Ethridge. On July 15, 1973, White was killed by a drunk driver in Palmdale, California, while loading equipment in his car for a concert with the New Kentucky Colonels."Car kills Topanga musician", Long Beach (CA) Press-Telegram, Monday, July 16, 1973, p. 13 (A Topanga musician loading instruments aboard his van was struck and killed Sunday...") At White's funeral, Parsons and Bernie Leadon performed a rendition of "Farther Along"; that evening, Parsons reportedly informed Phil Kaufman of his final wish: to be cremated in Joshua Tree National Monument.
In the summer of 1973, Parsons' Topanga Canyon home burned to the ground, the result of a stray cigarette. Nearly all of his possessions were destroyed with the exception of a guitar and a prized Jaguar Cars. The fire proved to be the last straw in the relationship between Burrell and Parsons, who moved into a spare room in Kaufman's house. Parsons rekindled his relationship with Margaret Fisher, a high school sweetheart from Waycross.
Parsons had one child, born to Nancy Ross in 1967, Polly Parsons.
In the late 1960s, Parsons began to vacation at Joshua Tree National Monument in southeastern California, where he used psychedelics and said he experienced UFO sightings. After splitting from Burrell, Parsons often spent his weekends there with Margaret Fisher and Phil Kaufman. Scheduled to resume touring in October 1973, Parsons decided to go on another recuperative excursion on September 17. Accompanying him were Fisher, his assistant Michael Martin, and Martin's girlfriend Dale McElroy.
On both nights of their stay, Parsons retreated to the desert, consuming large amounts of alcohol and , while the rest of the group visited bars in nearby Yucca Valley. On September 18, Martin drove back to Los Angeles to resupply the group with marijuana. That night, Parsons challenged Fisher and McElroy to drink with him; Fisher did not drink and McElroy was recovering from illness. Parsons said that he would drink for the three of them and drank six double tequilas. The three then went to the Joshua Tree Inn, where Parsons purchased morphine from an unknown woman; after being injected by her in Room No. 1, he overdosed. Fisher gave Parsons an ice cube suppository, and then a cold shower and moved him to Room No. 8. She put him to bed and went out to buy coffee in the hope of reviving him, leaving McElroy to stand guard. As his breathing became irregular and then ceased, McElroy attempted CPR. After all attempts failed, they called an ambulance. Parsons was declared dead on arrival at Yucca Valley Hospital at 12:15 a.m. on September 19, 1973. The official cause of death was an overdose of morphine and alcohol. "What's up with the strange end of country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons?" , The Straight Dope; accessed September 24, 2017. Kaufman drove Fisher and McElroy back to Los Angeles and then dispersed the rest of Parsons' drugs in the desert.
Although Parsons had said he wanted his body cremated at Joshua Tree and his ashes spread over the formation Cap Rock, Parsons' stepfather organized a private ceremony in New Orleans and left the body in the care of a funeral home. But, to fulfill Parsons' wishes, Kaufman and a friend stole both a hearse and his body and drove it to Joshua Tree. At Cap Rock Parking Lot, they poured gasoline into the open coffin and lit it, creating an enormous fireball. They were arrested and eventually fined $750 for stealing the coffin. What remained of Parsons' body was buried in Garden of Memories Cemetery in Metairie, Louisiana.
The story brings Parsons fans out to a large rock flake known to rock climbing as 'The Gram Parsons Memorial Hand Traverse'. At some point, someone added a slab that marked Parsons' cremation to the memorial rock; that slab was removed by the U.S. National Park Service and is now at the Joshua Tree Inn.Billboard Magazine article: " Park Service Mulls Gram Parsons Memorial. Joshua Tree park guides are given the option to tell the story of Parsons' cremation during tours, but there is no mention of the act in official maps or brochures.
Emmylou Harris continued to champion Parsons' work, covering a number of his songs, including "Hickory Wind", "Wheels", "Sin City", "Luxury Liner", and "Hot Burrito No. 2". Harris's songs "Boulder to Birmingham", from her 1975 album Pieces of the Sky, and "The Road", from her 2011 album Hard Bargain, are tributes to Parsons. Her 1985 album The Ballad of Sally Rose includes many allusions to Parsons in its narrative. The song "My Man", written by Bernie Leadon and performed by the Eagles on their album On the Border, is a tribute to Gram Parsons.
The 1973 album Crazy Eyes by Poco pays homage to Parsons, as Richie Furay composed the title track in honor of him, and sings one of Parsons' own compositions, "Brass Buttons." The album was released four days before Parsons died.
Between 1996 and 2006, a festival called "Gram Fest", aka "The Cosmic Americana Music Festival" was held annually at Joshua Tree. The Gram Parsons Guitar Pull and Tribute Festival, in Waycross, Georgia, was founded in 1997 and continues today.
In 2003 the Americana Music Awards awarded Parsons with the President's Award, which was accepted by his daughter.
The 2003 film Grand Theft Parsons stars Johnny Knoxville as Phil Kaufman and chronicles a farcical version of the theft of Parsons' corpse. In 2006, Gandulf Hennig released the documentary Gram Parsons: Fallen Angel.
In 2004, Parsons' daughter Polly produced two tribute concerts titled "Return to Sin City: A Tribute to Gram Parsons". Artists included Keith Richards, James Burton, Lucinda Williams, Norah Jones, Dwight Yoakam, John Doe, Steve Earle, Jim Lauderdale, Kathleen Edwards, Jay Farrar, Jim James, Raul Malo, Susan Marshall, and the Sin City All Stars. The concert produced a DVD and 100% of the concerts was donated through the Gram Parsons Foundation to the Musician's Assistance Program (now MusiCares), which aids musicians in crisis.
Despite his influence, Parsons has yet to be inducted into either the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or the Country Music Hall of Fame. The Gram Parsons Petition Project (later named Gram Parsons InterNational) was begun in May 2008 in support of a drive to induct Parsons into the Country Music Hall of Fame. On September 19, 2008, the 35th anniversary of Parsons' death, it was presented to the Country Music Association (CMA) with the official Nomination Proposal.
In November 2009, the musical theatre production Grievous Angel: The Legend of Gram Parsons premiered, starring Anders Drerup as Gram Parsons and Kelly Prescott as Emmylou Harris. Directed by Michael Bate and co-written by Bate and David McDonald, the production was inspired by a March 1973 interview that Bate conducted with Parsons, which became Parsons' last recorded conversation.
In 2012, Sweden folk duo First Aid Kit released the single "Emmylou" from the album The Lion's Roar. The song's chorus is a lyrical acknowledgment of the Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris singing partnership.
In the fall of 2012 Florida festival promoter and musician Randy Judy presented his bio-musical Farther Along – The Music and Life of Gram Parsons at Magnoliafest at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park.
Tribute bands include Cleveland's New Soft Shoe and, out of St. Paul, The Gilded Palace Sinners.
In 2022, Dave Prinz, co-founder of Amoeba Music, rediscovered Gram Parsons' "Last Roundup" tapes featuring Emmylou Harris with Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels. Prinz initiated a campaign to fund the release independently, in partnership with Polly Parsons. The campaign launched on November 17, 2022, and was fully backed. Gram Parsons & The Fallen Angels' "The Last Roundup: Live from The Bijou Café in Philadelphia 3/16/73" was released on limited-edition vinyl on Friday, November 24, 2023, and was considered one of the hits of Record Store Day 2023.
In 2021, Zak Bagans and his crew on the hit TV show Ghost Adventures, with a special guest, investigated the Joshua Tree Inn to bring both closure and peace to the Parsons family.
In 2026, a restaurant named "Grievous Angel" (named after one the albums by Gram Parsons) opened in Lakeland, Florida. The restaurant name reflects the owner's Gram Parsons music-inspired branding.
| 1968 | Safe at Home (International Submarine Band) | LHI Records | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sweetheart of the Rodeo (The Byrds) | Columbia Records | 77 | — | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1969 | The Gilded Palace of Sin (Flying Burrito Brothers) | A&M | 164 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1970 | Burrito Deluxe (Flying Burrito Brothers) | A&M | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1973 | GP | Reprise Records | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1974 | Grievous Angel | Reprise | 195 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1976 | Sleepless Nights (Gram Parsons & the Flying Burrito Brothers) | A&M | 185 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1979 | The Early Years (1963–1965) | Sierra Records | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1982 | Live 1973 (Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels) | Sierra | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987 | Dim Lights, Thick Smoke and Loud Loud Music (Flying Burrito Brothers) | Edsel | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988 | Farther Along: The Best of the Flying Burrito Brothers (Flying Burrito Brothers) | A&M | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995 | Cosmic American Music: The Rehearsal Tapes 1972 | Magnum America | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Hot Burritos! The Flying Burrito Bros Anthology 1969-1972 (Flying Burrito Brothers) | A&M | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001 | Sundazed Music | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Rhino Records | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002 | Sin City: The Very Best of the Flying Burrito Bros (Flying Burrito Brothers) | A&M | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | The Complete Reprise Sessions | Reprise | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | (Gram Parsons with the Flying Burrito Brothers) | Amoeba Records | — | 45 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | The Early Years Box Set (Gram Parsons and the Shilos) | Sierra | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Live In New York 1973 (Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris) | Plastic Soho | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 180 Gram: Alternate Takes From GP and Grievous Angel | Rhino/Reprise | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | The Solo Years | Rhino UK | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | The Last Roundup: Live from the Bijou Café in Philadelphia 3/16/1973 (Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels) | Amoeba | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Now Playing | Rhino/Reprise | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes the release failed to chart. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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