The saddest coincidence throughout the history of popular music – and certainly the most quoted – is the number of rock stars who have died aged 27.
Indeed, 60s luminaries such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones and Jim Morrison barely made it into the 1970s, if they reached that far, before succumbing to drug-related deaths at such a relatively tender age.
Each had risen to high echelons in the rock world and from what is known of the circumstances they died in, all expected to wake up the next day. Dying young created an enduring legacy – not to say on-going fascination, with short, highly productive careers that all this time later appear to have happened in a lightning strike.
Country rock pioneer Gram Parsons had the same hugely creative/live dangerously tendencies of the aforementioned, all of whom had passed when the rock ‘n’ roll reaper came for him in September 1973 – soulful, Southern-boy Parsons being a drug addict, lyrical genius, alcoholic and purveyor of emotion in song on a whole different page to anyone else.
Among Hendrix, Joplin, Jones, and Morrison, many of those same traits can be found. But where they have the slight edge on him, which hardly sounds appropriate in this instance, is they all lived longer – Parsons just twenty-six when he fell prey to an overdose of morphine and barbiturates.
Of those listed above Parsons’ is the least-recognisable name, known mainly to those with an interest in how the hybrid of country and rock came into being – and for his collaborations with then unknown, folk-singer Emmylou Harris, near the end of his life.
On the other hand, he could be viewed as the most influential when considering his ground-breaking work, first with The Byrds and then The Flying Burrito Brothers, both of whom were a major influence on the Eagles – whose 1971-75 Greatest Hits LP is widely regarded as the biggest-selling album in history.
Formed in Los Angeles in 1968 after Parsons (guitar/keyboards) and Chris Hillman (guitar/mandolin) had left The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers first album – ‘THE GILDED PALACE of SIN’ (1969) – not only stands as one of the all-time great debut records, but arguably the most potent mix of country, soul, rock and gospel ever recorded.
Laying down the template for just how authentic rock could sound when laced with country and R & B, the impact of the album transcended meagre sales – its fusions and styling affecting not just the dozens of country-rock bands that came in its wake but shaping the subsequent work of groups such as the Rolling Stones and Grateful Dead.
The early family life of Gram Parsons (born Winter Haven, Florida, November 5, 1946), reads like something from the pages of a Tennessee Williams play; wealth (Florida orange plantations), alcoholism, depression, suicides – a close, drug-fueled late-60s, early-70s friendship with Rolling Stones guitarist and resounding survivor Keith Richards, also did little for his longevity.
Harvard-educated but dropping out in order to pursue the possibilities of merging the country music he heard growing up with the beat of pop, Parsons headed to Los Angeles – where a chance meeting with Byrds-bassist Hillman resulted in an invitation to join the group.
Finding an ally in Hillman, Parsons steered The Byrds away from the folk-rock and psychedelic sounds they had been acclaimed for, to an intended connection with country music – the subsequent ‘Sweetheart of the Rodeo‘ album (1968) packed with back-porch standards, two countrified Dylan covers and a couple of great Parsons originals, including the sublime ‘Hickory Wind.’
Viewing ‘Sweetheart‘ as a failed experiment (in sales terms, the least successful Byrds album so far), leader and 12-string maestro Jim McGuinn tried wrestling back control of the group and returning to more familiar territory.
But enthused by the project, Parsons and Hillman were convinced where the future lay, eventually putting together the Burritos with Chris Ethridge (bass/keyboards) and ‘Sneaky’ Pete Klienlow (pedal steel) – various drummers were used on ‘The Gilded Palace of Sin‘ sessions, but a permanent one not recruited (Mike Clarke, a former-Byrd, naturally), until after the album was completed.
With the Burritos signed to A&M Records, Parsons and Hillman rented a house in the San Fernando Valley where they wrote six sharp and witty songs, each one pertinent to the world around them – making the album wonderfully evocative of Los Angeles in 1969.
The city becomes a colourful backdrop as Parsons and Hillman populate their compositions with hippies, misfits, Vietnam draft-dodgers, out of touch record company executives – or human flotsam desperate to leave L.A. but for one reason or another, unable to make the break.
Despite Parsons’ engaging lead vocals and the gorgeous ‘Everly Brothers’ styled harmonies, there is a sense of doom not even the sunshine and palm trees can shift. Innocence is also in short supply and nobody can be trusted.
The delicious opener ‘Christine’s Tune’ (‘Her number always turns up in your pocket/Whenever you are searching for a dime’) is followed by another superbly drawn piece entitled ‘Sin City’ – and as regular patrons of the more colourful Los Angeles nightspots, Parsons and Hillman must have had tongues firmly in cheeks when they begin it by declaring:
‘This old town’s full of sin/It will swallow you in.’
Which is not to say The Flying Burrito Brothers sound a forlorn bunch, far from it. There are plenty of agreeable acoustic guitar flourishes and accompanying honky-tonk piano breaks but giving the songs their texture and vitality is the breath-taking pedal-steel work of Kleinlow – whose virtuosity is such the instrument is recorded at various times to incorporate feedback and all manner of tone effects.
In the up-tempo songs especially, the fuzz and wah-wah he provides is as effective as anything the six-string Guitar Gods were producing at the time – and when the mood demands, the instrument conjures lines identifiable with a Hawaiian beach scene.
Hillman displays his country credentials to fine effect with some marvelous mandolin work on the wry ‘My Uncle‘ – Parsons writing an affecting lyric (‘So I’m heading to the nearest foreign border/Vancouver might be just my kind of town‘) on top of a down-home melody as they tell the story of a trembling young man receiving his draft notice.
The album also contains ‘Do You Know How It Feels‘ a song Parsons had written with Barry Goldberg eighteen months before and two excellent covers – ‘Do Right Woman‘ and ‘Dark End of the Street‘ – which do most to serve the intention of infusing country and western with soul, in the process creating a glorious form of heady R & B.
The latter, in particular, contains a majestic Parsons vocal that he then manages to equal on ‘Hot Burrito #1‘ – this song, more than any, setting them apart from every other fledgling country-rock band to send ‘The Gilded Palace of Sin‘ into masterpiece territory.
With the music composed by Ethridge on piano, Parsons comes up with a haunting tale of a love affair where previous roles have been reversed. Simply put, the writer is receiving a taste of his own medicine, (‘I’m the one who showed you how/To do the things you’re doing now‘). We shouldn’t feel sorry for the sinner now sinned against, (‘He may feel all your charms/He may hold you in his arms,’) but the melody is serene and vocal so achingly delivered, that somehow it cannot be helped.
Framed in a country-tinged tune it might be – but if this is not soul music, then it’s hard to say what is.
Ethridge shows he is no slouch either when writing a straight ahead rock melody – his forceful piano riff driving ‘Hot Burrito #2.’ This infectious slice of late-60s power pop has its origins in the Stones ‘Let’s Spend The Night Together‘ (Parsons lyric follows a similar theme), but trademark Burrito features of wailing organ and pedal steel harmonics are all in place – at times it is hard to decipher one from the other, although the piece is so uplifting it hardly matters.
The Stones also come to mind in the closing cut of ‘Hippie Boy,’ a strange, Parsons-Hillman composition, told from the perspective of someone meeting a hippy on the street and hearing their sad story – which references topical issues such as drugs, long hair, the Chicago riots of the year before and death.
Over maudlin keyboard music not dissimilar to that of a Sunday morning church service, Hillman speaks the lyric in the style of an evangelist. Ten years later Mick Jagger must have had the song in mind when writing a parody of Southern California religious radio stations, contributing the hilarious ‘Faraway Eyes‘ to the Stones 1978 ‘Some Girls‘ set.
In the years between they had taken Burrito explorations into country-rock on board. Landmark early-70s Stones albums ‘Sticky Fingers‘ and ‘Exile on Main Street‘ are littered with nuances traced back to Parsons and Co.
The two most lauded albums in the Grateful Dead catalogue, ‘Workingman’s Dead‘ and ‘American Beauty‘ (both 1970) each take their cue from ‘The Gilded Palace of Sin‘ – and most of that before Poco, later incarnations of The Byrds, Loggins & Messina, America and of course the Eagles took the country element of the Burrito sound but airbrushed out the authenticity.
In soaring to success, the Eagles opted for derivative rather than Burrito-style daring, their early hits contrived for optimum air play as country-pop became a staple of mainstream radio stations.
(from left: Ethridge, Parsons,
Hillman, Klienlow, Clarke).
By all accounts Parsons loathed the compromised sound of the Eagles and was openly dismissive of their first two albums – ironically the third ‘On the Border,’ (1974) released six months after his death, contains ‘My Man‘, a moving tribute to Parsons written by guitarist Bernie Leadon, who played in the second Burritos line-up. (For the follow up to ‘The Gilded Palace of Sin,’ Leadon replaced the departing Ethridge, Hillman reverting to bass).
Less pioneering than its predecessor, ‘Burrito Deluxe‘ (1970) has its moments but suffers from Parsons losing interest in the group after ‘Gilded Palace‘ failed to make any commercial impact. His input into the second album was also hampered by being a close companion of Richards and entry into the Stones inner circle – a lack of commitment to the Burritos resulting in him being fired from the band he formed less than two years before.
By the time of his death in 1973, Gram Parsons, despite writing several memorable songs spread across the albums ‘GP‘ (1973) and the posthumously released ‘Grievous Angel‘ (1974) – both featuring terrific duets with Emmylou Harris – was wracked by drug and matrimonial problems. His death, nonetheless, like most rock music drug casualties, was untimely and a tragic waste of talent.
In the ultimate, bizarre twist of his story, Parsons then became more famous in death than life – his body being hijacked from a Los Angeles mortuary and burnt at the Joshua Tree National Monument, in a final act of loyalty by former Burrito road manager Phil Kaufman. In the event of his death, Parsons had stated a wish to be cremated in such a way.
The episode is recounted in the excellent Parsons biography ‘Twenty Thousand Roads‘ by David N. Meyer – and not so in the dreadful 2003 film ‘Grand Theft Parsons‘.
Four years on it was all a far cry from the youthful, handsome figure who adorns ‘The Gilded Palace of Sin‘ album cover with his Burrito band mates, each one resplendent in their sequined, old-time suits.
The brief, but bright life of Gram Parsons can now be seen as already drawing to a close and although not aware of it at the time, he had just produced the work that remains his crowning glory – an album so accomplished on release it moved Bob Dylan to say:
‘The Flying Burrito Brothers. Their record instantly knocked me out. Boy I love them.’
Fifty years later it is still hard not to.
THE FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS – THE GILDED PALACE OF SIN (Released February 1969):
Christine’s Tune/Sin City/Do Right Woman/The Dark End of the Street/My Uncle/Wheels/Juanita/Hot Burrito#1/Hot Burrito#2/Do You Know How It Feels/Hippie Boy;
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This article was first published on 13/6/2019.
NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE’ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.
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