Gram Parsons, Flying Burrito Brothers, etc.

[Buried Alien]

Recently, I've been listening to a lot of stuff by Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers.

I really like this country rock stuff.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[jesse_custer]

GP and Grievous Angel quickly became two of my favorite albums.

It's something when a musician can step outside of the box and yet be so listenable.

[40footwolf]

I haven't heard any FBB yet, but I really love the album Grievous Angel. "$1000 Wedding" might be one of the saddest songs ever recorded. Even on the rest of the record, there's a lot of intensity in the lyrics that the tone of the music itself can hide, which I think makes for an interesting sensation.

[The Confessor]

"$1000 Wedding" might be one of the saddest songs ever recorded.

Keith Richards certainly thinks so. He's gone on record a number of times as saying it's one of his all-time favourite songs.

You can't go wrong with Gram Parsons Burried Alien. Be sure to also check out The International Submarine Band album "Safe At Home" and The Byrds' album "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" (both featuring Gram) as they are both essential as well.

Actually, the FFB's self-titled third album (recorded without Gram) is actually really, really good. It may not be up there with "The Guilded Place Of Sin" but it's every bit as good as "Burrito Deluxe" IMO.

[Adam C]

Recently, I've been listening to a lot of stuff by Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers.

I really like this country rock stuff.

Glad to see that vintage country rock has a new convert. :)

I first got into Parsons after reading about him in UNCUT though it took awhile for me to get my hands on his work, even after downloading "Sin City" which is my favourite country song to this day. Even after I finally got the two Flying Burrito Brothers albums it took awhile for me to warm to the first one. GP and Grievous Angel however, I loved immediately, and they are pretty much perfect. There's not much more Gram though except for a live album, Safe At Home the album by his first group the International Submarine Band, and of course of the Byrds Sweetheart of the Rodeo (I've heard that deluxe edition has versions with Gram's vocals which were left off the original for legal reasons).

If you want to go further I highly recommend investigating anything by his singing partner Emmylou Harris. Her 70s albums carry on Parson's country rock innovations and the first two feature the playing of Glen Hardin and James Burton who played on GP and Grievous Angel (they leave afterwards, but then Harris enlists shit-hot English country guitarist Albert Lee on Luxury Liner which also has a country version of Chuck Berry's "(You Never Can Tell) C'est la Vie").

You may also want to investigate a band known as the Sadies. They're from Toronto and have mainly built their music on Gram Parsons style country rock though adding even more psychedelia (especially in their later albums where they move into Byrds and Mobey Grape territory) and even touches of surf rock (more on their early albums).

(Some fun trivia about Gram too in case you're not aware: he hung around during the sessions for Exile on Mainstreet but supposedly Mick Jagger wouldn't allow him anywhere near the recording booth due this weirdly jealousy he had over Keef's friendship with Gram.)

I haven't heard any FBB yet, but I really love the album Grievous Angel. "$1000 Wedding" might be one of the saddest songs ever recorded. Even on the rest of the record, there's a lot of intensity in the lyrics that the tone of the music itself can hide, which I think makes for an interesting sensation.

You may want to read this article on "$1000 Wedding" then. Supposedly the original song had many more verses, which makes sense considering how fragmentary and elusive the song's narrative is.

[Spike-X]

Be sure to also check out The International Submarine Band album "Safe At Home" and The Byrds' album "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" (both featuring Gram) as they are both essential as well.

Gram's vocals were removed from the five songs he sang for Sweetheart Of The Rodeo after he was kicked out, but those songs with his vocals are available on the Rhino Records Gram Parsons Anthology.

[Buried Alien]

Glad to see that vintage country rock has a new convert. :)

I've been aboard for quite a while, but this past week or so, I've taken intense dosages of country rock.

My ride down from L.A. to Comic-Con was basically with a 1960s Bob Dylan soundtrack, and the return drive was all Flying Burrito Brothers.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[The Confessor]

(Some fun trivia about Gram too in case you're not aware: he hung around during the sessions for Exile on Mainstreet but supposedly Mick Jagger wouldn't allow him anywhere near the recording booth due this weirdly jealousy he had over Keef's friendship with Gram.)

There are persistent but unsubstantiated rumors that he is on the song "Sweet Virginia", however.

Gram's vocals were removed from the five songs he sang for Sweetheart Of The Rodeo after he was kicked out, but those songs with his vocals are available on the Rhino Records Gram Parsons Anthology.

Not quite correct, I'm afraid.

Gram originally sang on six songs on Sweetheart of the Rodeo, but "The Christian Life", "You Don't Miss Your Water", and "One Hundred Years From Now" had their Gram Parsons’ lead vocals replaced by Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman for contractual and artistic reasons. However, contrary to popular belief, Gram's voice can still be heard on all three of those songs, albeit low down in the mix. Gram is, however, still featured singing lead vocals on the songs "Hickory Wind", "You're Still On My Mind", and "Life In Prison" on Sweetheart. Gram also plays on every track on the album, so there is still a large amount of Gram on Sweetheart.

As for the Rhino compilation, as you rightly point out, it features the master takes of "The Christian Life", "You Don't Miss Your Water", and "One Hundred Years From Now" with their Parsons' vocals intact. However, these "lost" master takes are not unique to that compilation and actually first appeared in 1990 on The Byrds box set. They can also be found on disc 1 of the Sweetheart of the Rodeo: Legacy Edition.

Whay can I say, I'm a Byrds geek.

[Spike-X]

Cool, thanks for the extra info.

[Adam C]

Gram's vocals were removed from the five songs he sang for Sweetheart Of The Rodeo after he was kicked out, but those songs with his vocals are available on the Rhino Records Gram Parsons Anthology.

I suppose with The Confessor's info I can add that from what I know the replacement of his vocals occurred before he was out the band.

Though he wasn't kicked out. Parsons left after telling Keith Richards that they were going to tour in South Africa and Richards gave the boy the skinny about South Africa. Not that the other Byrds were happy about the tour either, but they seemed stuck with doing it and it was an utter disaster by all accounts. McGuinn and Hillman were cynical about Parsons' stated reasons and thought he wanted an excuse to hang out with Keith Richards (though I'm pretty sure the issue of replacing his vocals also had something to do with it).

[The Confessor]

I suppose with The Confessor's info I can add that from what I know the replacement of his vocals occurred before he was out the band.

Absolutely right Adam, the replacement of Gram vocals occurred sometime in early June 1968, with Parsons leaving the band after their July 7, 1968 appearance at the Albert Hall in London. By the time Sweetheart of the Rodeo was released on August 30th, 1968, Parsons had been an ex-member of The Byrds for rougly eight weeks.

[Spike-X]

Damn, seems I've been all kinds of wrong here. Thanks for setting me straight, guys.

[Ilash]

Inspired by this thread, I picked up the CD that contains both Gram Parson's GP and Grievous Angel LPs and I have to say, I think this stuff is way better than the Flying Burrito Brothers. At least on first listen. Not that the latter are bad or anything but I actually think his solo songwriting is stronger and he plays much, much better off Emmylou Harris than the FBB.

[jesse_custer]

Yeah, The Gilded Palace of Sin is not that good in comparison. "Hot Burrito #1" is a fantastic song, though.

[Ilash]

Yeah, The Gilded Palace of Sin is not that good in comparison. "Hot Burrito #1" is a fantastic song, though.

Yeah it is. As is Sin City.

I've been on an awesome country kick lately though. I've loved Johnny Cash for a while but recently I've really gotten into Gram Parsons, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and, my favourite of all, Townes Van Zandt. Great stuff all round.