GRAM PARSONS-THE FLYING BURRITO BROS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRAM PARSONS! I was fishing around for ditties on Sunday at Waterloo, and found myself focusing on the tracks wafting through the stereo system. "Man, that sounds like Gram Parsons, manna from heaven for sure," I was thinking. I went up and asked the clerk, and she said: "That`s THE FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS, dude!" "Duhh," I retorted. So I dug up this double CD with 43 tracks, & I`ve been rotating this platter since that day. I know Gram`s music more by way of Emmy Lou Harris, but now I`m getting it first hand. I read a review of a new book about him in Sunday`s Times. Also, a new anthology is coming out today. Wonderful harmonies and picking; not exactly rock, not exactly country... no label really fits...very original American music...I guess. It pleases everyone, is really the way it works! The myths around Gram Parsons are many. I believe I will look into them? I like The Train Song best for right now. 10/10/2007 I just read about the incident of Gram Parson`s body being stolen and taken to the Joshua Tree Park. This is quite a story and very shocking! Also, the stuff about him hanging out with the Stones is interesting. Apparently, Gram is in the film Gimme Shelter, so I will look for him the next time I see that film, with its unsavory rows with the Hells Angels. His influence on Exile On Main Street is obvious; I have always maintained that this is my favorite Stones` album. The rock form is most fully realized here, including some country tingings! I will just gradually absorb all of the contributions that Gram Parsons has made, and still contemplate the true tragedy of his death at the ripe age of twenty-six; the irony is that he seemed to have licked heroin, but was taken away by morphine and alcohol. The Guilded Palace Of Sin (this is a masterpiece-you can read why on this link, or just create your own reasons for loving it-that is usually the best way to listen to rock...) from 1969, the Flying Burrito Brothers first release, is my favorite; there are more originals, and the country sounds are cloaked in psychedia and pop hooks. The fusion is more consummate.