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Topic: The 'Fallen Angel' who helped bring country to the world of rock Return to archive
19th June 2006 06:13 AM
Ten Thousand Motels The 'Fallen Angel' who helped bring country to the world of rock

DVD, CD set recall the brief, memorable life of Gram Parsons

By Jim Farber, New York Daily News | June 18, 2006
The Boston Globe

His father committed suicide. His mother drank herself to death. So did his stepfather. And his sister spent time in a mental institution.

Is it any wonder Gram Parsons himself succumbed to a mix of heroin and alcohol by the time he was 26?

Before he did, Parsons diverted the entire route of pop music by helping create the country-rock genre, through his late-'60s work with the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers. That work created a blueprint for the whole alt-country movement of today.

It isn't easy to upstage achievements like those. But Parsons's harrowing back story forever threatens to do so -- especially given the final twist that involved the theft of his body from Los Angeles International Airport on the way to his funeral in New Orleans in 1973.

Unsurprisingly, filmmaker Gandulf Hennig saw plenty in all this for a documentary.

The result, ``Fallen Angel ," recounts Parsons's inspiring and alarming story in a way that's comprehensive, moving , and even strangely funny. The movie hits DVD on Tuesday. It will be joined that day by a triple record set, ``The Complete Reprise Sessions ," which covers Parsons's entire solo career.

Hennig admits he was just as drawn to the story of Parsons's growing up in Florida and Georgia as to his talent. ``It's a pure Southern Gothic tale, like some Faulkner novel Faulkner never wrote," Hennig explains. ``And it's just so American."

Parsons grew up the rich heir to an orange juice company fortune. But his troubled home life made him anxious to escape and fueled his ambition. The young hopeful attended Harvard but dropped out after forming the first group that would get him a bit of recognition: the International Submarine Band .

ISB stood out by focusing on a rock-infused take on country music at a time when hipsters viewed that style as backward pap for conservative hicks.

Some folks knew better, though, and the band earned a contract with a small label in Los Angeles, prompting its Western relocation. Once there, Parsons had a fast climb. Though charming and talented, he also could be manipulative and opportunistic. Parsons dumped ISB after networking earned him an invitation to join the already successful Byrds.

While that band's Chris Hillman talks with candor and insight in the film about Parsons's mix of talent and irresponsibility, Byrds leader Roger McGuinn declined to participate. Hennig believes McGuinn may still harbor some anger that ``Gram gets all the glory these days."

While Parsons was key to pointing the Byrds in the country direction on their album ``Sweetheart of the Rodeo ," legal problems caused his original vocals to be stripped from the final disc . (Curiously, there's no mention of this in the film.)
Barely a year after he joined them, Parsons was fired from the Byrds for pulling out of a South African tour some 90 minutes before they were about to depart. Parsons said it had to do with apartheid, but Hillman believes it had more to do with the fact that Parsons had just befriended Keith Richards and wanted to hang out with the Rolling Stone in England.

Parsons's relationship with Richards holds a key place in the story: The Stones guitarist talks at length in the movie about Parsons's influence on his band. In return, Richards gave the American songwriter ``Wild Horses" to record before the Stones cut it. (Parsons's version appeared on the debut album by his first post-Byrds band, the Flying Burrito Brothers.)

For several years, Parsons became a Stones acolyte (to the point of near groupie-dom). In fact, some blame Richards for influencing Parsons's escalating drug use, which Hennig doesn't buy. ``I don't think Keith told anyone to [mess] themselves up," he explains.

While increasingly erratic in his behavior, Parsons went on to record two classic solo albums in the early '70s, both of which featured a previously unknown singer: Emmylou Harris . In the film, Harris speaks eloquently of Parsons's flakiness and genius.

The movie features insightful interviews with all of Parsons's living relatives, who help humanize the freaky story that followed the singer's fatal drug overdose in 1973.

Responding to an offhand comment Parsons once made about his funeral wishes, his manager, Phil Kaufman , decided to steal Parsons's corpse from the airport in Los Angeles before it could be shipped to Louisiana. He and some friends then drove it out to Joshua Tree National Monument in the California desert and burned it.

``People have talked about this story like it's some funny punk rock stunt," Hennig explains. ``But it's not like that when he's your brother or husband."

To the film's credit, an unrepentant Kaufman has his say as well, making this movie one of the most well-rounded portraits of Parsons yet assembled.

``I wanted to show all sides," Hennig says. ``For better or worse, Gram Parsons was someone who left nobody untouched."

2006 Globe Newspaper Company.




[Edited by Ten Thousand Motels]
19th June 2006 10:16 AM
jb He never climbed a coconut tree....
20th June 2006 02:28 AM
corgi37 Doesnt sound like a fallen angel to me.

Sounds like a total fucking loser.
20th June 2006 08:57 AM
corgi37 No doubt. Not exactly born under the "lucky" tree though.
20th June 2006 10:02 AM
BILL PERKS
quote:
corgi37 wrote:
No doubt. Not exactly born under the "lucky" tree though.



THAT'S BETTER,CORGI..GRAM HAD A ROUGH LIFE
20th June 2006 10:59 AM
Saint Sway his music is timeless.

one of my fav songwriters of all-time

plus the turned Keith on to country. Introduced him to the music of George Jones, Hank Williams.... by doing so Gram played a huge hand in steering and shaping the Stones musical style. Those gorgeous country-tinged songs on Beggars and Exile would of never of existed if he hadnt gotten Keith so hooked on country.

I think all Stones fans owe a debt of gratitude and appreciation to Gram Parsons.
[Edited by Saint Sway]
20th June 2006 11:56 AM
BILL PERKS CHECK OUT HIS RECORDS WITH EMMYLOU..THEY ARE FANTASTIC
20th June 2006 11:59 AM
Saint Sway
quote:
BILL PERKS wrote:
CHECK OUT HIS RECORDS WITH EMMYLOU..THEY ARE FANTASTIC



TRUE.

FOR CHRISTMAS I AM GOING TO BUY YOU a new keyboard FOR YOUR COMPUTER.
20th June 2006 01:28 PM
BILL PERKS
quote:
Saint Sway wrote:


TRUE.

FOR CHRISTMAS I AM GOING TO BUY YOU a new keyboard FOR YOUR COMPUTER.



FIRST THING I DO IS CRAZY GLUE THE CAPS LOCK
[EDITED BY JB]
21st June 2006 04:50 AM
Altamont Just watched the dvd. I thought it was very well done. Lots of photos and footage I had never seen before, plus the interviews with Keith, Emmylou and a bunch of Gram's bandmates and family. If you like Grams music and his impact on Keith / The Stones, this is essential.
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