When you're sad you often want to listen to sad music, and traditionally country music is seen as a genre whose sole-focus is encapsulating the sounds and feelings of heartbreak, regret, loneliness, and whatever shitty emotion happens to be afflicting the writer at that point. Gram Parsons' music perfectly fits this stereotype and not just because his is one of the saddest stories in all of country music. A member of The International Submarine Band, The Byrds, and The Flying Burrito Brothers, Parsons had his eggs in many influential baskets. After ditching all of these bands, he went solo in 1972 but would die a year later at age 27 after overdosing on liquor and morphine. His manager, likely a cool dude, honoured Gram's dying wish and kidnapped Gram's body and coffin from the funeral, drove them out to the Joshua Tree desert and burned them down to ashes. This legendary story, combined with Gram's reputation for being a bit weird, tormented, and under-appreciated in his lifetime, makes him my second favourite member of the twenty-seven-club.
This is his first solo LP and it's just a great, sad, and beautiful country album. If you dig this, the second LP Grievous Angel, is just as good.
HERE
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