Elvis`sleevenote for a 1982 Gram Parsons compilation.

Pretty self-explanatory
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johnfoyle
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Elvis`sleevenote for a 1982 Gram Parsons compilation.

Post by johnfoyle »

I`ve just transcribed Elvis` sleevenote for a
1982 Gram Parsons compilation for a Parsons forum ;
since it doesn`t appear to be in John E`s site I may
as well share it here also -

------------------------------------------------------


For cover see -
http://www.geocities.com/byrdmaniax2003 ... nsgram.htm

Gram Parsons

Original release date: 1982 (Britain)

Side One
1.We'll Sweep Out the Ashes in the Morning
2.Hearts on Fire
3.Kiss the Children
4.That's All It Took
5.Love Hurts
6.In My Hour of Darkness
7.Return of the Grievous Angel

Side Two
1.Still Feeling Blue
2.$1000 Wedding
3.Ooh, Las Vegas
4.The New Soft Shoe
5.How Much I've Lied
6.Cash on the Barrelhead
7.Hickory Wind



Sleevenote -


There are those better qualified than I to tell Gram
Parson`s story. But as a fan of the man , I think you
should own this record....this is why.

In the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers , Gram
Parsons had helped create a Frankenstein`s Monster -
country rock. But his first Warner Brothers album
"G.P." paid no allegiance to this style. With an
impressive back-up band it was a traditional sounding
album , mercifully free of gimmicks like fuzz-tone
steel guitar. The songs are of lost or stolen love ,
crossed only occasionally with an R`n`B beat. But
most importantly it featured some of the finest duet
singing ever put on record. There is something about
the combination of Parson`s frail and not always
perfect pitching and Emmylou Harris`s pure and true
voice. It it should fail to move you - then you have a
big problem. I would say that Emmylou Harris`s solo
verse on " We`ll Sweep Out The ashes In The Morning "
-
matches anything in her excellent solo catalogue.

Of course for the followers of `Frankie`s Monster
in California and the Formula Kings of Nashville ,
this was much too close to real emotion and sales did
not fare well.

On " Return Of The Grevious Angel " , Parsons ,
the co-billed Harris and the soon-to-be Hot Band
continued their devastating duets - most notably
"Hearts On Fire " and the much crucified "Love Hurts".
But Parsons also returned to the mysterious , almost
philosophical tones of his " Sin City" days. The title
track "$1000 Wedding" and " In My Hour Of Darkness"
have a dense and ominous sound. Gram Parsons died soon
after making these tracks.

I`d be the last to romanticise his death , and I
wish he had avoided his apparent self-destruction and
continued to make music as great as this.

But it`s hard to deny the irony of hearing the
beautiful " Hickory Wind " accompanied by the
mock-adulation of a phony audience track - a bitter
little comment on scant commercial success. It will be
doubly ironic if you stop reading this sleeve note and
actually buy the record. I promise you will not be
disappinted.

Elvis Costello , February 1982

P.S. In these cases somebody`s favourite is bound to
be omitted , but I hope you approve of this
re-presentation , with the duets on Side One and the
songs and performances which to my mind put Gram
Parsons up there with Hank Williams. If you`ve never
heard the man before do seek out his other recordings
- you won`t regret it.
johnfoyle
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Post by johnfoyle »

This should be in The Annex , but

YIPPEEEEEEE!!!!!!!


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... ct-details

The Complete Reprise Sessions
Gram Parsons

Audio CD (August 23, 2005)

Label: Rhino Records
ASIN: B0009CTUSW

Here is the tracklisting for the Complete Reprise Sessions

Disc 1
Still Feeling Blue (Remastered Album Version)
We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning (Remastered Album Version)
A Song for You (Remastered Album Version)
Streets of Baltimore (Remastered Album Version)
She (Remastered Album Version)
That's All It Took (Remastered Album Version)
The New Soft Shoe (Remastered Album Version)
Kiss the Children (Remastered Album Version)
Cry One More Time (Remastered Album Version)
How Much I've Lied (Remastered Album Version)
Big Mouth Blues (Remastered Album Version)
GP Radio Promo (She=:30/Cry One More=:15/Big Mouth Blues=:15)
How Did You Meet Emmylou Harris?
What Is The Story Behind "A Song For You"
What Is The Story Behind "The New Soft Shoe"
WBCN Interview With Maxine Satori (3/73) Part 1
Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris - Widowmaker (Remastered Version)
WBCN Interview With Maxine Satori (3/73) Part 2
Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris - Love Hurts (w/ Emmylou Harris) (Remastered Version)
Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris & N.D. Smart - Sin City (Remastered Version)

Disc 2
Return of the Grievous Angel (Remastered Album Version)
Hearts on Fire (Remastered Album Version)
I Can't Dance (Remastered Album Version)
Brass Buttons (Remastered Album Version)
$1000 Wedding (Remastered Album Version)
Medley Live From Northern Quebec (A) Cash On The Barrelhead (B) Hickory Wind (LP Version)
Love Hurts (Remastered Album Version)
Ooh Las Vegas (Remastered Album Version)
In My Hour of Darkness (Remastered Album Version)
Return of the Grievous Angel (Remastered Remix)
Hearts on Fire (Remix) (Remastered)
Did You Sing "Hickory Wind" At The Grand Ole Opry?
What Difference Do You See Between Pure Country And Country Rock?

Disc 3
She (Alternate Version)
That's All It Took (Alternate Version)
Still Feeling Blue (Alternate Version)
Kiss the Children (Alternate Version)
Streets of Baltimore (Alternate Version)
We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning (Alternate Version)
The New Soft Shoe (Alternate Version)
Return of the Grievous Angel #1 (Alternate Version)
In My Hour of Darkness (Alternate Version)
Ooh Las Vegas (Alternate Version)
Hearts on Fire (Alternate Version)
I Can't Dance (Alternate Version)
Sleepless Nights (Alternate Version)
Love Hurts (Alternate Version)
Brass Buttons (Alternate Version)
Hickory Wind (Alternate Version)
Brand New Heartache (Remastered Album Version)
Sleepless Nights (Remastered Album Version)
The Angels Rejoiced Last Night (Remastered Album Version)
johnfoyle
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.thundersmouth.com/new_catalo ... angel.html

Grievous Angel

An Intimate Biography of Gram Parsons
Jessica Hundley with Polly Parsons

Publishing Date: November 9, 2005

An intimate new biography of country-rock legend Gram Parsons—written in collaboration with Parsons’s daughter, Polly—that includes hundreds of photos and illustrations as well as dozens of interviews with fellow musicians

He was a member of the Byrds and founder and frontman of the Flying Burrito Brothers. He was best friend to Keith Richards and mentor to Emmylou Harris. And he revolutionized music, combining country and rock when the two were like oil and water. Gram Parsons may have been only twenty-six when he died in 1973, but he was already well on his way to becoming one of the most influential musicians of all time.

A collaboration between journalist Jessica Hundley and Gram’s daughter, Polly Parsons, Grievous Angel is part biography, part visual scrapbook—a compilation of conversations and never-before-seen photos and unpublished letters, all interwoven with a vivid retelling of Gram’s amazing tale. Featuring dozens of interviews with everyone from Bright Eyes and Elvis Costello to Willie Nelson and Steve Earle, Grievous Angel is an exploration of how Gram’s legacy has spanned the decades, still inspiring both his contemporaries and today’s artists, thirty-odd years after his tragic death.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... ce&s=books
johnfoyle
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Post by johnfoyle »

Bump , bump!
johnfoyle
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Post by johnfoyle »

Hopefully this actually happens this time!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009C ... 940?n=5174

The Complete Reprise Sessions

Audio CD (June 20, 2006)
Label: Rhino / Wea

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Also , on DVD -

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000A0 ... ance&n=130

Gram Parsons - Fallen Angel (2004)

Studio: Rhino / Wea
DVD Release Date: June 20, 2006


http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/art ... le_id=2805

Gram Parsons Documentary To Be Released July 11 ( ? -J.F.)

A Gram Parsons documentary, Fallen Angel will be released to DVD on July 11. Produced and directed by Gandulf Henning and written by Sid Griffith, the documentary traces the life of the country-rock icon from his early musical career and rise to fame to his tragic death at age 26 from an overdose of drugs and alcohol.

The documentary features performances by Parsons and interviews with family and friends including Emmylou Harris, Parsons’ Byrds band-mate Chris Hilman, the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards and REM’s Peter Buck.

Prior to the DVD’s release, special screenings of the film will take place in seven major cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Nashville, Chicago, Austin, Portland and New York.
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Post by And No Coffee Table »

THE LEGEND OF THE GRIEVOUS ANGEL GROWS

Rhino's COMPLETE REPRISE SESSIONS Includes
Remastered and Expanded Versions of Gram Parsons' Solo Albums
Plus 16 Unreleased Tracks, Available June 20 From Rhino

LOS ANGELES - The echo of Gram Parsons' cosmic American music still rings in the sound of today's alternative country just as his trailblazing work as a musician without boundaries continues to inspire all recording artists. And although books, tribute albums and movies have brought more recognition to Parsons' proto-country-rock sound since his tragic death in 1973, fans have seen tantalizingly few unreleased songs emerge from the vaults to burnish Parson's short but influential legacy.

Thanks to a recently uncovered cache of master tapes, Rhino is able to add another chapter to Parsons' musical legend with GRAM PARSONS: COMPLETE REPRISE SESSIONS, a three-CD set featuring 16 previously unreleased outtakes from the GP and Grievous Angel sessions, as well as three hard-to-find tracks. Coproduced by Emmylou Harris, the three-disc CD set is available from Rhino June 20 at regular retail outlets and at http://www.rhino.com for a suggested list price of $34.98.

The first two discs of COMPLETE REPRISE SESSIONS contain remastered versions of Parsons' two classic solo albums expanded with rare Parsons interviews and bonus tracks that feature Parsons and Emmylou Harris performing "Love Hurts" and "Sin City" live in the WBCN radio studio, as well as a stunning instrumental version of "Return of the Grievous Angel" that spotlights the improvisation skills of pianist Glen D Hardin and guitarist James Burton, who played on both of Parsons' solo albums.

The final disc contains 15 alternate versions of influential tracks from GP and Grievous Angel. Stellar versions in their own right, the tracks feature Parsons and his tightly-knit band working through stripped-down, semi-acoustic arrangements of "She," "Streets of Baltimore," "Ooh Las Vegas," "Love Hurts," and a complete version of "Hickory Wind" minus the overdubbed crowd noise found on the album version. The disc closes with a trio of covers, including two Boudleaux Bryant songs made famous by The Everly Brothers ("Brand New Heartache" and "Sleepless Nights") and The Louvin Brothers'
"The Angels Rejoiced Last Night."

The deluxe packaging for the CD set consists of a "clamshell" box holding three "mini albums" and a 52-page booklet that includes lyrics, many previously unseen photos, an introduction by Emmylou Harris, and liner note essays by Holly George-Warren and Parke Puterbaugh.

GRAM PARSONS: COMPLETE REPRISE SESSIONS
Track Listing

Disc 1 - GP
1. "Still Feeling Blue"
2. "We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning"
3. "A Song For You"
4. "Streets Of Baltimore"
5. "She"
6. "That's All It Took"
7. "The New Soft Shoe"
8. "Kiss The Children"
9. "Cry One More Time"
10. "How Much I've Lied"
11. "Big Mouth Blues"
Bonus Tracks
12. GP Radio Promo
Gram Parsons Interview
13. How did you meet Emmylou Harris?
14. What is the story behind "A Song For You"?
15. What is the story behind "The New Soft Shoe"?
16. WBCN Interview with Maxine Sartori
19. "Love Hurts" - Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris
20. "Sin City" - Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris and N.D. Smart

Disc 2 - GRIEVOUS ANGEL
1. "Return Of The Grievous Angel"
2. "Hearts On Fire"
3. "I Can't Dance"
4. "Brass Buttons"
5. "$1000 Wedding"
6. Medley Live From Northern Quebec
A. "Cash On The Barrelhead"
B. "Hickory Wind"
7. "Love Hurts"
8. "Ooh Las Vegas"
9. "In My Hour Of Darkness"
Bonus Tracks
10. "Return Of The Grievous Angel" - Instrumental*
Gram Parsons Interview
11. Did you sing "Hickory Wind" at the Grand Ole Opry?
12. What differences do you see between pure country and country rock?

Disc 3
1. "She" - Alternate Version*
2. "That's All It Took" - Alternate Version*
3. "Still Feeling Blue" - Alternate Version*
4. "Kiss The Children" - Duet with Barry Tashian*
5. "Streets Of Baltimore" - Alternate Version*
6. "We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning" - Alternate Version*
7. "The New Soft Shoe" - Alternate Version*
8. "Return Of The Grievous Angel #1" - Alternate Version*
9. "In My Hour Of Darkness" - Alternate Version*
10. "Ooh Las Vegas" - Alternate Version*
11. "I Can't Dance" - Alternate Version*
12. "Sleepless Nights" - Alternate Version*
13. "Love Hurts" - Alternate Version*
14. "Brass Buttons" - Alternate Version*
15. "Hickory Wind" - Alternate Version*
16. "Brand New Heartache"
17. "Sleepless Nights"
18. "The Angels Rejoiced Last Night"

*Previously Unissued
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.greencine.com/article?action ... icleID=299

Gram Parsons: Fallen Angel
By Heather Johnson
June 5, 2006 - 10:19 PM PDT


Gandulf Hennig Reveals Gram Parsons' Life, Music in Long-Awaited Documentary

Ingram Cecil Connor, III wanted to be a rock star. While he never did achieve that type of fame, Connor, who would later take the name Gram (short for Ingram) Parsons, became known as the father of country-rock, influencing the likes of The Eagles, The Byrds, and the Rolling Stones, as well as later bands such as R.E.M., Sun Volt, The Jayhawks, and Wilco, among many others. During his 26 years, he never sold a lot of records or amassed hordes of screaming fans, but his peers revered him and the alt-country movement likely wouldn't exist without him. During the late '60s and early '70s, he and the groups he was a part of -- International Submarine Band, The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers -- were some of the first rock bands to don rhinestone-studded Nudie suits and weave country music into their sound. Neither Nashville nor L.A. knew quite what to make of him.

By the time they caught on, he was gone.

In true "live fast die young" rock 'n' roll fashion, Parsons died in 1973 of a drug overdose, leaving behind a timeless song catalog, as well as one of the more tragic and twisted life stories in rock history.

Countless magazine articles and a few unauthorized biographies have chronicled his life and death with varying effect and accuracy -- with good reason. It's a story that reads like a Southern gothic novel, full of dark characters and a morbid conclusion. But producer/director Gandulf Hennig's documentary Gram Parsons: Fallen Angel -- which originally aired in the UK on the BBC in 2004, and makes its U.S. DVD debut on June 20 via Rhino Home Video -- is the first film adaptation of his life story. (You could almost count the low budget Grand Theft Parsons, but that began where Parsons' tale ends, and starred Johnny "Jackass" Knoxville. So scratch that.)

Hennig, a Berlin-based filmmaker and musician, spent years compiling candid interviews with artists such as Keith Richards, Chris Hillman, Dwight Yoakam, Steve Earle, R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, former bandmate James Burton, duet partner Emmylou Harris, road manager Phil Kaufman and several members of his family, including window Gretchen Parsons Carpenter, his half-sister Diane Parsons, and his niece, Avis Bartkus Parsons III. Hennig weaves these interviews in with live performance and interview footage, rare home movies, childhood photographs, and naturally, a lot of great music. The end result is to dispel the many rumors that have snowballed through the years, while tastefully emphasizing his music, career, and family history, and concluding with the fatal drug overdose and his hijacked body.

Parsons tried to escape the insanity of his privileged, but deeply dysfunctional, Southern family upbringing through music, which eventually took him and his International Submarine Band to Los Angeles, which he then left to join the Byrds. As the Byrds' Chris Hillman says in the film, "we were hiring a keyboard player but we got George Jones in a rhinestone suit." He became instrumental in their classic "Sweethearts of the Rodeo" album, convincing them to record in Nashville and add steel guitar. They soared to new heights with Parsons under their wing, but he quit the band (two hours before departure) rather than play a gig in apartheid-plagued South Africa.

He and Hillman reconciled, and later formed Flying Burrito Brothers, a critically revered combo that released only two albums with Parsons on board, which contain some of his best work.

Not long after the release of his second album, "Grievous Angel," in 1973, Parsons overdosed from large quantities of morphine and alcohol. He died in a hotel on September 19, 1973, near one of his favorite places -- Joshua Tree National Monument in the southern California desert, where he was partying with friends. His family wanted a "proper" burial in New Orleans, stepfather Bob Parsons' home base. But Gram Parsons had made a pact with Kaufman, his road manager, a few years earlier stating that, when he died, he'd rather be cremated and have his ashes scattered at Joshua Tree than be buried in the ground. Kaufman attempted to honor that pact, and the story gets weirder from there. Even after death, Parsons could not escape melancholy and tragedy.

Hennig started developing the project seven years ago, on his own time, with funds he managed to save from his editor job at a Berlin television station. Five years later, he received the grant funding needed to finish the job, as well as an offer from the BBC to co-produce the film. He then partnered with writer Sid Griffin, whom he had met early on in his research process, and editor Birgit Mild, who helped condense more than 90 hours of footage into a mere 103 minutes.

The two-year delay between the UK and U.S. release actually became a blessing in disguise. While Hennig buried himself in paperwork to secure all of the necessary copyright clearances and permissions for the music-filled documentary's DVD release, he made contact with Avis Parsons' daughter, who provided enough background material and interview footage to warrant a complete re-edit. The U.S. version of Gram Parsons: Fallen Angel, contains 15 additional minutes of footage. [The film also screens at San Francisco's Roxie Cinema, Thursday, June 8 through June 15. A Q&A with Hennig will follow the 7:30 pm screening on June 8.]

Heather Johnson caught up with Hennig at his second home, Nashville, to talk about country-rock's "Grievous Angel," and the making of the documentary.

Sid Griffin wrote Gram Parsons: A Music Biography, one of the first books written on him. Aside from lending his encyclopedic knowledge of Parsons, how did Griffin contribute to the project?

He helped me to meet the guys in charge with the BBC. And I took him on the road with me when we shot the movie, so he was with me when we did the interviews, and asked a good part of the questions. He also had some contacts that really helped, like Chris Hillman. [Griffin] had written about his career for years and years, and I think that helped open the door.

How difficult was it to land the Keith Richards interview?


That was the toughest one to get, as you might imagine. It took us two or three years. First we never got a response, then we were turned down. In the end, a phone call came, and the interview had to be shot the next day. The BBC provided a crew in London, and Sid did the actual interview. I couldn't make it because I was in Germany, so Sid got to meet Keith Richards that day.

How did you find the video and live footage?

There isn't much footage of Gram. We found everything that is accessible. There was a home movie that Avis [Parsons?] found in a barn and it had just fallen apart. It was footage of Gram and Avis when they were children, but it had just rotted away so we couldn't use it.

But we found a lot that people haven't seen before. Great footage of Gram and the Burritos on the Train Tour - Michael Vosse, their 'executive hippie' at the [record] company, shot that. He had the vision to ask his boss for a Super 8 camera. We're talking about the 1960s. These days every high school band has some friend following them with a video camera, but back then? I thought that was pretty visionary. He wasn't the best director of photography; it was all blurred and shaky, but it's perfect. It really fits the context.

Performance footage came from professional archives. But I had to track that down, too -- footage from local TV shows from the '60s. I spent a few years trying to find footage.

This is the first time Parsons' family has spoken on camera. Had they talked with the media much before?

Some of them have. Gretchen talked to an author who wrote a book on Gram before, but she felt what she said was not represented the way she wanted it. The general feeling of the family was "whenever we open our mouths, we look like the bad guys or like we're stupid. So we don't want to talk anymore." Diane, Gram's little sister, had never talked to the press at all. She chose to lead a life that is completely nonpublic. But they all were kind enough to talk to me on camera. It was difficult in the beginning, but I think they saw that we weren't trying to bullshit them in any way, or trying to exploit the story. But it was still a big step on their part to trust us, because I didn't have an impressive track record as a filmmaker that Americans would have heard about. I could have just been a flake, or some guy just looking for a scandalous story to exploit. I'm glad that they're all happy with the results.

When you finish a film like this, you've got to take care of a lot of things. You've got to make sure you meet the deadlines, you've got to hope that the commissioning editor -- in this case from the BBC -- will like it, that it doesn't demand any changes, and then, just on a moral level, you're scared shitless that the people who put their trust in you will like the result. Especially with so many hurt feelings involved. But they're all really happy and that made me very happy.

Gram's sister, Avis, died before you had a chance to speak with her.

In a boating accident. With one of her daughters. The karma in that family...

The initial version of the movie dealt with Gram and Avis' relationship but apparently not to a degree that was sufficient. The film was invited to 20 film festivals before it was scheduled to come out in the U.S. and during the Q&A sessions, at every film festival I was asked, "What ever happened to Avis?" If you hear that question once, maybe someone didn't pay attention or get what the film was about, but if you're asked that question at every film festival, you have to admit maybe there's a part of the story you didn't cover well. So I went back and re-edited the movie and shot more footage. I got access to Avis' surviving daughter, Avis III, and she helped a lot with giving me the psychological aspect of the relationship between Avis and Gram, and about how they grew up and the traumatic experiences they went through. Avis' part of the story is much stronger in the [U.S.] version.

We went back to the edit room for almost two months, and invested a shitload of money in re-cutting the film, so this is really a big step forward. There is no way I could have made this film without my editor, Birgt Mild. We worked 112 days, day and night, then another two months editing in Avis' parts.

How did you find Avis?

She saw the initial version of the film at a family celebration that they had. I didn't know her when we made the initial version. She e-mailed me one day and asked if she could have a copy, and I called her back and said, "Sure, you can have a copy, but how about helping me make a better movie?" I was very happy that she said yes.

She's very open on camera about her mother and Gram's upbringing. That had to be hard for her to do.

That's a big process for somebody, even if they just sit down for an hour for an interview. They think about it for days before that. They go through old pictures, old letters, and a lot of feelings get stirred up. It's a very intense thing to do, to talk about your parents or somebody you're really close to when they're not there. So I'm really grateful she did that. And everybody else, as well, but especially the family. There's a lot of heartbreak in it. People are still heartbroken 32 years later.

His wife, Gretchen [Parsons Carpenter] was a widow at age 21. That's tough. I wasn't prepared to be married at 21, but being a widow at that age? She's still taking it hard. I think the film helped them all heal a little bit, which I can't take credit for, but I feel blessed if it did help to heal some feelings.

I appreciate the way the film covered his death. Some of the gory details are tactfully left unsaid.

I just felt that was nobody's business, really. Margaret Fisher, the woman who was with Gram when he died, put it pretty well in the film when she says, "to see the light go out in somebody's eyes, that's not something that belongs to be shared." You can read about those details in the books and the articles. I felt that it's clear enough what happened.

Does his gravesite in New Orleans still exist or did it get washed away when Hurricane Katrina hit?

It's still there. In March 2005 the family put a new rectangular ledger on the grave. It has an image of Gram on it made from bronze or copper. That was a pretty nice thing to happen.

It's interesting that early in the film, he writes a letter to Avis declaring that they will never become as "sick and haunted" as their parents, but he ultimately experienced those same feelings.

Bitterly ironic if you see what happens after that. That's one of the toughest realities of the movie -- to see that it's really hard to overcome your childhood. You don't have to be Freudian to see that. And as much as he wanted to overcome his childhood, he just couldn't. His sister Avis was probably better at that. From what I understand she was a happy person when she died. She didn't die of alcoholism, or suicide, or drug abuse. She died in an accident.

How did you first discover Gram's music?

When I was about 20, a girlfriend of mine made me a west coast mix tape, and it had "Hot Burrito #1" on it from the first Flying Burritos record, and I couldn't stop listening to that song, I thought it was the most beautiful song I'd ever heard. Their playing was sloppy -- they wouldn't make it on American Idol these days -- but that's beyond the point, it's so passionate, so powerful, and so strong, and I wanted to know more about Parsons. So I started to buy his records, which was not that easy at the time. The Burritos album was in print, but the solo stuff wasn't really. I started off with a compilation of the Burritos' and Gram's stuff that was compiled by Elvis Costello. And then I realized that my first contact with country music was when Elvis Costello released "Some Kind of Blue" in 1981. I was a punk rock kid from Germany. There's not a lot of George Jones there. I can't thank Costello enough for that.

I'm glad that even after making this film, I can still listen to Gram's music. The Gram that I found making the movie was not exactly the Gram I had been looking for when we started, but I still love his music, and I'm glad I had the chance to get close to his family.
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Post by johnfoyle »

I....cannot.....wait....for this!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.goestores.com/catalog.aspx?s ... 4&detail=1

Image
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2007/06 ... ns-li.html

Gram Parsons lives!

Jun 22, 2007, 07:08 PM | by Shirley Halperin

"If I go away, you know I’m gonna get back somehow…"

Country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons sang those immortal words on a track called "One Hundred Years From Now" back in 1968, when he briefly joined the Byrds' lineup and ended up steering them towards the twang of their much-beloved album, Sweethearts of the Rodeo. That seminal record remains a treasured keepsake of Gram fans, and a major influence on countless bands that followed his brave and brazen mission to incorporate southern sounds into psychedelic rock-n-roll. But since his untimely death in 1974, there's been a disappointing dearth of Gram material, despite renewed interest in his music and, of course, the legend of his demise (Gram overdosed on a lethal cocktail of drugs and alcohol in a motel room in Joshua Tree, California; his body was subsequently stolen from LAX and driven back out to desert by his tour manager and longtime friend, Phil Kaufman, where it was burned). Sure, we got the 2001 collection Sacred Hearts and Fallen Angels: The Gram Parsons Anthology, which was a thorough rehash of some of Gram's greatest hits, both on his own, with the Byrds, and fronting the International Submarine Band, and the Flying Burrito Brothers. And we Gram lovers were also treated to the glorious two-night tribute concert in 2004, lovingly curated by his daughter, Polly, and featuring performances by Keith Richards, Norah Jones, Steve Earle and John Doe, among others. But then again, we were also forced to endure the godawful film Grand Theft Parsons, starring a true fan (Johnny Knoxville) in a very unfortunate role.

Still, for the most part, we've been pretty patient, some would even say passive, in our desire to hear new music. But not Dave Prinz, co-founder of Amoeba Records and a die-hard Gram fan. In between running his three superb California record stores, he went out in search of undiscovered Gram recordings — and happened upon two hours of live music buried deep within 16,000 hours of the Grateful Dead archive. The tapes were from two Avalon shows in 1969 — when the Flying Burrito Brothers opened up for the Dead — and they were perfect.

But getting the rights to release them proved no small feat. The owner of the tapes, Dead archivist Owsley "Bear" Stanley, was notoriously protective of his recordings and, after a grueling six months of little-to-no contact, he simply ignored the deliberately simple, one-page contract that Dave Prinz needed.

To make a long story short, Prinz did, with the help of David Grisman (and Gram's spirit from above, says Prinz), get that contract signed. And on Wednesday, he, Polly Parsons and Burrito Bros. bassist Chris Etheridge gathered a group of reporters and supporters for a roundtable discussion and listening session. He explained that ten of the tracks were of previously unavailable songs, and described how Gram's voice, still fresh and remarkably spot-on, can be heard better-than-ever thanks to Bear's meticulous taping know-how. This is a big deal for Gram fans, my friends, which is why I thought I'd share the story and full track-listing with you. The two-CD set is scheduled for release on August 28.

Gram Parsons Archives: The Flying Burrito Brothers Live at the Avalon, 1969

Disc 1
1. Close up the Honky Tonks
2. Dark End of the Street
3. Undo the Right
4. She Once Lived Here
5. We've Got to Get Ourselves Together
6. Lucille
7. Hot Burrito #1
8. Hot Burrito #2
9. Long Black Limousine
10. Mental Revenge
11. Sin City
12. Thousand Dollar Wedding
13. When Will I Be Loved

Disc 2
1. Undo the Right
2. She Once Lived Here
3. Sweet Mental Revenge
4. We've Got to Get Ourselves Together
5. Lucille
6. Sin City
7. You Win Again
8. Hot Burrito #1
9. Hot Burrito #2
10. You're Still On My Mind
11. Train Song
12. Long Black Limousine
13. Sweet Dream Baby
14. Do Right Woman


http://www.amoebarecords.com/
johnfoyle
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB2 ... light=kent

August 27th 1977 New Musical Express

"In the future everyone will be a star for fifteen minutes"
- Andy Warhol

by Nick Kent

(extract)

The first volley goes something like this, tying in with Costello’s surprising infatuation with country music, particularly the work and lives of two hero’s of his, George Jones and Gram Parsons. Parsons blighted life and times he is particularly enamoured of.

“Yeah, Gram Parsons had it all sussed. He didn’t stick around — he made his best work and then he died. ‘That’s the way I want to do it. I’m never ever going to stick around long enough to churn out a load of mediocre crap like all those guys from the ‘60s. .. I’d rather kill myself. I mean, Parsons’ exit was perfect. â€
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 01&sc=1000

Amoeba Records releases two-disc Flying Burrito Brothers set

Aidin Vaziri

Sunday, November 4, 2007


"Is that Gram Parsons?" asks the server at Cha Cha Cha, fixating on a rarely seen picture of the Flying Burrito Brothers front man, who died in 1973, on the cover of the new two-CD set "Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969."

She grabs the package off the table for closer inspection.

"I love Gram Parsons!"

As she walks away, David Prinz insists he has not paid the chic young Haight Street denizen for this spontaneous endorsement.

"That wasn't even set up," he says, laughing. "In a million years, I would have no idea she would be into him."

Still, she is exactly the type of customer that the excitable co-founder of Amoeba Music, who already runs three successful record stores in California, is hoping to reach with a new music label and soon-to-arrive digital download site that he fully expects to topple Apple's iTunes store. ("They know how to sell machines," Prinz sniffs, "not music.")

Better yet, he's hoping that the previously unreleased live Parsons album - recorded nearly four decades ago by archivist Owsley "Bear" Stanley and pulled from the Grateful Dead's vaults just before the contents were sold to Rhino - will be the release to do the trick.

"It's always been our directive to bring music to the people, and this is a real hands-on way of doing it," Prinz says. "It's a lot more difficult than just putting stock in a store, I'll tell you that. But it was so crucial that this be released because the quality is so good. It's undeniable. It could get radio play. It could get on the charts. It could get into Starbucks. It's right there."

It's something the fast-talking 1978 national Scrabble champion and die-hard Parsons fan believes in so strongly that he devoted years to getting all the clearances needed to make the release a reality.

"It was the biggest battle of my life," Prinz says. "I've never worked so hard."

After securing the approval of Parson's daughter, Polly, over lunch at the Chateau Marmont (and scoring an invitation to her wedding as a result of their meeting), he says, he still had to persuade Stanley, who hadn't licensed anything he had recorded out of the Dead vault since 1970. He relented only after musician David Grisman intervened.

"We waited a year for that contract," Prinz says.

They had to wait two more years to secure the rights to Parson's material from Universal, only to be shut down again by former Burrito Brothers guitarist Chris Hillman.

"Let's just say he has some unresolved issues with Gram," Prinz says.

For some reason, it took Paul McCartney making an appearance at Amoeba's Los Angeles store to bring him around.

"I think he wanted to get on the winning team," says Amoeba co-owner Joe Goldmark, who hasn't been able to get a word in edgewise.

And then there was the photographer.

"She held out longer than Chris!" Prinz says, nearly leaping out of his seat. "There was so much to fight through, but I think Gram carried us."

After all that (and in order to comply with the photographer's demands), the set - made up of never-before-heard tapes from two 1969 shows at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco at which the Flying Burrito Brothers supported the Dead - is officially being released on Tuesday, the day after Parsons, who died of a drug overdose at age 26, would have turned 61.

The producer's borderline-obsessive affection for the project is evident not only in the packaging and liner notes but also in the exceptional music, which sees Parsons at his heart-aching best. Included are beautiful versions of country and rock classics by Hank Williams and Willie Nelson, along with the band's own timeless compositions, such as "Hot Burrito No. 1" and "Long Black Limousine."

"I just had to decide nobody was going to do this unless I did it," Prinz says. "I want people to hear Gram. If you told me today I would have to work twice as hard to get this out, I would. And I hate working."

That's the sort of dedication he hopes to bring to Amoeba's latest ventures. The label was officially started in August with a release of bluesy songs by smoky-voiced San Francisco singer-songwriter Brandi Shearer after plans for a Gypsy jazz album featuring her vocals were scrapped at the last minute.

"I learned it's easier working with a dead artist than a live one," Prinz says.

The digital store, meanwhile, remains about a year away. Details about its setup remain hush-hush, but Prinz promises it will make iTunes tremble.

"I'll take them on," he says. "They might be the first to sell downloads, in essence, but is the first record store that sold 78s in 1928 still around? I'm not going to tell you what I'm going to do or how I'm going to do it. I'll say this: If you're going to bet on who's going to build a better computer, bet on them. But we built the best record store in the world three times in a row. We'll do it again."
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Post by martinfoyle »

Yet another Gram biog. has come out.Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music
by David Meyer
, which features quotes from Elvis, of course, sounds like a good read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/books ... nted=print
extract
[quote]This overreaching is too bad, because Parsons’s story is fascinating enough on its own. What Parsons brought to the party was symbolized by the famous drug-patterned Nudie suit he wore (“a garment of legend,â€
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Re: Elvis`sleevenote for a 1982 Gram Parsons compilation.

Post by johnfoyle »

Image

Uncut's latest feature on Gram Parsons includes an extract from Elvis' sleevenote for the 1982 GP compilation


Full text here - http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... am_Parsons


http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=2077393

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Re: Elvis`sleevenote for a 1982 Gram Parsons compilation.

Post by Jack of All Parades »

Fascinating his continued hold on our interest- it is tenacious given his many weaknesses. EC's comments are nicely understated. A big yes to his urging of the purchase of the original albums. If one does there will be no disappointment. Just as my wife holds onto a memory of one live show with Jimi Hendrix from 1969 so do I hang on to the memory of a small club show from 1973 before "Grievous Angel" was coming out. It was the only time I got to see this incandescent artist perform. That he had a young female singer[Ms Harris] was a decided bonus that night. Am reminded of that night these days by way of an excellent book published this past year- Calling Me Home: Gram Parsons and the Roots of Country Rock by Bob Kealing. It is most informative on his formative years in Waycross, Georgia and Coconut Grove, Florida. An excellent read. It may well be the best book on Parsons I have read.
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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