Didn’t Know It Was A Cover | The Flying Burrito Brothers’ Wild Horses

Gram Parsons rewired country music into his own beautiful vision where his considerable gifts were evident on one of his finest ever recordings. 

Gram Parsons, an immensely talented musician haunted by personal demons and a penchant for cocaine and heroin that cut his life drastically short in 1973 at the age of just 26, never achieved the stardom that was his creative due. A revolutionary musician who became a cult figure, his legacy is undeniable and spirit lives on through records such as Safe at Home (1968), as a member of the short-lived and long forgotten International Submarine Band, and replacing David Crosby as a member of The Byrds, heavily contributing to one of their best albums, the country-rock classic Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968). 

He was also an original member of The Flying Burrito Brothers and developed a prolific songwriting partnership with ex-Byrd Chis Hillman, and bassist Chris Ethridge, as evidenced by the genre-defining landmark THE GUILDED PALACE OF SIN (1969) ★★★★★. Parsons took the lead and creatively fused country with rock, creating a perfect synthesis of the rural with the urban, the traditional with the contemporary. His sweet soulful voice the centrepiece on many of the tracks. When the Burritos performed at the the ill-fated Altamont Free Concert in December 1969, as documented in the film Gimme Shelter, it was frontman Gram who was the focal point, confidently calling the shots.

Their follow-up BURRITO DELUXE (1970) ★★★, is best remembered for containing the first recording of the Jagger/Richards composition ‘Wild Horses’ a year before The Rolling Stones’ version surfaced. It continued Gram’s fusion of life-in-the-fast-lane rock with country soul, but found him deliberately stepping back to make more room for Hillman and future-Eagle Bernie Leadon, but Gram was soon to depart. After missing too many gigs or showing up too inebriated to play, he was fired from the Burritos in June 1970. 

Gram had developed a close friendship with Keith Richards as early as 1968, reintroducing the guitarist to country music and expanding his musical horizons. Gram’s influence can be heard on The Rolling Stones’ frequent excursions into country music on Let it Bleed (1969) and Sticky Fingers (1971), as well as providing them with a template for the best of their early 70s work. Gram even joined the Stones’ camp at Keith’s Villa Nellcôte in the South of France during the sessions for Exile on Main Street in 1972, hanging out and writing music, and rumours persist that he appears on the legendary album. If you listen closely you may just hear him singing backup on Sweet Virginia.

It didn’t last long though. In Keith’s 2010 autobiography Life he concedes Mick Jagger was the impetuous for Parsons’ departure. The closeness of Gram and Keith, their marathon drug sessions, even talk of making an album together, awakened jealousies and anger in Mick:

“Mick didn’t want Gram. It took me a long time to realise something that everyone around me suspected. He made life difficult for him, flirted with his girlfriend, and somehow made it clear that he was not welcome”

Richards also recalls that Jagger behaved like a “tarantula” when he was around Gram, and while he believed that Gram’s presence expanded the band, the singer saw it as a betrayal. Parsons attempted to rekindle his relationship with the band on their 1972 American tour but Jagger shut that down, and discussions of a solo LP by him on their own label proved inconclusive. On Parsons, Richards makes no secret of his influence on him: “Gram taught me to play country, the differences between styles; Today I can play with any musician of the genre without blushing. I know I had a good teacher ”.

Richards had given Parsons the demo tape of ‘Wild Horses’ on December 7, 1969, the day after the concert at Altamont, and the Burrito’s relatively unknown, slow-burn version, which fittingly closes out Burrito Deluxe, is a desperate take, dripping with emotion.

“I had my freedom… but I don’t have much time…”

Gram owns it, his golden voice sounding soulful yet cracked, with an undertone of anguish and hopelessness. The great Leon Russell also features on one of the great piano solos of all time, and when it kicks in with “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow’s pedal steel guitar playing over the top, it is the definition of rock ‘n roll beauty. 

After two albums and no commercial return, and with his dissatisfaction with his bandmates growing, Parsons decamped again. Returning to America, our hero met the protégé Emmylou Harris, a harmony singer of astonishing purity, and they formed a formidable partnership, their voices complementing each other and blending in exquisitely on the promising GP (1973), the first of two solo albums that are the centrepiece of his catalogue, replacing The Flying Burrito Brothers’ warped humour with melancholy and sweet beauty.

While the album received enthusiastic reviews, it also failed to achieve any significant commercial success. Likewise the country-soul of his even-better final album, Grievous Angel (1974), was met with a similar reception. No matter what his lifestyle was like, Gram’s writing was at its very best here, and his voice seemed fuller, more controlled and more heartfelt than ever. Unfortunately his health deteriorated due to years of drug abuse and he died of an overdose in a hotel room at Joshua Tree Desert in California prior to the release of the album.

Since his death, Parsons has attained a cult-hero status and has been been credited with helping to found both country rock and alt-country. In barely five years, he had altered the shape of American music by bringing country, rock ’n roll, soul, R&B and folk together. A true artist and self-made shooting star that burned out way too soon.

Further Listening:

♥ The Byrds – One Hundred Years from Now

♥ The Byrds – Hickory Wind

♥ The Flying Burrito Brothers – Do Right Woman

♥ The Flying Burrito Brothers – Older Guys

♥ Gram Parsons – Return of the Grievous Angel 

♥ Gram Parsons – Brass Buttons