Gram Parsons joins the Byrds

Fom the Gandulf Hennig film FALLEN ANGEL. I was in the superdome during Katrina and met this cat obsessed with Gram Parsons. said he met his sister, been up to the house, etc I had heard "sweetheart of the rodeo" so I knew a little bit about Gram. when i got out i bought the gp/grievous angel cd and "gilded palace of sin" and kinda became a little obsessed myself. later i found the FALLEN ANGEL dvd at best buy and It's a great film! backs up everything that dude in the dome said about Gram. I claim FAIR USE in posting this clip and encourage everybody to rent or buy this fantastic and one of the best rock documentaries I have ever seen.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Gram
• Parsons
• The
• Byrds
• Chris
• Hillman
• New
• Orleans
• Film
• Underground
• indie
• drugs
• lonnie
• matherne

[funforalgernon]

You gotta feel for Chris -- he clearly had to watch the long death of a good friend, co-writer, co-performer, bandmate...and Chris was a co-writer on so many great songs w/ Gram.

[andyinoregon]

Saw Chris and Herb Pedersen in concert a few years back. Hard to believe his fine singing voice was never featured in the early days of The Byrds.

[dejordyball]

@Graysonhd I don't think so at all. He gives Gram his due, but he is just telling the truth.

[Frabffib]

@Graysonhd No, he doesn't. You do, though.

[GOLDEN0000011]

@PAULLONDEN ////hahahaha,,, Keepin' up with Kieth,, Actually Kieth has the Expertise. He's Suffered the Blows so the Bruises Don't Show,hehe...Gotta remember they got their many GoodiEs from Legitimate Doctors(as well as tHe Beatles Did{dr.robert-Song**True*} ),But back to Kieth, He knows the Quality & attributes as well as your seasoned Pharmatician(( The man is also known for his Expansive Library))A big reader with all his 1st-hand knowledge***TELLS ME It's NO-LUCK**! hahaha!

[BobbysBigDemos]

Gram's vocals were on three songs on the original pressings of Sweetheart. It is said he almost didn't make it on the album at all because McGuinn felt that Parsons was taking over the band and he originally cited contractual reasons (Parsons had with Lee Hazlewood). Later releases feature some songs to which Gram was to originally sing lead on. McGuinn cut separate tracks with him on lead without the bands knowledge and those appear taking place of Gram's leads on those songs.

[BobbysBigDemos]

Hillman comes off like that because Gram was a douchebag. He was a spoiled rich kid, literally a trust fund baby with millions in an account in his name. He never had to work a day in his life. It didn't matter if he lost the gig with the Birds because he was bored with it and wanted to move on to something else like he did with everything, and every project he was in.

[Crowsfan55]

@cynthiacher yeah...agree with everything you said cynthia...but then again Emmy Lou saw the person that was not an asshole...unfortunately most of the time he continued to be one right up to his death...what a shame..what a great talent lost at 26....he had a woman that tried to save him...but he didn't want to be saved....and to me that's the saddest thing

[Graysonhd]

Does Hillman come off as a total douchebag here or what?!

[cynthiacher]

Since Chris was THERE and actually knew Gram, I believe him when he says that Gram left them in the lurch not to protest racism, but to hang out with Keith Richards. It was a rotten thing to do, but that was Gram Parsons. He ducked responsiblities all his life, because he could. He had a nice trust fund; he didn't need to work unless he wanted to. Gram Parsons was a talented musician; he was also an asshole. And that's not my opinion. Read a biography of him; his behavior was mostly awful.

[fredquimbythe23rd]

I remember when 'Sweetheart of the Rodeo' first came out. I could not believe what I was hearing. I was a great Byrds fan AND a big country music fan. I loved the LP; But as it was originally issued, G.Ps lead vocals had been removed from the LP and replaced by McGuinn singing lead. 'Sweetheart' was recorded at Columbia studios whilst G.P. was still under contract to LHI .

The original mix with Gram's lead vocals was not issued until many years later, but all his tracks are now available.