Death of the Grievous Angel

            One of the odder rock and roll star death stories was that of Gram Parsons.   It wasn't so much his death that was odd, but what happened after he died. 

              Gram Parsons came from a moneyed background, but his parents were alcoholics and his father committed suicide when Gram was 12 years old.  To escape from his troubled youth, Gram turned to music and played in various rock and folk bands.  In 1968 he joined the already legendary group The Byrds.  He had a big influence on the highly regarded album Sweetheart of the Rodeo, which helped lead to the country rock movement.  His association with The Byrds was short lived and by summer of 1968 he left the group.

           In 1969 Parsons co-founded the country rock group The Flying Burrito Brothers. He recorded a couple of albums with this group and then moved on to attempt a solo career.  He floundered and increasingly fell under the influence of drugs and alcohol. During the period of the early 70s he also associated with the Rolling Stones in hopes of recording on their label.  His drug usage began to interfere with his professional life.

             In 1972 Gram managed to shake his heroin addiction and returned to the U.S. to record his milestone album GP.   Among those collaborating on the album with him was Ric Grech, who had been part of the super group Blind Faith, and singer Emmylou Harris.  The album is traditional country with some rock influence.  It received critical acclaim, but was a commercial dud, selling very poorly. 

            On the heels of GP, Parsons toured with Harris and a band to promote the album. but with no great success. After the tour Parsons recorded his next solo album.  On September 19, 1973 Gram Parsons died in a motel room in Joshua Tree, California.  He had overdosed on morphine and tequila.  He was only 26 years old when he died.

             He had told some friends not long before his death that when he died he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes strewn in Joshua Tree National Monument.  However, his stepfather had arranged to have the body shipped back to Louisiana for burial.  Before the body made it onto the plane at Los Angeles International Airport, his friends arrived in a borrowed hearse and stole the body.  They drove the body to Joshua Tree, where they dumped a five gallon can of gasoline inside the casket and tossed in a lit match.   A 2003 movie called Grand Theft Parsons, starring Johnny Knoxville, depicts the incidents leading up to and after the stealing of the corpse of Gram Parsons.

               The death of Gram Parsons was overshadowed by the death the following day of a much more well-known artist, Jim Croce, who died in a plane crash.  Gram Parson's impact on music, particularly country rock and country has been substantial as many artists cite his influence in their work.

              Are you familiar with any of the work of Gram Parsons?  Would you like to stay in the motel room where Gram Parsons died?   For only $105 you too can stay in room 8 of the Joshua Tree Inn.  They claim the room is haunted, but it hasn't stopped many fans from staying.

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