Gram Parsons movie

parsons
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

Gram Parsons was the real deal - folk music, bluegrass music player who ended up playing keyboards for the Byrds. He brought a fusion of country western into rock through the Byrds - the Sweetheart of the Rodeo was the album that Rolling Stone still considers one of the greatest. This album featuring pedal steel guitar, banjo and so forth. I listened to it in college and immediately starting playing banjo (why I stopped I'll never know). in any event, this movie is about his death. He died after abusing his body with herion, amphetamines, booze etc. he was surrounded by stooges who didnt call an ambulance but tried to revive him by sticking ice cubes up his butt, and "trying" CPR (they said they didn't know how to do it but tried). Someone finally called an ambulance and even that crew sounded clueless (didnt try to revive him until they got to the hospital). As the Dude says in the Big Lebowski, "he had to feed the monkey." Anyway, his step dad wanted him buried in Louisiana to establish residency and claim inheritance, but meanwhile, his road manager decided to honor Grams wishes and steal the body and burn it in Joshua Tree national park. Somehow he gets a hippie hearse, steals the body at the airport and burns it. He turns himself in, gets fined for stealing the coffin, and never spend a day in jail. Step dad gets no inheritance, dies of alocohol poisoning shortly thereafter. There is a book about this, also stories in rolling stone: the stuff legend is made out of. This movie is stupid: it invents all sorts of extra characters, as though you needed to invent characters for this story. Also, none of Gram Parsons songs are played on the soundtrack - how screwed up is that? My favorite Parson song: I am a Pilgrim. Great song. Lead banjo throughout. His girlfriend was 25 yr old emmy lou harris, who subsequently recorded alot of his songs successfully (las vegas, sin city, wheels). So watch the film but then buy Sweetheart of the Rodeo. One of his best friends was Keith Richard, and with him as a friend, you dont need an enemy (Richard's drug use is legendary - he used to get full body blood transfusions because of his heroin addiction - mick jagger does a great imitation of him, incomprehensible speech, drugged mannerisms).