1973: Grievous Angel

Gram Parsons: Return of the Grievous Angel

Gram Parsons: Love Hurts

[purchase]

1973 is the year Gram Parsons died. He did so just a few weeks after he finished recording his final album, Grievous Angel. These two tracks both come from that album and feature harmonies from Emmylou Harris.

The father of country-rock, or Cosmic American Music as he called it, Gram Parsons is simply one of the most influential artists within the genre of music we now call Americana. His tragic story has been told many times, so I'm not going to do so here. I will mention a fabulous Parsons biography that was published last year for anyone who wants to find out more about the man and his music. Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and his Cosmic American Music by David Meyer is available at Amazon.