Gram Parsons at Altamont, 1969, by Robert Altman

Tony Foutz: “And there he was: dressed in white, propped up on an elbow, all stretched out on a creamy carpet like a poolside parvenu in Paradise Lost, a fetish-like necklace of turquoise and feathers at his throat. Man-child musician in the fold of newfound friends. I recall the mischief in his eyes, the lazy-boy smile. It was July of 1968 and he’d walked away from the Byrds’ tour to South Africa. He was on the corrosive threshold of his run down fame’s gauntlet and ruptured recognition as a gifted individual artist. The future was fatally bright.”

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The Legendary Country Western tailor to the stars — Nudie Cohn.

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Circa 1970’s, Los Angeles, CA– Hands of Nudie Cohn the Rodeo Tailor  –Image by © Jeff Albertson

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Nudie suits have been worn by just about everyone who is anyone in the world of Country/Rock music. Simply put, he made Country cool with his one-off original creations that bedazzled a long list of diverse celebs– John Wayne, Gene Autry, George Jones, Elvis, Cher, John Lennon, Ronald Reagan, Elton John, Robert Mitchum, Pat Buttram, Tony Curtis, Michael Landon, Glenn Campbell, Hank Snow, Porter Wagoner, Hank Williams Sr., and groups such as, America, Chicago, ZZ top, and the Flying Burrito Bros (Gram Parsons’ “Gilded Palace of Sin” suit is considered the Sistine Chapel of Nudies).  To own a Nudie is to own something special; collected by fashion and music hounds alike– Dwight Yoakam, Ben Harper, Lenny Kravitz, Perry Farrell, Jeff Tweedy, and other A-list Rockers of today keep the Nudie flame burning, and even inspired a few of them to create their own line of signature clothing.

The man behind the amazing rhinestone-studded, hand-embroidered suits was none other than Mr. Nudie Cohn– arguably, the larger-than-life 5-foot-7 Russian Rhinestone Cowboy is the most influential and innovative fashion designer and tailor to ever bless the world of Country music.  And he couldn’t stop at clothing– he put his Midas Touch on everything around him– especially his customized fleet of Nudie-fied GM cruisers that he used to promote his LA based Nudies Rodeo Tailors shop on Lankershim Blvd.  Of the original 18 cars, the whereabouts of only 9 are known today.

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Circa 1970’s, Los Angeles, CA– Nudie costomized each of his many cadillacs, protecting his work with plastic. This one is decorated with silver dollar coins and 14 various guns. –Image by © Jeff Albertson

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Pontiac Bonnevilles were the car of choice, Mr. Cuevas said, partly because they were among the longest cars on the road. “We took the seats out and did the upholstery in hand tooled leather,” he said. “We put guns and bullets and silver dollars all over it.”

Mr. Cuevas recalled that guns were cheap and easy to buy in Los Angeles. The Winchesters, Colts and derringers were sent to be plugged and silver-plated. When returned, the guns were holstered or became gearshifts and door handles. Silver dollars were strategically added.

“I thought it was fantastic,” Mr. Cuevas said. “The more things we had to hang on the car, the better.”

–Via The New York Times

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Circa 1970s, Los Angeles, California– Nudie costomized each of his many Cadillacs, protecting his work with plastic. This one is decorated with guns & silver dollar coins. –Image by © Jeff Albertson

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In the early 1960s, for promotional purposes, Cohn began receiving a free Pontiac every year. Typically, he’d drive the cars for a while and then sell them or give them away. While Mr. Cuevas said he recalled a few going out the door at prices up to $35,000, Nudie gave his ‘63 Bonneville (adorned with more than 100 valuable coins, including Morgan silver dollars) to his friend Roy Rogers.

Today, that car is hooked to a Nudie-customized covered-wagon trailer in the Roy Rogers museum in Branson, Mo., not far from Trigger, the world’s most famous stuffed horse. Dave Koch, a museum spokesman, said Rogers drove the car regularly near his Apple Valley, Calif., home, until souvenir hunters began prying off coins.

“It was such a long vehicle with that extended rear bumper, that it was very difficult to drive on hills,” Mr. Koch said. “You had to enter driveways at a major angle.”

–Via The New York Times, read more here

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Circa 1970s, Los Angeles, California– Nudie the Rodeo Tailor with photographs of the many stars and their suits he’s made over the years –Image by © Jeff Albertson

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May 26th, 1973, Los Angeles, California– Nudie Cohn, George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Nudie Cohn outfitted many Country & Western stars in custom suits & shirts. — Image by © Michael Ochs Archives

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Circa 1970s, Los Angeles, CA– Merle Haggard choosing fabric for a new Nudie suit. –Image by © Jeff Albertson

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Circa 1970s, Los Angeles, California– Nudie the Rodeo Tailor in his Shop –Image by © Jeff Albertson

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Alright, I get it.  How can you NOT have color pics of something as beautiful and COLORFUL as a Nudie suit–

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(Right) Nudie Cohn– The Man, The Suit, The Legend.  (Left) Gram Parsons and Nudie Cohn.

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Nudie Cohn, in a glorious Nudie suit, atop a Nudie customized cruiser = Nudie Heaven.

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Gram Parsons in the infamous “Gilded Palace of Sin” Nudie Suit.

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Nudie Cohn and Gram Parsons.  Gram was visiting Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors workshop.

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Also, go check at Max’s excellent post over at all plaidout here

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In a few weeks, we say goodbye to the aughts. It seems only fitting that we provide you, our readers, with our own “best of” lists. What better way to kick it off than with our “Best Albums of the Decade.”

For me, it’s been a decade of great discovery musically–one where I’ve opened myself to new artists and genres–and moved past some of my previous biases. The 1990’s were marked by great albums with huge commercial success. It seems like everyone had a copy of Ten, Nevermind and OK Computer. Times have changed and the manner in which we consume our music has evolved. Gone are the days where terrestrial radio dictates what we listen to and no longer do we go to our local music store to purchase our favorite CD’s.

Instead, we turn to the Internet–to download, share, listen and get recommendations. This has paved the way for artists who lack traditional commercial appeal to find their way into the home of every American.  Most of the albums on this list, never dominated the charts, but each one packed an emotional punch from beginning to end and provided the listener endless pleasure.

With that said, this selection process was not without a system. My iPod contains all 10 albums. I have carefully analyzed my listening stats for each album, averaging the ranking of all the songs on an album, using the iPod 5 star ranking system. In the event of a tie, I moved to the average number of listens per song for an album.

1.)    Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground

Bright Eyes

Saddle Creek Records, 2002

Seattle played a major role in defining the music of the 1990’s and while no one city has dominated the music world like Seattle in the aughts, the closest thing we had was the Midwest scene in towns like Lawrence, Kansas, Omaha, Nebraska, and Columbia, Missouri.

Seattle’s Sub Pop Records introduced the world to Nirvana, arguably Seattle’s most influential band. Omaha’s Saddlecreek Records, introduced the world to Bright Eyes, arguably the most influential band in the Midwestern sound and possibly the defining sound of the 2000’s. Nirvana already had a loyal following prior to the release of Nevermind, but it was that album’s release that earned them mainstream success. Similarly, Lifted earned Bright Eyes, already a favorite among the indie crowd, a mainstream following.

No album of the decade captures the post-9/11 angst many Americans my age felt. Indeed, Lifted marked Conor Oberst’s first overt attempt to fuse his music with politics and his own unique brand of existential dread, as evidenced by the opening lines of the albums’ first song, “The Big Picture” (The picture is far too big to look at kid/ Your eyes won’t open wide enough and you are constantly surrounded by that swirling stream of what is and what was./Well, we’ve all made our predictions but the trust still isn’t out/So if you want to see the future, go stare into a cloud.).

These themes continue throughout the album, hitting emotional crescendos in songs like “Waste of Paint” and “Don’t Know When But a Day Is Gonna Come” and my personal favorite song of the decade, “Let’s Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and To Be Loved)”.

I first discovered Bright Eyes in 2001, at the end of a dark chapter in my life. A friend gave me a copy of Fevers and Mirrors and I listened to it religiously. I bought Lifted the day it was released and I credit it for keeping me sane through the majority of the Bush years.  I knew at that point the album was special, but it wasn’t until I began this project to compile the best albums of the decade that I realized just how special it was and remains.

2.)  The Moon & Antarctica

Modest Mouse

Epic Records, 2000

Modest Mouse achieved their greatest commercial success starting in 2004 with their release of Good New for People Who Love Bad News. However, this Seattle act has been rocking since 1993.  The Moon & Antarctica represents their most complete album with hardly any blemishes. Compared to their albums, The Moon is much more instrumental driven, featuring numerous memorable guitar riffs, some of which have permeated our popular culture. Nissan used the opening to “Gravity Rides Everything” in an ad campaign a few years back. With that said, Modest Mouse manages to avoid being superfluous with their music, never allowing their instruments to overshadow the deeper meaning of their songs. Indeed, their unique sound provides an ethereal backdrop for delivering a chilling, often heart wrenching message.

Though not a concept album by definition, the songs blend perfectly together. I divide the album into three parts and an epilogue. The first part begins with Track #1, “3rd Planet” and culminates with “Perfect Disguise.” Part Two  begins with “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes” and climaxes with “The Stars Are Projectors,” the most powerful song on the album. The third part begins “Wild Packs of Family Dogs” and ends with “Lives.” While “Life Like Weeds” and “What People Are Made Of” combine to form the perfect postscript.

3.)  Picaresque

The Decemberists

Kill Rock Stars, 2005

I was a little surprised at how well Picaresque scored when I started going through the numbers on my iPod. I knew the album would make my Top 10 list, but I didn’t remember how great this album is until I actually started going through it again. While the Top 2 spots are held down by albums full of melancholy, Picaresque is much more lively and fun. The Decemberists don’t shy away from dark subject matter, but beginning with the high-energy “The Infanta” on track 1 you get a totally different vibe. What sticks out most about the album, and can be found in most of The Decmberists work, is the tight narratives that hold the songs together. Frontman Colin Meloy is a master of the use of imagery within a song, the likes of which we have not seen since Paul Simon. As you listen to the songs, Meloy paints a vivid picture, so the experience becomes as much visual as audible. Some even remind us of some of the great writers of the English language. The first time I heard “The Mariner’s Revenge Song,” I could not help but think of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” While the plots aren’t the same, the structure that both Coleridge and Meloy employed are similar.

If you want a small sample of this album’s greatness, I recommend “Eli, the Barrow Boy.” It is a perfect example of the imagery and narrative I discussed above and my personal favorite from the album.

4.)   Kid A

Radiohead

EMI, 2000

One album sure to be on every “best of the decade” list is Radiohead’s Kid A. Since it’s release, Radiohead fans and music fans alike have debated over the meaning of the album. The commonly held belief is that it is a concept album about the world’s first human clone, “Kid A.” Musically and stylistically, the album represented a break from the Radiohead of the 1990’s and defined the Radiohead sound of the aughts. The songs feature electronic sounds and vocal distortions, rarely used in the group’s first three CD’s, but that have been more common in their more recent work. I love Radiohead, but would never have the audacity to claim to be an expert on the band. I know they have a very loyal fan base and out of respect to that fan base I will refrain from commenting too much on the album. I don’t need to!  The album speaks for itself. I will say that “How to Disappear Completely” is my favorite Radiohead song and “Optimistic” is not too far behind.

5.)  Backspacer

Pearl Jam

Monkeywrench, 2009

This choice will not surprise many of who know me and understand my love of Pearl Jam. Simply put, the best  Pearl Jam album since No Code and the best album released by anyone in 2009. I doubt Backspacer will win over many new fans to the band, but Pearl Jam has a well established fan base and those fans, including myself, can see the growth this band has experienced over the years. Perhaps it’s the new President or maybe it’s being free of a major label and allowed to express their artistic freedom, but Eddie Vedder and the entire band seem almost happy for the first time in their career. Indeed, on the album’s firs track, “Gonna See My Friend”, a song about addiction, Vedder expresses a common theme for the album, “I’m gonna shake this thing/I wanna shake this pain before I retire.” For the past twenty years, Pearl Jam has rocked against the establishment with a youthful exuberance and proud ideology. While they remain true to those principles, it seems like they’ve learned, through experience, that in spite of the problems the world presents, there are many places to find a respite and some inner peace.

One of those places seems to be their own music. No longer trying to please a record executive, the band can make music they want to hear. Backspacer is much more up tempo and high energy than the band’s previous releases. It’s almost as if they’ve had all this energy stored, throughout the years, and finally have an outlet to express it.

Vedder also looks to love as a means to some inner peace. In “Amongst the Waves,” a song that traces the path of a relationship, Vedder writes, “if not for love I would be drowning/I’ve seen it work both ways, I’m up/Riding high among the waves/I can feel like I have a soul that has been saved.” On “Just Breathe”, we see Vedder adopt the acoustic style he favored for his recent solo work to carve out an old fashioned love song. They return to the sea analogy and more hints of love in the anthem, “Force of Nature”–the best song on the album.

6.)  Tennessee

Lucero

Madjack Records, 2002

“Alt-country” experienced a boom in popularity during the decade. From some of the early pioneers of the genre like Ryan Adams and the Old 97’s, to the new blood of bands like My Morning Jacket and Drive-By Truckers, the music permeated the landscape and found it’s way into other genres as well. One band in the genre that is often overlooked is Lucero. I first saw Lucero play a show around the time they released Tennessee. At the time, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to find decent entertainment during a weekend trip to Little Rock and just happened to walk into a Lucero show. I had never heard of the band and did not know what to expect, but to this day I rank it as one of the best shows I have ever been to.  The band played festivals all over the country in support of Tennessee and earned a loyal following.  One of the best reviews I read regarding Tennessee upon its release compared Ben Nichols’ vocals to a “country” Kurt Cobain. Indeed, there is a grittiness to his voice and it is that distinctive voice that draws the listener into the lyrics. Once drawn in, the band takes the listener or a journey into dance halls, honky tonks and little roadside dives all across the United States. This is especially true with tracks like “Slow Dancing”, “Nights Like These” and “Here at the Starlite.” Since the release of Tennessee, Lucero has experienced some mainstream success, but still doesn’t get the respect of My Morning Jacket or Drive-By Truckers. Take it from me, they have done more for the country rock genre than anyone since Gram Parsons.

7.)  The Blueprint

Jay-Z

Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam, 2001

As a teen in the early 90’s, I became a huge fan of the rap and hip-hop of the time. I still count Dr. Dre’s The Chronic as one of the top 5 albums of any genre and I loved everything 2Pac put out, but when 2Pac died the genre seemed to fade as well. Instead of remaining true to telling stories of the streets, rap and hip-hop evolved into a philistine, pseudo-art form. It reminded me of the evolution of rock. In the 60’s and 70’s, rock was defined by truly talented artists writing great songs of political and social importance. In the 80’s, hair bands started hijacking the genre and rock went from fighting “the man” to one big party, full of booze, Aqua Net and strippers. When rap and hip-hop laid down their guns and picked up the bling, the music took a serious hit. Sure, it was easier for a suburban audience to consume, and thus more profitable, but it just wasn’t the same as the great music I experienced in middle school and high school.

For years, I refused to listen to any “new” rap or hip-hop, including some of Jay-Z’s earlier stuff, but when I first heard The Blueprint I heard an edge that had been missing from the genre for far too long.  Without a doubt, this is the best rap/hip-hop album released since the death of 2Pac. At the beginning of “The Ruler’s Back,” Jay-Z announces “what you about to witness is just my thoughts.” When I heard those words, I knew real hip-hop was back.

8,)  Dear Catastrophe Waitress

Belle & Sebastian

Rough Trade, 2003

If I had to use one word to describe this album it would be “fun.” At the end of the day, sometimes music needs to be fun. In Dear Catastrophe Waitress, Belle & Sebastian reaches back into the annals of music and channels the spirit of so many of the great “British invasion” bands. Catchy tunes and whimsical lyrics abound on this album, including the title track.

As a fan of classic rock, I simply love the Thin Lizzy inspired “I’m a Cuckoo.” The baseball fan in me laughs at the tongue and cheek humor found in “Piaza, New York Catcher.” No matter what life may throw my way, I can listen to this album and know that at the end I will be in  a much better mood. It may not be as great or artistic as some of their recordings from the 90’s and, yes, it was released at a point when their music was becoming far more commercial, but when you stack it up against the rest of the music of the decade, this one definitely lands in the Top 10.

9.)  Cassadaga

Bright Eyes

Saddle Creek, 2007

The second Bright Eyes album to make our list is a much more polished version than the first and finds Conor Oberst refining many of the styles he experimented with on Lifted, most notably the alt-country genre. Indeed, if you listen closely you can hear the influence of The Byrds’ Sweethearts of the Rodeo stage and Gram Parsons.

The pedal steel plays in the background, mixing beautifully with Oberst’s Dylan-like delivery of lyrics on “If the Brakeman Turns My Way”.  On “Four Winds”, Oberst puts an alt-country twist on William Butler Yeats’ “Second Coming”.  Perhaps the most moving of all the songs on the album is the haunting “Middleman,” a collection of beautifully played strings mixed  with the distant howling of a woodwind section creates a symphony of sorrow best enjoyed alone.In “I Must Belong Somewhere”, Oberst points a mirror directly at America, causing each of us to pause and question our society and culture–the sign of a true artist.

10.)  Fever to Tell

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Interscope Geffen, 2003

I never got the chance to visit CBGBs. When I listen to Fever to Tell, I like to imagine that this is what it sounded like back in its prime. Lead singer Karen O is our generation’s Patti Smith and the music’s raw energy makes you want to jump out of your seat and move along with the beat. The album is best known for the single “Maps”, which received heavy radio play, but relatively speaking it’s a “weak” song when compared to the rest of the album. The one-two combination of “Rich” and “Date With the Night” gets the album off to a fast start, which continues up until “Maps” when the album takes a decidedly slower turn, not that it’s a bad turn. In fact, the closing trio of “Maps”, “Y Control” and “Modern Romance” caps the album off nicely.

Honorable Mentions

Lost Souls – Doves

Bleed American – Jimmy Eat World

You Are the Quarry – Morrissey

Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant – Belle & Sebastian

Living in America – The Sounds

And we’re back! Sorry for the lapse in posts. We moved into a new home and unpacking boxes isn’t the only thing I’ve been putting off. Now back to the show…

Maybe it is the cold, dreary weather over the last two days. But for whatever reason, I’ve been digging on Gram Parsons, Flying Burrito Brothers and other such “Cosmic American” music as Gram called it. Now we seem to have decided on Alt Country or Americana. Whatever it is, I like it.

Gram is responsible for evangelizing country music to his rock and folk music friends when country wasn’t cool. What they created is incredible. Probably the most important early rock convert was Keith Richards. The Stones responded with this tune. I think Gram’s melancholy voice brings something that I’ve never heard from Mick Jagger.

Here it is Strong Boy, a Gram Parsons cover. The original song was included in Parson’s  International Submarine Band’s 1968 album, Safe at Home.  It was part of Cold Hands (Warm Heart) Single.

Thanks to Eric again for this!

Download link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XO4V4JHC

Please report when the link stops working!!

År 2000 släppte Ryan Adams sin debutskiva “Heartbreaker”. Han tog då steget från hyllade, men utan ett riktigt genombrott, countryrockbandet Whiskeytown till, skulle det visa sig, än mer hyllad soloartist, som dessutom faktiskt fick ett genombrott. “Heartbreaker” var en skiva starkt influerad av Gram Parsons – kanske den första countryrocktrubaduren. Skivans, och Ryans generellt, mest magiska stunder “Oh my sweet Carolina” är dessutom en duett med Gram Parsons skyddsling och duettpartner Emmylou Harris.

Skivan blev inte bara Ryans Adams genombrott, i svallvågorna av “Heartbreaker” poppade även måååånga countryrocktrubadurwannabees upp. Den ena mindre genuin och mer anonym än den andra. Ett eget uttryck var inte att tänka på, och verkade inte behövas. Karriären kom av bara farten, med bara munspel, gitarr, rutig skjorta och tre mollackord per låt som bara antydde Gram Parsons eller nåt åt country/singer-songwriterhållet. Självklart fanns det, och gör fortfarande, massor av habila undantag i genren som bekräftar regeln. Men det började bli svårare och svårare att skilja ut dem i mängden svårmodiga dussinspelmän utan nåt nytt på repertoaren.

Därför var det alldeles alldeles underbart när Howard Eliott Payne, född i Liverpool med bosatt i New York, dök upp i somras. Lite från ingenstans, och när man nästan hade gett upp hoppet. Efter att ha spelat i rockbandet The Stands (som t ex turnerat med Oasis och The Libertines, ni vet, Pete Doherty post-Babyshambles) kände han sig “artistiskt frustrerad” och bestämde sig för att köra solo och istället satsa på folk/roots/americana-genren. Man tackar. I augusti i år släppte han “Bright Light Ballads” (som Sydsvenskan recenserar här)och precis som på Ryan Adams debut är det Ethan Johns som producerar. Det gör Ryans “Heartbreaker” och Howards “Bright Light Ballads” till musikaliska syskon, men med tydlig ålderskillnad, vilket är välkommet och till Howards fördel.

För någon kopierande countryrocktrubadurwannabee är inte Howard Eliott Payne. Texter, drivet och aggressiviteten i låtarna signalerar något annat. Nämligen självständighet, djärvhet och något som känns äkta, som säger att han har gått den extra milen för att få till just den frasen, eller den harmonin i låten. Utan att för den skulle inte ha respekt för genrens historia och storheter. Låten “Seven Years”, en duett med systern Candie, minner till exempel om Gram Parsons och Emmylou Harris bästa duettstunder.

Min favoritlåt på skivan är “Come Down Easy” med ett tungt, tuffande driv som ackompanjerar Howards fantastiska countryrockröst. Den, “Seven Years” och några låtar till finns på ett livealbum som släpptes i dagarna. Klippet nedan är inte riktigt representativt för hur grym “Come Down Easy” är, men visst, låten är väldigt bra även här. För Howard Eliott Payne har en riktigt hög lägstanivå, och gör sin musik på sitt sätt, vilket är befriande i genre med gott om dussinspelmän.

Lyssna mer:

Howard Eliott Payne’s Myspace-sida – med bland annat originalversionen av “Come Down Easy” (inte missa!) samt ett par spår från nya livealbumet.

“One man’s theology is another man’s belly laugh.” Scifi guy Robert Heinlein said it. Or so says QuoteDaddy.com.

Having studied a little divinity and chuckled a few times myself, I am often fascinated to find out so and so studied to be a priest, a pastor, for piety or out of pacifism.

Some famous folks profess to having given thought to wearing a clerical collar. Charles Darwin and Sting, for example. Others had clerical parents, which led them most decidedly away from divinity. Friedrich Nietzsche, I’m looking at you.

So here’s a quick and dirty list of notable students of divinity (know of others? let me know):

Tommy Douglas — father of Canadian healthcare, “Greatest Canadian,” and ordained Baptist minister.

Martin Luther King Jr. — The doctor was a PhD in systematic theology from Boston University!

John Long — American rock climber went to Claremont School of Theology.

Gram Parsons — Ur-Creator of Alt-Country music — studied divinity at Harvard for a semester.

Albert Schweitzer — musician, medical humanitarian, Nobel Peace prize winner — Theology PhD from Tubingen.

Joseph Stalin — kicked out of a Georgian Orthodox seminary for not paying his tuition.

Rudy Wiebe — Western Canadian Mennonite writer — studied at Tubingen for a year.

In response to comments from Andrei and Paul on the previous post, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris:

Today was Gram Parsons’s birthday.

On November 5:

1605  Gunpowder Plot: A conspiracy led by Robert Catesby to blow up the English Houses of Parliament was thwarted when Sir Thomas Knyvet, a justice of the peace, found Guy Fawkes in a cellar below the House of Lords.

1850  Ella Wheeler Wilcox, American author and poet, was born.

1872 In defiance of US law, suffragist Susan B. Anthony voted for the first time, and is later fined $100.

 1881 Sixteen hundred police and volunteers took part in the attack on Parihaka, a settlement in western Taranaki which had become the symbol of protest against confiscation of Maori land.

1911  Roy Rogers, American actor, was born.

1913 Vivien Leigh, English actress, was born.

 1916 The Kingdom of Poland was proclaimed by the Act of November 5th of the emperors of Germany and Austria-Hungary.

1920  Douglass North, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate, was born.

1921  Fawzia of Egypt, Queen of Iran, was born.

1931  Ike Turner, American musician, was born.

1935  Lester Piggott, British jockey, was born.

1940  Elke Sommer, German actress, was born.

1940  Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to a third term as President of the United States.

1941  Art Garfunkel, American musician, was born.

1946  Gram Parsons, American musician, was born.

1963 – Tatum O’Neal, American actress, was born.

1968 Republican Richard Nixon won the American presidency.

2006  Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq, and his co-defendants Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar were sentenced to death in the al-Dujail trial for the role in the massacre of the 148 Shi’as in 1982.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

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As we move toward the Thanksgiving season, please do not forget those less fortunate than you. For decades, homeless, lonely people have been able to find warmth, shelter, and a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at the Nashville Rescue Mission. In a letter I just received, the mission writes, “About 5,000 people will find their way here on Thanksgiving Day alone.” To make sure they receive love, friendship, and a nice meal, please call (615) 255-2475 or visit Nashvillerescuemission.org.  Thank you.

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Gram Parsons… Hall of Fame bound?

The recent Gram Parsons Tribute Night concert at The 5 Spot in East Nashville was a rousing success. Before the event, The Nashville Scene, using our press release, selected the event as a “Critic’s Pick.” (It was one of only two musical events that week so spotlighted.)  The Scene wrote, “Why is it that an essential member of The Flying Burrito Brothers and The Byrds (not to mention the man who launched the career of Emmylou Harris) still hasn’t been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame? That isn’t exactly clear.”

That acknowledgement alone was a major breakthrough—an acknowledgement from a major media outlet in Nashville that Parsons’ induction is at least something that should be seriously debated and weighed.

Anyone wishing to sign the online petition urging induction of Gram Parsons into the Country Music Hall of Fame is asked to visit Gramparsonspetition.com.

Coming on Tuesday: Film critic Vince Gaetano reviews the 2004 documentary “Gram Parsons: Fallen Angel.”

Läste häromdagen, bland annat i GP, att Evan Dando från The Lemonheads kommer till Sverige i december. Dando gör ett antal solospelningar i Europa och avslutar turnén i Skandinavien med konserter i Köpenhamn, Oslo, Stockholm och slutligen Göteborg. Dando, som i princip helt på egen hand utgör bandet The Lemonheads nuförtiden, var som störst under 1990-talet, och har sedan dess gjort ett antal comebacker samt några soloäventyr under eget namn.

Dando är ett stort fan av Gram Parsons, och spelar ofta covers av denne på sina spelningar. Och han gör det riktigt bra. Den powerpop som The Lemonheads som band representerar i all ära, det är när Dando spelar akustiskt solo som han verkligen kommer till sin fulla rätt, åtminstone är det min ödmjuka uppfattning. Dandos lite mjuka, ibland hesa stämma påminner inte lite om Parsons, och möjligen är det ett romantiserande från min sida att vilja uppleva, eller kommer så nära som möjligt, Parsons live, vilket ju är svårt när karln gick och dog 1973. Då fungerar Dando ofta som ett habilt substitut.

I somras släppte Dand0/The Lemonheads coverskivan “Varshons”. Från den hämtar jag Dagens låt, skivans första spår, som mycket riktigt är en cover på just Gram Parsons och hans “I just can’t take it anymore”. Som en händelse finns Grams egen version av låten på samma skiva som gårdagens Dagens låt, nämligen “Another side of this life”. Den skivan hittar du på Spotify här.

Vill du lyssna på hela “Varshons” med The Lemonheads hittar den på Spotify här.

Här kan du titta och lyssna på Evan Dando och The Lemonheads med “I just can’t take it anymore”:

Gram Parsons är min husgud. Han kommer således att få sin beskärda del, förmodligen mer än så, av uppmärksamheten på den här bloggen över tid.

Gram levde ett intensivt, men alldeles för kort liv innan han 1973 dog han av en överdos i Joshua Tree, Kalifornien. Gram skapade musik med ett sound som blev något av en brygga mellan country och rock. Även om det  möjligen var med en försiktig, men fullkomligt magisk version “Love hurts” i duett med Emmylou Harris som han röjde störst framgångar.

Jag hade inte tänkt fördjupa mig i Gram genom detta inlägg, utan endast ge en första introduktion för er som inte är bekanta med honom redan. Och det med en låt som passar bra idag, novembers första kväll.

Kan du inte hålla dig till nästa inlägg om Gram, som presenterar honom betydligt mer grundligt, går det självklart alldeles bra att upptäcka hans musik helt på egen hand. Detta gör du allra bäst med dubbelalbumet “GP/Grievous Angel” från 1973. Du hittar dem som två separata skivor på Spotify via nedan länkar:

GP
Grievous Angel

Här är “November Nights” med Gram Parsons:

Gram Parsons: “But the Burritos, man, everybody thinks we’re just a country and western group. It’s country music… but what people don’t understand is that country music has as many fine points and as high a line drawn above it as blues does. And everybody’s longing to put it all together and just say it’s this or that. They don’t know ‘cos they can’t do it. Many a fine blues musician has sat in with us and not been able to play what we play. You can’t blame it on three-chord music, four-chord music, five-chord music, country music, or any other thing, man. It’s just getting into what you do – and we’re into it. And anybody who says that we’re not is full of shit.”

Ok, I hate “Best Of” lists just as much as you do. That’s why I’m just calling this my “favorite” list so there isn’t the feeling of who is better than who. I like to write songs when I’m not writing this blog or herding cattle on the range, and have delved into many a great one and pulled it apart to discover what lies within. Most of the time I’m left with nothing but a bunch of words that sound cool together, but are meaningless and shallow. A great song is like a children’s book – when the story is over and the pages are closed, the world created by the author continues to exist within the reader’s head, and echo of the tale lingers and develops a life of its own.

Great songwriters are capable of creating a world we can live in beyond the limits of the song’s duration. Their words toss and turn in our dreams, their melodies drift in our minds and out of our mouths on the elevator to work, and by the end of the day we can’t wait to get back to our record player, put that needle down and relive the moment one more time. A great song lives and breathes and has a personality all its own. The greatest writers have entire albums full of these songs that actually exist as characters in our minds. If you let them, these writers may climb into your conscience too, and you may feel as if you know them. But you cannot really know this person, no matter how you long to, because their existence is a fabrication of their own design, just like their songs. Even those who are related or married to a songwriter cannot claim to know them. They are the modern shapeshifters of society, taking on forms of different characters and moods, living in different times and places all at once. I bet few songwriters would even claim to know themselves.

Now to the list. These are people that I have wanted to meet and thank for making the world more bearable. Another part of me doesn’t want to ruin the fantasy of who I think they are, and I also wouldn’t want to bother them. But if they ever happen to sit down next to me at a bar, I’d treat them as if they were an old friend, because in my mind that’s what they are.

THE BEST OF EACH DECADE:

50’s – Hank Williams – The original “Songwriter”, and one of the greatest of all time. Before this you have the Tin Pan Alley scene, but no one man could cut to the chase the way Hank did, and no one has come close since. “Cold, Cold Heart” is one of the saddest songs ever written. Definitely the greatest songwriter of the 50’s.

60’s – Bob Dylan – What a bastard. How can you be such an anemic prick, sneering and jeering your way via lies into people’s hearts and minds, first with a fake smile, then behind dark darting sunglasses, only to tell them all to go fuck themselves? You write nimble poetry that connects far-off distant memories in our minds and make us thing we know what’s going on, then leave us in the dust like all your forgotten lovers. I hope you can forgive yourself what you’ve done to us, Dylan – I definitely have. You’re still the greatest songwriter to come out of the 60’s, and you’ve done pretty well for yourself in the 70’s and 2000’s, too.

70’s – Neil Young – Neil is friendlier, furrier, and more rustic than Dylan. If Dylan is New York, Neil is Half Moon Bay. Still, a darkness underlies every word the man has written, and sadness is ultimately the subject of most of his greatest songs. What makes Mr. Young so great must be the same thing that makes Steinbeck great - everything is simple, straightforward, and seemingly contemplative of the human spirit, which is treated with reverence and fear. Very few songwriters can put so much of themselves in their songs without it coming out pretentious. Neil’s got my vote for the best songwriter in the 70’s, moving from After the Gold Rush and Harvest through Tonight’s the Night, On the Beach, all the way to Rust Never Sleeps.

80’s – Bruce Springsteen - He is both seductive and honest in his approach to songwriting. Never mind that his voice sounds like warm leftovers after about the fifth song, no one can write a song for the workin’ man like the Boss. His stories appeal to the most basic needs of humans, to be loved, to honor brotherhood, to make quick money and go to Atlantic City. If only judged by Nebraska, he would still come out on top as the greatest songwriter of the 80’s.

90’s – Elliot Smith – Yes, I know he was kind of pathetic and whiny. So was Dylan and Hank Williams. Songwriters are like little brothers - they always get beat up, and instead of fighting back they brood in their rooms for days to perform some act of genius that makes you feel like a jerk for picking on them in the first place. Mr. Smith must have spent weeks in his room, shooting up and drinking vodka in a mad depression, in order to create the incredibly fragile ballads that he is known for. I am aware that most of his songs are about dope and suicide, but no one writes such brilliantly bitter pop melodies that leave you wondering whether heroin is such a bad thing after all (except maybe John Lennon, Elliot’s idol). I guess it was, considering it’s elemental in Smith’s suicide stabbing(!?!). Definitely my favorite songwriter from the 90’s.

00’s – Ryan Adams – Jesus Christ, not again. Another twitchy genius with big mouth and bad hair making snarky comments that cause discomfort. It’s like Dylan all over again, isn’t it? Well, not exactly. Adams is by far the most prolific artist of his  generation, releasing so many albums in the past 10 years it’s ridiculous, starting with the indespensable Heartbreaker. The good news is that he is now “retired” from songwriting after cleaning up off drugs and alcohol, and spends his time writing novels, recording joke heavy metal albums, sleeping with new wife Mandy Moore, painting, and writing blogs about arcade games. What a delightful twist! Actually, I really wish he would get back to writing songs again, because no one can tell lyrical tales of pain and heartbreak in late-night diners over coffee and cigarettes like ol’ Ryan Adams. This decade isn’t over yet, but I’m calling it now:  best songwriter of the 00’s.

OTHER FAVORITES:

Gram Parsons – It took me a little while to forgive him for singing out of tune on most everything he did, but it actually accentuates the earnest sense of urgency that makes his music so endearing. Gram is not the ”Golden Prophet” that he is often revered as, rather he was a lost young man with a difficult emotional past that he channeled into great songs. Most interesting is that his concept of “Cosmic Country” is right on – his music inspires a humanitarian empathy that can’t be ignored.

John Lennon – Definitely not Paul McCartney, Lennon was the antithesis of happy safe pop music. This is one is so obvious, but I really like his post-Beatle catalog the most, as he delves deeper into the personal darkness that made him so such a tragic figure (even if he wasn’t murdered, he was still a tragedy). The most loveable basketcase I can think of, Lennon proved that being a genius songwriter doesn’t change the world, but it definitely makes it more bearable to live in.

Kris Kristofferson – Most people don’t know that Kristofferson wrote hits like, “Me  Bobby McGee”, “Sunday Morning Coming Down”, and “Help Me Make it Through the Night”. Plus, he was in the Highwaymen and is a great actor (which has nothing to do with his songwriting, I know). He evokes feelings of the best of times, along with the worst of times. Without sounding too much like a Dickens novel, I can’t live without him.

Lefty Frizzell - A lesser-known contemporary of Hank Williams, Lefty wrote some incredible songs in his short career, most notably the ones covered by Willie Nelson. “If You’ve Got the Money” is the #1 sugar mama track, and that was waaaayyy before it was cool to have one.

Leonard Cohen – If Gram Parsons is the loveable boy-child of songwriting, then Cohen is definitely the Ice King. His lyrical content is seductive without frills, and while Parsons will sing about the Armaggedon with cautionary hope, Cohen will sing as if it has already happened and he is the product of the fallout, mourning the loss of innocence in a land ravaged by sin and overconsumption. It’s no wonder that his adult themes of cheating wives and fallen kings resonate so well with the Hollywood crowd and strip clubs. His voice is the last shred of humanity left standing in Babylon, and it’s like we’re listening to the folk music of the future. I’m guessing that this bard would have fared well in the world of “Total Recall”.

Loretta Lynn – People give Taylor Swift so much credit for being so young and writing her own songs. They forget it’s happened before, and it was done better in the past. Loretta’s about the same as Swift, except she had already had a couple of kids and was married to a no-count drunk which gave her much more interesting things to sing about. She was also poor and uneducated, but that didn’t stop her from becoming one of the fiercest female voices to ever stick up for the forgotten housewives in America. With song titles like, “The Pill” and “Fist City” Loretta could be considered one of the first feminist songwriters. If she isn’t the first, she most certainly is the best of the lot. A special place in my heart is reserved only for this strong woman.

Lou Reed - Inspiring generations of noisy garage bands is easily forgiveable when you write a song like “Heroin”, which has never  before or since been matched in meniachal intensity. The voice of the urban New York underground, Reed has never played it safe lyrically, and almost always delivers in creating the paranoid, zonked-out feeling of hanging out with a tranny, midget twins, and a drug dealer at one of Warhol’s parties. Even Nico could sing his songs and they sounded cool.  Not to mention that his solo exploits, while often scattered, continue to display his mastery of the language of filthy human resiliency.

Lucinda Williams – The queen of modern country, or Americana, as it is now referred to. She has the wail and moan of Hank Williams in her leathery voice, but what makes her so amazing is that she is poetic without being flowery. Much of the themes in her music (especially the more recent “West”) are biographical in nature, conjuring images of single mothers driving buicks in the desert. The forlorn sadness captured in her stark imagery reflects both spiritual and existensial realities, and her writing abilities continue to stretch outward successfully. Definitely the strongest and most responsible female voice of modern songwriting, Williams just keeps getting better and better. I can’t wait to see what she does next. 

Merle Haggard - Never before has the voice of the prisoner been so well emoted as with Merle Haggard. If it just came down to songs about leaving behind mama and getting into trouble, then Merle would be well ahead of the game It just so happens that he also wrote some of the best ramblin’ train songs of all time, too. Try to understand the humor and irony in songs like “Okie From Muskogee”, “Workin’ Man Blues” and “Fightin’ Side of Me”, and you’ll find yourself a happier person. You can’t play a single juke joint from here to Texas without knowing some Merle Haggard.

Townes Van Zandt – The most depressing human on Earth. Seriously, why do you have to do this to us, Townes? What I like best about his music is that for a second you think things are looking up, and then he swoops in like a bird of death and kills all hope. I can’t listen to him too much, but his music fills an irreplaceable void in my life – the depressed space. “Waitin’ Around to Die” pretty much tops the charts of all-time biggest downers, and makes Neil Young sound like Bob Marley. He also writes great story songs like “Pancho and Lefty”, too.

Willie Nelson – He definitely is a beloved country icon, but before Willie was famous for being Willie, he wrote “Hello Walls”, “Mr. Record Man”, and Patsy Cline’s best song, “Crazy”, and sold the rights to them all for less than a bag of weed. Of course, he’s written hundreds of great songs since then, and continues to pump out one great tune after another to this day. The best part about Willie is his sense of humor, and when I heard “Cowboys are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other” I nearly died laughing. Please ignore the fact that he lets people like Toby Keith and Kid Rock sing on his albums. Please at least try.

Great songwriters who should be on this list but aren’t (with excuses):

Alejandro Escovedo - I must confess, I only own one album (Boxing Mirror), but the words are awesome!
Beck - If humor were the main criteria for a great songwriter, he would be #1.
Brian Wilson - He loses points for writing songs about surfing. No one wonder he went insane.
Buddy Holly - I love Buddy Holly, he wrote perfect pop songs. But Carole King isn’t on this list either.
Cat Power - Sometimes her words are gibberish, other times fantastic. Keep writing, Cat!
Curtis Mayfield - Songs for the ghetto, I guess. Curtis is a political spokesman, but he isn’t a lyrical genius.
David Bowie - I’m also tempted to add him now, but his words don’t quite carry the power of some of the other cats.
George Jones - A great songwriter indeed, but his songs never sound as good when someone else sings them.
Jim Morrison - Really more of a poet than a songwriter, don’t you think?
Keith Richards/Mick Jagger - Rock n’ Roll isn’t supposed to have good lyrics. These guys do it for me, but I’m not taking the words to “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” with me to the grave.
Neil Diamond - The man did write some amazing songs, but the schmaltz aspect of his act has always detracted from his genius.
Nick Drake – Neil Young and Townes are depressing enough. I can’t take it any more!
PJ Harvey – She is fun to listen to, and her lyrics aren’t burdened with depression and sadness. I need those in my songs.
Ralph and Carter Stanley - Bluegrass couldn’t exist without these cats. But cautionary religous tales about drinking too much just don’t resonate much with me. I never knew why:)
Robert Hunter – I love his lyrics, they have important life lessons in them. But clever they are not.
Roy Orbison - He definitely wrote great songs, though I can’t exactly admit that he is one of my favorites.
Tom Waits - Awesome lyrics, hideous, overwraught voice. I can’t stand his music.
Stevie Wonder - What a fantastic writer, especially his melodies. But one of my favorites? I gotta say close, but no cigar.
Willie Dixon - The greatest blues songwriter ever, to be sure. But seriously, how hard is it to write a blues song?
Win Butler – Pretty good, pretty good. I’ll make the decision when more albums are released.
Woody Guthrie – Ok, I know he’s great. I’m just not educated enough on his music to make a valuable assesment. Maybe when I finally get enough cash together to get some of his records…

El post de hoy se trata exclusivamente de un top 5 de covers, espero sean de vuestro agrado y también espero vuestras listas, Abrazo a todos.

5. Legião Urbana – on the way home/rise

Solamente un maestro como Renato Russo y sus Legião Urbana podían combinar a Neil Young con los PIL y para colmo de males… en acústico!!! Una belleza.

4. Hurt -  Johnny Cash

Un clásico moderno en la voz de un clásico eterno, el lamento de Trent Reznor cobra otra dimensión cuando el hombre de negro canta esos versos, nunca voy a estar lo suficientemente agradecido con Rick Rubin por ser el productor que recupero del olvido a uno de los músicos mas grandes del siglo 20. El video es increíble.

3. Wild Horses  – Flying Buritto Brothers

Aquí Gram Parsons y sus secuaces se adueñan del clásico de los Rolling Stones y lo hacen tan propio que ya no sabemos a quien pertenece la canción, espero que la disfruten tanto como yo.

2. Hey Joe – Willy de Ville

Jimi Hendrix en plan mariachi y que suene bien? solo fue posible gracias al gran maestro De Ville, lo perdimos este año, pase por la puerta del hospital donde murió en NY y se me piantó un lagrimón recordando los buenos momentos que me hizo pasar con sus canciones, el rinde homenaje al gran Jimi y yo le rindo a el mi humilde recuerdo.

1. Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley

Las bellas oraciones de Leonard Cohen en la voz de un ángel como Jeff Buckey deberían ser de escucha obligatoria para toda la humanidad, John Cale tiene otra gran versión de este tema, pero Jeff me puede y me arranca lágrimas con tanta facilidad que merece ser mi favorito.

I’ve noticed that city dwellers often refer to land outside of their city as “nature” and the items that are found in nature are referred to as “wildlife”.  In Los Angeles, the locals refer to Joshua Tree as “the desert”.  This weekend I went to the desert.  There was wildlife.

There were also olives.

Devora and I left LA on Saturday morning and headed directly east.  Our first stop was The Integratron.  I had received a gift certificate as a wedding gift from the IPG Lab during my internship there.  (You may notice Devora’s picture on the staff page.  I didn’t marry her.  She’s just sneaky.)  We pulled up to the sound healing dome a few hours later and took it all in.  For those of you who have been to Burning Man will understand when I say that it was reminiscent of the event.  Those of you who have not been to Burning Man may understand the vibe when I explain that the Integratron was constructed on a vortex.  Or when I mention that it feels like “desert people” were involved.  It’s like that.

We were there to receive a thirty minute private sound bath on the second floor of this structure.  But first, lunch.

Heirloom tomatoes over fresh arugula with rosemary vinaigrette, potato salad and sweet potato biscuits. And green iced tea.

We had an hour before our sound bath so we munched on lunch and chatted with Joanna, one of the owners of the Integratron.  Of course, we talked about food.

I’m not going to try to describe the sound bath.  I will only say that it is magical and profound and that “the deeper your gratitude, the deeper you go.”

From there we headed floated to the Joshua Tree Inn.  The inn is remembered as the place where Gram Parsons overdosed on September 18th, 1973.  Rumor has it that his friends stole his body from the morgue at LAX where his body was being stored before the funeral.  They then took his body back to the desert and burned it.  (This is not the burning man that I referred to earlier.)

The inn is comfortable, unpolished and has a pool.  We jumped into the deep end and discovered that the pool does not have a heater.  We braved a few laps and then got ready for dinner at Bistro Twenty Nine.  We drove twenty minutes or so and arrived at one of the nicer restaurants in town.

We shared spring rolls and an apple cranberry salad.  We also ordered tomato soup, one with and one sans grated Parmesan.  Other than our server trying to pull a fast one with the bread basket, the meal was uneventful.  That includes the food.

We then headed to Pappy and Harriet’s and watched an eighty year old server get a birthday lap dance from a young male stripper in leopard print panties.  He was wearing full clown makeup and a colorful wig as well.  And a one-piece clown costume with an embedded hula hoop in the waist- until he took it off.  It’s not like we saw a flier on the community bulletin board and decided to go.  We were just hanging out at the best honky-tonk west of the Mississippi and the next thing you know…Marvin Gaye…Granny…Stripper…  Then my friend learned the two-step from a local.  Also entertaining.

The next morning we packed up and headed to Teacakes Bakery and plotted our hike for the day.  They didn’t have any vegan options in the baked goods department (French bakery ≠ vegan) but I did get a soy latte.  Then we headed to the mountains to conquer the Fortynine Palms Oasis hike.

There really is an oasis at the end.  You hike for an hour or so in the rocks.  There isn’t any color other than little bright red barrel cacti.  Then you see palm trees.  (This guy has a good pic.)  There are birds and water and bees and maiden ferns.  And we were even lucky enough to see three big horn sheep on our watch.

After the hike, we needed a shower.  Devora’s parents are building a house in the desert and, if luck had been with us, we might have been able to catch the contractor at the property.  Then we could shower.  The contractor was not there.  But there was an olive tree and there were heavy black olives just waiting for someone to take them home and cure them.  I volunteered.

My first olive harvest!

The olives are actually the point of this post.  Picking olives is very exciting and very gratifying.  Gram Parsons chose morphine.  And tequila.  Then again, I’m not a rock star.  That’s all.

Once I was home, I had a hard time finding a recipe for making the olives edible.  I read about using lye in my Fruits of the Desert cookbook.  However, I wasn’t jazzed about processing my food with a substance that requires donning gloves, goggles and a mask.  I settled on a process for using bring to cure the olives that I found on About.com.  After putting the olives into the brine, I cut a circle that was just a bit smaller than the inside of the jar from a plastic lid.  Then I filled a plastic bag with water and placed it on top of the plastic circle to keep the olives submerged.  They need to soak in the brine for three or more weeks.  These will be a lovely memory from our trip to the desert.

The olives have been slit lengthwise and put in a 10:1 brine.

To be continued…

Update: Of course, Michael Ruhlman published this the day after I was scouring the web for some olive curing info.  He also refers to this article in the NYT from 2007.

Gram Parsons: “Just because we wear sequinned suits doesn’t mean we think we’re great; it means we think sequins are great.”

Grand Theft Parsons
On DVD now

I picked up Grand Theft Parsons on a whim, paying £1.50 for it second-hand. I’d heard mention of the film before, knew it involved both Gram Parsons and Johnny Knoxville (both of whom which, for better or for worse, I am a fan of), and, I understood, had something of a “cult status” (or so it appeared to me).

Prior to watching the film, I decided to look up some info about it (as I am want to do). The quotes on the box included such gems as

“ONE OF THE FUNNIEST FILMS OF THE YEAR” – What’s On

and

“HILARIOUS…LEAVES YOU CHUCKLING FROM START TO FINISH” – News Of The World

Neither of these statements are true – not saying that’s a bad thing. Grand Theft Parsons is NOT a rip-roaring, gut-busting comedy; there are indeed some blackly comic moments, but making a wacky road trip movie based on someone’s death wouldn’t be too appropriate, would it?

This is something the film got criticised for – marketing something that isn’t a comedy, as a comedy, is usually a recipe for disaster. People are expecting a totally different film! Silly film executives. The other major criticism I saw (mainly from the IMDb user reviews, so make of that what you will), is that the film wasn’t the “respectful” tribute to Gram Parsons some (probably old and hairy) fans wanted.

Again, I don’t think this was the point of the film, AND I think those people are wrong.

The film depicts the based-off-true-story of Parson’s road manager/best bud Phil Kaufman (Johnny Konxville) who, following his friend’s early death due to a drug overdose in 1968, attempts to steal his body (en route to a plush funeral in New Orelans) to cremate it in the desert – as per Gram’s wishes.

Along the way he is helped by a hippy whose yellow flower-emblazoned hearse he plans to use as transport (Michael Shannon), and is pursued by his girlfriend (Marley Shelton), Parson’s father (Robert Forster) and one of Parson’s many ex-girlfriends, out to get a piece of his fortune (Christina Appelgate).

Obviously the film takes some liberties with the story, and of course parts of it are comic – how could it not be? They’re stealing a guy’s coffin, after all. But it never feels exploitative; in fact, the overall feeling is one of melancholia. Kauffman is throughout trying to focus on this “mission” as a way to avoid dwelling on the fact that his best friend has – very suddenly – passed on, something which Knoxville portrays surprisingly well.

There is a lot more drama in this film than comedy, but the two styles do not jar, and work quite well throughout, working their way to a sad, yet triumphant and almost touching finale.

Grand Theft Parsons isn’t a classic, groundbreaking piece – it’s one of those works you describe to people as a “good little film”. It features fine performances by all, a fairly solid script, and a good soundtrack of Parsons recordings. It doesn’t deserve to recieve the flak it did/does; I thoroughly enjoyed it, and would recommend it to Parsons fans and non-fans alike.

Download Gram Parsons – “Brass Buttons”

The great thing about revisiting albums years later – especially ones that not everyone is talking about – is that you hear them differently and pick up new wavelengths. It’s almost ten years since Beachwood Sparks released their eponymous album, and while I still enjoy it I’m able to discover other subtleties in the music beyond the major touchstones I identified the first time around. From legacy bands like the Grateful Dead to more recent purveyors Apples In Stereo, it’s all about texture.

Here’s what I wrote for Cosmik Debris back in 2000…

Gram Parsons described his style as “Cosmic American Music”, and I suppose that if he were around to hear Beachwood Sparks, he’d let the quartet on his bus without a second thought.

A quick look at the graphics and titles would have you trot out Buffalo Springfield or The Flying Burrito Brothers as a touchstone, but the production and arrangements owe as much to inventive popmeisters like Brian Wilson and Mitch Easter. In fact, I imagine that if Easter or master knob-twiddler Brad Jones were sent back in time to produce Parsons, this would be the result. Except “Something I Don’t Recognize”, where he would need the Nesmith-led Monkees. Or “Old Sea Miner”, where only XTC would do.

Aw hell, Parsons would have gotten around, he was that kind of guy. And the fact that Beachwood Sparks pulls all of this off without painting themselves into a corner is a hell of a compliment.

The overall sound is psychedelic, dreamy introspection, with interludes like “Singing Butterfly” leading into more uptempo Byrds/Poco moments like “Sister Rose”. Of course, just when you’re safely in that mood, they toss in an aggressive fuzzbox guitar solo over a go-go beat just to throw you for a loop. “See On Three” recalls Wilco’s experimentation, but the dizzying signature changes are probably even outside of Tweedy’s methods.

“This Is What It Feels Like” is another time-travel song, sounding like a pop track that somehow leaked into the future from 1967 California. “The Reminder” eerily and beautifully recalls the innocence of Neil Young’s first records with its delicate guitar and lilting vocals. Individually, these are wonderfully realized moments; as an album, it’s a mental watercolor painting that will dance with your imagination.

I had mixed feelings about their follow-up album, but I love the debut as much today as I did ten years ago. So if you haven’t savored this one yet, please do. And keep your eyes open – supposedly they will release a new album soon (it’s been an eight year drought!)

Beachwood Sparks on Amazon.

Beachwood Sparks on MySpace