I got GP/Gram Parsons the other day and I can't recall the last time a piece of music hit me so strongly and so immediately. This music is beautiful.

It's the kind of thing that transcends the genre it is in; I believe any true fan of music, regardless of their opinion of country music, would recognise that in these recordings. The lyrics in particular are frighteningly relevant to my life and the guitar is so gorgeous. Plus those Emmylou Harris harmonies... ah.

Any other fans/recommendations?

An amazing talent, this guy. Been listening to "Brand New Heartache" a lot lately (speaking of amazing Emmylou harmonies...). You can't go wrong with some Flying Burrito Brothers if you like Gram. "Colorado", "Older Guys", "Sin City"...plenty of good stuff out there.

Exactly. I got a cd called "Sin City, best of the flying burrito brothers" it is great because it has every gram song that he did with them and a couple of gram outtakes.

also get sweethearts of the rodeo from the byrds, gram is all over the place. Its good to see some other people getting into him. i recommended him to people who really liked ryan adams, but was never sure if they ever bought anything from him.

gp/angel is just an amazing cd.

I've been listening to this CD a lot in the car lately, and it is fast becoming one of my favorite albums ever. The arrangements are great and never over-done, the songs are some of his best ("She," "A Song For You," "Brass Button," "$1,000 Wedding"), and Emmylou's voice is angelic and fits Gram's like a glove. Without him, there'd be no alt-country or country rock, period.

Since his existence was brief, he didn't release a whole lot of material. There's a great Gram Parsons anthology called "Sacred Hearts and Fallen Angels" that has nearly every essential song that he did. If you want to dive right into the rest of his catalogue, though, "The Gilded Palace of Sin" is an essential album, but I'd recommend "Hot Burritos! The Flying Burrito Brothers Anthology," which has everything he did with the group and is well-priced. You definitely should also check out "Sweethearts of the Rodeo," the only album he did with the Byrds, and is also one of the first country rock albums ever made.

which do you guys prefer, GP or grievous angel? i'm leaning towards GP but it's close. maybe i just haven't listened to grievous angel enough.

I'm going to have to go with GP, if only for "She" and "A Song for You."

Oh, my land is like a wild goose
Wanders all around everywhere
Trembles and it shakes till every tree is loose
It rolls the meadows and it rolls the nails

So take me down to your dance floor
And I won´t mind the people when they stare
Paint a different colour on your front door
And tomorrow we will still be there

Hickory Winds is one of the greatest songs ever!

Gram is amazing. If you like him you should pick up "Seed of Memory" from Terry Reid. Same kind of vibe as him.

wooo...do you have a camera in my house...I was listening to him yesterday...never heard of him, but I was previewing some songs from the Devil's Rejects Soundtrack and narrowed in on his stuff right away...he reminded me of Gram.

Exactly. You should download his version of "Bang Bang'' (the nancy sinatra song)... it has a white stripes zeppelin vibe.

But I love Seed of Memory because I love that cosmic country thing that gram has going on and i think terry reid kind of has that too.

cool..I'll try to find that...

I like this song, but I think "She" is Parsons' masterpiece.

hmmm...I know there is a lot of love for this song...I just havn't been able to get into it. I'll give it another try.

$1000 Wedding is my fav. from him I think.

Another great song. It's a shame that he died as young as he did; if he lived longer, I think he'd rank right up their with Dylan and Neil in terms of the greatest songwriters of all time.

I don't think you are too far off. Sadly, we will never know. But it is nice to hear his musical influences in the likes of Ryan Adams, Cowboy Junkies, and Gillain Welch among others... so atleast his music isn't forgotten, which I think would be a tragedy.

This thread reminds me that I need more of Gram Parsons' music.

I'll check this out

Maybe as an artist, but not sure as a songwriter. Maybe it was the drugs but he didn't write a lot. He did a lot of covers, or songs written by professional songwriters. Of course country music is all covers.