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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 841
Location: CA | And not exactly guitar specific, but interesting anyway: what happened to Gram Parsons after he died, from somewhere on the internet:
During the funeral ceremony for Gram's close friend Clarence White, Gram was overheard stating that when he died, rather than being buried in the ground, he would like to be taken out to The Joshua Tree desert of southern California and burned. After Gram died in The Joshua Tree Inn, his body was taken to the Los Angeles International Airport in preparation for being flown to Louisiana for burial. Gram's road manager Phil Kaufman and a friend, Michael Martin, got very intoxicated, borrowed a broken down hearse and drove to LAX to retrieve the body. When they arrived, they told the shipping clerk that Gram's remains were to be sent out of another airport, flashed some bogus paperwork and falsely signed for the body. After crashing into a wall and almost being arrested, Phil, Michael and Gram drove back to The Joshua Tree Desert, stopping only to buy more beer and a container of gasoline. They took Gram's remains into the desert, poured gasoline inside the coffin and set him ablaze. The two were arrested several days later and fined $700.00 for stealing and burning the COFFIN (it was is not against the law to steal a dead body). Gram's partially burned remains were finally laid to rest in a modest cemetery near New Orleans, LA. |
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Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | The movie GRAND THEFT PARSONS is about that incident. I had forgotten about this movie until Al mentioned it but I went out and rented it.
Great flix and Johnny Knoxville was actually good in the roll of Phil Kaufman. |
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Joined:
February 2008
Posts: 747
| Outta sync but you get the idea:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=WCCAZgI_hrE&feature=related |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | watch the movie it is very good |
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Joined:
July 2005
Posts: 3410
Location: GA USA | Also interesting is a BBC film about Emmylou and Gram that's on Youtube. It's heartbreaking to hear her story and then listen to "Boulder to Birmingham". I've always thought that would be a great song to sing, but it just doesn't seem right for anyone but her to sing it. Like stealing someone else's memories.
I can see Gram as the pioneer of country rock, and he was on the verge of becoming a great songwriter, but not quite there yet. His song "She" is much better done by Emmylou, and most of his songs that were covered ended up being better done by others... IMHO. |
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Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 1555
Location: Indiana | If you're a fan of Gram's, the Complete Reprise Sessions box set is a must have.
"Boulder To Birmingham" is one of my all time favorites, and yes, Emmylou's version is a bulls eye.
It was co-written with Bill Danoff... Bill and his former wife Taffy were the founders of The Starland Vocal Band, and they recorded an excellent version as well.
(Bill and Taffy also co-wrote "Country Roads" with John Denver.)
I know many found Starland's "Afternoon Delight" to be a bit cheesy, but in concert, their harmonies were awesome. |
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Joined:
July 2005
Posts: 3410
Location: GA USA | Originally posted by Jonmark Stone:
"Boulder To Birmingham" is one of my all time favorites, and yes, Emmylou's version is a bulls eye. The line about the canyon on fire, and watching it burn is eerie when you think about the above story. |
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Not exactly Ovation
