Cosmic American Rock
tagStarted 1968Peak 1969-1974Last big hit still activeFrom United States
Located in 1 route
Gram Parsons' fusion vision: country and honky-tonk weld to soul, gospel, R&B and psychedelic rock. Weeping pedal steel and Telecaster twang sit beside Hammond organ, churchy harmonies and aching, lonesome vocals. Spiritual and dissolute at once, it is desert-and-dive-bar music about sin, salvation and the long highway home.
History
Coined by Gram Parsons around 1968 to describe a borderless American hybrid, realized first with the International Submarine Band, then the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers' 1969 Gilded Palace of Sin. His solo albums with Emmylou Harris crystallized it before his 1973 death; Harris and later roots artists carried the gospel forward for decades.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Sin City — The Flying Burrito BrothersSpotifyYouTube
- Return of the Grievous Angel — Gram ParsonsSpotifyYouTube
- Hot Burrito #1 — The Flying Burrito BrothersSpotifyYouTube
- Boulder to Birmingham — Emmylou HarrisSpotifyYouTube
- Hickory Wind — Gram ParsonsSpotifyYouTube
- Luxury Liner — Emmylou HarrisSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gram_Parsons
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flying_Burrito_Brothers
- https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/flying-burrito-brothers-band-gram-parsons-country-rock
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmylou_Harris