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"I had just composed The Worst and thought: damn, once again I've copied Gram".
This phrase by Keith Richards marvelously encapsulates the influence of Parsons for anyone who has ventured into the rough trails of country-rock. A genre literally coined by Gram with the International Submarine Band, brought to prominence by converting the Byrds of "Sweetheart of the rodeo", and made perfect with the Flying Burrito Brothers. Brief and electrifying experiences like a flash of August lightning, for an author as brilliant as he was unstable and tormented. As if that weren't enough, shortly before being cut short at 26 by a fatal chemical mix, Parsons also gifted two solo works of unparalleled value, capable of sealing his own "cosmic American music" - a stunningly vibrant mix of country, rock, and soul - with the best songwriting. The foundation not only for the wild stone escapades of the Rolling Stones, but for all of the 90s alt-country, and beyond: you've probably seen this page's image on a t-shirt worn by Evan Dando, under a flannel shirt, in a Lemonheads music video during the height of the grunge era.
A worthy prologue to the masterpiece "Grievous Angel", "GP" marked in 1973 the artistic-existential partnership of Parsons with the chanteuse Emmylou Harris, his undisputed muse, and with a band of stellar roots musicians (from James Burton to Byron Berline). The electrifying opening "Still Feeling Blue" perfectly distills Gram's modernist essence. It's pure Nashville: pedal steel, fiddle, double voices, and choirs. The most reactionary genre existing, yet renewed through insidious sound streams, in a subcutaneous tension that makes it exciting and current. Listen in this sense also to the r'n'b jabs of "Big Mouth Blues" and "Cry One More Time" (watch out for Hal Battiste's sax!) or the feverish country-gospel of "Kiss the Children". Current, because it was maneuvered by the libertarian and rock spirit of the iconoclastic bohemian who loved to wander the California desert with his friend Richards, and who in "The Gilded Palace of Sin" had told with disconcerting depth the tensions of the vast America. Only Parsons, a southern boy with fresh and burning crooning, could therefore delve into these grooves in the reissue of standards like "We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning", "Streets Of Baltimore" and "That's All It Took" with Emmylou's soothing counterpoint to celestially mitigate his swashbuckling impulse. Without being pathetic, rather the brightest of innovators within the tradition's groove.
But we have talked about songwriting, and the remaining autograph tracks alone would suffice to establish Gram among the greats. Consider "The New Soft Shoe", imbued with melancholic confetti reminiscent of Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush", or the vivid confession of "How Much I've Lied", where the dusty spurs are polished in a western dance hall illuminated by a timeless melody. Up to the two undisputed peaks of the album. "A Song for You" dissolves in Glen Hardin's divine organ, in bronze guitar phrases and in the touching interweaving between Gram and Emmylou after a heart-stopping introduction, ideally engraved in the stones of the Mojave Desert: "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...". What to say then about "She"? In high school, we would have put this supreme composition in one of those selections on old tapes, aimed at melting the heart of someone capable of making us blush. Poignant organ blends and a violin shadow lead to that incredible "Hallelujah" with a gospel flavor launched into the sky. So different from Cohen's famous, earthly one: the sum of an angel's ardent desire to live, whose wings would soon be broken.
His ashes, scattered at Joshua Tree, however, continue to roam in the most diverse shores, driven by a warm and relentless wind.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
02 We'll Sweep Out the Ashes in the Morning (03:13)
We know it's wrong to let this fire burn between us
We've got to stop this wild desire in you and in me
So we'll let the flame burn once again until the thrill is gone
Then we'll sweep out the ashes in the morning
We're two people caught up in the flame that has to die out soon
I didn't mean to start this fire and neither did you
So tonight when you hold me tight we'll let the fire burn on
And we'll sweep out the ashes in the morning
Each time when we meet we both agree that it's for the last time
But out of your arms I'm out of my mind
So we'll taste the thrill of stolen love tonight until the dawning
And we'll sweep out the ashes in the morning
We're two people caught up in the flame that has to die out soon
I didn't mean to start this fire and neither did you
So tonight when you hold me tight we'll let the fire burn on
And we'll sweep out the ashes in the morning
Yes we'll taste the thrill of stolen love tonight until the dawning
And we'll sweep out the ashes
We'll sweep out the ashes
We'll sweep out the ashes in the morning
Words and Music by Joyce Allsup
Copyright 1969 Sawgrass Music Pub., Inc. BMI
03 A Song for You (04:58)
A Bm
Oh, my land is like a wild goose
D A D E D
Wanders all around everywhere
A Bm
Trembles and it shakes till every tree is loose
D A D E D
It rolls the meadows and it rolls the nails
A Bm
So take me down to your dance floor
D A D E D
And I won´t mind the people when they stare
A Bm D
Paint a different color on your front door
D A D E D
And tomorrow we will still be there
A Bm
Jesus built a ship to sing a song to
D A D E D
It sails the rivers and it sails the tide
A Bm
Some of my friends don´t know who they belong to
D A D E D
Some can´t get a single thing to work inside
A Bm
So take me down to your dance floor
D A D E D
And I won´t mind the people when they stare
A Bm
Paint a different color on your front door
D A D E D A
And tomorrow we will still be there
SOLO
A Bm
I loved you every day and now I´m leaving
D A D E D
And I can see the sorrow in your eyes
A Bm
I hope you know a lot more than you´re believing
D A D E D
Just so the sun don´t hurt you when you cry
A Bm
Oh, take me down to your dance floor
D A D E D
I won´t mind the people when they stare
A Bm
Paint a different color on your front door
D A D E D
And tomorrow we may still be there
Bm D A
And tomorrow we may still be there
04 Streets of Baltimore (02:53)
Well I sold the farm to take my woman where she used to be
We left our kin and all our friends back there in Tennessee
And I bought those one way tickets she had often begged me for
And they took us to the streets of Baltimore
Well her heart was filled with gladness when she saw those city lights
She said the prettiest place on earth was Baltimore at night
Well a man feels proud to give his woman what she's longing for
And I kinda liked the streets of Baltimore
Then I got myself a factory job, I ran an old machine
And I bought a little cottage in a neighborhood serene
And every night when I'd come home with every muscle sore
She'd drag me through the streets of Baltimore
Well I did my best to bring her back to what she used to be
Then I soon learned she loved those bright lights more than she loved me
Now I'm a going back on that same train that brought me here before
While my baby walks the streets of Baltimore
While my baby walks the streets of Baltimore
Words and Music by Tompall Glaser and Harlan Howard
Copyright 1966, 1972, 1973 Ensign Music Corp. BMI
05 She (04:59)
she, she came from the land of the cotton
land that was nearly forgotten by everyone
and she, she worked and she slaved so hard
a big old field was her back yard in the delta sun
ooh, but she sure could sing
ooh, she sure could sing
then he looked down and he took a little pity
the whole town swore he decided he'd help her some
but he didn't mind if she wasn't very pretty
for deep inside his heart he knew she was the only one
ooh, but she sure could sing
yeah, she sure could sing
she had faith, she had believing
she led all the people together in singing
and she prayed every night to the lord up above
singing hallelujah, ooh hallelujah
they use to walk singing songs by the river
even when she knew for sure she had to go away
and she never knew what her life had to give her
and never had to worry about it for one single day
ooh my but she sure could sing
ooh, she sure could sing
she had faith, she had believing
led all the people together in singing
and she prayed every night to the lord up above
singing hallelujah, ooh hallelujah
she, she came from the land of the cotton
land that was nearly forgotten by everyone
and she, she worked and she slaved so hard
a big old field was her back yard in the delta sun
ooh, but she sure could sing
my, my, my she sure could sing
ooh, yeah she sure could sing
ooh, she sure could sing
06 That's All It Took (02:59)
That's all it took
The mention of your name
And all my love for you burst into flames
I tried so hard
To let you got but look how
I still tremble at your name
That's all it took
That's all it
To make me know that I still care
It seems my heart just can't give up
The dreams we used to share
I tell my friends I'm happy
But they read me like a book
And when today I heard them say your name
That's all it took
That's all it took
To make me yearn for your embrace
I guess I might as well admit
No one can take your place
I fell for you completely
Sinker, line and hook
And when today I heard them say your name
That's all it took
And when today I heard them say your name
That's all it took
07 The New Soft Shoe (03:54)
It was forty or fifty years ago
A big shot played with time
Mister Walker held the door
And both kept Cord and line
Watched and checked on every single day
Building his own special cars
His very special way
Ooh! The new soft shoe
Ooh! The new soft shoe
And then walking through a southern road
I saw a shoeshine stand
A man was talking to a crowd
Holding slippers in his hands
Don't you know the same thing happens
Each and every day?
Did you ever hear a song
That's hard to even play?
Ooh! The new soft shoe
Ooh! The new soft shoe
Guitar solo
Fiddle solo
Then a color TV broadcast
Snuck from New Orleans
Showed me one more man who spoke
and wore bright blue and green
When you saw him talk his way
Was when he showed his claws
And spoke to people every day
Just to get applause
Ooh! The new soft shoe
Ooh! The new soft shoe .....
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