Music Lifestyle Blog
by Mark Rogers on Fri, Oct 12, 2012 @ 02:26 PM
Who Was Responsible for The Rolling Stones Greatest Work?
It’s ancient history now and not nearly as important as it might have once been, but the Rolling Stones reached a sustained peak from 1968’s Beggars Banquet through 1972’s “Exile on Main Street”, that, in the minds of many, has never been replicated by any band at any time before or since. After the foolish psychedelia of “Their Satanic Majesties Request”, something happened. A collective voice was created that diminished the bands previous persona as “ the bad element of the British Invasion”, and forged a cock-sure, gritty, acoustic-intensive sound that, looking back, could only be described as a pure dose of Americana. The Stones lost their Englishness and became disciples of the American South. And in the process they delivered four albums that continue to define them as The Greatest Rock and Roll band in the World.
So what happened? How do England’s Number One Hit Makers go from floundering erratic’s in 1967 to a prolonged period of rebirth and inspired originality?
When you listen to Exile’s “Sweet Virginia” and “Torn and Frayed” and then go up to “Loving Cup” and “Shine a Light”, you get the feeling that band had perfected an impulse that they’d discovered somewhere in 1968 with “Dear Doctor” and “Salt of the Earth”. What happened? Where did “Dead Flowers”, “Country Honk” and “Wild Horses” come from? When did Keith Richards learn that his most soulful expression would come via his acoustic guitar playing? When did American country music become cool enough for The Stones to take up, not so much as a novelty (as the Beatles had done with Act Naturally, Rocky Raccoon, etc) , but as a reoccurring theme that would arguably propel them to their greatest heights? Where does inspiration like that come from?
In 1968, The Byrds were touring England in support of their recently released album “Sweetheart of the Rodeo”, featuring a radically different sound than their previous (and highly successful) folk-rock efforts. Gram Parsons, a charismatic, southern, economically-privileged, Harvard drop-out had joined the group, as a keyboard player, and as a replacement to the recently fired David Crosby. To make a long story short, Gram, had over the previous few years, embraced and somewhat obsessed over the beautiful simplicity of Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, George Jones, Ira and Charlie Louvin and other pure Country and Western artists. His first, mid-60s, New York-based band “The International Submarine Band” was the very first rock group to record a full album of pure country music. This lead him to Los Angeles and ultimately an invitation to join up with Chris Hillman and Roger McGuinn of the also-floundering, maybe-past-their-prime, Byrds. The newly formed collaboration resulted in one stellar and massively influential country-flavored Album. But in a time when country music was the antithesis of cool, particularly in the eyes of a young rock-listening generation, “Sweetheart of the Rodeo”, didn’t sell very well. Fans were confused and slow to adopt the Byrds as a country music act. Regardless, Gram Parsons was the heart and soul of this new direction and would take the lead of the band, and of this newly-created musical genre, if only for a very short time.
The Stones went to see the Byrds perform in England in 1968. As legend has it, Gram Parsons and Keith Richards sparked an immediate friendship. Keith saw in Gram a wealth of knowledge about the American south and its musical heritage. Gram saw Keith as, well, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.
A connection was made. Gram would soon leave the Byrds over opposition to touring Apartheid South Africa and become a very close friend of Keith’s. This friendship would inevitably include a common interest in American country music. Keith ate it up. He couldn’t extract enough music, information and inspiration from Gram, his music and his southern culture. There was continued talk of a collaborative effort, maybe to include an album. Unfortunately, that never happened. What we did get however, was a library of often brilliant and sometimes erratic Gram Parsons music spanning his work with the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers and two beautifully performed solo records. But perhaps our greatest gift was: The Rolling Stones, from 1968 through 1972. This period included four sublime albums: Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street. Although Gram never recorded with The Stones, to my ear, he can be heard prominently throughout all four of those records.
Gram left us in 1973 at the age of 26. There’s a movie there to be made sometime about the whole thing. And as we all know, the Stones kept going and going and going. But for those of us who were there at the time, there was nothing like it. The magic the Stones delivered during that period was the very best. And thanks, in no small part, to Gram Parsons.
Gram Parsons Nudie Suite Photo by jbcurio...all desert flowers and leaves of "grass" [;)]
