![\"Gram](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Gram-Parsons-Singer-Songwriter-Guitarist-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Reprise Records)<\/p>\n
Sun 5 April 2026 18:15, UK <\/p>\n
As a musician in 1969, two great living options were available to you. Either you buried yourself in the vibrancy of London, thriving under the stylish renaissance of the swinging 1960s<\/a>. Or you headed west and took musical refuge in the Hollywood hills, joining the Laurel Canyon community.<\/p>\n The latter served as something of a spiritual home for many bands<\/a>. Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Joni Mitchell and The Byrds were all residents of this now famous neighbourhood, and allowed it to inform the sunny disposition of their classic rock tracks.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was also a perfect location for Gram Parsons, who, when introduced to the band in 1968, brought something of a country tinge to the soundscape of the band. Marrying his own love of country and western with the hippie counterculture attitude, he brought a unique edge to their sound that essentially became part of the Laurel Canyon soundtrack.\u00a0<\/p>\n But then, the music started to take the band all over the globe and outside of the liberal bubble they had crafted in that Los Angeles neighbourhood. Suddenly, the band were a global force, rubbing shoulders with the industry\u2019s elite in cities fostering a vibrant new culture that was vastly different from the Californian solace.<\/p>\n So Parsons\u2019 curiosity peaked when he landed in the English capital and was confronted with a troop of musicians and artists who seemed to speak his language. It was equally as liberal as his established home, but with a whole heap of vibrancy that made it interesting. Thriving under the stewardship of\u00a0the blues scene<\/a>, Parsons decided to stay put, which ultimately caused a problem for his future in the band.<\/p>\n It seemed like a rather futile reason, however, and so when the band were set to travel to yet another destination, but one riddled with the sort of social problems Parsons revolted against, he could finally call time on his involvement with the band and camp out in London for good.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cGram didn\u2019t quit,\u201d Roger McQuinn established. He continued, \u201cHe was let go because he didn\u2019t want to go to South Africa with us (July 1968). He said he wouldn\u2019t play to segregated audiences. We went down there as a political thing, to try to turn their heads around, but he didn\u2019t want to participate in that, but it wasn\u2019t for political reasons. It was because he wanted to stay in London. He dug it there, dug Marianne Faithfull and the Rolling Stones, and he wanted to stay in that scene.\u201d<\/p>\n Parsons quickly developed a friendship with The Stones, even bunking at Keith Richards\u2019 house for extended periods of time, where, during jam sessions, Parsons introduced him to\u00a0country music<\/a>. It was a perfect marriage of worlds for Parsons, who wholeheartedly embraced the innovation of London\u2019s music scene while still exercising his deep love for country.<\/p>\n Eventually, the long-term holiday came to an end for Parsons, when Los Angeles beckoned once more, when the Flying Burrito Brothers were looking for a guitarist and identified the ex-Byrd as exactly the man they needed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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