Gene Victor Parsons (born September 4, 1944, in Morongo Valley, California) is an American drummer, banjo player, guitarist, singer-songwriter, and engineer, best known for his work with the Byrds from 1968 to 1972.
[6] Parsons remained with the band for four years, principally as a drummer, but he also contributed guitar, banjo, harmonica and a number of his own songs to the albums Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde, Ballad of Easy Rider, (Untitled), Byrdmaniax and Farther Along.
[4] Although Kindling received positive reviews in music publications such as Rolling Stone, it failed to reach the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart.
[3][9] While he was a member of the Burritos, with Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Chris Ethridge, Skip Battin, Joel Scott Hill and Gib Guilbeau, Parsons contributed a number of songs to the band's Flying Again and Airborne albums, including "Wind and Rain", "Sweet Desert Childhood", and "Out of Control".
[citation needed] Gene Parsons currently lives in Caspar, California, spending much of his time in his machine shop and customizing guitars with the StringBender device.