Ingram Cecil Connor III (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973), known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist.

He recorded with the International Submarine Band, the Byrds, and the Flying Burrito Brothers, popularizing what he called "Cosmic American Music", a hybrid of country, rhythm and blues, soul, folk, and rock.

Avis was the daughter of citrus fruit magnate John A. Snively, who held extensive properties in Winter Haven FL and Waycross Georgia, where the Connors normally lived.

[10] Parsons developed strong musical interests early in life, particularly after seeing Elvis Presley perform in concert in Waycross, on February 22, 1956.

[11] Five years later, he was playing in rock and roll cover bands such as the Pacers and the Legends, headlining in Winter Haven/Polk County clubs owned by his stepfather.

[13] Following a recording session at the radio station of Bob Jones University, the group reached a creative impasse amid the emergence of folk rock and dissolved in the spring of 1965.

[14][15] By 1968, Parsons came to the attention of The Byrds' bassist, Chris Hillman, via business manager Larry Spector, who was looking for a new band member following the departures of David Crosby and Michael Clarke.

[16][17] In February 1968, Parsons passed an audition for the band, being initially recruited as a jazz pianist but soon adding rhythm guitar and vocals.

[25] While in England with the Byrds in the summer of 1968, Parsons left the band over a planned concert tour of South Africa and his opposition to apartheid.

Their 1969 album The Gilded Palace of Sin marked the culmination of Parsons' post-1966 musical vision: a modernized variant of the Bakersfield sound that was popularized by Buck Owens amalgamated with strands of soul and psychedelic rock.

The band appeared on the album cover wearing Nudie suits emblazoned with hippie symbols, including marijuana, Tuinal, and Seconal-inspired patches.

[32] Along with the Parsons-Hillman originals "Christine's Tune" and "Sin City" were versions of the soul music classics "The Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man", the latter featuring David Crosby on high harmony.

The original songs were the result of a productive songwriting partnership between Parsons and Hillman, who were sharing a bachelor pad in the San Fernando Valley.

The pronounced gospel-soul influence on this album likely evolved from the ecumenical tastes of bassist Chris Ethridge, who co-wrote "Hot Burrito No.

Critic Robert Christgau called it "an ominous, obsessive, tongue-in-cheek country-rock synthesis, absorbing rural and urban, traditional and contemporary, at point of impact."

Midway through their set, Parsons joined the headline act and fronted his former group on renditions of "Hickory Wind" and "You Don't Miss Your Water".

Manager Jim Dickson instigated a session where the band recorded honky tonk staples and contemporary pop covers in a countrified vein, but this was scrapped in favor of a second album of originals on an extremely reduced budget.

Faced with a dearth of new material, most of the album was hastily written in the studio by Leadon, Hillman, and Parsons, with two Gilded Palace of Sin outtakes thrown into the mix.

Unable to afford the TCB Band, the group featured guitarists Jock Bartley and Larry Coryell, Neil Flanz on pedal steel, bassist Kyle Tullis, and drummer N.D. Smart.

Coordinating the spectacle as road manager was Phil Kaufman, who had served time with Charles Manson on Terminal Island but who ensured that the performer stayed clear of drugs and limited his alcohol intake during shows.

At first, the band was under-rehearsed and played poorly; however, they improved with steady gigging and received rapturous responses at several counter-cultural venues, including Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Max's Kansas City in New York City, and Liberty Hall in Houston, where Neil Young and Linda Ronstadt sat in for a filmed performance.

Although Parsons only contributed two new songs to the album ("In My Hour of Darkness" and "Return of the Grievous Angel"), he was reportedly enthusiastic with his new sound and seemed to have finally adopted a diligent mindset to his musical career, limiting his intake of alcohol and opiates during most of the sessions.

On July 15, 1973, White was killed by a drunk driver in Palmdale, California, while loading equipment in his car for a concert with the New Kentucky Colonels.

[42] In the late 1960s, Parsons began to vacation at Joshua Tree National Park in southeastern California, where he used psychedelics and said he experienced UFO sightings.

On both nights of their stay, Parsons retreated to the desert, consuming large amounts of alcohol and barbiturates, while the rest of the group visited bars in nearby Yucca Valley.

[47] Joshua Tree park guides are given the option to tell the story of Parsons' cremation during tours, but there is no mention of the act in official maps or brochures.

[47] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic describes Parsons as "enormously influential" for both country and rock, "blending the two genres to the point that they became indistinguishable from each other...his influence could still be heard well into the next millennium.

"[5] Emmylou Harris continued to champion Parsons' work, covering a number of his songs, including "Hickory Wind", "Wheels", "Sin City", "Luxury Liner", and "Hot Burrito No. 2".

[53] Artists included Keith Richards, James Burton, Lucinda Williams, Norah Jones, Dwight Yoakam, John Doe, Steve Earle, Jim Lauderdale, Kathleen Edwards, Jay Farrar, Jim James, Raul Malo, Susan Marshall, and the Sin City All Stars.

[74][75][76][77][78] Gram Parsons & The Fallen Angels' "The Last Roundup: Live from The Bijou Café in Philadelphia 3/16/73" was released on limited-edition vinyl on Friday, November 24, 2023, and was considered one of the hits of Record Store Day 2023.