Album : Gram Parsons – Sleepless Nights

After devouring Parson’s first album this was the next step for me. No more sitting on the country fence it was right into the trough. Gram covers tunes by people I had heard of but not their music (This album sent me on a search for the original recordings). The first cut ‘Brand New Heartache’ is a duet with Emmylou Harris and they create that same sound I got from the first album. This music had me in it’s grasp. This is straight ahead county music. It wasn’t a surprise anymore or a novelty. Rock n roll, hard rock, blues rock, jazz loving CB was crossing over to this music especially played and sung like this. No apologies. I liked it and couldn’t help myself.

Parsons introduced me to the music of people like Merle Haggard (off the map with his depth and emotion). The songs moved GP and he passed that passion onto listeners like me. Songs like ‘Together Again’ had CB belting them out after he had a few brews and thinking he could sing. If you don’t dig country this album might help you get past that and to the soul and emotion of the tunes. It’s there if you let it grab you. Real good version of a countried ‘Honky Tonk Woman’. This was so different from what was popular at the time. He loved what this music was saying and what it was doing to him.

CB’s music had country leanings but Gram Parsons and the Burritos was a trip into the heart of it. The first GP record had an effect but this had an even bigger effect. It opened up a whole mess of music for CB to explore. This was a significant album in my pile. Great cover and informative notes on the back by Emmylou Harris (read her memories of touring on the bus with these guys). This music really pushed me to the source on where Parsons was getting his inspiration.

Gram said “It’s ok CB, you can listen to this music and like it. Who gives a shit what people think. This is your kind of music”. He was right. I wanted to go to the places Parsons was playing this kind of music (I did later). It sounded like my type of place.