Thrifty Tunes 01.09.10: Gene Parsons - Kindling

Posted by Paul Hollingsworth on 01.09.2010

Drummers seldom move successfully from behind their snares and cymbals into the solo spotlight. Gene Parsons, long time stickman for The Byrds, gave it a shot, and the results are the focus of this week's Thrifty Tunes.

Drunkard's Dream - Gene Parson...

The Byrds are known for their sweet vocal harmonies and their successful merging of country, bluegrass, folk and pop music. Aside from David Crosby and maybe and Gram Parsons, the band as a whole is pretty much anonymous and the various personnel changes over the years didn't result in any drastic changes in the band's sound.
Gene Parsonsplayed drums and contributed songs during his tenure with the band, which included work on classic albums like Sweetheart of The Rodeo and Ballad of Easy Rider, but for the most part, he was just the guy who happened to be keeping time on songs like "Hickory Wind" and "Bad Night At The Whiskey".

When the Byrds broke up and Gram Parsons (no relation, by the way) went on to form The Flying Burrito Brothers, Gene decided to record his first solo album in 1973. Despite some positive reviews, the album failed to chart and Gene joined Gram in his new band. Gene didn't release another solo album until 1978. (He also released a live solo album in 2001 and recorded two albums with his wife, billed as Parsons Green.) The album has been mostly neglected and ignored for years, and the copy I found at a Pensacola thrift shop a few weeks ago looked as though it had been played maybe once and still had the Kmart price tag on it ($2.99, in case you were wondering. My cost in 2010: a cool quarter.)

The album opens with "Monument" which doesn't sound much different from any number of Byrds' tunes, except its tilted more toward the bluegrass/country side of things. Parsons is an excellent banjo player, if you're into that sort of thing, and its also noteworthy that he plays almost all the instruments and has sole songwriting credit on most of the songs on the album. "Long Way Back" is one of the standout tracks, and Parson's voice fits the mood of the song perfectly. It's country music, but sounds more like something
Hank Williams would have recorded instead of the more pop-country which was popular at the time.

"Willin'" is probably the most well known song on the album, as the The Little Feat original has been covered by a host of bands, (including The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Linda Ronstadt and Steve Earle to name a few) Parson's solo version is more sparse than most versions, which gives the great lyrics room to breathe. "Take A City Bride" ends side one on a high note, and probably is the most successful merging of country and pop on the album. This album is sometimes referred to as one of the first 'country-rock' albums, and tunes like "Bride" can't really be described any other way. Today of course, almost everything on country radio sounds like this, but in 1973 this was unheard of and almost sacrilegious.

Side two features "Drunkard's Dream", which may sound vaguely familiar, at least in style. The songwriter for that song as well as backup singer is Ralph Stanley who won a Grammy a few years back for "O Death" off the O Brother, Where Art Thou?soundtrack. Bluegrass music is often stereotyped as music made by and for toothless inbreed hillbillies, but "Dream" is as powerful a song as I've heard in a long time. Good music can be found in any genre, and part of the fun I've had in writing these columns over the last year or so is finding songs like this. There's some more banjo and fiddle picking in the tunes that follow, but nothing matches "Dream". "And Back Again", though, puts a nice period at the end of the album. (It's also interesting to imagine that Parsons was influenced somehow by J.R.R. Tolkien.)

I could find next to nothing of live performances by Parson's on Youtube, so here's one of my favorite Byrds tunes instead.



Complete Track Listing: (1973 on Warner Brothers Records)

Side One:
1. Monument
2. Long Way Back
3. Do Not Disturb
4. Willin'
5. On The Spot
6. Take A City Bride

Side Two:
1. Sonic Bummer
2. I Must Be A Tree
3. Drunkard's Dream
4. Banjo Dog
5. And Back Again



John Lennon famously quipped that Ringo Starr wasn't even the best drummer in his band, and usually drummers are the least likely to achieve breakout, superstar success within the confines of a band. (Unless you're named Bonham or Moon.) However, sometimes multi-talented musicians are hiding behind their kits at the rear of the stage, and occasionally get to showcase their abilities, even if no one pays much attention.

Pickett Stars: Four out of Five

Next Week: Whitesnake by Whitesnake