It’s not unusual for the sensational details of a brief life to occasionally overshadow the accomplishments of the person who lived it. Yet it’s safe to say that just about everyone who has ever played or been a fan of the genre known as alt-country knows well the influence of Gram Parsons’ music, even if they don’t know his full biography.
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If you had to pick a signature song from Parsons, through his time with several influential bands and as a solo artist, “Return of the Grievous Angel,” his wounded travelogue, would probably get serious consideration. After all, not only is it a wonderful song, but, like so much about Parsons, there’s a wild story behind it.
Gram’s Goodbye
Parsons’ career seemed to the outside world to be on the upswing as he settled in to record his second solo album in the summer of 1973. His reputation as an innovating melder of musical genres was burnished by his stints in the Byrds (most notably as the driving force behind the seminal country-rock album Sweetheart of the Rodeo) and Flying Burrito Brothers, and by his time running in the same circles as The Rolling Stones and influencing their country-tinged work in the early ‘70s. Add to that an acclaimed (albeit low-selling) solo debut with GP, which came out in January 1973.
But Parsons’ penchant for hard living was catching up to him. Although he was attempting to pull it together to record what would become the album Grievous Angel, his drinking and drug use were still very much a factor. Many of the same players who had helped him with GP were back, most notably Emmylou Harris, who did her best to help Parsons get through the sessions in Hollywood.
[RELATED: 3 Songs You Didn’t Know Gram Parsons Wrote for Other Artists]
Parsons did indeed complete the record, but on September 19, 1973, he died of an overdose. His widow Gretchen altered the running order of the album as well as the credits (it was originally credited to both Harris and Parsons.) She also changed the title, from Sleepless Nights to Grievous Angel, the latter name coming from the unique song that would kick off the album when it was released in January 1974.
Whose Angel Was It?
When you look at the songwriting credits for “Return of the Grievous Angel,” the name Thomas Brown, listed as co-writer with Parsons, might not ring any bells. Well, what if we told you that it probably didn’t ring too many bells with Parsons, who never met the guy.
According to this account of how it went down, Brown was a poet living in Massachusetts when Parsons came into town in the spring of 1973 to play some shows. Brown was inspired after seeing Parsons and wrote a poem with the seemingly unlikely idea that the singer might set it to music. He went back to the same spot while Parsons was still in the midst of that particular run of shows and handed the lyrics off to one of Parsons’ roadies.
Thinking nothing more of it, Brown was stunned when Parsons posthumous album was released with the title Grievous Angel and featured an opening track, credited only to the artist, that was a nearly word-for-word rendering of his poem. His efforts to get credit went unanswered for years, at least until Harris included the song on a 1982 live album called Last Date. Brown wrote Harris about the situation, and his name started appearing on the credits from that point forward.
What Is “Return of the Grievous Angel” About?
Whoever was responsible for writing “Return of the Grievous Angel,” they constructed something special. It’s a song that comes off like a road movie, but contains in its hearts the comforts of home, especially when a loving relationship is waiting there.
The narrator is speaking to Miss Annie Rich on the cusp of his return, but first he has to tell her about all that he’s seen on his journeys. Most notably, he’s seen the kickers and the truckers and the cowboy angels / And a good saloon in every single town. The memories of the road roll on by: prairies, billboards, truck stops, railroad workers. But he admits that they all pale compared to the sweet memories of the love he left behind: And I thought about a calico bonnet from Cheyenne to Tennessee.
A meeting with the drug-addled king only strengthens his resolve to get home. It all leads to an unforgettable chorus, with Parsons and Harris wailing for all they’re worth:
And I remembered something you once told me
And I’ll be damned if it did not come true
Twenty thousand roads I went down, down, down
And they all led me straight back home to you
The mythos behind Grievous Angel as an album has only grown over the years as more and more artists and fans have discovered it. “Return of the Grievous Angel” sets the tone, one that played off all the contradictory aspects of Gram Parsons personality: lover and rake, saint and sinner, weary road warrior and espouser of hearth and home. Whether he wrote those words or someone else put them in his mouth, all indications are that he lived them, and that’s what brings the authenticity to this incredible song.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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