Grievous Angel: An Intimate Biography Of Gram Parsons
Jessica Hundley with Polly Parsons
Published by Under The Radar

Born into a Florida citrus fortune, dead of a Joshua Tree overdose at age 26, Gram Parsons left a handful of records and a truckload of legend. With the International Submarine Band, The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and as a two-album solo artist, he was the original dash between alt. and country. He hung with the Stones while they made Exile and brought a gentle Southern charm to the art of getting loaded. But it’s really the songs—inspired and unaffected, as medicating as medicated—that account for so many hands reaching to touch his memory. Grievous Angel author Jessica Hundley has used her considerable talent to facilitate as much, getting behind Gram’s eyes from the third person while still laying the biographical and discographical brass tacks. Evocative and plainspoken, Hundley’s prose turns pages, bringing emotional satisfaction to getting the facts and knowing the man. Gram’s daughter, Polly, participated, granting access to family and friends and conducting many of the interspersed Q&As with contemporary artists—Conor Oberst, Jay Farrar, Devendra Banhart, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Padraic McMahon of The Thrills, to name a few. Additional rare photos, clippings and handwritten letters and lyric sheets make Grievous Angel a perennial of repeat skims. A must for Gram fans and rock readers alike.

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