40 POINTSHow did Parson’s style and musical taste influence Harris’ style and sound?

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Explanation:

On the back cover blurb of Twenty Thousand Roads, David N. Meyer’s biography of Gram Parsons, it reads:

“As a singer and songwriter, Gram Parsons stood at the nexus of countless musical crossroads, and he sold his soul to the devil at every one.”

The second half of that sentence contextualizes the demons that ruled and ultimately ruined Gram’s career. However, the more important sentiment to take from it is that in his short time as a musician and songwriter, Gram Parsons played a significant and massively underappreciated role in fusing together styles of American music like few other artists ever have.

His unrelenting enthusiasm for country music drove The Byrds to record what many consider most the first important country-rock album. His Southern roots and love for gospel and R&B embedded a colorful blend of sounds in The Flying Burrito Brothers’ masterful debut record. His two lone solo efforts featured Elvis Presley’s backing band, combining honky-tonk, rock ‘n’ roll, blues and country to form transcendent works of roots music and have since become a blueprint for countless artists and songwriters following in Parsons’ footsteps.

His peers and closest collaborators included Keith Richards and The Rolling Stones, Clarence White, Neil Young, the Eagles, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Delaney & Bonnie and Leon Russell, among many others. In spite of his immense lack of success while he was alive, Gram’s musical family tree stretched far and wide, sprouting infinite branches in the years and decades after his death.

As with any forward-thinking musician or songwriter, Gram’s taste was informed by a myriad of distinct styles of music, ranging from Nashville’s classic country to the electric Bakersfield Sound to the folk language of Greenwich Village. Just as he blazed trails for the alt-country bands and singer-songwriters of the future, his sound is indebted to the pioneers that came before him.

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