Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music by David Meyer Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music
Book Review: Great, but needed editorial assistance.
Summary: 4 Stars
Segments of brilliant, insightful prose. Evokes the grandeur of that Rock and Roll era, with plenty of inside stuff about music and musicianship. A few gripes about what I consider amateuristic: 1) Much speculation about sexual excesses of Parson's mother with no evidence to support it; 2) Too much negative opinion about Parson's contemporaries and imitators (Eagles, New Riders of the Purple Sage). After all, Gram Parson's music itself was 95% derivative.
Be prepared for the detailed downward spiral. Though depressing, it accurately describes the horrible drug culture turn towards heroin in the early `70s. You'll read about Parsons waking up for alcohol even in his coffee.
Now I can't wait to get the remastered Byrd's "Sweetheart of the Rodeo."
Book Review: Informative to the point of being a dry read
Summary: 3 Stars
The book was very informative to the point of being a very dry read for me. Probably a great book for avid Gram Parsons fans....but only 3 or 4 chapters interested me.Book Review: The Best
Summary: 5 Stars
This is without a question the best celeb bio I have ever read. The research and interviews made me feel that I was there to witness every detail of Parsons' life.Book Review: Dirty Laundry and Yet the Mythology is Perpetuated
Summary: 2 Stars
It's a shame that book meant to be as comprehensive as this did not have better editing. But toss aside probs with the writer's ability to construct well-crafted sentences; a worse problem is that this book is not nearly as balanced as many claim. While it airs so much dirty laundry it persists in supporting too much myth about GP but overrating how involved and how central GP was in the development of country and bluegrass influenced rock n roll ("country rock" for lack of a better term.) The style(s) predated GP's by many years and much of that early work was important inspiration for GP (for example, Buck Owens). A great many others were involved an ultimately did much more before and after GP -- after all, an important part of developing a musical style is showing up at the sessions and performances where the work is done. Indeed, GP had a lot of talent; no argument there. But this book doesn't put GP's role in Country Rock into perspective; instead, ultimately, it tends to further the mythology.
For just one example, Hillman's tunes on the Byrd's albums prior to "Sweetheart" evidence his well-respected musical background in country and bluegrass and attempts to bring these into play in rock n roll. Good that some reviewers have mentioned many of the others that did similar things prior to GP's work on "Sweetheart". Hillman hired GP for the album that became Sweetheart rather than make him a member of the band to ensure that he would show up for sessions -- already his drug addictions and unreliability were a concern to his friends and fellow performers. Hillman and McGuinn knew they were taking risks using Parson and as it turned out, GP's prior contractual obligations essentially precluded his vocal tracks being used on "Sweetheart." Hillman attempted again to put GP to work and develop further country rock with the Burritos but before too long had to fire him because he failed to show up at too many sessions, too often showed up in no condition to work, and too often just couldn't get along with the other members -- he was expending more energy as a Stones groupie than as a band member. It's unfortunate that GP's romanticized irresponsibility produces a myth that outshines the contributions of Hillman and the many others that did so much more for country rock, the California sound, and music in general.
Book Review: Better than "Hickory Wind".
Summary: 4 Stars
Haven't finished it yet, but seems more in depth than Ben Fong-Torres' tome on the same subject. Could also be just the passage of time and perspective.