Another musical education episode (I've lost count)

Emmylou Harris.
"Boulder to Birmingham"

Its a gorgeous song.

Its rumoured, nay its reknown to be written about Gram Parsons, the influencial ex-Byrds, ex-Flying Burritto Bros, legendary songwriter who inspired many artists and bands in the famous early 1970's "west coast" style of country rock, including The Eagles and The Rolling Stones with whom he had both written and performed albeit unacknowledged.

Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons were introduced to each other in 1971 and performed, wrote and toured together in his band "Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels" for the next two years during which time they were alleged to be "an item" despite Parsons being already married.

A former heroine addict, Parsons died on Sept 19th 1973 from an apparent overdose of morphine and alchohol. at the time he and his road manager Phil Kaufman were travelling in the Joshua Tree National Park in California, a place that they visited often for spiritual enlightenment and days of enlightenment by other things in the desert and Kaufman insists that for years Parsons had spoke of his wish to be cremated in Joshua Tree.

Parsons body was taken to Los Angeles airport for onward shipment to his parents home in Louisiana but on the evening of the flight Kaufman and a friend arrived at the airport in a rented hearse and convinced an airport worker that they had come to collect the body - they signed for it and took the coffin back to Joshua Tree where after a night of hard drinking Kaufman set fire to Parsons body out in the desert, for which he was eventually fined $700 for "burning a body" as it wasn't illegal to "steal a body".

It was a strange end to a founder member of the country rock genre and one which has passed into legend and Emmylou Harris was said to be distraught for a long time afterwards, eventually putting her feelings into song in 1975 with "Boulder to Birmingham", I recommend this to the house, particularly the recording of the late 1970's which exists on YouTube at this location. (still can't embed bloody videos in this blog)


Boulder to Birmingham
Music and lyrics by Emmylou Harris

I don't want to hear a love song
I got on this airplane just to fly
And I know there's life below
But all that it can show me
Is the prairie and the sky

And I don't want to hear a sad story
Full of heartbreak and desire
The last time I felt like this
It was in the wilderness and the canyon was on fire
And I stood on the mountain in the night and I watched it burn
I watched it burn, I watched it burn.

I would rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham
I would hold my life in his saving grace.
I would walk all the way from Boulder to Birmingham
If I thought I could see, I could see your face.

Well you really got me this time
And the hardest part is knowing I'll survive.
I have come to listen for the sound
Of the trucks as they move down
Out on ninety five
And pretend that it's the ocean
coming down to wash me clean, to wash me clean
Baby do you know what I mean

I would rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham
I would hold my life in his saving grace.
I would walk all the way from Boulder to Birmingham
If I thought I could see, I could see your face.