I love Gram Parson’s music – flat out. He’s one of the musicians that hits a familiar feeling, comfortable chord with me.

My friend Pete, who was my boss when I worked at the Grunion Gazette awhile back, inadvertently introduced me to Gram’s music.

Pete would bring in all kinds of CDs I hadn’t heard before and when I was the only one working in the Graphic Design area, I’d go through Pete’s CDs and try different ones out. That’s how I discovered John Prine’s music, and that’s how I discovered Gram Parson.

One Thursday morning, while all the important people were upstairs in the usual Thursday morning meeting, I put on this CD called G.P./Grievous Angel, with a picture on the cover that reminded me of a Syd Barrett (the founder of Pink Floyd) album cover. I put the CD on, and found a touchstone.

Gram’s life was tragically short, and ended in a heroin overdose in a motel room at the Joshua Tree Inn on September 19, 1973 at the age of 26 – here’s a link to the story of his death.

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