Gram Parsons

Who Is Gram Parsons?

Gram Parsons is a famous singer. He is known for his music and for helping to create a new kind of music called Cosmic American Music. This music is a mix of country, rhythm and blues, soul, folk, and rock.

He worked with many different groups, including the International Submarine Band, the Byrds, and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Gram Parsons is also known for helping to start the country rock and alt-country music genres.

He is considered one of the greatest artists of all time and has been given a special place in music history. Many people still listen to and enjoy his music today.

Early Life and Background

Gram Parsons was born on November 5, 1946.

Career and Claim to Fame

Gram Parsons recorded music with the International Submarine Band, the Byrds, and the Flying Burrito Brothers. He popularized Cosmic American Music, which is a mix of country, rhythm and blues, soul, folk, and rock.

Gram Parsons is famous for his music and for helping to create the country rock and alt-country genres. You can find more information about Gram Parsons on his website.

Official Website

Gram Parsons has an official website where you can learn more about him.

Birthday, Age and Zodiac

Gram Parsons was born on November 5, 1946. He is 79 years old. His zodiac sign is Scorpio.

People born under the sign of Scorpio are often strong and passionate. They can be very loyal to their friends and family.

Fun Facts and Legacy

Gram Parsons is a famous singer who helped create a new kind of music. He worked with many different groups and is known for his Cosmic American Music. He is also known for helping to start the country rock and alt-country music genres.

Gram Parsons is still remembered and celebrated today for his music and his influence on the music world. He is considered one of the greatest artists of all time and his music is still enjoyed by many people.

Gram Parsons was born on November 5, 1946, and his zodiac sign is Scorpio. He is 79 years old and his music is still loved by many people.

Gram Parsons - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Gram Parsons

Ingram Cecil Connor III (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973), known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American musician. He recorded with the International Submarine Band, the Byrds, and the Flying Burrito Brothers, popularizing what he called "Cosmic American Music", a hybrid of country, rhythm and blues, soul, folk, and rock. He has been credited with helping to found the country rock and alt-country genres and received a ranking of No. 87 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Parsons was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2026 in the musical influence category.

This profile of Gram Parsons covers Early Life and Family Background, Career and Rise to Fame, The International Submarine Band (1966–1967), The Byrds (1968) and The Flying Burrito Brothers (1969–1970).

Early Life and Family Background of Gram Parsons

Ingram Cecil Connor III was born in Winter Haven, Florida, to Ingram Cecil Connor II, aka "Coon Dog", and Avis Snively Connor. He had one sibling, a sister. Connor II was a World War II flying ace, decorated with the Air Medal, who worked at his father-in-law's company and was a local Boy Scout official. Both parents were alcoholics and both suffered from depression; Cecil II shot and killed himself on December 23, 1958. Avis then married Robert Parsons, whose surname was adopted by Gram and his sister. Avis and Robert would have one child, Parsons's half-sister.

Avis was the daughter of citrus fruit magnate John A. Snively, who held extensive properties in Winter Haven, Florida and Waycross, Georgia, where the Connors normally lived. Parsons attended The Bolles School in Jacksonville before transferring to the public Winter Haven High School; after failing his junior year there, he returned to Bolles. On his graduation day, June 5, 1965, his mother died of complications from alcoholism. Robert Parsons had been having an affair with Gram's half-sister's nanny; they married shortly after Avis's death. Gram went on to Harvard University, which he attended for one semester. At age 21, he began to receive his annual trust fund income of $30,000 ($289,671 in 2025).

Career and Rise to Fame of Gram Parsons

Parsons developed strong musical interests early in life, particularly after seeing Elvis Presley perform in concert in Waycross, on February 22, 1956. Five years later, he was playing in rock and roll cover bands such as the Pacers and the Legends, headlining in Winter Haven/Polk County clubs owned by his stepfather. By age 16, he had graduated to folk music, and in 1963 he teamed up with his first professional outfit, the Shilohs. Heavily influenced by The Kingston Trio and The Journeymen, the band played hootenannies, coffee houses and high school auditoriums; as Parsons was still enrolled in prep school, he performed with the group only in select engagements. Forays into New York City included a performance at Florida's exhibition in the 1964 New York World's Fair and regular appearances at the Café Rafio on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village in the summer of 1964. Although John Phillips (an acquaintance of Shiloh George Wrigley) arranged an exploratory meeting with Albert Grossman, the impresario balked at booking the group for a Christmas engagement at The Bitter End when he discovered that the Shilohs were high school students. Following a recording session at the radio station of Bob Jones University, the group reached a creative impasse amid the emergence of folk rock and dissolved in the spring of 1965.

The International Submarine Band (1966–1967)

In 1966, he and other musicians from the Boston folk scene formed a group called the International Submarine Band. In 1967, after briefly residing in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, they moved to Los Angeles. Following several lineup changes, the band signed with Lee Hazlewood's LHI Records, where they spent late 1967 recording Safe at Home. The album contains one of Parsons' best-known songs, "Luxury Liner", and an early version of "Do You Know How It Feels," which he revised later in his career. Safe at Home would remain unreleased until mid-1968, by which time the International Submarine Band had broken up.

The International Submarine Band appeared in the Peter Fonda film The Trip (1967) as a performing band in one of the clubs. Their song "Lazy Days" was offered for the film's soundtrack, but the soundtrack was done by Mike Bloomfield's Electric Flag. In 1967, Peter Fonda recorded a version of Parsons' song "November Nights" titled "November Night". The song was released as a single in March 1967, with Donovan's "Catch the Wind" on the B side.

The Byrds (1968)

By 1968, Parsons came to the attention of The Byrds' bassist, Chris Hillman, via business manager Larry Spector, who was looking for a new band member following the departures of David Crosby and Michael Clarke. In February 1968, Parsons passed an audition for the band, being initially recruited as a jazz pianist but soon adding rhythm guitar and vocals.

Although Parsons was an equal contributor to the band, he was not regarded as a full member by the band's label, Columbia Records. Consequently, when the Byrds' recording contract was renewed on February 29, 1968, it was signed only by original members Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman. Parsons, like fellow new recruit Kevin Kelley, was hired as a sideman and received a salary from McGuinn and Hillman. In later years, this led Hillman to state, "Gram was hired. He was not a member of the Byrds, ever. He was on salary; that was the only way we could get him to turn up." Parsons and Kelley were given equal billing alongside McGuinn and Hillman on the Sweetheart of the Rodeo album, and in press coverage.

Sweetheart of the Rodeo was conceived by McGuinn as a double-album history of American popular music. It was to begin with bluegrass, then move through country and western, jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock music, before ending with electronic music. But as recording plans were made, Parsons persuaded the other members to leave Los Angeles and record the album in Nashville. McGuinn's concept was jettisoned in favor of a country project, which included Parsons' songs "One Hundred Years from Now" and "Hickory Wind", and songs by Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie and Merle Haggard.

Recording sessions for Sweetheart of the Rodeo commenced at Columbia Records' recording studios in the Music Row area of Nashville on March 9, 1968. Mid-way through, the sessions moved to Columbia Studios, Hollywood and were completed on May 27, 1968. But Parsons was still under contract to LHI Records and Hazlewood threatened legal action over Parsons' appearance on the album. As a result, McGuinn replaced three of Parsons' lead vocals with his own; in 1973, in an interview with Cameron Crowe, Parsons said that McGuinn "erased it and did the vocals himself and fucked it up." Parsons remained as lead vocalist on the songs "You're Still on My Mind", "Life in Prison", and "Hickory Wind".

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gram_Parsons), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.