Discovering a musical native son

Gram Parsons
never achieved
worldwide fame

By WILLIAM BYGRAVE
News Chief

Longtime resident and former mayor Carl Strang had to go all the way to London to learn about a famous musical native son of Winter Haven whose protege was Emmylou Harris.
"This started with me 10 or 15 years ago when my wife and I were traveling in London," Strang said. "We checked into the hotel and the bellhop asked where we came from. I said Winter Haven."
That meant something to the bellhop.
"'Oh, the home of Gram Parsons,"' the bellhop told Strang.
"And I scratched my head, wondering," Strang said.
For others who are also wondering, just look for the nearest country rock music. Or just talk to someone who's very much in time with the music scene. Parsons, who died from a drug overdose in 1973, still has a strong influence on that music.
But Parsons never cared much for the term country rock. He liked to call it "Cosmic American Music."
Emmylou Harris isn't the only big musical name associated with Parsons. He was also with The Byrds. After Parsons left the Byrds, he formed his own country rock band, The Flying Burrito Brothers. But that wasn't his only band, as before he joined the Byrds, Gram had his own International Submarine Band.
Also influenced by Parson's music were bands such as The Eagles, Poco, and others in the "outlaw" movement of the '70s such as Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash.
Parson's high-flying days crashed in a motel room in the California desert. There, after taking a lethal alcohol and drug combination, he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Having lived a life that raised a few eyebrows, Parsons may seem to be the antithesis to an upbringing in a typically conservative Central Florida town.
But Strang is enough of a Winter Haven booster to not let a native son go forever unnoticed.
"It seems to me this community somehow needs to preserve some memory of his time here," he said.
A bout of insomnia gave Strang the impetus to place e-mail transmissions to seek fans of Parsons from near and far.
He said, "I'm trying to build a fire under our town to organize our memories of Grain. There are many of his relatives and contemporaries still around the town."
For Strang, it could be a collection of some type, or possibly an annual music festival. He's looking for some entity with a passion and the expertise to take the reins.
"The Parsons project could be a real undertaking for the chamber of commerce, for Historic Winter Haven, for Polk Community College, for Friends of the Library, or for a service club, historical society or study group. It's a job that needs doing," he wrote.
Strang is pleased with the e-mail responses he's fielded so far.
Eric, a respondent from Bakersfield, Calif., wrote that "I had
"Always wanted to come to Winter Haven and see what I could find on him. Gram's influence is stronger now than ever before. I hear his vision of merging country and modern rock 'n' roll coming alive in today's top 40 "hits. ...People love things that are real and honest and Gram's music is that. There is no reason for there not to be somehwhere for his large following of fans to go see and learn more about the man any longer. ...I
hope when I come to Winter Haven, I find what I am looking for."
Continuing on the grass roots level, others think a Gram Parsons event would be very much order in Winter Haven.
One such endorsement comes from Gavin Conner of Stafford
County, Va.
"I just wanted to let you know that this memorial will not only be a well-deserved tribute, but as a great attraction to Winter Haven. I have no doubt that fans from across the world would love the opportunity to
visit the home of Gram Parsons."
Winter Haven attorney Kerry WiIson has had e-mail discussions with Strang about a festival.
He calls Strang "a creative He calls and believes he can help pull something off.
"I think it would be great. It's interesting how and what form that would take. But Gram Parsons comes with a lot of luggage. I think a music festival would be great."

GILDED PLACE OF TIN

Mark Holland, whom some call Parsons' biggest fan, agrees.
Referring to Strang's idea, he said, "It's nice that people in Winter Haven have intelligence enough to know that someone very important was born there."
Of course, that importance isn't lost on Holland, who runs
Gram's Place, a musically themed bed and breakfast in a Tampa neighborhood, that Holland describes as "Bohemian." He says he has the world's biggest collection of Parsons memorabilia.
Gram's Place is a must-see on the Parsons trail. It consists of two small houses at a shady corner of Ola and Plymouth streets. The houses are connected by brick walks, patios, waterfalls, an outdoor Jacuzzi and plenty of greenery.
A sign above the gate says "Mitakuye Oyasin," which is American Indian for "We're all related." It doesn't matter which tribe's language it is, but it comes from "all tribes," Holland explained.
In much more plain English, the house rules are: "To have good quality fun. To continue to have good quality fun. To make sure we continue to have good quality fun until Daddy takes the T-Bird away."
There's a strong ambience that reminds those who are old enough to remember the '60s mood in California. And it's perfect for recalling the era of Gram Parsons.
Holland will be more than happy to show a pair of pants that Mick Jagger gave to Parsons. There's also a key chain from the Joshua Tree Inn. It's for Room No. 8, where Parsons met his end. Look on a desk top in the living room and you may see a map of the Joshua Tree Monument area in California that Parsons called home.
There's also a plaque that shows when Parsons was inducted into the Walkway of Stars at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.
After eight years developing as a bed and breakfast, Gram's Place features six guest rooms - each done in a different musical theme, such as country, rock and roll, jazz, folk and blues.
There is a room especially for Gram Parsons. It's on "Gram Street," a brick walkway that honors Holland's fascination with Amsterdam. But this isn't a room as much as it is a tiny tin house that's serviced by an outdoor shower and toilet.
Holland calls it the Gilded Palace of Tin, a takeoff on the Flying Burrito Bros. "Gilded ,Palace of Sin" album. The little room is also called the 31st Floor, a phrase that comes from the song in the same album that's about Las Vegas.
The room is about 7 by 12 feet. There's a framed collection of Gram Parsons CD covers and tapes of his music for guests to play. Visitors are greeted with a poster from Gram Fest '96, which happened at the Hi-Desert Playhouse in California.
There's only enough space in the room for a big couch that faces a sink and vanity of smooth, unfinished wood. The bed is in a loft and is reached by a ladder that can fold against the wall.
As Holland pondered all of his Parsons memorabilia in Tampa, he added, "To me, it's only appropriate Winter Haven should hive some sort of a monument - at least to acknowledge the fact he was born there. "
Holland is quick to remind one that Parsons grew up in Waycross, Ga., "but came back to Winter Haven at age 13."
Holland said, "The world looks at A Gram Parsons very differently from Americans. People from all over the world know that Gram Parsons is a musician's musician. He is not a household name, but who knows?"
Holding up a CD album, "Return of the Grievous Angel," which is a newly released tribute album for Parsons, Holland said a change may be on the way.
"The new album may shoot him into a new position," he said. "This man has influenced a hell of a lot of people in a lot of corners of the world."
And to Holland, Parsons had real music. Calling today's country music "formulated, fashioned pop music," or "new stuff that has no emotion," Parsons's music is on a much higher plane, he said.
"In music nowadays, it's so much lacking in real, true emotions. Gram's music is very emotional, pure. As for the music nowadays, I call it 'surface music,' as there's not that much depth in it," he explained.
Ask Holland if he has a favorite Parsons tune, and you'll find he doesn't.
"Any song" from Parsons is his favorite. "Gram has got such a distinctive style."
Local country musician Joey Foley describes himself as being "influenced by those who were influenced by him."
To Foley, the music that Parsons recorded in the '70s, "you could still feel strong Southern roots. Even though it was rock and roll, it still had a flair of bluegrass. You can feel the Southern roots in it. And that's where it all comes from."
Carl Chambers, a songwriter who lives in Winter Haven, and his wife, Nancy, also want recognition for Parsons, who grew up on Piedmont Avenue, near their house.
"I've always been tickled he's from here," Carl Chambers said.
As for having Winter Haven recognized for its connection with Gram Parsons, "I don 't see why not," he said.
Both Carl and Nancy would like to see a festival or maybe a song-writing contest judged by people who knew Parsons.
"I'd like to hear local talent, or people who knew and worked with him," Chambers added. "It would be cool if we can get Jim Stafford to come back here and be a part of it."
He was referring to another native son who now calls Branson, Mo., his home.

A REASON TO PARTY

A festival probably wouldn't take off like wildfire in the beginning, Chambers warned.
"I'm not saying it would have to be a huge success right off the bat. It takes two or three years to build up a reputation. It would be interesting and fun to be a part of," he added.
He wasn't really close to Parsons, as he went to school in Auburndale and Parsons attended high school in Winter Haven.
"We sat around in the bedroom and picked, but I liked Gram fine," he recalled. "Gram was a rich kid and you knew it. I never knew him that well. My cousin, played in a band with him for a couple of years."
That may have seemed like a casual relationship but Chambers credits Parsons with "being one of the major influences in me deciding to write songs. I'm sitting here saying, 'If Gram can do that ......'"
Simply put, "I like the way Gram wrote," Chambers said, "He wrote a very simple song. In the country genre, it told a story simply. He was a rock 'n' roller but he was doing country music. He did simple things that were really neat. He wasn't a great singer but he just had a way with a song."
As Nancy Chambers sees it, "People want to hear what the artist heard when they decided to write that song."
She said people talk about how country music lost its country roots, adding "they think Gram destroyed country music because he introduced rock. When you listen to the body of his work, he was great. It was a raw talent."
As far as Carl Chambers is concerned, "Country music is not in bad shape. It's branched out."
Biographies about Parsons say that once he left Winter Haven and went to California he never came back East to live.
"He died before he had a chance to turn his back on Winter Haven," Nancy said. "You find yourself wondering what he would have been in another 10 years. But it's all a philosophical discussion. There's no way to tell."