›› MUSiC
Gilded palace of Gram Parsons progeny pay tribute to the late Byrd at Great American Music Hall by G r e g Cahill
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isten to the contagious retro sound of 9th Annual Sleepless Nights: Gram Parsons the Parties’ “Cryin’ Shame,” the title Tribute Concert, a salute to the gifted late track from their new EP, evoking the Byrds singer and songwriter who OD’d in ebullient joy of Shindig-era pop bands, a 1973 in a Joshua Tree motel room. tinge of Byrds-style folk-rock guitar and That San Francisco concert, co-hosted by driving Stones-like harmonica, all steeped in Shea and Molly Tuttle, will bring together a the neo-psych of Dream diverse lineup of retroSyndicate. rock, neo-psych, country Try not to be moved. and Americana acts that COMING SOON Go on, just try... include the Parties, Red The 9th Annual Sleepless “We share a common Meat, the Stone Foxes, Elisa Nights: Gram Parsons love of ’60s music, the really Randazzo, Sweet Chariot, Tribute Concert will be held great pop songs,” says singthe Real Sippin’ Whiskeys Friday, Jan. 15, at 8 pm, at the er, songwriter and guitarist and Paula Frazer. Great American Music Hall, Jeremy Powers, explainIt was Shea who first 859 O’Farrell St., San Francisco. ing the Parties’ affinity for introduced Powers, then $13. 415/885-0750. mod style, retro guitars and a college classmate, to Byrds-era jangle-pop. “I’ve Parsons’ music. “When I played before in a lot of first heard Parsons, I was louder bands, playing Brit pop and the power- just getting into the whole Americana thing,” pop things, inspired by Cheap Trick and bands says Powers, an Alameda resident who works like that, but I wanted to do something that is at a Corte Madera TV production company. more pure—original ’60s music.” “The Black Crowes were going strong and I The band shares that fondness for retro was into the Stones’ Let It Bleed. rock with Eric Shea, ex-singer of the SF“Parsons fit right into that.” based bands Parchman Farm and Mover. Powers played at one of Shea’s early Shea also is the organizer of the upcoming Parsons tributes when it was still held at
After Parsons OD’d in 1973, his body was stolen as part of a bizarre plot by friends who wanted to cremate and scatter his ashes at Joshua Tree National Monument.
Slim’s nightclub. Recently, he contacted Shea to let him know that his new band might fit the bill. “We’re right in sync with the Byrds’ Notorious Byrd Brothers stuff,” Powers says. “I thought it would be fun to play some of the tunes we have that are on the outlying edge of country.” At the Parsons tribute, the Parties will perform “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere,” the Basement Tapes-era Dylan song that Parsons and the Byrds recorded on the seminal 1968 country-rock album Sweetheart of the Rodeo, as well as the soul-classic “Dark End of the
The Parties will be sweethearts of the rodeo this weekend at the Parsons tribute.
Street” (covered by Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers) and Parsons’ obscure “Blue Eyes” (originally recorded by the early Parsons outfit the Submarine Band). Why does Parsons still inspire young devotees four decades after his tragic death? “It’s just great music,” Powers says. “Great music is great music whether it’s rock ‘n’ roll, hip-hop or country. A great tune is a great tune. In Gram Parsons’ case, you also have the mystique surrounding his tragic death. “It’s a great story and beautiful music.” ✹ Hum a few bars for Greg at gcahill51@gmail.com. Lay down a beat of your own on TownSquare, at
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›› SPiN OF THE WEEK One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Music from Kerouac’s Big Sur (Atlantic) Jay Farrar and Benjamin Gibbard Jay Farrar of Son Volt and Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie team up on this evocative score for a new film based on Beat writer Jack Kerouac’s stay at the Big Sur artists’ community and the novel that came of it.The alt-country songs on the album sound like a lost Son Volt recording, good news for those Son Volt fans who were unimpressed by the band’s recent tepid CD American Central Dust.—GC 24 PACIFIC SUN JANUARY 15 – JANUARY 21, 2010