Hickory Wind: The Life and Times of Gram Parsons
by Ben Fong-Torres
List Price:
Our Price: $10.35
You Save: $6.60 (39%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.96 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Ben Fong-TorresEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-09-15
ISBN: 0312194641
Number of pages: 264
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780312194642
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Hickory Wind: The Life and Times of Gram Parsons
Book Review: Eye-opening look at a musical legend obscured by time
Summary: 5 Stars
Before picking up "Hickory Wind", all I knew of Gram Parsons was that he died at the age of 26, was burned afterwords in a hasty cremation by his road manager, and that he'd spent time in the Byrds before going off to the Flying Burrito Brothers (who I'd never heard of) and his own solo recordings. As this book shows, there was so much more.
Ben Fong-Torres illuminates the early life of Parsons, including his troubled family's past, and discusses his music and its influence in the wake of his untimely demise. What it also does is make human a larger-than-life legend (as most are once their subject is passed on. Jim Morrison didn't become a "poet" until his death, really). Gram Parsons was a trust-fund kid with a world of problems, and little in the way of an ability to deal with them. Fong-Torres spares none of the grim details of his drug abuse and its effects on those around him.
Also covered are the mysteries surrounding his death. There are numerous theoris abounding, but Fong-Torres sumises that the most likely is also the dullest (a accidental overdose), but therefore the most tragic. By the end of the book, you understand what rock and country lost with his passing.
As someone who's just now getting into his music, I found "Hickory Wind" to be a great introduction to Gram Parsons, the musician and the man. It's impossible to know everything about our rock legends, but Ben Fong-Torres probably comes the closest to explaining Gram Parsons as I've seen any journalist do for their subject in a long time. Get this to learn about Gram Parsons; then pick up the FBB's first two albums so you understand what all the fuss is about.
Summary of Hickory Wind: The Life and Times of Gram Parsons
Gram Parons lived hard and died young, and left behind a musical legacy that has influenced generations of rock and country legends. Ben Fong-Torres's moving account of his story--from his poor-little-rich-kid childhood; through his seminal time with the Byrds and his own bands, the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Fallen Angels; to days and nights spent with the likes of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Emmylou Harris--is a classic of rock biography. This newly expanded edition updates the text and discograph, adds rare new photographs, and concludes with an intriguing epilogue that answers some lingering questions about Gram's untimely death--and raised a few more.
Music Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Music Books
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brainby Oliver Sacks
Knopf Publishing Group; Published: 2008; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.17
Listenby Joseph Kerman, Gary Tomlinson
Bedford/St. Martin's; Published: 2007-02-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.00
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Centuryby Alex Ross
Picador; Published: 2008-10-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.94
Price in other shops:
Forever Young: Photographs of Bob Dylanby Douglas R. Gilbert, Dave Marsh
Da Capo Press; Published: 2006-10-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.55
Price in other shops:
Heroes And Villains: The True Story Of The Beach Boysby Steven Gaines
Da Capo Press; Published: 1995-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.15
Price in other shops:
Handbook for Sound Engineers, Third Editionby Glen Ballou
Focal Press; Published: 2002-01-21; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
Jazz Anecdotesby Bill Crow
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1990-05-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $24.18
Lovesick Blues: The Life of Hank Williamsby Paul Hemphill
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2006-08-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
How to Train Singers/ Book and Tapeby Larra Browning Henderson
Parker; Published: 1991-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $29.95
Price in other shops:
I, Tina: My Life Story (icon!t)by Tina Turner, Kurt Loder
It Books; Published: 2010-06-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Flying Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons - Archives Vol. 1: Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969Release date: 2007-11-06; Music CD
Best price: $29.88
Gram Parsons - Sacred Hearts & Fallen Angels: AnthologyPARSONS,GRAM; Release date: 2001-05-01; Music CD
Best price: $63.97
Gram Parsons & The Fallen Angels - Live 1973PARSONS,GRAM/FALLEN ANGELS; Release date: 1997-03-04; Music CD
Best price: $7.28
Price in other shops:
Flying Burrito Brothers - Gilded Palace of Sin / Burrito DeluxeRelease date: 2004-08-09; Music CD
Best price: $8.06
Price in other shops:
Flying Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons - Sleepless NightsRelease date: 2006-06-20; Music CD
Best price: $4.08
Price in other shops:
Grievous Angel : An Intimate Biography of Gram Parsonsby Jessica Hundley
Da Capo Press; Published: 2005-10-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.20
Price in other shops:
Gram Parsons - GP / Grievous AngelPARSONS,GRAM; Release date: 1990-03-22; Music CD
Best price: $6.13
Price in other shops:
Hot Burritos: The True Story of The Flying Burrito Brothersby John Einarson
Jawbone Press; Jawbone Press; Published: 2008-11-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.62
Price in other shops:
Gram Parsons: Fallen AngelWEA HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2006-06-20; Published: 2011-01-28; DVD
Best price: $5.88
Price in other shops:
Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Musicby David Meyer
Villard; Published: 2008-09-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.70
Price in other shops: