The Tragic Real-Life Story Of Gram Parsons

In 1968, the Byrds, with Gram Parsons in tow, hit England, and the musician met and became fast friends with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. "Like I know the blues, Gram Parsons knew country music — every nuance, every great country song that was ever written," Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards told Rolling Stone. "Also, he loved to get stoned. At the time that was an added plus." It was at the suggestion of the Stones that Parsons quit the Byrds — he didn't want to play in apartheid-ravaged South Africa. More or less homeless because of that decision, he moved in with Richards, and the two jammed around the clock. "He would also work very hard — harder than I ever did," Richards recalled. But, as they worked, the pair were ingesting copious amounts of intoxicating substances, particularly alcohol and for Parsons, opiates, which Richards says Parsons was well into before their friendship began. Parsons, it would seem, had inherited his parents' strongly addictive tendencies.

Personally, Richards says, Parsons and his bandmate Mick Jagger "never really clicked," but professionally, they did. His country influence (according to musical associate Pamela Des Barres) helped the Stones create the masterpiece "Wild Horses," and he accompanied the band when it decamped to France to record the 1971 album Exile on Main Street. According to The Fix, Parsons drug use got so out of hand — he was powerfully addicted to heroin by that point — that it made even the Rolling Stones uncomfortable. Gram Parsons was asked to leave the group's inner circle as a result.

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