Folsom Prison Blues (feat. Rick Grech)

When Gram Parsons died at 26, he left behind very few recordings. Fans of country-rock’s godfather have been hunting his obscure recordings ever since. This collection was originally released under the name Cosmic American Music in 1995. The demos here were captured on tape recorder by bandmate Rick Grech in hotel rooms, living rooms, and kitchens throughout 1972. For the Parsons partisan, it gives great insight to the man’s songwriting and rehearsal process, starting with an acoustic cover of the Johnny Cash–penned title track. The following “Ain't No Beatle, Ain't No Rollin' Stone” is the real gem here. Over what sounds like a gritty, front-porch, acoustic Americana jam, Parsons sings, ”I ain’t no Beatle/Ain’t no Rolling Stone/The southland is my country/Waycross, Georgia is my home.” Not since “Hickory Wind” had Parsons mused on his roots this hard, and you can’t help but wonder if and how this song would have been fleshed out had he stayed alive. Parsons' close harmonies with Emmylou Harris in “A Song for You (Version 2)” exude a gripping emotional tension.