On September 19, 1973, singer-songwriter Gram Parsons died from too much morphine and tequila in Room 8 of a motel room in California. It was not the end for Parsons, or at least his body, which then went on an odd journey.
Parsons’ Body
Before Parsons’s death, Parsons and his road manager Phil Kaufman made a pact. They agreed that for whichever one of them died first, the other would take the friend’s body to Joshua Tree National Park, where they would cremate the body.
So, after Parsons’s death, Kaufman and Michael Martin, a roadie, then stole the body and coffin. They took the coffin while it had been en route to a burial in Louisiana.
Kaufman and Martin then drove the body to Joshua Tree National Park. There, they poured gasoline on the coffin and set it on fire with a match.
But Gasoline is not enough to cremate a body, so some of Parsons’s body survived the burning. After Kaufman and Martin were arrested, the charred remains of Parsons were buried in New Orleans.
Because at the time stealing a body was not a crime in California, Kaufman and Martin were fined for stealing property: the coffin. Today, though, one may still pay respect to Parsons at Joshua Tree.
Grand Theft Parsons
The story of the body theft was told in the movie Grand Theft Parsons (2003), starring Johnny Knoxville. It has been awhile since I saw the film, but I remember being a bit disappointed by it.
The story’s focus on the few days seemed stretched out for a movie. And maybe I was disappointed that the movie did not tell us more about the most interesting person related to the story: Gram Parsons.
Rotten Tomatoes has a 44% critics rating and 53% audience rating for Grand Theft Parsons. But I suspect other fans, like me, will still want to see the film.
“Streets of Baltimore”
I do not know whether or not Parsons would be unhappy that his remains are in New Orleans. But one of his classic songs, “Streets of Baltimore,” is about a another journey and going some place you do not want to be.
In “Streets of Baltimore,” the singer recounts leaving Tennessee on the train for Baltimore because his love wants to live in the city. He gets a factory job and walks the streets with her. But he soon realizes she loves the city lights more than she loves him.
So in the end, the singer takes the train back to Tennessee alone: “Now I’m a going back on that same train that brought me here before / While my baby walks the streets of Baltimore.”
There is little video footage of Parsons, but check out this rare grainy recording of him singing with Emmylou Harris.
It is sad that there is so little video footage of Gram Parsons. Not only did he predate the music video era, but much of his fame came after his short life ended. So, he was never a regular on television.
Even in this grainy black and white video of “Streets of Baltimore,” you can still tell he is a superstar, though. And wherever his ashes and remains are, his music resides in our souls.
What is your favorite Gram Parsons song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
