Movie/DVD Review

Gram Parsons’ creative peak was just on the horizon when he overdosed in a Joshua Tree motel room in 1973 at the tender age of 26. His voice described by friend Keith Richards was a "high and lonesome, sort of melancholy and a sort of beautiful pain" that connected George Jones to the Rolling Stones.

Aside from whatever internal demons Parsons battled through substance abuse, it’s his contribution to "country rock" that he’ll be most remembered for, aside from his marijuana leaf adorned white Nudie suit. From his landmark country contributions to The Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo to his work with the Flying Burito Brothers and his two heralded solo releases, GP and Grievous Angel, it was Parson’s groundbreaking country rock that inspired bands like The Eagles and New Riders of the Purple Sage and later the term "alt-country."

Gram Parsons Fallen Angel, through a serious of archived film clips and interviews, traces Parsons life from his privileged upbringing in Florida to his musical adventures stretching across the American frontier. Featuring interviews with his family members and former band-mates, Fallen Angel revisits Parsons past with revealing interviews from Chris Hillman, Keith Richards and Emmylou Harris.

However, it’s the story of Parsons’ corpse, stolen by his former road manager, Phil Kaufman, and cremated in Joshua Tree, that astonished the world and remains immortalized in rock music lore, which is given a vivid revisit. Fallen Angel Gram Parsons provides a grand biography and insight into the man who boldly placed the "rock" next to "country" and created some of the most achingly beautiful music of our time.

For more information about the video, please visit the Rhino Store .