Trick's Goes Retro, again.: 602 An Audiobiographical Countdown... Gram Parsons

This week the Ultimate Classic Rock published the 10 best songs by GP...as I alluded to earlier this week, list making is a dangerous job.

Gram Parsons didn't grow up living the hardscrabble life of most country singers. The man originally named Cecil Ingram Connor III was born into a wealthy Florida citrus family and spent a semester at Harvard before dropping out to concentrate on his burgeoning interest in country music. After stints in the Shilos and the International Submarine Band, he joined the Byrds in 1968 for a five-month spell that resulted in the landmark 'Sweetheart of the Rodeo' album. He then formed the Flying Burrito Brothers, recording two albums with them before being fired in 1970 due to his increasing drug habit. As a solo act, Parsons released 'GP' in 1973, which featured three members from Elvis Presley's TCB band and a beautiful young folk singer with a voice to match, Emmylou Harris. A second album, 'Grievous Angel' was released in 1974, four months after his death on Sept. 19, 1973, at age 26 at Joshua Tree National Monument from an overdose of morphine and alcohol.

Although his recording career lasted only five years, Parsons still made a tremendous impact, creating what he famously called "cosmic American music," a fusion of country, rock and soul. His influence wasn't just felt in the '70s country-rock movement that produced the Eagles and Poco, but in great modern acts like Wilco, the Jayhawks and Jason Isbell. Our list of the Top 10 Gram Parsons Songs brings together his best moments from his time in the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers, and the two solo albums.