Gene Parsons
Encyclopedia
Gene Victor Parsons is an American drummer
, banjo
player, guitar
ist, singer-songwriter
, and innovative engineer
, best known for his work with The Byrds
from 1968 to 1972. Parsons has also released solo albums and played in bands including Nashville West
, The Flying Burrito Brothers
, and Parsons Green. Parsons is credited with inventing the B-Bender
(also known as the StringBender) along with Clarence White
and the device is often referred to as the Parsons/White B-Bender, a trademarked name.
in the Mojave Desert
, California. His professional musical career began when he joined up with guitarist and Fiddle
player Gib Guilbeau
in the duo Guilbeau & Parsons. Later the duo was joined by Clarence White, former guitarist with the Kentucky Colonels
, and bassist Wayne Moore to form the band Nashville West
, named after a club where the band often performed.
After the dissolution of Nashville West, Parsons was brought in to The Byrds by his friend Clarence White, who had recently become the band's guitarist
, to replace previous drummer Kevin Kelley
. Parsons remained with the band for four years, principally as a drummer but he also contributed guitar, banjo, harmonica and a number of his own songs to the albums Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde
, Ballad of Easy Rider, (Untitled), Byrdmaniax
and Farther Along.
His first solo album, Kindling
, was released in 1973 on Warner Bros. Records
, after the disbandment of The Byrds. Although Kindling received positive reviews in music publications such as Rolling Stone
, it failed to reach the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes
chart. Following this, Parsons joined The Flying Burrito Brothers, like other ex-Byrds Chris Hillman
, Gram Parsons
and Michael Clarke
had done before him. While he was a member of The Flying Burrito Brothers with Sneaky Pete Kleinow
, Chris Ethridge
, Skip Battin
, Joel Scott Hill and Gib Gilbeau, Parsons contributed a number of songs to the band's Flying Again
and Airborne albums, including "Wind and Rain", "Sweet Desert Childhood" and "Out of Control".
After his tenure with The Flying Burrito Brothers ended in 1978, Parsons released a second solo album in 1979 entitled Melodies. Since the mid-1980s, he has also released two albums with his wife, California based folk musician Meridian Green
, under the moniker of Parsons Green. A third solo album, this time a live recording, entitled In Concert - I Hope They'll Let Us In was released by Parsons in 2001 on his own Stringbender record label.
As well as his work with Nashville West, The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, Parsons has also played on records by Arlo Guthrie
, The Everly Brothers
, Randy Newman
, The Gosdin Brothers
, and Elliott Murphy
. During 1994, he was a member of The Byrds Celebration, a tribute band formed by guitarist Terry Rogers that had originated with former Byrds' drummer Michael Clarke
, who had died in 1993, and which also included fellow ex-Byrd Skip Battin. Parsons was also part of the band Haywire (not to be confused with the Canadian band of the same name), along with Joe Craven
, Bill Douglass
and Will Siegel, and features on the band's 1998 album, Bluegrass Christmas. In 2002, Parsons collaborated with British singer-songwriter Julian Dawson, on the album Hillbilly Zen.
Gene Parsons currently lives in Caspar
, California, spending much of his time running his StringBender company and customizing guitars with his B-Bender device in his machine shop
.
Parsons is not to be confused with another former Byrd, Gram Parsons
, to whom he is not related.
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
player, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist, singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, and innovative engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
, best known for his work with The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
from 1968 to 1972. Parsons has also released solo albums and played in bands including Nashville West
Nashville West
As a session band, Nashville West recorded prolifically, though never under the Nashville West name, backing other artists on Gary S. Paxton's record label. However, in 1976, an album under the name Nashville West was eventually released on the Sierra Records label...
, The Flying Burrito Brothers
The Flying Burrito Brothers
The Flying Burrito Brothers was an early country rock band, best known for its influential debut album,The Gilded Palace of Sin . Although the group is most often mentioned in connection with country rock legends Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, the group underwent many personnel changes.-Original...
, and Parsons Green. Parsons is credited with inventing the B-Bender
B-Bender
B-Bender is a guitar accessory that enables a player to mechanically bend the B-string up a whole tone to C-sharp. There are several different designs, but all use levers or pulleys inside or outside the guitar body that are activated by a pull or push of the guitar neck, body, or bridge...
(also known as the StringBender) along with Clarence White
Clarence White
Clarence White was a guitar player for Nashville West, The Byrds, Muleskinner, and the Kentucky Colonels. His parents were Acadians from New Brunswick, Canada...
and the device is often referred to as the Parsons/White B-Bender, a trademarked name.
History
Gene Parsons was born on September 4, 1944 on his family's farm in Morongo ValleyMorongo Valley, California
Morongo Valley is a census-designated place in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 3,552 at the 2010 census, up from 1,929 at the 2000 census.-Geography and climate:...
in the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
, California. His professional musical career began when he joined up with guitarist and Fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
player Gib Guilbeau
Gib Guilbeau
Floyd August "Gib" Guilbeau is an American country-rock musician and songwriter. As a member of Nashville West, Swampwater, and the Flying Burrito Brothers, Guilbeau helped pioneer the fusion of rock and country music in the 1960s....
in the duo Guilbeau & Parsons. Later the duo was joined by Clarence White, former guitarist with the Kentucky Colonels
Kentucky Colonels (band)
The Kentucky Colonels was a popular bluegrass band in the 1960s. They included Clarence White, later with The Byrds.-History:The White brothers started out as the Country Boys in 1954, with their brother Eric. With the addition of Latham, Mack and Sloane, and Roger Bush replacing Eric, they changed...
, and bassist Wayne Moore to form the band Nashville West
Nashville West
As a session band, Nashville West recorded prolifically, though never under the Nashville West name, backing other artists on Gary S. Paxton's record label. However, in 1976, an album under the name Nashville West was eventually released on the Sierra Records label...
, named after a club where the band often performed.
After the dissolution of Nashville West, Parsons was brought in to The Byrds by his friend Clarence White, who had recently become the band's guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, to replace previous drummer Kevin Kelley
Kevin Kelley (musician)
Kevin Daniel Kelley was an American drummer, best known for his work with the rock bands The Byrds and the Rising Sons. Kelley also played drums for Fever Tree, although it is unknown whether he was an official member of the group or not...
. Parsons remained with the band for four years, principally as a drummer but he also contributed guitar, banjo, harmonica and a number of his own songs to the albums Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde
Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde
Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde is the seventh album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in March 1969 on Columbia Records . The album saw the band juxtaposing simple country rock material with harder-edged psychedelia, giving the album a stylistic split-personality that was alluded to in...
, Ballad of Easy Rider, (Untitled), Byrdmaniax
Byrdmaniax
Byrdmaniax is the tenth album by the American rock band The Byrds. It was released in June 1971 on Columbia Records at a time of renewed commercial and critical success for the band, due to the positive reception that their two previous albums, Ballad of Easy Rider and , had received...
and Farther Along.
His first solo album, Kindling
Kindling (album)
Kindling is the debut solo album by Country rock musician Gene Parsons recorded in 1973. Guest musicians on this album include former Byrds bandmate Clarence White, plus Vassar Clements, Ralph Stanley, Bill Payne, and Gib Guilbeau.-Track listing:...
, was released in 1973 on Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, after the disbandment of The Byrds. Although Kindling received positive reviews in music publications such as Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, it failed to reach the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart. Following this, Parsons joined The Flying Burrito Brothers, like other ex-Byrds Chris Hillman
Chris Hillman
Christopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
, Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...
and Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke (musician)
Michael Clarke , was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the 1960s rock group The Byrds from 1964 to 1967. He died in 1993, at age 47, from liver failure, a direct result of more than three decades of heavy alcohol consumption.-Biography:Clarke was born Michael James Dick in...
had done before him. While he was a member of The Flying Burrito Brothers with Sneaky Pete Kleinow
Sneaky Pete Kleinow
Peter E. "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow was an American country-rock musician, songwriter, and a motion picture special effects artist...
, Chris Ethridge
Chris Ethridge
Chris Ethridge is an American country rock bass guitarist. He was a member of the International Submarine Band and The Flying Burrito Brothers, and co-wrote several songs with Gram Parsons.-Career:...
, Skip Battin
Skip Battin
Clyde "Skip" Battin was an American singer–songwriter, performer and recording artist. He is best remembered as a member of The Byrds, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, and the Flying Burrito Brothers...
, Joel Scott Hill and Gib Gilbeau, Parsons contributed a number of songs to the band's Flying Again
Flying Again
Flying Again is an album by the country rock group The Flying Burrito Brothers, released in 1975.After Gram Parsons' death in 1973, posthumous interest in his music grew. This interest caused the band's original label, A&M Records, to release the compilation album Close Up the Honky Tonks...
and Airborne albums, including "Wind and Rain", "Sweet Desert Childhood" and "Out of Control".
After his tenure with The Flying Burrito Brothers ended in 1978, Parsons released a second solo album in 1979 entitled Melodies. Since the mid-1980s, he has also released two albums with his wife, California based folk musician Meridian Green
Meridian Green
Meridan Green is a California-based folk musician, and one half of Parsons Green, a collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Gene Parsons, former drummer with The Byrds.-History:...
, under the moniker of Parsons Green. A third solo album, this time a live recording, entitled In Concert - I Hope They'll Let Us In was released by Parsons in 2001 on his own Stringbender record label.
As well as his work with Nashville West, The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, Parsons has also played on records by Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Davy Guthrie is an American folk singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice...
, The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
, Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
, The Gosdin Brothers
Vern Gosdin
Vern Gosdin was an American country music singer. He idolized The Louvin Brothers and The Blue Sky Boys as a young man and sang in a gospel quartet called The Gosdin Brothers. An inheritor of the soulful honky tonk style of Lefty Frizzell and Merle Haggard, Gosdin was nicknamed "The Voice" by his...
, and Elliott Murphy
Elliott Murphy
Elliott James Murphy is an American rock singer-songwriter, novelist, producer and journalist living in Paris.-Biography:Elliott James Murphy, Jr. was born in Rockville Centre, New York to a show business family...
. During 1994, he was a member of The Byrds Celebration, a tribute band formed by guitarist Terry Rogers that had originated with former Byrds' drummer Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke (musician)
Michael Clarke , was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the 1960s rock group The Byrds from 1964 to 1967. He died in 1993, at age 47, from liver failure, a direct result of more than three decades of heavy alcohol consumption.-Biography:Clarke was born Michael James Dick in...
, who had died in 1993, and which also included fellow ex-Byrd Skip Battin. Parsons was also part of the band Haywire (not to be confused with the Canadian band of the same name), along with Joe Craven
Joe Craven
Joe Craven is a Freestyle folk, world and roots music multi-instrumentalist, singer and award winning educator. Joe is the Director of RiverTunes Music Camp and a Co-Director of the Wintergrass Youth Academy...
, Bill Douglass
Bill Douglass
William "Bill" Douglass was an American jazz drummer born in Sherman, Texas. Douglass relocated to Los Angeles when he was six months old, becoming in his adulthood a popular LA musician who worked shows and sessions with some of swing's top performers...
and Will Siegel, and features on the band's 1998 album, Bluegrass Christmas. In 2002, Parsons collaborated with British singer-songwriter Julian Dawson, on the album Hillbilly Zen.
Gene Parsons currently lives in Caspar
Caspar, California
Caspar is a census-designated place in Mendocino County, California. It is located north of Mendocino, at an elevation of 82 feet . Caspar is located on the Pacific Ocean. In the Caspar area is the historic Point Cabrillo Light Station, which was built in 1909...
, California, spending much of his time running his StringBender company and customizing guitars with his B-Bender device in his machine shop
Machining
Conventional machining is a form of subtractive manufacturing, in which a collection of material-working processes utilizing power-driven machine tools, such as saws, lathes, milling machines, and drill presses, are used with a sharp cutting tool to physical remove material to achieve a desired...
.
Parsons is not to be confused with another former Byrd, Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...
, to whom he is not related.
The Byrds
- Dr. Byrds & Mr. HydeDr. Byrds & Mr. HydeDr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde is the seventh album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in March 1969 on Columbia Records . The album saw the band juxtaposing simple country rock material with harder-edged psychedelia, giving the album a stylistic split-personality that was alluded to in...
(1969) - Ballad of Easy Rider (1969)
- (Untitled) (1970)
- ByrdmaniaxByrdmaniaxByrdmaniax is the tenth album by the American rock band The Byrds. It was released in June 1971 on Columbia Records at a time of renewed commercial and critical success for the band, due to the positive reception that their two previous albums, Ballad of Easy Rider and , had received...
(1971) - Farther Along (1971)
- Live at the Fillmore – February 1969 (2000)
Gene Parsons
- KindlingKindling (album)Kindling is the debut solo album by Country rock musician Gene Parsons recorded in 1973. Guest musicians on this album include former Byrds bandmate Clarence White, plus Vassar Clements, Ralph Stanley, Bill Payne, and Gib Guilbeau.-Track listing:...
(1973) - Melodies (1979)
- In Concert - I Hope They'll Let Us In (2001)
The Flying Burrito Brothers
- Flying AgainFlying AgainFlying Again is an album by the country rock group The Flying Burrito Brothers, released in 1975.After Gram Parsons' death in 1973, posthumous interest in his music grew. This interest caused the band's original label, A&M Records, to release the compilation album Close Up the Honky Tonks...
(1975) - Airborne (1976)