A Tribute to Gram Parsons

Fifty-three years after singer-songwriter Gram Parsons passed away, his name will finally be etched into music immortality thanks to a sustained effort of fellow musicians spearheaded by his daughter, Polly Parsons.

On November 14, Gram Parsons will join 17 others for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in a Los Angeles ceremony. Three days before that is a sold-out celebration — “A Song for Gram Parsons” — co-produced by Polly at the Troubadour in L.A., featuring Emmylou Harris and Elvis Costello (who both helped advocate for Parsons’s induction, along with Steve Earle, Jim James, and Gram’s dear friend Keith Richards), The Black Crowes, and The Head and the Heart, among others. 

“I think this induction solidifies his place in rock history,” said Polly in a phone interview. “It just amplifies his contribution and honors his pioneering spirit and his intention to blend thoughts and genres in music.”

Honored in the “Early Influence” category, Parsons combined country, gospel, soul, rhythm and blues, folk, and rock to create a unique “Cosmic American” sound that he introduced to the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers, while also inspiring the Rolling Stones and generations of artists who followed. His two solo albums also launched the Country Hall of Fame (2008) career of his duet partner Emmylou Harris. 

“I loved those records, those songs. He could really write, you know, and he could keep his melodies [at a] super high quality, with, you know, country music, mixing it up with rock, R&B all of that … to make him an authentic voice that influenced the Stones,” said Earle via video call. “There is no way to have a more profound effect on rock and roll in any way shape or form. … If you can influence the Stones the way he did, that’s deserving of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame all by itself.”

While in a brief relationship with musician David Crosby, a pal from her Santa Barbara High days, Polly’s mother, Nancy, met and fell deeply in love with Gram. Together for just more than a year, the couple was engaged, but the singer’s struggles with the trappings of the rock and roll lifestyle of the times proved to be too much for the relationship to survive, despite Polly’s birth in 1967. 

After the breakup, mother and daughter moved to Santa Barbara to live with Nancy’s parents William “Bill” Marthai, a former test pilot for the Royal Air Force and harbormaster of Santa Barbara, and his wife Nathalee “Lee” Marthai. Gram Parsons would occasionally visit, and Polly remembers him as an attentive, loving father. 

After Gram’s accidental overdose death from a combination of drugs and alcohol in Joshua Tree on September 19, 1973, Nancy struggled while moving the pair among communal living situations around the country. At 12, Polly moved back to Santa Barbara and lived a period of stability where she studied dance and graduated from Dos Pueblos High in 1986, before moving to Los Angeles to work first as a surgical nurse then in the entertainment industry.

Polly took over her father’s creative rights in 1995 and preserved his legacy in myriad ways, starting with creating the Gram Parsons Foundation, which provides addiction and recovery services for people in the music and artistic community. She also released albums such as The Last Roundup: Live from the Bijou Café (Amoeba Music 2023), and produced tribute concerts — including one in 2004, when Moss Jacobs booked Return to Sin City: A Tribute to Gram Parsons at the Santa Barbara Bowl, featuring his best buddy Richards, Earle, James, Dwight Yoakam, Norah Jones, and Lucinda Williams, among others in a two-day event that also played at the Universal Amphitheatre.

“I knew one of the nights had to be at the Bowl, that was where I saw my first concert, my home field,” said Polly. “That show took two years to plan, all that talent coming in from all over the world, the logistics, trying to get everyone’s needs met … it was an extraordinary show of amazing synchronicity, natural collaborations that were all put together by people who were dedicated to and full of love for Gram.”

In the ensuing years, the continued effort of concerts, letter writing, and rallying made Parsons’s induction a reality in a month that would have marked the singer’s 80th birthday — making one wonder what Polly’s father would have made of all this fuss. 

“I would imagine he would be very touched at all the hard work and dedication many people on his team put forward day in and day out to honor him, his music, and his legacy,” Polly said. “It takes a special village. Right now, I’m feeling very grateful and looking forward to sharing this moment with everyone that loves my father.” 

As we finished our conversation, one question remained. Did she feel that everything she’s done over the years brought her closer to her father? “I do, in more ways than you would expect.”