Representative Albums: "Kindling," "Birds of a Feather," "Kindling Collection"
Representative Songs: "Banjo Dog," "Do Not Disturb," "Monument"
Biography
Best known as the drummer during the Byrds' groundbreaking country-rock period, Gene Parsons later cut a few solo records that underlined his position as a country-rock pioneer. Parsons was born in Los Angeles on September 4, 1944, and grew up mostly in the Mojave Desert. He played bass and drums in the Castaways starting in 1963, and he and bandmate Gib Gilbeau subsequently teamed up as Cajun Gib & Gene, recording for several small labels. In 1968, they signed on with Nashville West, which featured inventive guitarist Clarence White, and played on the group's self-titled debut. Later that year, both Parsons and White joined the Byrds, debuting on Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde. Parsons stuck around until 1972, with high points including the albums The Ballad of Easy Rider and Untitled, and then left for a solo career. His debut album, Kindling, was released in 1973 on Warner Brothers and featured appearances by White, Ralph Stanley, and Vassar Clements, among others. The same year, Parsons reunited with Gilbeau and backed Arlo Guthrie and Elliott Murphy in the studio.
In 1974, Parsons took a break from his solo career to join another groundbreaking country-rock group, the Flying Burrito Brothers; he appeared on 1975's Flying Again and 1976's Airborne before a wrist injury forced him to take several years off of music. In 1980, he joined the Sierra label as both an artist and A&R executive and issued the album Melodies in early 1980; he subsequently performed with the Gene Parsons Trio, which also included bassist Peter Oliba and drummer Richie Rosenbaum. In 1985, he formed a performing partnership with singer/guitarist Meridian Green, the daughter of folksinger Bob Gibson. The two married in 1986 and formed an official band dubbed Parsons Green in 1991. Their Sierra debut, Birds of a Feather, was released in 1992. A couple of live albums were released on Parsons' own StringBender label in 2001. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
Gene Parsons was born on September 4, 1944 in Los Angeles, California and was raised on his family's farm in the Mojave Desert, California.[2] His professional musical career began when he joined up with guitarist and Fiddle player Gib Guilbeau in the duo Guilbeau & Parsons.[3] Later the duo was joined by Clarence White, former guitarist with the bluegrass band the Kentucky Colonels, and bassist Wayne Moore to form the band Nashville West, named after a club where the band often performed.[4]
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.[5] 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.[5]
His first solo album, Kindling, was released in 1973 on Warner Bros. Records, after the disbandment of The Byrds.[3] 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, along 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 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.[3]
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.[3] He also collaborated with Britishsinger-songwriter Julian Dawson in 2002, on the album Hillbilly Zen. Additionally, 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.
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.
