IVIV page 133

[Joe Allonby]

Don't get me started on the enormous influence of the Waycross
Wayfarer aka God's Own Singer. I can cure an Eagle's fan of his
unfortunate affliction in one hour with a copy of "Sacred Hearts and
Fallen Angels".

On Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 12:31 PM, Robin Landseadel
<robinlandseadel at comcast.net> wrote:
> The Boards/Byrds/Beach Boys—by 1970 both [real, more or less] bands had to
> mutate into something more 'commercial.' By 1970 the most Paranoid of the
> Byrds is the only one left—romantic, wistful Gene Clark, terrified of travel
> by air, dissipated, Slothrop like, into an incoherent, untrackable haze. In
> the end the author of "You Won't Have to Cry"  fell off the map entirely via
> alcohol poisoning. David Crosby's ego bloat got him shoved out of the Byrds
> into CSN & sometimes Y and bigger, better and more paranoid things like
> "Almost Cut My Hair." Chris Hillman & Michael Clarke hooked up with
> ill-fated Gram Parsons forming the the second Flying Burrito Brothers in the
> process.
>
>        I was walking down the street the other day
>        and a sight came before my eyes
>        it was a little hippie boy, I must have been twice his size
>        his appearance typified his strange breed
>        gaudy clothes, long stringy hair hanging down
>        I'd seen perhaps a thousand in my early trips to town
>        as he walked beside me on down the block
>        I noticed no unpleasing smell
>        he might have been on the weed or even LSD
>        but if he was I couldn't tell
>        so we walked together that way through this neighborhood
>        finally he turned around to me
>        and he said friend, you know we're a million miles apart
>        but you know something we can enjoy the sunshine and the weather
>        so why don't we put our differences aside
>        and just talk to each other
>        you see this box beneath my arm
>        to you it's plain, it has no charm
>        but to someone dearest to my heart this box has played a tragic part
>        this little one can't tell you himself about his life and how he died
>        but if anyone else could speak for him I guess I'm qualified
>        this boy was in Chicago, he didn't know why he was there
>        he was with his family and friends and he didn't really care
>        you might have been one of those
>        who saw the struggle there on your television screen
>        the tragic thing is so much else happened
>        that no one else could have seen
>        a stranger handed this boy a dollar to do a simple chore
>        to carry a package to a nearby hotel
>        and when he returned he'd get two more
>        but when he came back he sort of lost his way walking thru the crowd
>        one of them things you ask yourself, how the Lord allowed
>        but when he was found he was like he is now
>        dreaming sweet and still
>        and in his little hand was a crumpled dollar bill
>        now you can take that dollar
>        get four cents on it compound it quarterly at any downtown bank
>        so they can back some hot new tank or atom bomb
>        well, what I'm going to tell you now, you can stay or you can leave
>        you kind of listened to my story so far but just one more thing
>        it's the same for any hippie, bum or hillbilly out on the street
>        just remember this little boy and never carry more than you can eat
>        now could you help us sing this song, please
>        there will be peace in the valley for him now we pray
>        I will think of the little hippie boy that way
>
> It all ended for Gram Parsons on September 19, 1973:
>
>        The press were told that Parsons had died of natural causes,
>        but after performing an autopsy, the coroner listed the cause of
>        death as "drug toxicity, days, due to multiple drug use, weeks."*
>        A blood test showed a blood alcohol level of 0.21% -- high, but
>        nowhere near fatal standing alone. No morphine showed in the
>        blood test, though it did turn up in more than trace amounts in
>        urine and liver tests. The urinalysis also revealed traces of
>        cocaine and barbiturates. Since substances may accumulate in
>        the body over a long time, it's unclear from the urine and liver
>        tests whether Parsons used morphine, cocaine or barbiturates
>        that day.
>
> http://ebni.com/byrds/memgrp6.html
>
> In the end all that's left is Roger McGuinn, still insisting on flying eight
> miles high, still strung out on the Apollonian Dream, still an evangelist of
> the future life we'll all share in outer space.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKhI09XO5R0&feature=related
>
> Meanwhile, back on the beach, Brian Wilson pretty much goes around the bend
> and the touring group becomes a loose aggregate of original members and
> studio hot-shots. Anyone could be part of the Beach Boys touring troupe—say,
> an undead session sideman:
>
>