Hickory Wind

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

An entertaining biography of singer/songwriter/guitarist Gram Parsons, a key figure linking country music to rock until his 1973 drug-related death at age 26. Photos. (Sept.)

Library Journal

Parsons must receive the lion's share of the credit (or blame) for defining California ``country rock.'' Before his early death in 1973, he recorded with the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and as a solo. Although he was not appreciated during his lifetime, his work is now seen as influential. As important as he may have been as an artist, Parsons personally was little more interesting than most other late-1960s burnouts, and his life proves thin stuff for a book-length biography. Fong-Torres, a respected rock music journalist and Rolling Stone alumnus, does his best to fashion a sensational narrative out of Parsons's 27 years, but falls short. His efforts to depict Parsons's early life in the South as a Tennessee Williams-style family drama, for example, is forced at best. Fans will love this book, but it holds little appeal for others. For larger music collections.-- James Stephenson, Soc. of the Cincinnati Lib., Washington, D.C.