Song Musings

Happy Wednesday and welcome to another installment of my mid-week feature where I take a closer look at a song I’ve only mentioned in passing or not covered at all to date. The other day, it occurred to me I should dedicate a post to Janis Joplin who was a bit of acquired taste I now consider one of the greatest blues vocalists of all time. My pick is Kozmic Blues.

While I think it’s fair to say Joplin is primarily known for her renditions of gems like Me And Bobby McGee, Try (Just a Little Bit Harder) and Summertime, she also had a few original songs during her short three-year recording career. One of them is Kozmic Blues, off her debut solo album I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, released in September 1969, less than a month after Joplin’s appearance at the Woodstock festival.

Kozmic Blues, co-written with the album’s producer Gabriel Meckler, is about hope and trying to see the good in situations, but always seeming to come up short – something that is a common blues theme, notes Songfacts. Said Joplin: “‘Kozmic Blues’ just means that no matter what you do, man, you get shot down anyway.”

Kozmic Blues became the first of three singles from Joplin’s first solo album – unfortunately the only one that came out during her life, which was cut short in October 1970 at age 27 due to a drug overdose While the song enjoyed moderate chart success and peaking at no. 41 just missed the top 40 in the U.S., it is considered a highlight of Joplin’s set at Woodstock. Here’s an audio clip of that performance. This truly gives me chills!

Following are some additional tidbits from Songfacts:

Joplin explained that she needed to be in a state of trauma and duress in order to write a song, and that’s exactly the state she found herself in when she came up with “Kozmic Blues,” which described her condition at the time. “I can’t write a song unless I’m really traumatic, emotional, and I’ve gone through a few changes, I’m very down,” she said in Rolling Stone. “No one’s ever gonna love you any better and no one’s gonna love you right.”

This is one of the tracks that showcased Joplin’s powerful vocals and her ability to lose herself in a song. She would sometimes enter an almost trance-like state when performing it, as she summoned up the pain that led her to write the song.

This song provided the title for the album, which was Joplin’s first as a solo artist. Her previous releases were with her band Big Brother and the Holding Company.

Joplin would have been about 25 years old when she wrote this song, but that’s not what she’s referring to in the line, “Well, I’m 25 years older now, so I know we can’t be right.”

That line is about how different people perceive love and time. Joplin explained that she was the kind of person who thought that love was supposed to last 25 years, so when it didn’t she would be devastated. To her lover, it wasn’t so awful because he never expected it to last that long.

Why isn’t the title “Cosmic Blues”? Joplin spelled it with a K to take the edge off. “It’s too down and lonely a trip to be taken seriously,” she said. “It’s like a joke on itself.”

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; YouTube

Raze Regal and James Petralli Team Up For Compelling Collaboration Album

Until Saturday morning, I had never heard of Raze Regal and James Petralli. Then I coincidentally spotted an album titled Raze Regal & White Denim Inc. my streaming music provider listed under new releases. Since it had completely escaped me when putting together my weekly new music feature, I was curious and started listening. To say it upfront, Raze Regal & White Denim Inc., released on November 24, is one of the best new music discoveries I’ve made thus far this year.

An artist bio on the website of Bella Union, the UK-based independent record label where the album appears, does a nice job explaining how it came about. Raze Regal is what AllMusic calls an eclectic, psych, jazz, and rock-influenced guitarist. He first gained prominence in the 2010s with New York punk band Stalkers and later on played with Oakland, Calif. psych rock group Once and Future Band. James Petralli is the vocalist of Austin, Texas indie rock band White Denim who he co-founded in 2006.

Regal and Petralli met during a West Coast tour in 2019 and hit it off pretty quickly after recognizing they both dig ’60s and ’70s rock, jazz saxophone artists like Eddie Harris and Wayne Shorter, ’80s R&B and new wave. While their encounter didn’t result in immediate collaboration, they stayed in touch. In 2020, Regal found himself going through tough times and encouraged by Petralli relocated to Austin.

James Petralli (right) and Raze Regal

“We would just kind of hang out in those early days, and then I started writing these tunes, and I started presenting them to James,” Regal explained. “They were just sketches of ideas I had, and he was like, ‘You know these are really good. What if we worked on these together?’ And I was like, ‘Absolutely.’”

It turned out that Regal and Petralli not only were good songwriters but complemented each other. “James is an incredible singer and he’s an incredible musical mind,” Regal noted. “He really has such zeal and passion in the studio, which, I’m a little different. I like to play and write, but I’m not really a studio cat—but James is such a wizard in the studio. We’d go through lyrics line-by-line, sit and work on the construction, for months at a time.”

The duo’s efforts surely paid off. The result is a compelling album with a sophisticated sound blending jazz, rock, soul and pop. At times, the music reminds me a bit of Steely Dan. I can also hear some Gino Vannelli. Let’s take a closer look at some of the tracks!

Ashley Goudeau is the great opener that got my immediate attention after listening to the first few bars. As noted in the above artist bio, the song is named after a local Austin morning news anchor and is about what it’s like to form a parasocial relationship with someone you see on TV, and how real those feelings can become when experienced in a vacuum of, say, a global pandemic. Check out this terrific sound!

Here’s Tivoli. From the Bella Union artist bio: “Tivoli”, another highlight and maybe the album’s most straightforward pop tune, glides from the Cars to Steely Dan to Milton Nascimento with the aplomb of a disco-dancing roller-skater.

Don’t Laff is another neat track with a nice groove.

Let’s do two more. First up is The Hustle In You – really love the sound!

The last song I’d like to call out is Dislocation, which became the album’s lead single. It’s got a great ’70s soul vibe!

“I have collaborated like this many times in the past but never to this extent,” noted Petralli in summing up his work with Regal. “I have been involved in productions and co-written quite a bit over the years but I didn’t intend to be the singer on this project initially. I think Raze ended up with the voice he had in mind when he was writing these tunes. I knew the pain in Raze’s words so well that it became mine in front of the microphone. I am proud of my friend and I for seeing this project through. The music on the album inspired so much for me. It was an honour to work on.”

I’ll leave you with a link to the entire album on Spotify:

Sources: Wikipedia; Bella Union website; AllMusic; YouTube; Spotify

Catching Up: Pretenders and Graham Parker

While this supplementary feature to my weekly new music reviews was never designed to run on a regular basis, it’s been more than four months since the last installment. The reason for the long gap certainly is not that I was caught up on new releases in the meantime. Recently, it occurred to me I completely missed the latest albums by Pretenders and Graham Parker, both of which came out in September – certainly a good reason for another Catching Up post!

Pretenders – Relentless

The English-American rock band around songwriter, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Chrissie Hynde, who I trust doesn’t need much of an introduction, has been around since 1978. The group’s current line-up also features James Walbourne (backing vocals, guitar, bass and various other instruments) with whom Hynde wrote all songs; Carwyn Ellis (guitar, keyboards); and Kris Sonne (drums). Chris Hill and Dave Page provided bass on select tracks.

Relentless, out since September 15, only is the group’s 12th studio album. But Hynde has been busy on other fronts. Since 2014, she has released three solo albums. Prior to that, in 2010, she teamed up for an album with Welsh singer J.P. Jones, Fidelity, billed as J.P., Chrissie and the Fairground Boys.

Just like on Hate for Sale, the previous album by Pretenders I reviewed here, Hynde who turned 72 on September 7 remains a compelling vocalist. Based on my initial impression, the songs are pretty good as well. Here’s Let the Sun Come In, one of my early favorites.

Other tracks I’d like to call out are opener Losing My Sense of Taste, A Love, Domestic Silence and I Think About You Daily. The last song features strings composed and conducted by Jonny Greenwood, lead guitarist and keyboarder of Radiohead.

Graham Parker & The Goldtops – Last Chance to Learn the Twist

English singer-songwriter Graham Parker has been active since the early ’70s and starting with his 1976 debut Howlin’ Wind has released more than 20 albums to date. Best known as Graham Parker & The Rumour, Parker has also put out albums as Graham Parker & The Shot, Graham Parker & The Figgs, Graham Parker & The Goldtops and under his own name only. Parker preceded Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson, two other artists who emerged from the British pub rock scene he’s often compared to.

Parker’s latest album, Last Chance to Learn the Twist, appeared on September 8 and is billed to Graham Parker & The Goldtops. It marks his first new studio effort since 2018’s Cloud Symbols, which he also released with The Goldtops. Apart from Parker (guitar, harmonica), core members of the band include Martin Belmont (guitar), Geraint Watkins (keyboards), Simon Edwards (bass, Mini Moog, vocals) and Jim Russell (drums, percussion).

While my knowledge of Parker’s music is limited and, as such, I cannot make well informed comparisons to his previous album, my first impression of Last Chance to Learn the Twist is quite positive and certainly wants me to further explore his catalog. Here’s the opener The Music of the Devil.

Other tracks I immediately liked include Sun Valley, It Mattered to Me, Pablo’s Hippos and We Did Nothing.

Sources: Wikipedia; AllMusic; YouTube; Spotify

The Sunday Six

I hope everybody is enjoying their Sunday and, if you reside in the U.S., that it’s been a nice extended four-day Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. I may have returned from a two-week family vacation in Europe only a few days ago, but great music never prevents me from embarking on another trip. Hope you come along for the ride!

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio/Concussion

Our first stop today only takes us back a few years to March 2018 and groovy Hammond-driven jazz by Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio. Founded in 2015, the trio includes self-taught Hammond B-3 organist Delvon Lamarr, guitarist Jimmy James and drummer Dan Weiss. Their website puts it best: DLO3’s “feelgood music” includes a big helping of the 1960s organ jazz stylings of Jimmy Smith and Baby Face Willette; a pinch of the snappy soul strut of Booker T. & The M.G.’s and The Meters; and sprinkles Motown, Stax Records, blues, and cosmic Jimi Hendrix-style guitar. From DLO3’s debut album Close But No Cigar, here’s Concussion. I surely hope no musicians got hurt during the recording of this fabulous track!

Katrina and the Waves/Red Wine and Whisky

Now that you’re hopefully in the groove, let’s continue this party by getting some booze brought to us by Katrina and the Waves – of course, consume responsibly! Initially called The Waves, this British-American band seemingly emerged out of nowhere in the mid-’80s with their huge hit Walking On Sunshine. Notably, the song only got noticed when it was re-recorded for the group’s eponymous third studio album that appeared in March 1985. But there was more to the picture. One of my other favorite tracks off that same album is the opener Red Wine and Whisky. Unfortunately, the band couldn’t repeat their mid-’80s success and eventually broke up in 1999.

Tommy James & The Shondells/I Think We’re Alone Now

Time to pay a visit to the ’60s. That said, our next stop was inspired by another song that became popular again in the ’80s when it was covered by then-15-year-old American pop singer Tiffany for her August 1987 debut album: I Think We’re Alone Now. Written by Ritchie Cordell, the song was first recorded by Tommy James & the Shondells as the title track of their third studio album released in February 1967. It became one of the U.S. group’s biggest hits, climbing to no. 4 on the U.S. pop chart – a real ear worm!

Johnny Cash/I’ve Been Everywhere

This next pick takes us to November 1996 and the great Johnny Cash who I trust needs no introduction. It’s from an album titled Unchained, aka. American II: Unchained. The second of six albums released by American Recordings, which were all produced by Rick Rubin, fell into a late-career resurgence for The Man in Black. Penned by Australian country singer Geoff Mack in 1959, I’ve Been Everywhere was first popularized in 1962 by another artist from down under, Lucky Starr. If I recall it correctly, I initially heard Cash’s rendition during a U.S. TV commercial in the ’90s and loved it right away!

Gene Vincent/Bluejean Bop

I don’t know about you, but Johnny Cash put me in the mood for some classic ’50s rockabilly. To satisfy my craving, let’s go to August 1956 and Bluejean Bop!, the debut album by Gene Vincent, billed to Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps. Here’s the opener and title track, co-written by the rockabilly pioneer and Hal Levy. Sadly, Vincent’s chart career was brief, especially in his home country the U.S. where it lasted less than two years. His life was cut short at age 36 in 1971 when he passed away from a combination of a ruptured ulcer, internal hemorrhage and heart failure.

Manassas/It Doesn’t Matter

Once again, the time has come to wrap up another Sunday Six. Our final destination today is April 1972, which saw the release of the eponymous debut album by Manassas. Formed by Stephen Stills, the short-lived American rock supergroup also featured Chris Hillman (The Byrds), Al Perkins (The Flying Burrito Brothers), Paul Harris (John Sebastian), as well as Calvin “Fuzzy” Samuel, Dallas Taylor and Joe Lala (each Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young). Here’s It Doesn’t Matter, co-written by Stills, Hillman and Rick Roberts, and a listening suggestion by my dear longtime German music buddy Gerd.

Of course, this post wouldn’t be complete without a Spotify playlist featuring all of the above goodies. Hope you enjoyed the trip and will be back for more!

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube; Spotify

New Music Musings

Happy Saturday and welcome to my latest new music review. While I can’t deny my family vacation in Germany, Portugal and Spain was very pleasant, it’s great to be back to music blogging after a nearly 3-week hiatus. All picks in this installment are on brand new releases that came out yesterday (November 24).

Almost Honest/Laughter of the Deer Owl

I’m kicking off today with some metal, a genre I rarely feature. Almost Honest, founded in Cumberland, Pa. in 2012, describe their music as “groovy sexy Viking funk doom rock.” The band features Shayne Reed (vocals, guitar), David Kopp (guitar), Garrett Spangler (bass) and Quinten Spangler (drums). Off their third and latest album The Hex of Penn Woods, here’s Laughter of the Deer Owl, credited to all four members. With good vocals, a great sound and a decent melody, it’s the kind of metal I enjoy!

Spector/The Notion

British indie rock band Spector have been around since 2011. The London-based group currently consists of Frederick Macpherson (vocals), Jed Cullen (guitar), Danny Blandy (keyboards) and Nicolas Py (drums). They have released four full-length albums to date, which includes their latest, Here Come the Early Nights. Here’s the opener The Notion. Like most acts I feature in New Music Musings, Spector are all new to me. This song drew me in right away!

Guided By Voices/Puncher’s Parade

Guided By Voices are an American indie rock band initially formed in 1983 in Dayton, Ohio. Through an impressive 35-plus albums and numerous line-up changes, the group has always been centered on principal songwriter Robert Pollard (lead vocals, guitar) who remains as their only original member. I first featured them in March 2022 with a track from their then-new 35th album Crystal Nuns Cathedral. The pr0lific band, who currently also includes Doug Gillard (guitar, backing vocals), Bobby Bare Jr. (guitar, backing vocals), Mark Shue (bass) and Kevin March (drums, backing vocals), have since released four additional albums. Off their latest Nowhere To Go But Up, here’s Puncher’s Parade. I can hear some Son Volt and R.E.M. here – love their sound!

The Sleeping Souls/Underneath an Ocean of Sky

UK indie group The Sleeping Souls first came to prominence as backing band for English punk and folk singer-songwriter Frank Turner with whom they recorded six studio albums and toured for over a decade. According to their Bandcamp page, their members are Ben Lloyd (guitar), Matt Nasir (piano), Tarrant Anderson (bass) and Callum Green (drums). On their debut album Just Before the World Starts Burning, they are joined by Cahir O’Doherty (guitar). Here’s the great opener Underneath an Ocean of Sky.

Human Interest/Slackers Paradise

Human Interest are a British duo from East London, comprised of singer-songwriter and guitarist Cat Harrison and bassist Tyler Damara Kelly, who were formed a couple of years ago during COVID lockdowns. Their Bandcamp page characterizes their music as “moody rock ’n’ roll songs” with an “infectious joy.” After Human Interest’s debut EP Desire Paths, released in March 2022, they are now out with their sophomore EP Empathy Lives in Outer Space. Here’s Slackers Paradise – whether it’s infectious moody rock & roll or not, I like it!

Take That/March of the Hopeful

Wrapping this post is new music by English pop group Take That, a name I hadn’t heard in decades. Formed in Manchester in 1990, the band had a series of no. 1 hits in the ’90s, especially in the UK, such as Relight the Fire, Everything Changes and Back For Good. Their current line-up includes Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen, who are all original members. Their ninth and latest studio album is titled This Life. Here’s March of the Hopeful, credited to all three members and Ben Mark. Neat harmony singing and a pleasant melody make for my kind of pop music.

Sources: Wikipedia; Almost Honest website; The Sleeping Souls Bandcamp page; Human Interest Bandcamp page; YouTube; Spotify

Temporary Hiatus

Christian’s Music Musings will be on hiatus for a few weeks, while my family and I are gearing up for a vacation in Europe and then hopefully doing the actual trip. I’m planning to resume blogging the weekend of November 25. It’ll be here before we know it!

Meanwhile, I’d like to offer a hilarious travel-related song by my favorite German rock band Niedeckens BAP, who at the time they recorded it still were known as BAP. Founded in the city of Cologne in 1976, BAP perform their songs in the local dialect of Kölsch.

Time Is Cash, Time Is Money, off their 1986 studio album Ahl Männer, aalglatt (old men, slick like eels), makes fun of certain people who go on escorted tours.

I realize most of my readers don’t understand German, not to mention Kölsch, so you kind of have to take my word it’s a funny song. In fact, not even all Germans understand this dialect! 🙂

But don’t despair. I’m also resharing a link to a previously created Spotify playlist of songs in English, which are related to travel and holidays. Yes, it’s a bit of a hodgepodge and I took some liberties.

Hope you enjoy it and I look forward to seeing you again soon!

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube; Spotify

All Together Now, For the Last Time

Yesterday (November 2), Now and Then, the long anticipated last song by The Beatles was released. Coupled with their first single Love Me Do as a double A, Now and Then is based on a piano-and-vocal demo John Lennon recorded in the late ’70s. In 1994, Yoko Ono gave the tape to the band’s then-surviving members Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, who worked on it but felt the quality of the tape wasn’t good enough. Last year, thanks to new technology, McCartney and Starr finished the song. While Now and Then doesn’t reach the Fab Four magic of the ’60s, the ballad is an enjoyable song that has a remarkable sound quality.

“When we lost John, we knew that it was really over, but in 1994, amazingly, an interesting opportunity arose where we could make more music together,” McCartney explained in a 12-minute documentary about the making of Now and Then. “If we were to do something, the three of us, as interesting as it may be, to have John in it is the obvious thing,” Harrison commented at the time. “We could use John and try to make a record,” added Starr. “It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room.”

While in 1994 the three surviving ex-Beatles finished two unreleased songs based on the same batch of Lennon home demos Ono had given them – Free As a Bird and Real Love, released as part of the Anthology 1 (November 1995) and Anthology 2 (March 1996) compilations, respectively – they abandoned their plan in March 1995 to complete Now and Then and include it on Anthology 3 (October 1996). The poor quality of the demo was the key problem.

“When we started ‘Now and Then’, it was very difficult because John was sort of hidden in a way,” Starr said in the above documentary. “On John’s demo tape, the piano was a little hard to hear,” added McCartney. “And in those days, of course, we didn’t have the technology to do the separation.” He was referring to separating Lennon’s voice from the piano track. According to this New York Times story, McCartney stated that Harrison became frustrated, calling the demo “[expletive] rubbish.”

Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney & George Harrison ca. 1994.

Fast-forward 28 years until 2022 when isolating Lennon’s vocals from the piano succeeded, thanks to technology developed by Peter Jackson and his team to separate instruments and vocals from mono tracks. That same technology was used during the making of Jackson’s 2021 Get Back documentary series. “During the course of Get Back, we were paying a lot of attention to the technical restoration,” Jackson explained. “That ultimately led us to developing a technology, which allows us to take any soundtrack and split all the different components into separate tracks based on machine learning.”

Machine learning is a field of study in artificial intelligence (AI). That’s where that commentary from McCartney came from earlier this year, which stirred some debate the last Beatles song would be fake at least in part. He subsequently clarified via Twitter that “nothing has been artificially or synthetically created,” as reported by Deadline Hollywood. “It’s all real and we all play on it. We cleaned up some existing recordings – a process which has gone on for years.”

Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr in 2022

In addition to Lennon’s vocals, Now and Then features guitar parts Harrison wrote in 1995. Last year, the song’s remaining components were added: McCartney replayed Lennon’s piano part, added electric harpsichord and bass, and created a slide guitar solo mimicking Harrison, while Starr added drums, tambourine and shaker. There is also a string arrangement written by record producer, songwriter and composer Giles Martin, who is son of the late George Martin and has done an incredible job producing remixed 50th anniversary reissues of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The White Album, Abbey Road and other Beatles albums.

“I’d been vaguely thinking strings might be a good thing,” McCartney stated during the above documentary. “The Beatles did lots of string things, you know: ‘Strawberry Fields’, ‘Yesterday’, ‘I Am the Walrus’. We wanted to go to Capitol Studios because that had been EMI, and it was sort of Beatley. Giles worked up an arrangement like Giles’s dad would have done in the old days. We had to put the music out on the stands for the musicians, but we couldn’t tell them it was a new Beatles song. It was all a bit hush-hush. We pretended it was just something of mine.”

Apparently, Now and Then also includes “oohs” and “aahs” from Here, There and Everywhere, Eleanor Rigby and Because. An announcement on TheBeatles.com notes McCartney and Martin added backing vocals from these Beatles songs. Frankly, I wouldn’t have noticed this “subtle touch” if I hadn’t read it. Now and Then was co-produced by McCartney and Giles Martin. Jeff Lynne who produced the 1995 sessions that included Harrison also received a producer credit.

On November 10, expanded and remixed versions of  The Beatles’ 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 collections, aka as The Red Album and The Blue Album, respectively, will be released. Like the other Beatles reissues since 2017, these new versions, which have been mixed in stereo and Dolby Atmos, were overseen by Giles Martin. Now and Then will be included on The Blue Album.

As I noted at beginning of this post, Now and Then doesn’t reach the magic of the music The Beatles recorded in the ’60s. That said, I think it’s a pretty enjoyable song. What is truly amazing to me is the sound quality, which I find far superior to Free As a Bird and Real Love. The Beatles are and will likely always remain my all-time favorite band. I’m pretty happy with this last song.

I’ll leave you with a YouTube clip of the 12-minute documentary about the making of the song.

Sources: Wikipedia; The Beatles website; The New York Times; Deadline Hollywood; YouTube

Song Musings

It’s Wednesday and I’d like to welcome you to another installment of my midweek feature that is taking a closer look at a song I’ve only mentioned in passing or haven’t covered at all to date. My pick for today is Boulder to Birmingham by Emmylou Harris.

While I had known of the country and Americana-focused singer-songwriter for decades, it wasn’t until July 2017 that Harris really entered my radar screen. That month, I saw her live in Philadelphia, sharing the bill with John Mellencamp and Carlene Carter, and was truly impressed by her performance.

Boulder to Birmingham was co-written by Harris and Bill Danoff, a singer and songwriter who penned John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Roads, among other hits. Inspired by Harris’ grief over the death of her friend and mentor Gram Parsons, it’s the only original track she recorded for her second studio album Pieces of the Sky, released in February 1975.

Harris knew Parsons early in her career. She toured with him and sang on his January 1973 solo debut album GP. She can also be heard on Grievous Angel, Parsons’ second and final solo album that appeared in January 1974, four months after his untimely death at the age of 26 from a morphine and alcohol overdose.

When Harris first met Parsons, she was a struggling artist playing bars in the Washington, D.C. area, with a debut album that had gone nowhere. They became good friends and had great chemistry on their recordings and during live performances. When Harris learned Parsons had died, she was devastated and reportedly said she felt “like falling off a mountain.” Here’s a great live version of Boulder to Birmingham with Mark Knopfler in June 2006, captured in Los Angeles for the concert film Real Live Roadrunning.

Co-writer Bill Danoff also recorded the song with his group, Starland Vocal Band, for their eponymous debut album, which appeared in July 1976. It became the opener – beautiful rendition and, gosh, it’s definitely a bit of a tearjerker!

Listening to the words of the song it’s hard to escape the notion Harris’ feelings for Parsons likely went beyond admiration of the mentorship he offered. Harris did not revisit his death in such an outspoken manner until The Road, a song off her 26th studio album Hard Bargain, which came out in April 2011.

Following are additional insights from Songfacts:

Emmylou Harris cowrote this song with Bill Danoff after the death of Gram Parsons. The song has become famous for its heart-rending chorus:

I would rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham
I would hold my life in his saving grace
I would walk all the way from Boulder to Birmingham
If I thought I could see, I could see your face

The song is specifically about Parsons, but the song became a source of comfort for many people who could relate to the sentiment of losing someone close.

Harris wrote about half of the songs on her 1969 debut album, but this was the only one she had a hand in writing for her second album, Pieces of the Sky. She wrote the lyrics to the song, and Bill Danoff composed the music...

…Danoff and his wife Taffy Nivert were well known in the DC music scene; they had co-written the John Denver hits “Take Me Home Country Roads” and “Friends With You.” The year after Harris released Pieces of the Sky, Danoff had a huge hit with his group the Starland Vocal Band in “Afternoon Delight,” which is titled after the appetizer menu at a DC restaurant/bar called Clyde’s Of Georgetown. Harris had a regular gig there in the early ’70s.

After Gram Parsons died, two of his friends stole his body and set it on fire in the Mohave desert, which they claimed was Parsons’ directive. The line in this song “I was in the wilderness and the canyon was on fire,” is often interpreted to be about this burning, but it was actually a reference to 1974 wildfires in the Coldwater Canyon section of Los Angeles, which is where Harris recorded the album.

Brian Ahern, who had previously worked with Anne Murray, produced the Pieces of the Sky album. This song is a great example of his production strategy, which was to focus on the voice. There are no background vocals and the various instruments – including acoustic and pedal steel guitar – are carefully mixed to accentuate the singing.

Ahern stayed on as Harris’ producer and the two formed a romantic relationship. They married in 1977 the same month Harris’ third Ahern-produced album, Luxury Liner, was released. They divorced in 1984.

The Hollies recorded this for their 1976 album Write On.

A cover by the Alternative Rock band The Fray appears as a bonus track on the iTunes deluxe version of their third album Scars & Stories. They persuaded Harris to appear on their version but nearly fell out with the Nashville legend when working on the song with her. “We met and sat down with Emmylou,” singer Isaac Slade recalled to Jam! Music. “She showed us the ropes. She scolded me a little bit and put me in my place because I was getting a little rock star and giving Emmylou advice, which is something you don’t do. You listen and don’t talk. And we just did it in one afternoon.”

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; YouTube