Twenty Thousand Roads Press

From : The Library Journal
Meyer, David N. Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and
His Cosmic American Music. Villard: Random. Oct. 2007. c.592p.
photogs. discog. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-375-50570-6. $27.95. MUSIC

Meyer (cinema studies, New Sch. for Social Research; The 100 Best
Films To Rent You've Never Heard Of) chronicles the life, work, and
influence of Gram Parsons, one of the most important developers of the
country-rock genre via his work with the International Submarine Band,
the Byrds, and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Parsons influenced the
Rolling Stones' forays into country music on Exile on Main Street, and
his duets with Emmylou Harris helped advance her career. Part of the
author's apparent agenda is to cement Parsons's place in pop culture
history, and important integrations of country and rock by Bob Dylan,
Rick Nelson, and Michael Nesmith, among others, are downplayed. The
book includes a detailed list for suggested listening and an
"encyclopedia" of important people in country rock. It is filled with
informed opinion, some of which seems calculated to challenge or
rankle some country-rock fans, e.g., the "encyclopedia" entry for the
Eagles is "The worst iconic band in American rock." Meyer's writing is
captivating as he brings Parsons to life and details the demons that
led to his death from a heroin overdose at 26. Highly recommended for
all public libraries; recommended for academic libraries with
popular-culture collections.—James E. Perone, Mount Union Coll., Alliance, OH

Twenty Thousand Roads by David N. Meyer

(Villard)

It's been 34 years since the overdose death of Gram Parsons at age 26. But the mythic story of the artist who brought rock and country together - through the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers and Emmylou Harris - calling it Cosmic American Music, continues to exert a strange fascination. With 34 pages of footnotes, plus a thorough discography and “recommended listening," Meyer gives Parsons a thorough, Peter Guralnick-like treatment.

Chosen as one of the Top 5 New Rock Books of 2008 by Rolling Stone Magazine

Chosen as Favorite Book of 2007 by Los Angeles Favorite
Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music' by David N. Meyer

Book Forum Review

Los Angeles Times Review: 'Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music' by David N. Meyer

Meticulous biography attempts to pin down the enigmatic country-rock pioneer.
By RJ Smith - October 28, 2007

SOME suits tell a story, like the one on the cover of the Flying Burrito Brothers' 1969 album, "The Gilded Palace of Sin." It is worn by the band's leader, Gram Parsons; perhaps nobody else could have stood up to it. On the bell-bottom pants, embroidered flames crawl up the legs, all the way to the roses that cover the front and back pockets. Parsons' jacket lapels sport naked women, in the style of old-school sailors' tattoos. Rising up the front are impressively embroidered marijuana leaves; the sleeves feature Seconals, Tuinals and a presumably LSD-dosed sugar cube. On the back a blood-red cross is shot through with blue and gold rays.......

San Francisco Chronicle - Dec 28th, 2007 - Forget Parson's Death - here's his life.

Glide Magazine

Birmingham News

The Nashville Scene

Entertainment Weekly - November 2, 2007
BYLINE: Shirley Halperin

Twenty Thousand Roads
David N. Meyer
Biography
Given all the drama in Gram Parsons' life (and untimely death), die-hard fans of the country-rock pioneer will relish every word of this meticulously researched and exhaustive 559-page bio. Meyer covers it all, from Parsons' childhood in an alcoholic home to his formative years in Boston, New York, and L.A., his time with the Rolling Stones to his much-gossiped-about relationship with singing partner Emmylou Harris (which, Meyer concludes, was just a working one). Though Meyer answers a lot of long-burning questions, he preserves Parsons' legend as a man of mystery. A-

From : Publishers Weekly (** Starred Review) Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music
David N. Meyer. Villard, $27.95 (592p) ISBN 978-0-375-50570-6

Gram Parsons is remembered as much for wearing sequined cowboy suits on stage and for being illegally cremated in the desert by one of his friends after dying of a drug overdose as he is for the half-dozen albums he played on in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the Byrds' classic Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Meyer (A Girl and a Gun) covers both aspects of the legend, but he gives particular attention to the way Parsons brought together elements of country and rock music to forge a new sound. After a leisurely telling of Parsons's “rich white trash” family drama in Florida and Georgia, including his father's suicide and the barely contained contempt of his mother's family, the biography plunges into his musical career, careening from one band to the next just as Parsons himself did. Meyer is appreciative but never adulatory of Parsons, who he believes threw his talent away; while citing the influence of the Flying Burrito Brothers' debut album, for example, he repeatedly mentions the band's “unbelievably sloppy” sound. This isn't the first biography of Parsons, but Meyer's semidetached stance as a critical fan makes it a valuable one, in the vein of Peter Guralnick or Greil Marcus. (Oct. 30)

CMT - Country Music Books for the Holidays

Miami Herald: MIAMI BOOK FAIR INTERNATIONAL
Preaching the influence of Parsons
David Meyer writes a detailed biography of late country-rock musician Gram Parson.
American Statesman: Return of the grievous angel: New bio of Gram Parsons offers tragic insights - November 2007

Men's Vogue - Twenty Thousand Roads Review - November 2007

Atlanta Book Review: The Wonder and waste of early country rocker - October 2007

New York Post - Required Reading - 0ctober 2007

Pittsburgh Tribune Review: Songwriter's biography details unrealized ability - Novemner 25th

New Times