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Gram Parsons is the father of country-rock. With the International Submarine Band, the Byrds, and the Flying Burrito Brothers, the songwriter pioneered the concept of a rock band playing country music, and as a solo artist he moved even further into the country realm, blending the two genres to the point that they became indistinguishable from each other. While he was alive, Parsons was a cult figure that never sold many records but influenced countless fellow musicians, from the Rolling Stones to the Byrds. In the years since his death, his stature has only grown, as numerous rock and country artists build on his small, but enormously influential, body of work. Gram Parsons was born Cecil Ingram Connor on November 5, 1946. He was the grandson of John Snivley, who owned roughly one-third of all the citrus fields in Florida, and the son of Coon Dog Connor, an Air Force veteran who owned a box-making factory in Waycross, Georgia. As a child, Parsons learned how to play the piano at the ...