Sid Griffin is an acclaimed writer and musician. He wrote the first full-length biography of Gram Parsons and was the founding member of the bands The Long Ryders and The Coal Porters.
BBC Four: Getting the Gram Parsons story to the screen has really been a labour of love for you, hasn't it?
Sid Griffin: I started working on this in 1993 or 94 at the BBC. We worked on it for at least six months but it all fell through. Then in 1998 or 99 I met Gandulf Hennig, the German producer-director of the film, and he said it could be done and he was right.
BBC Four: So how did it all come together this time round?
SG: I think because Gandulf wouldn't take no for an answer and I was inspired by knowing how close I'd come before. We continually supported each other and made a very good team in that regard. He's very a technical guy and has made documentaries before. I'm a very passionate guy who doesn't know technical stuff but I do know where all the bodies are buried. I have an absurd, labyrinthine knowledge of popular music; not just the main river of pop music but indeed its creeks, streams and tributaries. I could finally focus that into a sensible, adult project and I owe Gandulf thanks for that.
BBC Four: Considering that you wrote the first Gram Parsons biography and have written about him and performed his songs a lot since then; was there anything new or surprising that you came across making this film?
SG: We were reminded once again how important childhood and parenting is to each one of us. All the big druggies in rock and roll, be they Brian Jones or Jimi Hendrix, had a weird relationship with their parents. Either their parents died young or they abandoned the child or they were cold towards the child. It was amazing how much Gram fit into that template. As Gram the musician goes I really didn't learn that much because I already knew it from being this detective-styled obsessed fan. I've been a fan for so long that I've now actually exhausted him. I stopped listening to his music years ago. I know how those records go.
BBC Four: Did your perception of Gram change at all in the making of the programme?
SG: Yes. He was a really unhappy guy. You don't really focus on that when you're listening to records. You tend to think people are larger than life and you mythologise your heroes. For all of Gram's good looks, women being thrown at him, charm and personality, and all this money, he had a very sour, blue life and a big streak of melancholia written on his DNA. That was something that came into great relief working on this project.
BBC Four: Whenever there's a Gram Parsons article in a paper or magazine, the letters pages afterwards are invariably full of criticism of why Gram gets all the attention or that he's overrated. What's your take on that sort of criticism?
SG: I think partly they're right and maybe he was overrated. But the thing about him is that it's a hell of a story. Whether you like what Phil Kaufman did, and it's open to great debate, the point is he did jump-start the Gram Parsons legend. That's what offends people. My fellow snotty record collectors point out that people like Gene Clark, Chris Hillman and Mike Nesmith of The Monkees all did country-rock groundwork and made incredible records but nobody talks about them. Gram will always be 26. Had Phil Kaufman not gone to the desert and burnt Gram's body then I'm afraid the legend wouldn't have snowballed the way that it has.
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