Fans of the Modern Lovers and Gram Parsons, check this article out

http://www.rockinboston.com/mlovers.htm

Pretty long but great recollection of the Modern Lovers, including how the band was formed, how Richman discovered the Velvets, how they eventually fell apart.

Right in the middle, though, a real interesting bit about Gram Parsons, how he was introduced to Richman, and how they discussed the possibility of Gram playing on the FIRST MODERN LOVERS RECORD!

 

Thanks for the great article! I've been a Jonathan fan since I saw him at the Roxy in Hollywood in 1980...crawling on the stage on all fours with a little plastic dinosaur in one hand. He's a real eccentric; I've met and talked with him a couple of times before shows and he's very genuine. Yes, the first Modern Lovers LP was amazing, but there's a lot to love about Richman's music over the next 30 years too. BACK IN YOUR LIFE will always hold a very special place in my heart. Love to see a decently mastered box or even a 2-disc comp from his Beserkely years.

 

Thanks for posting the article Matt.

 

I liked that article. It reminded me of this -

An excerpt from Ben Fong-Torre's book about Parsons, "Hickory Wind", concerning Phil Kaufman (the road manager shared by Parsons and Richman):

"To cover the fine he had to pay [for stealing Parson's body and cremating it in Joshua Tree Park] Phil staged a combination wake for Gram and a benefit for himself. He called it the Gram Parsons Funeral Party. At Phil's house on a Sunday in Novenmber 1973, he charged $5 admission and made up Gram Parsons T-Shirts and had bottles of beer relabeled 'Gram Pilsner- A Good Stiff Drink For What Ales you'--on sale. Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers (a group Eddie Tickner was managing) played; so did a guy doing a Johnny Cash imitation, and so did Bobby 'Boris' Pickett and the Cryptkickers doing 'Monster Mash' for half of their eight-song set.
About 200 people showed up and bought enough momentos to net Phil about $800."