Joshua Tree

Yucca Valley, Mojave Desert, California

The “j” in Mojave is pronounced the same way it is in Jalapeño, and for the same reason. They are both so damn hot you need to expel a little air when you say the words, so the “j” sounds like an “h”.

The first stop on our American Oddities journey is Joshua Tree National Forest in the Mojave Desert. One of my favourite (slightly morbid) rock and roll stories happened here.

Gram Parsons, a talented young musician living in Los Angeles, was enamoured with Joshua Tree. He came to the desert regularly with friends, to relax and write music. Parson’s musical inspiration often involved alcohol and large quantities of psychedelic drugs.

Parsons wrote several popular songs in the desert while under the influence. He also experienced some hallucinogenic UFO sightings.

In September of 1973, Parsons and his entourage had been in the desert for several days and ran out of “supplies”. Some of their party returned to Los Angeles to pick up more drugs, leaving Parsons and two others behind in the desert, and Parsons was thirsty.

His companions didn’t drink much, so Gram Parsons famously said, “I’ll drink for the three of us,” and proceeded to down six double tequilas.

When the tequila didn’t satisfy him, Parsons stumbled into a bar in the hamlet of Yucca Valley, where he ran into an acquaintance who sold him some morphine.

The combination of alcohol and drugs proved deadly. At 12:15 September 19, 1973, Gram Parsons, age 26, was pronounced dead in Yucca Valley Hospital.

You might think Parsons’ death would be the end of the story, but this is where the interesting part starts.

Before he died, Parsons said he wanted his body cremated at Joshua Tree and his ashes spread over nearby Cap Rock. His father had a different plan; he decided to take Parsons’ body back to their hometown of New Orleans for burial. The father’s intentions didn’t sit right with Parsons’ friends, so Phil Kaufman and another pal, who had both witnessed his dying wish, devised an alternate plan.

According to witnesses:

“To fulfill Parsons’ funeral wishes, Kaufman and a friend stole his body from Los Angeles International Airport and in a borrowed hearse, they drove it to Joshua Tree. Upon reaching the Cap Rock section of the park, they attempted to cremate Parsons’ body by pouring five gallons of gasoline into the open coffin and throwing a lit match inside; what resulted was an enormous fireball.”

The two were arrested several days later. Since there was no law against stealing a dead body, they were only fined $750 for stealing the coffin and were not prosecuted for leaving Gram Parsons charred remains in the desert.

Gram Parsons’ poetry, imagery, and music are rolling through the desert tonight at …

… Joshua Tree.

This video First Aid Kit – Emmylou tells Parsons’ story like I never could. The setting is Joshua Tree National Forest, and the song is about two of the most legendary love stories in country/rock music history; Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons, and Johnny Cash and June Carter.

Click the link and join us in the desert.