A Boxed Set from the Byrds’ Gene Parsons: Review

Gram Parsons wasn’t the only musician with that surname to play a role in the Byrds and the popularization of country rock. Gene Parsons (no relation), though less celebrated than his namesake, spent four years with the Byrds, from 1968 to 1972. He mostly played drums but also lent a hand with guitar, banjo and other instruments and contributed songs. He later joined the Flying Burrito Brothers, which Gram co-founded. And he launched a career on his own, the results of which you’ll find on a 2026 anthology called Kindling and Beyond: The Solo Recordings 1973-1986.

It’s a frequently satisfying collection, but there are some stumbles. A plodding cover of Phil Ochs’ “My Kingdom for a Car” is forgettable, for example, and Parsons’ own “No Fire Here Tonight” and “Little Jewels (For Lilybet)” sound like the sort of characterless country-pop that issued from groups like Firefall.

Related: Our review of an anthology featuring the Byrds’ Gene Clark

While no match as a vocalist for the great Gram Parsons, however, Gene is a more than adequate singer; he impresses on ballads like “Hot Burrito #1,” which Gram and Chris Ethridge co-authored during their Burrito Brothers years. And there’s lots of instrumental talent on display in this box, starting with Gene himself but also including such A-list guests as bluegrass giant Ralph Stanley, the Byrds’ Clarence White and fiddle master Vassar Clements.

The clamshell-boxed five-CD Kindling and Beyond, which comes with a 24-page booklet, features 71 tracks, 15 of which were previously unreleased. The compendium begins with Parsons’ debut solo album, Kindling, which originally appeared in 1973. Its 11 tracks include seven self-penned songs, two of which the singer wrote in collaboration with his pre-Byrds musical partner, fiddler and guitarist Gib Guilbeau. Among the covers are Lowell George’s “Willin’” and Carter Stanley’s “Drunkard’s Dream.”

Next up is Melodies, Parsons’ second and final solo studio set, which dates from 1979. It includes several songs written or co-written by Parsons (three with his wife, Camille), plus covers of tunes such as Mickey Newbury’s “Why You Been Gone So Long” and Bob Nolan’s “Way Out There.”

Also in the box are I Hope They Let Us In, a live set from 2001, eight studio demos and a generous sampling of concert material from the Gene Parsons Band, a trio that featured bassist Peter Oliva and drummer Richie Rosenbaum. These tracks, most of which date from 1981 through 1983, include readings of Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” and the Gram Parsons co-authored “Hickory Wind,” both of which appeared on the Byrds’ landmark Notorious Byrd Brothers album. Here, too, are versions of such other familiar numbers as William Bell’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water” and Jimmy Cliff’s “Many Rivers to Cross.”

The collection, from Cherry Red Records, is available in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here.