On an unrelated note, today is 40 years to the day sine Gram Parsons's death, after which Phil Kaufman assisted in the "theft" and burning of his remains...
On September 19, 1973, 26-year-old musician Gram Parsons dies of "multiple drug use" (morphine and tequila) in a California motel room. His death inspired one of the more bizarre automobile-related crimes on record: Two of his friends stashed his body in a borrowed hearse and drove it into the middle of the Joshua Tree National Park, where they doused it with gasoline and set it on fire.
Parsons' music helped define the country-rock sound, and his records have influenced everyone from the Rolling Stones to Wilco. But like many musicians of his generation, Parsons struggled with drugs and alcohol. His childhood was unhappy: His father committed suicide when he was 12, and his mother died of alcohol poisoning on the day he graduated from high school. He dropped out of Harvard and moved to California, where he played with bands like the Byrds (on their seminal album Sweetheart of the Rodeo) and the Flying Burrito Brothers and released two celebrated solo albums with the then-unknown Emmylou Harris singing backup.
At a friend's funeral a few months before he died, Parsons made a drunken pact with his road manager Phil Kaufman: If anything should happen to one of them, the other would take his body to Joshua Tree and cremate it. And so, after Parsons' overdose, Kaufman and a roadie named Michael Martin met his coffin at the Los Angeles airport (for complicated reasons involving a disputed inheritance, his stepfather had arranged for it to be flown to Louisiana for a private funeral) in a borrowed hearse with broken windows and no license plates. (The hearse belonged to Martin's girlfriend, who used it to carry tents and other gear on camping trips.) They convinced the airport staff that the Parsons family had changed its mind about the flight, loaded the coffin into the car, and drove 200 miles to the Mojave Desert, stopping along the way to fill a five-gallon tin can with gasoline. They drove into Joshua Tree and dragged the coffin to the foot of the majestic Cap Rock, where they doused it with the gas and tossed on a match.
Kaufman and Martin were arrested, but since stealing bodies was not actually a crime in California, they were fined $300 each, plus $750 for the ruined coffin. (They raised the money by holding a "Kaper Koncert" starring Bobby Pickett & the Cryptkeepers, who played their hit "Monster Mash" over and over.) Parsons' remains are buried in New Orleans.
Matt, I read somewhere that when Martin & Kaufman showed up at the airport in the hearse they were so drunk that they crashed it a bit just driving out of the cargo area with body in tow. LOL. Amazing they pulled that off.
San Francisco Chronicle Nov. 6, 1973 2 Plead Guilty In Theft Of Singer's Body Los Angeles Two men accused of stealing a coffin containing the body of rock singer Gram Parsons, 27, and burning it in the desert east of Los Angeles pleaded guilty yesterday to misdemeanor theft charges. Philip C. Kaufman, 38, of Van Nuys and Michael D. Martin, 26, of Hollywood were given 30-day suspended sentences and fines $300 each on the reduced charge. Originally they had been charged with grand theft. They were ordered to also pay $708 in expenses to the funeral home involved in the burial. Kaufman and Martin were former business associates of the dead singer, a one-time member of The Byrds rock group. (AP)
Patty cant get over Charles' using Phil Kaufman's address on a credit application. why would he do that? Its obviously a "Charlie joke" but whats the punchline?
Hi Patty! Sorry, i've been a SUPER LONG TIME lurker.....
i was reading the LAPD list of manson family members and it had "Phillip C. Kaufman" and listed him as "in charge of family at present". i found that VERY odd.
Then, when checking in here, i saw your post about Manson giving Kaufman's address for his own on a credit application.
So, i was thinking along your lines, another "Charlie Joke" with no punchline, just trying to sock it to Kaufman? Like, "if we get arrested, say Kaufman is in charge" kind of thing, I don't know...
Yeah, that's a weird one: also, Phil was at Terminal Island (Patty thinks?) for smuggling weed across the Mexican border. Things that make you go, hmmm (cough! BEL).
Super stoked to chat with you, Patty! Yeah, Terminal is where he first met Manson and after their releases all the "industry" introductions and such. I just find it so odd that the LAPD would even consider him as the family leader!
ahh, interesting, orwhut! thanks! i guess i never thought of him being so involved in day-to-day family life before. there are never any stories of him living with the family or them with him. i guess he'd have to have been close to be such a huge supporter and promoter though. thanks!
21 comments:
Nice idea but executed poorly and not really funny at Ll
Was that Charlie Manson in the art work or Charlie Brown?
On an unrelated note, today is 40 years to the day sine Gram Parsons's death, after which Phil Kaufman assisted in the "theft" and burning of his remains...
On September 19, 1973, 26-year-old musician Gram Parsons dies of "multiple drug use" (morphine and tequila) in a California motel room. His death inspired one of the more bizarre automobile-related crimes on record: Two of his friends stashed his body in a borrowed hearse and drove it into the middle of the Joshua Tree National Park, where they doused it with gasoline and set it on fire.
Parsons' music helped define the country-rock sound, and his records have influenced everyone from the Rolling Stones to Wilco. But like many musicians of his generation, Parsons struggled with drugs and alcohol. His childhood was unhappy: His father committed suicide when he was 12, and his mother died of alcohol poisoning on the day he graduated from high school. He dropped out of Harvard and moved to California, where he played with bands like the Byrds (on their seminal album Sweetheart of the Rodeo) and the Flying Burrito Brothers and released two celebrated solo albums with the then-unknown Emmylou Harris singing backup.
At a friend's funeral a few months before he died, Parsons made a drunken pact with his road manager Phil Kaufman: If anything should happen to one of them, the other would take his body to Joshua Tree and cremate it. And so, after Parsons' overdose, Kaufman and a roadie named Michael Martin met his coffin at the Los Angeles airport (for complicated reasons involving a disputed inheritance, his stepfather had arranged for it to be flown to Louisiana for a private funeral) in a borrowed hearse with broken windows and no license plates. (The hearse belonged to Martin's girlfriend, who used it to carry tents and other gear on camping trips.) They convinced the airport staff that the Parsons family had changed its mind about the flight, loaded the coffin into the car, and drove 200 miles to the Mojave Desert, stopping along the way to fill a five-gallon tin can with gasoline. They drove into Joshua Tree and dragged the coffin to the foot of the majestic Cap Rock, where they doused it with the gas and tossed on a match.
Kaufman and Martin were arrested, but since stealing bodies was not actually a crime in California, they were fined $300 each, plus $750 for the ruined coffin. (They raised the money by holding a "Kaper Koncert" starring Bobby Pickett & the Cryptkeepers, who played their hit "Monster Mash" over and over.) Parsons' remains are buried in New Orleans.
Something got covered up there, no doubt.
Matt, I read somewhere that when Martin & Kaufman showed up at the airport in the hearse they were so drunk that they crashed it a bit just driving out of the cargo area with body in tow. LOL. Amazing they pulled that off.
Follow up on Gram Parsons.
San Francisco Chronicle Nov. 6, 1973
2 Plead Guilty In Theft Of Singer's Body
Los Angeles
Two men accused of stealing a coffin containing the body of rock singer Gram Parsons, 27, and burning it in the desert east of Los Angeles pleaded guilty yesterday to misdemeanor theft charges.
Philip C. Kaufman, 38, of Van Nuys and Michael D. Martin, 26, of Hollywood were given 30-day suspended sentences and fines $300 each on the reduced charge. Originally they had been charged with grand theft.
They were ordered to also pay $708 in expenses to the funeral home involved in the burial.
Kaufman and Martin were former business associates of the dead singer, a one-time member of The Byrds rock group. (AP)
I saw Grand Theft Parsons. As I remember, things were changed around a bit in the movie.
Patty cant get over Charles' using Phil Kaufman's address on a credit application. why would he do that? Its obviously a "Charlie joke" but whats the punchline?
just reading at the library at backporch, the LAPD manson family members "list" has phil kaufman as "in charge of family at present"
another "charlie joke" panamint patty???
Has anyone read Phil Kaufman's book? I'm on the brink of buying it and want to know if it's good.
Hi asphalt, welcome. not sure Patty understands your question but Happy Friday anyway!
Hi Patty!
Sorry, i've been a SUPER LONG TIME lurker.....
i was reading the LAPD list of manson family members and it had "Phillip C. Kaufman" and listed him as "in charge of family at present". i found that VERY odd.
Then, when checking in here, i saw your post about Manson giving Kaufman's address for his own on a credit application.
So, i was thinking along your lines, another "Charlie Joke" with no punchline, just trying to sock it to Kaufman? Like, "if we get arrested, say Kaufman is in charge" kind of thing,
I don't know...
Yeah, that's a weird one: also, Phil was at Terminal Island (Patty thinks?) for smuggling weed across the Mexican border. Things that make you go, hmmm (cough! BEL).
Nice to meet you.
Here's the credit app link:
http://www.eviliz.com/2012/06/ready-manson-handwriting-analysis.html
More about the Chandler Street address: http://www.eviliz.com/2012/07/ready-follow-up-to-handwriting-analysis.html
Super stoked to chat with you, Patty! Yeah, Terminal is where he first met Manson and after their releases all the "industry" introductions and such. I just find it so odd that the LAPD would even consider him as the family leader!
Asphalt,
Some people think Phil owns the rights to the Lie Album. Maybe that has something to do with him being listed as leader.
ahh, interesting, orwhut! thanks! i guess i never thought of him being so involved in day-to-day family life before. there are never any stories of him living with the family or them with him. i guess he'd have to have been close to be such a huge supporter and promoter though. thanks!
I actually own a Manson self portrait, hope it worth more than they are selling them for.
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