Customer Reviews

Safe At Home

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It's been said that with the exception of a few missteps. SAFE AT HOME is on the par of SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO. It's equally good, I think the mistakes are exaggerated. SAFE AT HOME is definately at the top of most similar releases. Yes, "I Still Miss Someone" isn't quite as realized as some of the later recordings (Nobody does that song like Emmylou Harris), but it was a blueprint. There are marvelous versions of Country standards like "Satisfied Mind" and "I Must Have Been Somebody Else You've Known". The Parsons' originals are exceptional. "Blue Eyes", the opening track, doesn't get all the attention it deserves, but it's an excellent song. "Luxury Liner" is awesome, as is "Do You Know How It Feels To Be Lonesome". Once you press play, you can't turn it off. True, Gram Parsons would make better masterpieces later in his too-brief career, but SAFE AT HOME is the first, and after you've listened once, unforgettable.

TRACK LIST: 1)Blue Eyes, 2)I Must Have Been Somebody Else You've Known, 3)A Satisfied Mind, 4)Folsom Prison Blues/That's All Right, 5)Miller's Cave, 6)I Still Miss Someone, 7)Luxury Liner, 8)Strong Boy, 9)Do You Know How It Feels To Be Lonesome?

Anyone who loves real, honest, down to earth music should give this album a listen. Compared with all that has come since, it may be hard to put yourself in the proper frame of mind but hardly anyone was doing what Gram and his buddies did on "SAFE AT HOME" at the time. And even though this is technically far from being perfect, it represents to country music what the Beatles Anthology represents to Pop/Rock. Interviews I have read indicate that the musicians involved in this project weren't even the original International Submarine Band line up and that Gram was particularly unhappy with the piecemeal,overdubbed method used to record it as opposed to "live in the studio". In spite of all this the album has a timeless charm which captures Gram Parsons' talent at the moment it was about to kick into high gear. I first found this album in vinyl on a cut-out rack many years ago and while I later acquired just about everything commercially available by Gram Parsons, this will always be my sentimental favorite.

This is an interesting record, to say the least: I can't think of any other group that played Country Rock in 1967, the "Summer of Love" season. Even though this is one of the earliest published examples of a Gram Parsons performance on record, his voice sounds already very mature here and carries a lot of emotion. Furthermore it features some early examples of his now classic song material such as "Luxury Liner", "Blue Eyes", "Strong Boy" and "Do You Know How It Feels To Be Lonesome", later re-recorded with the Flying Burrito Bros. "Luxury Liner" has even more punch than the version covered later by Emmylou Harris. The real treat of the album though is a cooking rhythm section along with some great soloists, including John Nuese on lead guitar, J.D. Maness on pedal steel and Earle Poole Ball on piano. If you like pedal steel guitar, you're gonna hear some of the most sophisticated and progressive sounds on that instrument ever recorded. "A Satisfied Mind", "I Still Miss Someone" and "Folsom Prison Blues" remain as Country standards, but they are presented here in a fresh, unusual fashion. Try to get the mono version, the master is recorded on three-track!

this is not G.P.s greatest work but its still a very good cd.it is better than some of the later burritos work.DO YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO BE LONESOME is just as good as the burritos if not better.the song BLUE EYES alone is worth geting this cd.it a solid cd all the way thought.FOLSOM PRISON BLUES is kind of a let down.eveything else is great. you also get the great g.p. song LUXURY LINER on here. MILLERS CAVE is a song i think gram worte in his first band the shilohs. its great to get the chance to hear kind of where he started.if your a g.p. fan get this cd while its still around.

If you've never heard Gram Parsons, you will probably want to start with the GP/Greivous Angel album from 1972. However, this is a fine example of Gram's new tradition. He has literally forged a new brand of popular music, but this birth of Americana seems to come without any birth pangs. This album is guaranteed to give a peaceful, easy feelin to all true country fans out there. A must have.

Grams first "official" album and of course one of the very first "Country Rock" albums that started the whole thing.
"Luxury Liner" is the standout song here for me.
Gram would go on to more adventurous and even less adventurous styles over the next few years but this remains our very first taste of the future of LA Country Rock - forget the Eagles, buy this instead.
If there had been no Gram Parsons, the Eagles would have never happened.