The International Submarine Band was a short-lived act, but an important one. It was a group that set a young Gram Parsons on his path to becoming the country-rock trailblazer he is remembered as today. The band’s sound contained that prototypical psychedelic folk-country-rock that only evolved during Parsons’ time in The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and eventually his renowned solo work.
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While it never went the depth nor the distance, the International Submarine Band will forever be remembered as the band that started it all.
Behind the Name
Parsons formed the International Submarine Band in the mid-1960s around the time of his brief stint studying theology at Harvard. It was there that he gained an interest in country music and began playing with a group of musicians involved in the Boston-area folk scene.
He would soon meet a fellow Harvard theology student named John Nuese and together they would form the International Submarine Band, the earliest iteration consisting of Parsons as frontman and Nuese on guitar with the addition of bassist Ian Dunlop and drummer Mickey Gauvin.
For their band name, the group reportedly took inspiration from a 1934 comedy short, titled “Mike Fright,” from the Our Gang series, a film franchise best known today as The Little Rascals. In the short, there is a call for auditions for a radio station’s new musical act. Several child performers heed the call, including The International Silver String Submarine Band, a motley crew of kids with handmade instruments who deliver a rousing rendition of “The Man On The Flying Trapeze.”
Check out the fictional rag-tag band that inspired the group below.
As the International Submarine Band, the group would only produce one full-length album, the 1968 issued Safe at Home. By the time of the album’s recording, Dunlop and Gauvin had departed and session musicians were employed to round out the group. By the time the album was released, the band itself was no more.
Photo by J. B. Cuny/FPG/Archive Photos/Getty Images
