‘Sweet Virginia’ and the Stones’ Country Turn: No Brian Jones, but Gram Parsons and Mick Taylor Carried the Twang

By 1972 Brian Jones had been dead for three years, so he had nothing to do with “Sweet Virginia.” Instead, the song’s country soul came from two key outsiders: guitarist Mick Taylor, who replaced Jones, and friend Gram Parsons, who sang backing vocals and pushed the band deeper into Nashville territory. Taylor’s slide guitar—played on a Gibson Firebird—gives the track that lonesome, weeping feel, while Parsons’ harmonies add a dust-and-bour