One of the first bands to fuse country and rock sensibilities, the International Submarine Band received almost no publicity in their brief lifespan during the mid- to late 1960s, but they would later earn a reputation as Gram Parsons' first band of note. While they sounded like a revved-up folk-rock band with a psychedelic overlay on their debut single, their 1968 album Safe at Home introduced the country-rock style and emotionally incisive songwriting that would be Parsons' trademark through his short but memorable career. Safe at Home would also be the ISB's only album with Parsons, though members Ian Dunlop and Jon Corneal would briefly resurrect the group for a 2000 release, Back at Home.

Parsons formed the International Submarine band with guitarist John Nuese, bassist Ian Dunlop, and drummer Mickey Gauvin while he was studying theology at Harvard in the mid-'60s. Parsons dropped out of college in 1966 and had the band move its operations to New York, where they began developing their synthesis of country and rock. Taking their name from an Our Gang comedy short, the International Submarine Band landed a deal for one single with Columbia Records, and while 1966's "Sum Up Broke" b/w "One Day Week" was a fine record, it received little airplay and was a resounding flop. Dropped by Columbia, the ISB next teamed with Ascot Records, cutting 1966's "The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming," a tune tied into a popular comedy film starring Carl Reiner and Alan Arkin. The flipside, a cover of "Truck Driving Man," was a prescient glimpse of the band's future direction, but the Ascot single fared no better than their debut. Around this time, the group also recorded an album, but it went unreleased and the tapes were lost.

Early in 1967, the band moved out to Los Angeles on the advice of former child actor Brandon DeWilde, who told the band he could get them into the movies. The International Submarine Band did indeed appear in a movie -- Roger Corman's The Trip, which starred Peter Fonda. However, the group's music was erased, with the psychedelic blues of the Electric Flag overdubbed on the ISB's performance. Still, the band benefited from its performance in The Trip, since it increased their profile in the L.A. underground; Fonda even recorded Parsons' original song "November Nights." However, relations between the bandmembers were beginning to fray, and Dunlop and Gauvin left the group in the spring of 1967. A few months later, Parsons' childhood friend Jon Corneal joined as a drummer, and they hired a temporary bassist in order to audition for Lee Hazlewood's LHI Records. On the basis of the audition, the group landed a contract. LHI's in-house producer, Suzi Jane Hokum, was hired as the group's producer and Chris Ehtridge was hired as the group's bassist. By the end of 1967, the International Submarine Band had completed their debut album, Safe at Home.

Although the group's fortunes were beginning to improve, Parsons left the band in February of 1968 to join the Byrds. However, he hadn't told LHI that he intended to leave the Submarine Band before he became a Byrd, and he had to sell his rights to the ISB name to Hazlewood in order to avoid a lawsuit; Hazlewood was also able to prevent Parsons' vocals from appearing on his first album with the Byrds, 1968's Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Following Parsons' departure, the International Submarine Band attempted to replace the vocalist, but they couldn't find any possible candidates. By the time the ISB's debut album, Safe at Home, was released in the spring of 1968, the group had broken up.

After Parsons' death in 1973, he became a cult hero among fans of country-rock, and Safe at Home belatedly found an audience as it was reissued a number of times, including editions from Shilo Records, Rhino Records, Statik Records, and Sundazed Records; the latter first added the LP to their catalog in 2001 and restored the rare monophonic promotional mix in 2022. In 2000, 27 years after the release of Safe at Home, Ian Dunlop and Jon Corneal revived the International Submarine Band with Fred James (guitars), Ben Keith (pedal steel guitar), Chris James (organ), and Jody Maphis (drums and guitar). Primarily a studio project that included material from a Corneal solo effort, John Corneal and the Orange Blossom Special, the new ISB cut an independent album, Back at Home; they soon broke up again. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi