Released on August 30th, 1968, Sweetheart of the Rodeo was released by The Byrds . By 1968, Co-founder David Crosby was out of the band due to his radical comments between the bands setlist at the Monterey Pop Festival. With Crosby out it looked like one of folk rocks most prominent groups was on the rocks. That changed once Sweetheart of the Rodeo was unleashed across the country . The saving grace for the band was new recruit 21-year old Gram Parsons. Parsons was passionate for country music at the time and was consistently listening to Merle Haggard and Buck Owens . Both Buck Owens and Merle Haggard were the pioneers in the "Bakersfield Sound" which is a subgenera of country music that originated in Bakersfield, California and incorporated electric guitars along with the fiddle and pedal steel guitar and was a musical rival for the clean and orchestral Nashville sound. To add that rivalry, Parson's insisted that the band record the LP in Nashville .
Sweetheart of the Rodeo is country-rock at its finest and would become a major influence in not only country music , but for many other country-rock oriented bands to come like The Eagles and The Marshall Tucker Band. The album kicks off with "You Ain't Going Nowhere". The Byrds always knew how to cover bob Dylan properly and this is their best attempt by far. Right from the start you hear the iconic and blissful pedal steel lick by session legend Lloyd Green and what follows is nothing short of a 3 chord masterpiece. The next track "I am a Pilgrim" is highly influenced by American bluegrass with John Hartford on fiddle and guitarist Roger McGuinn providing fantastic banjo accompaniment. You can clearly tell that Bill Monroe and Earl and Scruggs influences were sprinkled throughout.
The albums standout track though is Gram Parson's penned "Hickory Wind". 'Hickory Wind" is one the best country rock songs to date . Parson's lyrics tell of a narrator who is in a faraway city with a faraway lonely feeling . With a sweeping melody and Green's soulful pedal steel , it proved that Parson's was really in a league of his own. The song would gain even more legacy as The Byrds would play The Grand Old Opry . The Byrds already were on thin ice due to their appearance since the Opry weren't keen on long haired musicians/performers playing the now immortal venue . The band was supposed to cover Merle Haggard's "Life In Prison". Parson's refused and announced to the crowd they would play "Hickory Wind" as the song was a tribute to his mother who loved country music. Pure outlaw attitude.
Sweetheart of the Rodeo was a game changer in both country music and rock n roll. It proved that both genres can combine to create true Americana music . Without Parson's genus , beloved bands like The Eagles , and The Marshall Tucker Band wouldn't exist. On top of that, Keith Richards would become close to Parsons and the now Stones classic "Torn and Frayed" was influenced due to Parsons. For country music, the album and parsons would be the blueprint for the Outlaw movement which would go on to cement the careers of Waylon Jennings and Johnny Paycheck who would deny Nashville's rules and dress code (long hair)
This album is truly a work of art . If you haven't really given The Byrds a chance after they drifted from folk/psychedelic , you should because it will open your mind to country music . It did for me.
