McGuinn performed the song often as a youth, singing folk songs in coffee shops.
#The byrds sweetheart of the rodeo cracked
Like The Beach Boys pulling out the Bahamian folk song “ Sloop John B” or The Beatles doing the schoolyard chant “ Maggie Mae,” the inclusion of Woody Guthrie’s “Pretty Boy Floyd” is a cracked door to the past. Talk about a standard: any country singer worth his or her salt should know “You’re Still On My Mind” upside down and backwards. Originally written by the less-famous-than-influential rockabilly singer Luke McDaniel and popularized by George Jones, it also finds a home on Sweetheart. The Byrds are fully willing to participate: McGuinn draws out every syllable for miles with that low, sandy voice. It’s a testament to how country, soul and R&B were never quite mutually exclusive concepts, with artists from each sphere having plenty to teach the others. Not a country song per se but an R&B hit by William Bell, “You Don’t Miss Your Water” transcends genre lines and fits like a glove. Gram Parsons drawling this ode to abstinence and chastity like he has a head cold is pure joy. It also proves to be right in The Byrds’ wheelhouse. “The Christian Life” was originally a cut from The Louvin Brothers’ evangelical classic Satan Is Real, an album whose frequently mocked cover art depicted the country duo recoiling from a googly-eyed plywood devil in a field of incinerating tires. kids plead to bathe in the river of Jordan and reach the opposite shore. His honeyed tone was perfect for this sweet Christian devotional, in which a bunch of party-animal L.A. Hillman takes the lead on this gospel standard, written way back in 1898 by an uncredited author. When Dylan re-recorded “Nowhere” in 1971, he’d added a sly little dig: “ Pack up your money, put up your tent, McGuinn.” It’s a natural fit, even though McGuinn made a minor lyrical flub on the recording. The record company had sent the boys some demos from Dylan’s recent sessions in Woodstock, and “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” was one of two tracks they chose. In true Byrds tradition, the set kicks off with some Dylan. In honor of Hillman and McGuinn bringing Sweetheart of the Rodeo on the road for its 50th anniversary, here’s a track-by-track breakdown of the original album. If you dig Drive-By Truckers, Old ‘97s or Two Cow Garage, this early marriage of rock attitude and twangy woe reads less like a failed experiment and more like the Book of Genesis. But the hypnotizing, hard-luck sound resonates to this day. The results sold poorly, confused Byrds fans and polarized Nashville purists, and the group would never try such a radical genre experiment again. And they were going to play the role to the hilt by heading to Nashville and getting real-deal session players on it pedal steel player Lloyd Green, fiddler John Hartford, guitarist Clarence White.Īnd that was it: mostly standards, a couple of Parsons tunes, a Dylan or two for good measure. Parsons convinced McGuinn to ditch all the styles in his album tour of American music: they were only going to do Nashville country. Once he was within their ranks, the adrift Byrds were putty in his hands.
Needing a fourth member, Parsons was recruited by the Byrds’ business manager Larry Spector as the band’s pianist.
Feeling called to action, he briefly fronted a group with some of his fellow folkies called The International Submarine Band, who split around the time The Byrds lost their founding members David Crosby and Michael Clarke.
#The byrds sweetheart of the rodeo full
When it came time to follow up the band’s ambitious The Notorious Byrd Brothers, he was going to bring his Janus-like curiosities into full relief: a tour of all the 20th century musical styles, from primitive blues to electronic music. But a scrappy young songwriter outside of their camp had different ideas.Ī Harvard dropout with few real-world prospects, Gram Parsons didn’t give much thought to country music until being turned on to Merle Haggard around his 20th birthday. He ate up the American folk tradition, sure, but also modern-day aviation, cutting-edge gadgets and extraterrestrial life. Introduced to the world as Jim McGuinn before he renamed himself after a signaling protocol term (as in, “Roger that!”), he had an absorption in both the future and the distant past. Roger McGuinn & Chris Hillman of The Byrds Set Out on 'Sweetheart of the Rodeo' 50th-Anniversary…īut a few years later, McGuinn would start to strain at their sound.
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