#274 The Byrds, 'Sweetheart of the Rodeo' (1968)

Previously #120

The initial concept for this album was a journey through the history of American music. It would traverse genres from Bluegrass to Appalachian music to Country and Western, Jazz, R&B and rock music before finally settling on an early type of electronic music played on a Moog Synth. David Crosby and Michael Clarke had been fired. Chris Hillman’s cousin had been hired to play drums but the band found they struggled to replicate their recorded sound live as a 3-piece. A young 21-year-old Gram Parsons was recommended. The youngest member managed to convince the rest of the members to move away from the original concept of the album and record a Country Rock album, a burgeoning new genre.

The album is made up mostly of covers by artists such as Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie and Merle Haggard, with the two original songs on the album penned by Gram Parsons. The band on this record sounds completely different to the band on ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ (#287). It’s missing the harmonies from that record. This album was a major influence on Country Rock in the ‘70s and even further on alt-country in the ‘90s. After its release, Parsons left to form The Flying Burrito Brothers (#462) with Hillman. He would land up passing away 5 years later at the age of 26 years old from an overdose of morphine and booze. His short tenure with The Byrds, would go on to inspire thousands of musicians. Personally, I preferred their previous entry and Parsons’ subsequent band.

#rs500albums