Sweetheart of the Rodeo

Occupation

  • Vocals / guitar / banjo: Roger McGuinn
  • Vocals / bass guitar / mandolin: Chris Hillman
  • Vocal / Guitar: Gram Parsons
  • Banjo / Guitar: John Hartford
  • Drums: Jon Corneal
  • Drums: Kevin Kelley
  • Piano: Earl Poole Ball
  • Steel Guitar: Lloyd Green
  • E -Bass: Roy M. Huskey, Jr.
  • Steel Guitar: Jay Dee Maness
  • Vocal / Guitar: Clarence White

Sweetheart of the Rodeo is the sixth studio album by the American folk rock band The Byrds; their seventh album overall. It was released on July 29, 1968 on Columbia Records. In the United States the album peaked at number 77 on the pop charts. Despite the rather disappointing sales of the album Sweetheart of the Rodeo is one of the most influential albums in rock history, as it made known a whole genre, the country-rock, to a wide audience.

Although the Byrds had already introduced on Younger Than Yesterday and The Notorious Byrd Brothers elements of the country into their music, but far more economical than on Sweetheart of the Rodeo, which is why this is the first country-rock album of the band (and one of the first ever) went down in music history. Today, the album is considered a rock classic, it reached at the 2003 compiled by the Rolling Stone list of the 500 best albums of all time place 119

Prehistory

In the sixties, the gap between country and rock had become unbridgeable. It was equivalent to a sensation, as Bob Dylan, who already in 1966 in Nashville, Tennessee, with local session musicians had recorded his album Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding produced with a pure country album in late 1967. In California, a scene with country - inspired rock musicians had emerged in these years also. So in September 1967 published the International Submarine band around the long haired hippie and adhesion occurring Country musician Gram Parsons, the LP Safe at Home, which already met all the features of the Country Rocks, but remained largely unnoticed.

Genesis

After Michael Clarke had in 1965 and 1967 David Crosby left the Byrds, Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman were the only two members of the band. Hillman, whose musical influences came mainly from the country, succeeded in early 1968 to inject Gram Parsons in the band.

McGuinn had originally the idea record a double album that represents the music history of the United States of hillbilly bluegrass to electronic space music in chronological order. We went to Nashville, where the band was made up to Parsons recommendation by local session musicians. From that moment on, the Byrds consisted almost entirely of country musicians and an insulated Roger McGuinn. The first part of the double LP was completed under Parsons leadership in Nashville, the second, electronically oriented, should be produced in Los Angeles. It never came. Parsons got out immediately before a South Africa tour. The band had their musical head without contest the concerts and nearly broke at this task. Send to a completion of the second half of the double album was impossible to imagine.

The record company released the completed songs as album called Sweetheart of the Rodeo. The cover was taken from a mail order catalog for cowboy article from 1937. Because of contractual disputes with Lee Hazlewood, the rights-holder of the " International Submarine Band" material, the contributions Gram Parsons were subsequently reduced. Only two of his songs, Hickory Wind, and One Hundred Years From Now, were taken into account. Hickory Wind, the only piece in which the voice is heard Gram Parsons, is the highlight of the album.

Singles

Despite the poor sales Columbia Records coupled out of two singles from Sweetheart of the Rodeo. You Is not Going Nowhere appeared on April 2, before the album's release. The song peaked at number 74 of the American singles chart. The B-side Artificial Energy came from the former Byrds album The Notorious Byrd Brothers. On September 2, then came I Am a Pilgrim / Pretty Boy Floyd on the market, which did not reach the charts.

Title list

A-side

B-side

Republication

On March 25, 1997 Columbia released the album on CD with the following bonus tracks:

Record label Singing Kevin Kelley (musician) Lap steel guitar John Wesley Harding (album) Michael Clarke (musician) Bluegrass music Traditional music Luke McDaniel Woody Guthrie Cindy Walker Merle Haggard Tim Hardin Mr. Tambourine Man (Album) Fifth Dimension (album) Untitled (The Byrds album) Byrdmaniax Farther Along (The Byrds album) Byrds (Album)
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