Sweetheart of the Rodeo: the quintessential country rock album, or just the catalyst for the new genre?
In 1968, folk/rock group the Byrds took a turn and directed their attention towards the development of a sound that would become organically country-rock. With an audience of rock fans on one side, and traditionalist Nashville country on the other, Sweetheart of the Rodeo brought an entirely new sound to the conversation. Perhaps now the most iconic album to emerge out of the 60s country-rock world, the album received very little attention upon release, but its influence can be felt far beyond its initial release. The Byrds were a group of musicians who were entirely talented in their own right, but after the Byrds, the members went on to contribute to a number of other musical projects that are so integral to the genre that it suggests that without the group, and without Sweetheart of the Rodeo, country-rock would not be the genre it is now. So, is Sweetheart of the Rodeo the quintessential country-rock album? Or was it just the catalyst for a number of other projects from members of the Byrds and the development of the country-rock genre?
Even the album art for Sweetheart of the Rodeo was distinctly Californian, it did not fit with the standard Nashville country album-art that typically featured photographs of the artist. Instead, the band used a piece of art from cowboy and artist Jo Mora. Mora’s artwork reflected his life working as a cowboy in California, and the 1933 piece that the Byrds used, titled “Evolution of the Cowboy”, had also been used to promote the California Rodeo Salinas, a major stop of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit.[1] For those familiar with the California cowboy lifestyle, the rodeo circuit and the folk/rock sound that came before Sweetheart, a connection between the California locationality and the sound of the Byrds became immediately intangible. The band made use of this art to really emphasise the separation between Nashville country and the new California country-rock sound. Despite other artists having used ‘the cowboy image’ in order to create a persona for themselves and their music, the Byrds were doing it in a different way. They were not replicating the ‘singing cowboy’ of the early twentieth century but were doing something distinctly Californian. The Byrds had a hard edge to them, an edge that would go on to be replicated throughout the entirety of the country-rock genre and this all started with the album cover.
Over their career, the members of the Byrds changed frequently and primarily focused on a folk-rock sound before their Sweetheart era as they combined the Beatles-esque British Invasion sound with American folk music like that of Bob Dylan. The five original members in 1964 were Roger (Jim) McGuin, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke. By 1968, Crosby and Clarke had left, and Kevin Kelley and a 21-year-old Gram Parsons joined. The decision to recruit Parsons, with his big ideas and passion for traditional country music, was one that would ultimately change the band more than they could have predicted.
Although a talented group, before the days of Gram Parsons’ short contribution to the Byrds, the group were perhaps a little disconnected. David Meyer, a music biographer, called them “Lord of the Flies with guitars”, an inapproachable group with big egos.[2] It is undeniable that the group had an immense amount of talent, but it seemed to be the addition of young and ambitious Gram Parsons brought about a kind of revival. Emmylou Harris suggested that Parsons “had one foot in country and one in rock and roll”, the very concept of country-rock was natural to Parsons.[3] Perhaps it was not a groundbreaking new sound to him, but simply the result of his Southern upbringing and natural musical ability. Despite the California country scene being a very tight-knit community, it was the music of Bakersfield country icon Buck Owens that ended up creating the initial connection between Parsons and the Byrds. The story goes: in line at a Beverly Hills bank, Chris Hillman met Gram Parsons and, as the Byrds were searching for a new member, encouraged him to audition. His position in the band was solidified when he “started singing a Buck Owens song” and Hillman “immediately started singing harmony with him”.[4] A connection between the two based on their passions for country music meant that they persuaded the rest of the group to make a country record. Perhaps without Parsons, the Byrds never would have made the move into country-rock. Not only did he bring the new sound, but he was also a passionate songwriter and penned two of Sweetheart of The Rodeo’s best songs: Hickory Wind and One Hundred Years from Now.
‘If Gram had never written another song, Hickory Wind would have put him on the map’ Chris Hillman said of the seventh track on Sweetheart.[5] The song explores themes of longing to be home and love for an idyllic childhood, a wistful song with no chorus that arguably became the most iconic of Parsons’ songwriting career. The general theme of the land “calling me home” is quite a typical country songwriting theme, however, as Ben Fogtorres suggests, Parsons’ songwriting brought something new that did not entirely fit the country songwriting norm, it was country but “with a rock-and-roll consciousness”.[6] He was able to combine universal longing with a personal feeling of loneliness in a way that clearly connected with an audience. With Sweetheart, the Byrds were exploring songwriting in a way that they hadn’t done before.
As distinctive as the California country-rock sound became, country music took several steps to reach the West Coast, with the first, and perhaps most significant, being Bakersfield Country. Emerging in the late 1950s, Bakersfield country combined rock n roll with the honky-tonk style, placing heavy emphasis on electric instrumentation and strong backbeats. One artist that really exemplified and developed the popularity of Bakersfield country was Buck Owens. A Texas native who used strong fiddle and steel guitar in his music, Owens was integral to the Bakersfield sound. A record like Buckaroo, an instrumental track celebrating steel guitar, feels like the origins of so much of the music to come. The use of steel guitar became the instantly recognisable sound of country-rock, heard on almost all of the releases to come out of California.
Sweetheart of the Rodeo was not a half-hearted step towards a country sound, it was driven forward by pedal steel guitar, banjo and fiddle all with a steady backbeat. The new sound fit some of the members perfectly, such as Chris Hillman who had grown up playing bluegrass and equalled Parsons’ passion for country music. Two of the tracks on Sweetheart were written by Bob Dylan, made before his most committed turn to country on his album Nashville Skyline. Despite a sonic difference, the connection to Dylan seemed to link Sweetheart with the group’s roots in folk-rock and their previous recording of Dylan’s music. To contrast this, there are also three reworkings of classic country songs, I Am a Pilgrim, Blue Canadian Rockies, and The Christian Life, the latter of which had lyrics that could not juxtapose the rock-scene more, a celebration of the simple Christian life. Why the Byrds decided to record this song is debatable; it could be that they hoped for a lyrical break into the current country audience, however, their determination to remain separate from the Nashville country scene suggests otherwise. Even during a performance at the Grand Ole Opry, they wanted to maintain their distinction, as Parsons changed a planned performance of a Merle Haggard song for Hickory Wind, a decision that was received very poorly by the prestigious institution.
The recording process of Sweetheart of The Rodeo perfectly reflects its mixed genre as it was recorded in both Nashville and Los Angeles. For the late 1960s, a rock group going to Nashville to record their new album was almost completely unheard of. “Nobody of that caliber, except (Bob) Dylan, had even come to Nashville to record before” Lloyd Green said of the Byrds, a pedal steel guitarist whose skill is heard prominently on the album.[7] They had enough self-confidence to take their rock roots to the heart of country music, “But the Byrds did it. They brought country and rock together.”[8] It was not just the confidence to record in Nashville that demonstrated their commitment to the country sound, but their choice of instrumentation too. Just how much pedal steel the Byrds wanted on the album came as a bit of a shock to Green as they requested that he fill gaps “everywhere” with his guitar playing; the pedal steel transformed this album to be unmistakably country.
Whether or not Sweetheart of the Rodeo is the quintessential country-rock album, it was an album that was able to “open the floodgates to the country-rock genre” as Chris Hillman said.[9] Upon its release Sweetheart was not the celebrated album it is now, perhaps it is only upon reflection that the album is appreciated as a starting point. The careers of the Sweetheart era Byrds changed and developed in remarkable ways after the group disbanded, and much of the music that follows has a significant country sound to it. Even as the artists moved into their own projects and musical endeavours, Sweetheart had a permanent impact on their sound. Both Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons were members of The Flying Burrito Brothers, a country-rock group that feels like it developed out of the Byrds. Parsons went on to record solo work, including his posthumously released masterpiece Grievous Angel. Chris Hillman had a remarkable career, and in my opinion proved himself as integral to the country-rock genre, playing in Manassas and the Southern-Hillman-Furay Band before forming his own project in the 1980s with The Desert Rose Band. David Crosby went on to be part of the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young group, a staple of the California country-rock sound.
Perhaps the other band that defines the country-rock genre is the Eagles, another American rock group that embraced the country sound on their 1972 debut album Eagles and 1973 follow-up Desperado. A group that was inevitably influenced by the sound of the Byrds, but now has a much bigger legacy. The authenticity of the Eagles’ music brings up much more of a debate than that of the Byrds with many people suggesting they were just capitalising on a developing sound. They were “just kinda handsome guys who saw an opportunity to smash a couple genres together with an eye toward the charts” American radio presenter Tom Scharpling wrote.[10] Even if the Eagles were not ‘authentic’ with their country sound, they still had respect for the music that came before them, and in this case, that music was from the Byrds. In the same way that Hillman and Parsons were inspired by the traditional country that came before them, the Eagles had a respect for the Byrds and the new genre that they were spearheading. In 1991, Don Henley inducted the Byrds into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in his speech telling a story about seeing the Byrds perform, and watching how they “not only pioneered folk-rock, but they went on to pioneer something called country-rock as well”.[11]
To conclude, Sweetheart of The Rodeo will remain strong as a pivotal moment in the development of the country-rock genre. The album brought about an opportunity for Gram Parsons to make one of the most skilled and personal musical contributions of tragically short career. Being in The Byrds gave him the opportunity to take a group of skilled musicians and turn them towards a new sound, something that would ultimately grow to become a new genre in itself. Whilst it was The Byrds that allowed him to do this, the influence that Parsons had in the creation of country-rock cannot be underestimated: “When you consider that Parsons turned [such] artists on to country music, then consider the millions of people they reached, you begin to realise the importance of Gram Parsons.”[12] Moving into the world of country-rock may not have been a natural evolution for The Byrds, and whether or not Sweetheart would have been made without Parsons is questionable. However, it is a result of a passion for the sound of country: the instrumentation, songwriting, and sentiments. In a 1985 interview, Roger McGuinn reflected on the band, stating that “We had fallen in love with country music in 1968… we were trying to do a real, sincere country album.”[13] Judging by its long-lasting appreciation, including a celebrated 50th anniversary album being released just this year, Sweetheart of the Rodeo might be both the quintessential country-rock album and the catalyst for the exceptional genre.
[1] Bill Reynolds, The Life and Times of Jo Mora, Western Horseman, June 4, 2021, https://westernhorseman.com/culture/out-west/the-life-and-times-of-jo-mora/.
[2] Bob Kealing, ‘Calling Me Home: Gram Parsons and the Roots of Country Rock’, University Press of Florida: Florida, 2012. 181
[3] Davis Inman, Pieces Of The Sky: The Legacy of Gram Parsons, American Songwriter, https://americansongwriter.com/pieces-of-the-sky-the-legacy-of-gram-parsons/2/.
[4] John Milward, Americanaland: Where Country & Western Met Rock ‘n’ Roll, 2021. 113
[5] Michael Hann, Gram Parsons – 10 of the best, The Guardian, 29 July, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2015/jul/29/gram-parsons-10-of-the-best.
[6] Charles Morris, “Hickory Wind – how Gram Parsons pioneered country rock with his signature song”, Financial Times, January 7, 2024.
[7] Sweetheart of The Rodeo, The Byrds, http://albumlinernotes.com/Sweetheart_Of_The_Rodeo.html.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Davis Inman, Pieces Of The Sky: The Legacy of Gram Parsons, American Songwriter, https://americansongwriter.com/pieces-of-the-sky-the-legacy-of-gram-parsons/2/.
[10] Elizabeth Nelson, “The Case Against the Eagles”, The Ringer, May 5, 2021, https://www.theringer.com/music/2021/5/5/22420083/the-eagles-glen-frey-don-henley-50-years.
[11] “Don Henley Inducts the Byrds into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, June 18, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ioQa26gDc4&t=308s.
[12] Charles Morris, “Hickory Wind – how Gram Parsons pioneered country rock with his signature song”, Financial Times, January 7, 2024.
[13] Geoff Edgers, ‘It was the Byrds album everyone hates in 1968. Now, ‘Sweetheart if the Rodeo is a classic.’, The Washington Post, August 16, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/it-was-the-byrds-album-everyone-hated-in-1968-now-sweetheart-of-the-rodeo-is-a-classic/2018/08/16/a2534a88-9a8f-11e8-b60b-1c897f17e185_story.html.
