Is the Byrds "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" part of your collection?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by JohnnyQuest, Jan 15, 2015.

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  1. Rfreeman

    Rfreeman Senior Member

    Location:
    Lawrenceville, NJ
    I'd definitely take Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson over Gram Parsons as a country singer.
     
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  2. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Wow. Either your country listening experience is really limited, or we have a serious difference of opinion.

    Parsons was an expressive singer who did well with wringing the emotion out of a song, and managed to make virtues out of his vocal limitations. But he wouldn't even be in my top 25 male country vocalists. I think in large part he stands out because of his songwriting and because he came up through the rock world and creatively blended country with other genres. But it boggles my mind someone would rank him ahead of Frizzell, Jones, Haggard, or Duncan in particular.
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2015
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  3. TraneLives

    TraneLives Active Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee
    One of the few recordings I owned in vinyl, CD, remastered CD, cassette, 8-track, Shm-CD, 180 gram vinyl, and SACDS if I'm remembering correctly.
     
  4. My country listening experience is not all that limited and I do rate Gram Parsons ahead of Frizzell, Jones, Haggard, and Duncan as a singer although Jones and Haggard are two of my favorite country artists and they all sing well. I guess we just have a difference of opinion.
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2015
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  5. Guy E

    Guy E Senior Member

    Location:
    Antalya, Turkey
    I think Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde was McGuinn's attempt to salvage the concept. The back cover photos communicate it better than the music, but the album incorporates country rock and the hardest rocking songs in The Byrds oeuvre.
     
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  6. +1
    Some of the erased Gram vocals were for the better (Water); some were not (Christian Life)
     
  7. +1
    I listen to it if I'm in a Parsons/Burrito mood. No other Byrds albums sounds like it at all.
     
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  8. :laughup: You think Clark moved on from that "hoaky drivel"? If ever there was a Byrd that fell down the country rabbit hole...Which albums/songs do you think this happened on?

    The Byrds cutting edge? I love Clark, but aside from him, in their pre-Rodeo era I always thought they were a Beatles cover band playing Bob Dylan tunes. Nice voices though.
     
  9. guidedbyvoices

    guidedbyvoices Old Dan's Records

    Location:
    Alpine, TX
    I've never heard it but do enjoy country and sky country and have meant to check it out for years.
     
  10. Could be said about nearly every Byrds album. :laugh:
     
  11. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    Wow, I just don't hear it. To me, he sounds somewhat forced when he doesn't sound, well, weak. He lacks any of the easy authority I equate with great country singers like Merle Haggard or George Jones. And I love singers like Lyle Lovett, who like Parsons are somewhat askance or parallel to mainstream country.
     
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  12. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    It's interesting to ponder how it might have been different. I think it would really have taken a lot, though. Resistance to "outsiders" was high in the country world at that time. Even if some heavy hitters in Nashville had enthusiastically endorsed and supported the Byrds, there still would have been significant resistance from deejays and radio station programmers. And getting beyond the non-musical issues, it's still true that a lot of what's on Sweetheart didn't sound like the type of country that was getting played on the radio in 1968. Besides the rock drumming overall and the far-out lyrics of the Dylan songs, there are other songs that are more folky and bluegrassy than what was popular at the time, and come across as old-timey or retro. Only "Hickory Wind" and the Haggard and Jones covers really sound like the stuff that was on country stations then.
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2015
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  13. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Yep. Big difference of opinion. Let me take a guess though... were you into Parsons before you got into other country in general? Parsons seems to be the country singer for people who don't like country, and also the country singer who introduces rock fans to country. And in my experience, people who get into country through Parsons tend to rate him much more highly than people who were country fans first and then heard Parsons. I myself am in the latter category, having grown up listening to country and not being aware of Parsons until I was a teenager.
     
  14. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Yeah. It seems almost certain that if they'd tried to complete the original Sweetheart concept, the second disc would have had had a lot of the material that ended up on Dr. Byrds. Or else it would have had a lot of covers, since neither McGuinn or Hillman had other material that would have fit the jazz/rock/electronic concept that was supposed to close the album.
     
  15. Crazyhorse11

    Crazyhorse11 Hoser

    Location:
    Edmonton, AB
    I agree! A gateway to REAL country music though. Not this manufactured pop country that is mistaken for country these days.
     
  16. Nope. I was a big country music fan when Gram Parsons and I were both in high school.
     
  17. Tom H

    Tom H Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kapolei, Hawaii
    Hard to say, for sure. But Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, and Merle Haggard were bringing some edge to country music in 1968.

    In 1969, this was a number one hit on country radio:



    Most of what is on Sweetheart sounds more country than that, IMO.
     
  18. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Huh. For some reason, I'd thought you were about my age.
     
  19. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Most definitely. That was about six months after Sweetheart, I believe. It does illustrate how quickly things changed in country music in the late 60s. But I think it took established country artists like Buck integrating rock elements into their sound to make it acceptable to the country audience. I don't know that they would have been willing to accept the new sounds from "non-country" performers like the Byrds, though.
     
  20. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    Does this mean you haven't heard The Notorious Byrd Brothers? It was the album before Rodeo and it's brilliant. There are no Dylan songs on it, and in my opinion it's their finest moment. Country,rock,jazz, sci-fi folk, electronic distortion, and more, yet it all flows together wonderfully.
     
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  21. GodBlessTinyTim

    GodBlessTinyTim Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    I like The Byrds and I like country, but I don't like how The Byrds interpreted country.
     
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  22. The Byrds were very influenced by The Beatles early on and they certainly covered a lot of Dylan songs. A lot of bands take time to develop their own personality. I think "Eight Miles High" and many other Byrds songs are seriously cutting edge.
     
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  23. Ma Kelly

    Ma Kelly Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    Yeah I love their cover of the Beatles' If I Needed Someone...
     
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  24. ALAN SICHERMAN

    ALAN SICHERMAN Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH
    Sweetheart of the Rodeo was a pivotal album for popular music, and changed the course of
    Chet Atkins influenced country music to what it has become today.
     
  25. JohnnyQuest

    JohnnyQuest Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paradise
    I don't either. I love how The Byrds interpret Country. ;)
     
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