[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="August 30, 1968 - Sweetheart of the Rodeo"]
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As the sixth studio album from The Byrds, Sweetheart of the Rodeo has beautiful sound with a clear country (or should I say, Rodeo?) sound to it. In fact, I think the reason its on this list is mainly because when this album was released, in the Summer of 1968, most of the mainstream music was psychadelic rock. And so was much of the music previously released by The Byrds, although they did experiment with some country-influenced tracks on past albums. But this album has a different core to it, which comes partially from the addition of Gram Parsons. Gram joined the band before they recorded Sweetheart of the Rodeo, and as the result of tensions between him and the rest of the band members, ended up leaving the band around the time that the album was released on August 30th. The country influence came mainly from Parsons, although the album initially started as a concept album to outline American music history, with different styles including jazz and blues. Clearly, that idea was scrapped.
The album that remains is beautifully defined and is really relaxing to listen to! In fact, it actually reminds me a bit of the Avett Brothers debut release - the slow banjo and slightly wavered vocal lines have this unsettled sound that instantly brought the Avett Brothers to mind. Very cool.
This album was an attempt to bring country music into the mainstream, but it ended up alienating many of The Byrds previous fans due to the sudden change of their style (which, at the time, was psychadelic rock...and it was popular).
I'll keep this short, since the album is pretty self-explanatory when you listen to it. Its definitely a great, enjoyable one to listen to though, and I think you'll like it.
Track Listing
Side One
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As the sixth studio album from The Byrds, Sweetheart of the Rodeo has beautiful sound with a clear country (or should I say, Rodeo?) sound to it. In fact, I think the reason its on this list is mainly because when this album was released, in the Summer of 1968, most of the mainstream music was psychadelic rock. And so was much of the music previously released by The Byrds, although they did experiment with some country-influenced tracks on past albums. But this album has a different core to it, which comes partially from the addition of Gram Parsons. Gram joined the band before they recorded Sweetheart of the Rodeo, and as the result of tensions between him and the rest of the band members, ended up leaving the band around the time that the album was released on August 30th. The country influence came mainly from Parsons, although the album initially started as a concept album to outline American music history, with different styles including jazz and blues. Clearly, that idea was scrapped.
The album that remains is beautifully defined and is really relaxing to listen to! In fact, it actually reminds me a bit of the Avett Brothers debut release - the slow banjo and slightly wavered vocal lines have this unsettled sound that instantly brought the Avett Brothers to mind. Very cool.
This album was an attempt to bring country music into the mainstream, but it ended up alienating many of The Byrds previous fans due to the sudden change of their style (which, at the time, was psychadelic rock...and it was popular).
I'll keep this short, since the album is pretty self-explanatory when you listen to it. Its definitely a great, enjoyable one to listen to though, and I think you'll like it.
Track Listing
Side One
- You Ain't Going Nowhere
- I Am A Pilgrim
- Christian Life
- You Don't Miss Your Water
- You're Still On My Mind
- Pretty Boy Floyd
Side Two
- Hickory Wind
- One Hundred Years From Now
- Blue Canadian Rockies
- Life In prison
- Nothing Was Delivered
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