Worth Checking OutÖ by Dana Eric Misenheimer copyright 2004
Yes folks, it was bound to happen sooner or later. In fact, it was inevitable that this writerís favorite band of all time would someday make its first appearance in ìWorth Checking Outî. In a lifespan that can officially be documented from Thanksgiving Day in 1964 when they adopted their name over dinner, to their last gig on February 24, 1973 (except when three of the original members played three shows together in 1989 under the bandís name to retain the rights to it), the Byrds flew head first into history by arguably inventing and certainly developing as pioneers at least four sub-genres of rock and roll.
With the initial lineup of Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, Gene Clark, and Michael Clarke, the group introduced America and the world to folk-rock and psychedelic music. Later, with Gram Parsons, and subsequently Clarence J. White and Gene Parsons (no relation to Gram Parsons), they trailblazed the entire country-rock and Americana movements, becoming one of the most instrumentally potent live bands of all time. By the time the band nested for good in 1973, the Byrds and its members past and present had indelibly permeated the American musical landscape with a legacy that is still resonating soundly throughout the rock, country, and folk idioms to this very day.
Because the Byrds have such an eventful and storied history, one column could never come close to examining everything theyíve contributed to music. I can say with certainty that other periods in the bandís life will undoubtedly get scrutinized in future articles. However, due to its second reissue in recent years with even more bonus cuts than its first reissue, this month ìWorth Checking Outî will be taking an intimate look at the Byrdís 1968 release, the legendary and pivotal Sweetheart of The Rodeo.
Originally released on August 30, 1968, Sweetheart of The Rodeo was a departure for the Byrds due to sweeping personnel changes. It was the brief stopover for Gram Parsons between the International Submarine Band and the Flying Burrito Brothers. With the band down to just two original members, gentleman flight commander Roger McGuinn and bassist Chris Hillman, the album historically serves as the bridge between the original folk-rock and psychedelic incarnation of the Byrds, and the latter-day Americana pioneers that featured McGuinn leading a squadron of some of the finest musicians around on a flight through the traditional roots of American music.
To discuss Sweetheart of The Rodeo, the focus clearly falls on Gram Parsons, especially the way the second repackaging of the album is laid out. When Columbia reissued all the Byrdís albums between 1996 and 2000, Sweetheart ñ first reissued in 1997 - was given the same grand treatment as all the other albums. Columbia opened up its vaults for every album in the Byrdís catalog and added unreleased tracks, studio chatter, and even old radio promos that illuminated the bandís creative output far beyond the official releases. For years Gram Parsons had described a whole series of alternate takes that featured him singing lead on several songs on Sweetheart; however, McGuinn was featured on lead vocals when the original vinyl LP came out. It turns out they had been replaced because of a legal twist explained later in this article, but Columbia dug them up and included them on the first reissue. For Gram Parsons and Byrds fans, it was the realization of crucial missing chapters in the histories of both parties.
If the first reissue was a treat for Parsons fans, then the second reissue has to be described as a treasure trove of Parsons material that not only includes even more alternate takes, demos, and rehearsal recordings, but six tracks by Parsonsí pre-Byrds band, the much referred to but seldom heard, International Submarine Band. Expanded from a single disc to two, this unexpected and remarkable reissue from 2003 is entitled Sweetheart of The Rodeo, Legacy Edition.
Some background is needed to explain the events that led to the creation of the original album. In the fall of 1967 as the sessions for the Byrdís previous album, The Notorious Byrd Brothers, were progressing, a long simmering rift between David Crosby and his band mates came to a head, resulting in his firing from the band. Original drummer Michael Clarke quit in November, and McGuinn and Hillman finished the album with session musicians. With the band truly being under McGuinnís dominion, he and Hillman signed a new, seven-year contract with Columbia in February of 1968, two weeks before the first Sweetheart session in Nashville.
Initially, the concept of the record was to be an ambitious two record journey covering the previous one hundred plus years in American popular music. That changed with the addition of Gram Parsons to the Byrds. Invited by Chris Hillman to audition for the band just prior to the recording sessions, Parsons had previously done the folk singer routine, been a member of the Shilohs, and in 1967 he recorded what many consider to be the first country-rock album, Safe at Home, with the International Submarine Band. Parsons was from Florida and had a love for all kinds of southern music. While the two original Byrds wanted to refill the band with sidemen, Parsons came in with a vision he could not contain and was literally driven by, subsequently steering his new band mates directly towards authentic country music with his enthusiasm and legitimacy.
Up until this time in history, country music and rock music were two different genres that were drastically polarized, even though they actually shared the same bloodline and neither one could be played without the guitar. Country was redneck music, and rock was played and listened to by hippies. Gram Parsons, however, had a dream of playing country music with rock dynamics in such a way that would bring the audiences of both styles together. Although the Byrds had included country music on their records going back to their second album, what had been an occasional diversion became the complete focus of the album Sweetheart of The Rodeo and an early milestone in Parsonsí quest to fuse the two music forms in credible fashion.
With the addition of drummer Kevin Kelley - who had previously been a member of the Rising Sons with Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal and happened to be Chris Hillmanís cousin - the Byrds convened at Columbiaís Nashville studios on March 9, 1968 and began recording the groundbreaking album by rolling tape on Bob Dylanís ìYou Ainít Going Nowhere.î With some of the most highly regarded session musicians in country music history augmenting the bandís recordings for the album, the expanded personnel consisted of Earl P. Ball on piano, Jon Corneal on drums, Lloyd Green and Jay Dee Maness on steel guitars, Roy M. Huskey on bass, John Hartford on banjo and guitar, and previous collaborator and future Byrd Clarence J. White on guitar.
The material selected for the original release was a cross section of traditional country and bluegrass. Only two of the songs were penned by a member of the band, and they were both by Gram Parsons. The now classic ìHickory Windî and the equally legitimate ìOne Hundred Years From Nowî fit seamlessly into the repertoire, validating Parsonsí authenticity in the realm of country music. It should be noted that McGuinn and Hillman are credited with the authorship of ìI Am a Pilgrim,î but that is misleading. This song is what is described as ìtraditionalî because of its non-traceable origins, but it was first recorded in 1946 by Merle Travis with him fully acknowledging he learned it from a black prisoner at the Elkton, Kentucky jail. By the time the Byrds recorded it, the song had become something of a standard, with Clarence J. White having already played and recorded it with his former bluegrass band, the Kentucky Colonels.
However important the album is now regarded, by the time it was first released, it left a lot of people scratching their heads and Gram Parsons was not even a member of the band any longer. There were a number of roadblocks to the bandís endeavors as they attempted to win credibility with their new direction. While in Nashville, they performed two songs on the Grand Ole Opry that caused them to be treated like longhaired interlopers by the contemptuous redneck audience. In kind, the bandís loyal hippie fans were puzzled by the bandís immersion into the enemyís territory: redneck country music. Many of Gram Parsonsí lead vocals on the album had to be replaced with Roger McGuinnís because of threatened litigation by Lee Hazlewood. Lee Hazlewood is most famous for his duets with, and production of, Nancy Sinatra. Together, they did the original version of ìJacksonî which was later a hit for Johnny Cash and June Carter. Hazlewood had previously signed the International Submarine Band to his LHI label and claimed to have Parsons under contract. When he caught wind of Parsonsí involvement in Sweetheart of The Rodeo, he threatened to sue Columbia and they backed down, minimizing Parsonsí involvement in the finished album. The final curtain fell on Parsonsí membership in the Byrds while they were on tour in England. The band had taken on some dates with the support of Doug Dillard on banjo, and they were playing London on the eve of a ten-day tour of South Africa. After hanging out with Keith Richards and being appraised of the apartheid situation in South Africa by him, Parsons quit the band on July 8, 1968, fifty-four days before Sweetheart was released. It should be stated that it might just have been a convenient excuse. The band had it in their contract that they would only play to integrated audiences, and Parson was hanging out with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, starting the nasty habits that ultimately took his life in 1973.
Among some of the most intriguing tracks included on Sweetheart of The Rodeo, Legacy Edition are six cuts by the International Submarine Band. Three of the tracks predate the LHI release Safe at Home. The ISB recorded two singles for Columbia in 1966, and three of the four cuts are here for the first time on CD. Although the country influence is readily apparent on the cover of ìTruck Driviní Man,î the other two songs are more in step with the rock music of the time. The first cut on disc two is called ìSum UP Brokeî and sounds like an early recording by the Jefferson Airplane. ìOne Day Weekî sounds like authentic Mersey beat. The other three ISB cuts are from Safe at Home and are more in line with Gramís country leanings, containing glimpses of what he would later do with the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and the Fallen Angels with Emmylou Harris.
The rest of the reissue is pure gold, as the original cuts that Gram claimed existed with his vocals are contained here in several versions that contain studio chatter and experimentation. The creation process is on display as takes are restarted and specific instruments try different approaches in a quest to find the best finished product.
In addition to the assemblage of so much of Gram Parsonsí handiwork here is the presence of some stellar musicianship by the hired guns that poured their best efforts into their work on the album. It has to be stated that the Byrds wanted authenticity in these recordings and they got it. These arrangements in their various forms are impeccable, not the least of which is the interplay between Clarence J. White on guitar and the pedal steel players who tear it up as his perfect foil. Teasing the steel players with their own licks by generating them on his recent co-invention, the parsons/white stringbender, White coaxes them into answering his challenge of emulation by getting the steel players to respond with to-die-for runs that espouse taste while dripping of virtuosity. Two instrumental versions of Kevin Kelleyís only lead vocal and authorship contribution, ìAll I Have Are Memories,î allow the listener to hear the interplay going down by the pickers without the obstruction of the singing. These are killer tracks, causing the listener to pause at times to sort out the steel guitar and the ear-tricking stringbender.
In conclusion, this is a magnificent reissue with thirty-nine tracks that all bear investigation. Because of his dominant presence here and his ever-growing legacy, Gram Parsons has gotten the majority of the focus; nevertheless, the two original Byrds have to be applauded for their efforts on these recordings. McGuinn and Hillman offer great singing and musicianship and should be recognized for their willingness to embrace this endeavor while allowing Parsons so much creative leverage. In October of 1968 as sessions for the next album approached, Chris Hillman would leave the band and join Gram Parsons in the formation of the Flying Burrito Brothers, leaving the Byrds in the capable hands of Roger McGuinn. Starting with Clarence J. White, McGuinn refilled the Byrds with musicians who would take the band even farther into unexplored territory while remaining respectful of the bandís origins.
The next incarnation of the Byrds is now viewed as the prototypical example of Americana due to their respect for tradition while continuing to evolve. It can be speculated that the direction the band went in next might never have been if not for the circumstances that gave birth to Sweetheart of The Rodeo. On this expanded reissue, one can almost hear the walls that separated the musical styles come crashing down. This is a sweetheart of a release that will delight the loyal while attracting the uninitiated into taking a Byrdís eye view of some essential listening. And as could be expected, anything by the Byrds isÖworth checking out.