Sold Date: May 5, 2024
Start Date: April 27, 2024
Final Price: $29.99 (USD)
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The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo was not the first important country-rock album ( managed that feat with 's debut ), and the Byrds were hardly strangers to country music, dipping their toes in the twangy stuff as early as their second album. But no major band had gone so deep into the sound and feeling of classic country (without parody or condescension) as the Byrds did on Sweetheart; at a time when most rock fans viewed country as a musical "L'il Abner" routine, the Byrds dared to declare that C&W could be hip, cool, and heartfelt. Though  had joined the band as a pianist and lead guitarist, his deep love of C&W soon took hold, and  and  followed his lead; significantly, the only two original songs on the album were both written by  (the achingly beautiful "Hickory Wind" and "One Hundred Years from Now"), while on the rest of the set classic tunes by , , and  were sandwiched between a pair of twanged-up  compositions. While many cite this as more of a  album than a Byrds set, given the strong country influence of 's and 's later work, it's obvious  didn't impose a style upon this band so much as he tapped into a sound that was already there, waiting to be released. If the Byrds didn't do country-rock first, they did it brilliantly, and few albums in the style are as beautiful and emotionally affecting as this.


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