The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo (ACTUAL THREAD HERE)

This went into regular rotation with me when I picked it up for a buck in 2006 and it's never actually gone away, and yet it always feels like this album I'm recently getting into - always fresh, always familiar. "100 Years" was my favorite for the first few years; since I picked up a booze habit it became "You're Still On My Mind." Thanksgiving this year included a 2 AM, everybody in a deep pleasant full-tummy buzz zone; someone had a guitar and we all fell into harmony for "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere." Feel-good music at its best, for me.

So, uh, should I check out their other records one of these days?

lol @ ACTUAL THREAD

Notorious is my fave
Dr Byrds the most underrated

Was hoping for burrito bros after but beggars banquet not too shabby

the alternate takes of p much everything on SOTR are better imo! gram's voice is better suited to the stuff. roger was admittedly trying to sound like him on the album takes anyway

actual thread here refers to the fact that the ilm thread was stupid as fuqqq

i know it's funny esp in all caps

ok ok i get it

― plaxico (I know, right?), Friday, December 25, 2009 6:14 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i love you!!! merry christmas!!!

― S.E., we runnin' this FAP shit (roxymuzak), Friday, December 25, 2009 6:23 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol i dont remember this at all

i think the guitar bits on the alt take of YSOMM are what lift it

i was pretty much able to sing the words of the entire album, me and the bartender were both just softly singing to ourselves but in unison at times, it was weird

that sounds nice

the lap steel stuff is kind of wild and all over the place in the alt takes! in a good way

not hatin but so-called naysayer thread has some interesting shit to say about the album & its place, this thread is just "fuck yeah, sweetheart of the rodeo"

this isnt even true! that thread is 100% "why do people like this? i don't like this" plus the occasional well known fact about the album

the post on that thread that says "post-byrds you could never buy a country album with confidence that the singer would be competent, therefore this album is a dud" or w/e - so much RONG RONG RONG

rip competence

its sad, it was a quality

I had no use for it but R.I.P. anyway

mcguinn is good even though he's obv frontin a bit on sweethearts

he sounds great, and hillman is the most competent harmony singer maybe ever imo

gram sounds A+++

(on the alt takes on this. i dont really care for his solo stuff. can't step to his vox tho in general)

hillman is super smooth, his vocals on gilded palace get overlooked

otm

pulled this out for the first time in a while when i had a half-hour drive to do for work, on a sunny morning at the beginning of fall, perfect soundtrack.

Others find pleasure in things I despise

this album should absolutely not work with my tastes, but I love it

just posted this on rolling country, but then realized this belongs on a proper sweetheart of the rodeo thread. so cutting & pasting:

roger mcguinn, chris hillman and marty stuart & his fabulous superlatives, sweetheart of the rodeo full album show, los angeles, tuesday night. opening night of a short-ish tour. it was ragged, loose, occasionally awkward and more than occasionally great. they did one set of truncated versions of hits and deep cuts, and then the sweetheart of the rodeo set, played in full but out of order. i got the sense that stuart and the superlatives rehearsed thoroughly on their own and mcguinn and hillman maybe not so much. they missed cues left and right, were looking down frequently for chords and lyrics, and while hillman's voice was in good form, mcguinn was having a little trouble cutting through. but their instincts for harmony are still dead-on, and stuart fit right into that. i felt like i was watching a band still working out its sound, and as a result, when something gelled, when they hit a sweet spot, it was magical. like watching a band discover itself in real time. and that second set was way better than the first. it felt like having a piece of my own dna read back to me. maybe they felt the same.

encore: two byrds classics and three tom petty classics. i was wondering if maybe they would be able to coax david crosby (who i assume still lives here though i have no idea) onto the stage for a song or two. instead we got mike campbell, who joined for "american girl" -- after which they kicked him off and, strangely, played more petty songs without him. marty stuart did a bluegrassy take on "runnin' down a dream" (thumbs up) and hillman did a fairly faithful "wildflowers," which apparently petty produced for him for an album he put out last year.

they also told some stories. they're not particularly good storytellers. damn those harmonies though.

realized that this is probably one of my favorite albums. like, the sheer number of times I've thrown it on! and it's always a pleasure. really appreciating the sound and the instrumental performances this time around.

what is it exactly that makes it sound more magical/shimmery/full/psychedelic than just your average country record? is it the drumming? the organ?

used to think blue canadian rockies was the dud of this album, but it is now one of my faves.

It's always been one of my favourites tbh.

I love Hillman on that song; I get such feeling and a strange mix of confidence and vulnerability from his singing that I think he might be my favourite of all the vocalists they had.

Hillman is super underrated, great harmonist

classic

Seconded

thirded

One of my favorite albums to sing along with.

otm

One of my favorite albums to sing along with.

...said Roger McGuinn

...to Gram Parsons' chagrin

Was wondering