Sweetheart of the Rodeo

Bit gutted the fellas went country. I'm supposed to like that choice; do not. At least it encouraged many good alt-country boys. Che my Parsons.

Bleh, stuck in first gear. I know I don't have a great ear for country but this sounds so flat. Harmonies are almost too locked in so they're totally indistinct, nothing interesting going on melodically or rhythmically, zero energy, I guess I'm supposed to be listening to the vocals and lyrics but those don't really interest me either.

Great album. I'm still partial to psychedelic Byrds and folk-rock Byrds, but yeehaw Byrds hits hard.

This one has been with me most of my life. I grew up in a house where folk-country and alt-country were sacred music, and this is one of the canonical texts. As a result there is a lot of it that I don't really care to hear most days... I only heard the hokiness and the schmaltz in the first few tracks anymore. Yet I'll never not love "Hickory Wind." In fact revisiting it for the project I realize how much I truly love the less prominent songs, which pushes it up to a four for me.

I thought The Byrds were a more general rock sound than this, but I guess I was wrong. This is pretty transparently country rock. It's also pretty good country rock. This is pretty meat and potatoes, so the aethetic here isn't as significant than the songs in my opinion. But they make up for it by being generally good. I wouldn't say this is one of my personal favorite takes on the country sound, but I did enjoy it. I may even check it out again in the future.

tipo assim. bacana que foi mto importante pro country rock e tal. e eh interessante como o the byrds realmente fugiu da zona de conforto do ROCK e caiu de cabeça pra fazer esse album aí.

mas eh aquilo né. meio xoxo.

Byrds are always nice to hear. This is their somewhat softer and more Country-tinged album. Not the most revered when it came out but probably their most influential Album. Responsible for a lot of stuff I like and a lot of stuff I find boring. luckily the Byrds know how to ride a song and always manage to stay on the interesting side of this. Nice harmonies, guitar playing and songs that fly by. Byrds albums are just a treat.

And suddenly, The Byrds have gone country. After the jangly folk rock and psychedelia of their earlier records, 𝘚𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘰 feels like a genuine break with what came before.

The shift is bold and the band commits to it completely, but I still find myself missing the sound I normally associate with The Byrds. The country material is well played and often charming, yet it never pulls me in quite as much as their earlier work.

An important change of direction, certainly, but not the Byrds album I would reach for first.

I have always found the Byrds to be pleasant yet twangy, skilled yet unimpressive. I don't like country much, and while early country has some great songs and albums, this veers a little too far into the stereotypical territory that would mar the genre in the coming years. The Byrds had strong harmonies, and a strong sense of arrangement—I just don't really connect with them.

Regarded for its influence on the California Sound, whatever that is, Sweetheart of the Rodeo is certainly an album you must hear before you die.

This sounds like The Byrds experimenting with Country. Gram Parsons definitely adds a flavor, more herbal than spicy. The ubiquity of the slide verges on annoying and feels layered on. And they don’t commit to trad country or bluegrass or blues (think Hank Williams). Hickory Wind and 100 Years are certainly standouts. Well executed and well crafted, mostly. Still feels like outsiders to the genre paying homage more than a deeply felt, sincere work.

Cool lookin’ cover though.

As for The Byrds, there’s good news and bad news when compared to their debut album, which I recently reviewed. The good news: On “Sweetheart of the Rodeo", they’re no longer trying to sound like The Beatles. The bad news: While their own sound is unmistakable, it’s nowhere near as exciting as what they released in 1965.
Instead, we get relatively smooth country/folk rock. It’s a valid approach, but it clearly doesn’t come close to “Mr. Tambourine Man".

country as fuck. and not in a good way for me

If you're a fan of the folky, psychedelic sound of The Byrds on their earlier albums with David Crosby, you might find "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" a bit challenging. Not only is Crosby’s distinctive voice missing from the harmonies, but it’s also a bona fide country and western album, musically speaking. If you can’t get to grips with that, this fifth album by the band will be almost unlistenable to you. It teems with pedal steel guitars, banjos and fiddles, and the songs are in a slow 3/4 waltz time. With this album, the Byrds were attempting a change of direction. Their success proved them right. "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" is the band’s last truly successful album, and they went on to release six more albums with various line-ups. But I simply find it dreadful. While it is certainly well-made — Gram Parsons, who was essentially a guest on the album, played a significant role — as someone with a phobia of country music, I find the album almost unlistenable.

Hard to see where the innovation was here, as it was just country by a non-country band.

3.82

Countryrock som är mer country än rock. You're Still on My Mind, Life in Prison och Pretty Boy Floyd bäst. 3,5 av 5.

If John Denver made a rap album, what are the chances you’d like it? If Jay-Z puts out a Christmas album, I damn sure wouldn’t expect it to be good. If Taylor Swift goes krunk, why get down for that ride? So, why would you expect a country album from classic rockers The Byrds to be any different? Experimenting with new styles is fine, but a whole soulless, knock-off album? Just stay in your lane and leave terrible country music to those terrible country musicians who make it their specialty.
On second thought, I’d like to hear the Jay-Z Christmas album …

The Byrds are not a band I really ever liked much to begin with; a twangy country version is going to be a struggle. I mean I guess it's cool that this was one of the first records in what would become a new genre, but like, I hate that genre. And I'm kind of getting tired of all these albums from 1966-1969. It seems that short space of time is disproportionally represented here. Of late at least.
It's pretty much what I expected, 'country rock' is not what I would call it though I can see how that genre came out of this. This is a straight up country album. Christian Life is hilarious. Unless it's serious and then it's not so funny so I hope it was tongue-in-cheek. If it was meant in jest, I would guess it went over the heads of most of the Christians anyway. But I really hate this album. Not the fault of The Byrds, I just hate this kind of music. The recording, instrumentation, vocals, etc. are all fine but goddam I can't stand it. Today is another day I have to remember that this list is 1001 albums to hear before you die, not 1001 albums you want to hear before you die. Was it an important album that deserves to be on this list? Yes I suppose so. But I hate it. A lot. 1/5

Context: "'Sweetheart Of The Rodeo' changed the world of progressive country music forever, and it was a wild thing to experience back in 1968." Rating: Sucks in 2026. 2/5.

What a nasty trick to play. I don't know EXACTLY what I was expecting, but it sure wasn't this.

The Byrds 'Hey Mr Tambourine Man' jangly 60s feel has gone and been replaced by this horrible wet turd. It can't be the same band surely? Ah I see there have been some "musical differences" between then and now. And the introduction of Gram Parsons explains the flat singing on the tracks he's permitted to sing on...and also the common denominator between this and his solo album. I couldn't wait for both to end.

Nasty.