![]() According to several of those around Sammons, she turned over a copy of the song she'd mailed to herself in a still-sealed envelope (an age-old way of copyrighting a song) and received a one-time payout.Īnd so the story ends with a question mark. She didn't hear the Byrds' recording, but heard Joan Baez's 1969 cover version. Some remember her singing Hickory Windas early as 1963 when Parsons was in the Carolinas, and, of course, North Carolina is associated with the Hickory tree whereas Parsons' home state, Florida, is not. Johnson, Sammons lived in Highlands, North Carolina. But then rumors began to surface that, as a young folkie in Greenville, South Carolina, he poached the song from a blind folk singer, Sylvia Sammons. What else can life bring? Big deal with all the riches and pleasures - that wasn't the answer." After Parsons' death, the song was seen as the summation of his art. ![]() Fancy sports car and motorcycle back in my house in Hollywood. “Of all people in my high school class,” he said, “how many got out and did what I did? I was on the road and having adventures when I was 19 years old. We were in a down mood."Buchanan wrote the second verse ( “I started out younger…”). Gram had his guitar out and was working on the start of 'Hickory Wind.' We had both been back home and in a simpler time, and suddenly we were heading for Hollywood. I was getting a sandwich in the dining car and came back to the room. " I had gone back to Michigan to see my folks and Gram had gone back to see his family in Florida. "We were a little Hollywood weary," said Buchanan. Parsons' collaborator on the song, Bob Buchanan of the International Submarine Band, said they wrote it on a train ride back to Los Angeles from Florida shortly before Parsons joined the Byrds. 'Sweetheart Of The Rodeo' contained two new Dylan songs, but the highlight was Parsons' achingly sweet lament for his South of dreams and memory, Hickory Wind.Chris Hillman's high harmonies were exquisite. The LP cover, a detail from Jo Mora's 1933 poster for the Salinas Rodeo, was a stroke of genius. A great album that might as well never have been recorded.”For his part, Usher said that the LHI contractual issues were resolved during the week in Nashville and some of the vocals were redone at McGuinn's insistence to reduce Parsons' footprint. This cat, Gary Usher, decided that it should go Hollywood freaky. “They chopped up the album however they wanted,”he told Bud Scoppa. Parsons cited the South African dates as the reason he left to form the Flying Burrito Brothers, although the problem might have been that he'd just heard the test pressing. ![]() Shortly before release, the Byrds toured Europe before heading for South Africa. The album credits were cryptic, listing all the musicians in the 'Thanks to' credit line, usually reserved for the dope dealer. Some of Parsons' vocals were replaced, leaving him as a guest vocalist on a couple of songs. Lee Hazlewood had the International Submarine Band under contract, and considered Parsons bound by that contract. The Opry appearance at the end of the week was an omen that all would not be well, but the problems began before that. They recorded for one week with a few session guys and guests, including John Hartford and steel guitarist Lloyd Green. “George Jones in a big sequin suit.”Both McGuinn and Hillman were versed in folk and bluegrass, so country wasn't as much of a stretch as McGuinn implied.Hillman's cousin, drummer Kevin Kelley, rounded out the new Byrds, and they found twelve songs, cut their hair, and headed for Nashville. “We hired a piano player and he turned out to be Parsons, a monster in sheep's clothing,”McGuinn told Fusionmagazine. McGuinn had a vision for the Byrds' new LP, but Parsons overrode it. Hillman met Gram Parsons and invited him to join as a backing musician rather than group member. By February '68, Gene Clark, Michael Clarke, and David Crosby had gone, leaving just Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman as the Byrds. In contrast, Bob Dylan's 'Nashville Skyline,' released eight months later, was hailed as boldly iconoclastic and became a best-seller. It alienated the Byrds' core audience without finding them a new one. Neither hailed as an instant classic nor seen as polarizing, 'Sweetheart Of The Rodeo' was largely ignored upon release on August 30, 1968.
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