I own a vinyl copy of Sweetheart of the Rodeo but never got it until 1978. The original was released in 1968 and, although the intention was never there, it became one of the hallmarks of country rock music. It was the “coming out party” of a young prodigy named Gram Parsons.

As a Byrds fan I didn’t know where they were going. I heard Notorious Byrd Brothers and like Mr. Spaceman but there other stuff was out there. I guess I wasn’t as forward thinking as I thought because McGuinn was actually doing what the Beatles were doing only without a George Martin around. He was experimenting with bluegrass music and a Moog synthesizer and it was not the jingle-jangle sound I liked in the past.

Parsons, as it turned out, was an amazing talent but a loose cannon. McGuinn eventually fired him but not before he put his mark on the album, and the English tour introduced him to Keith Richards. That meeting led to a change in focus by the Stones. Parsons returned to the U.S. and, with former-Byrd Chris Hillman, formed the Flying Burrito Brothers.

In 1972-73 we used to play You Ain’t Going Nowhere ( a Bob Dylan tune) and Hickory Wind, the latter a Parsons song and it led to a greater understanding of country rock. Then The Eagles came out and the line was effectively crossed for good.