Ah, the Byrds: Criminally underrated and one of my all-time faves. Perhaps unusually, I dunno, my gateway was the country era rather than the chart-topping chiming-Rickenbacker jangle-pop era. I still recall picking up that “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” CD from Record & Tape Traders in Towson, MD, taking it back to my summer squat at the DU house and, upon firing it up, quickly shutting the door and thinking, “Uh... This is WAY more country than I was picturing, but.. still... I think this may totally be my thing....”. Sent me down a Gram Parsons rabbit hole and then a Clarence White one, and there I remain to this day.
Anyway, back here in modern times, I fairly recently was looking to upgrade the recording hardware and software at home, scored a MacBook refurb, began goofing around with GarageBand and thought I’d do another set of “Woodpile” songs to help me work things out. Figured it’d also be a good opportunity to goof around on the acoustic instruments again and re-learn some things after years I the overwork wilderness. So...
“You Ain’t Going Nowhere” kicked off the Byrds’ Gram Parsons-initiated country rock era, leading off that legendary “Sweethearts of the Rodeo” from 1968. Yet another Bob Dylan cover of course.
“Tulsa County” is another cover, non-Dylan, off 1969’s “Ballad of Easy Rider “. Parson’s exceedingly short stay was done by then and the band was already deep into the Clarence White era. Best thing yet to come out of Lewiston, ME. King of the Telecaster and father of the pedal-steel-mimicking B-bender apparatus. Killed by a drunk driver in LA, 1973 while loading out his gear from a bluegrass gig with his brother. Just goddamn.
Also peak Clarence, and sung by him on the record, “Truck Stop Girl” is a Little Feat cover from 1970’s “Untitled”.
JK
You Ain’t Going Nowhere
https://app.box.com/s/u6so4to3p2i6cgp75d3tsf1v95eqdzsk
Tulsa County
https://app.box.com/s/uu0vh0s9er00d95msq5axxkbclpq5ipx
Truck Stop Girl
https://app.box.com/s/57o2tt3kbm5f5rjcht15tnms0944h0fs
No comments:
Post a Comment