Sweetheart of the Rodeo [Legacy Edition]

Disc 1
1	You Ain't Going Nowhere
2	I Am a Pilgrim
3	The Christian Life
4	You Don't Miss Your Water
5	You're Still on My Mind
6	Pretty Boy Floyd
7	Hickory Wind
8	One Hundred Years from Now
9	Blue Canadian Rockies
10	Life in Prison
11	Nothing Was Delivered
12	All I Have Are Memories [Master Take - Kevin Kelley Vocal] Master Take - Kevin Kelley Vocal
13	Reputation
14	Pretty Polly
15	Lazy Days
16	The Christian Life Master Take - Gram Parsons Vocal
17	You Don't Miss Your Water [Master Take - Gram Parsons Vocal] Master Take - Gram Parsons Vocal
18	One Hundred Years from Now [Master Take - Gram Parsons Vocal] Master Take - Gram Parsons Vocal
19	Radio Spot: "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" Album
Disc 2
1	Sum Up Broke / The International Submarine Band
2	One Day Week / The International Submarine Band
3	Truck Drivin' Man / The International Submarine Band
4	Blue Eyes
5	Luxury Liner
6	Strong Boy
7	Lazy Days [Alternate Version] Alternate Version
8	Pretty Polly [Alternate Version] Alternate Version
9	Hickory Wind [Alternate "Nashville" Version - Take 8] Alternate "Nashville" Version - Take 8
10	The Christian Life [Rehearsal Version - Take 8 - Gram Parson Vocal] Rehearsal Version -  Take 7  - Gram Parsons Vocal
11	The Christian Life [Rehearsal Version - Take 8 - Gram Parsons Vocal] Rehearsal Version -  Take 8  - Gram Parsons Vocal
12	Life in Prison [Rehearsal Version - Takes  1 & 2 - Gram Parsons Vocal]
13	Life in Prison [Rehearsal Version - Takes 3 & 4 - Gram Parsons Vocal] Rehearsal Version -  Takes 3 & 4  - Gram Parsons Vocal
14	One Hundred Years from Now [Rehearsal Version - Takes 12 & 13 - Gram Parsons Vocal]
15	One Hundred Years from Now [Rehearsal Version - Takes 14 & 15 - Gram Parsons Vocal]
16	You're Still on My Mind [Rehearsal Version - Take 13 - Gram Parsons Vocal]
17	You're Still on My Mind [Rehearsal Version - Take 48 - Gram Parsons Vocal]
18	All I Have Are Memories [Alternate Instrumental Take 17] Alternate Instumental Take  17
19	All I Have Are Memories [Alternate Instrumental Take 21] Alternate Instrumental Take  21
20	Blue Canadian Rockies [Rehearsal Version - Take 14] Rehearsal Version -  Take 14

Barnes & Noble

For all intents and purposes, this is where country rock begins. All kinds of performers (Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, Chris Isaak, Cheri Knight, Steve Earle, Wilco, and the denizens of the Hotel California) have drawn -- in spirit if not in song structure -- from the merger of the two seemingly contradictory genres found on this landmark 1968 recording. The Byrds had hinted at an interest in traditional country music during their previous recordings, but the arrival of Gram Parsons (replacing David Crosby) made the shift toward Nashville a feasible one. Pedal steel guitar replaces the Rickenbacker 12-string as the backbone of their sound, and they covered the Louvin Brothers' "The Christian Life" and Merle Haggard's "Life in Prison" alongside two Bob Dylan tunes, "You Ain't Going Nowhere" and "Nothing Was Delivered." The 1997 reissue of this recording includes alternate takes of several tracks with Parsons on lead vocals. Before long, however, Parsons and charter member Chris Hillman broke to form the Flying Burrito Brothers, leaving Jim McGuinn to soldier on. The Byrds continued to make fine recordings, especially 1970's Ballad of Easy Rider, but Sweetheart of the Rodeo remains their most influential disc. Martin Johnson

All Music Guide

A lot of extras from the sessions for Sweetheart of the Rodeo surfaced before the 2003 release of this two-CD set, on both the 1990 Byrds box set and the 1997 single-CD expanded edition of the album. This deluxe edition, however, stretches out the body of material yet further, including everything from the official LP itself, the six outtakes and alternates from the box set, the instrumental outtake "All I Have Is Memories" (which first appeared on the 1997 expanded edition), and even a 1968 radio commercial for the album. And that's just disc one. For fans and collectors, the real bonuses are on disc two, which has no less than 14 previously unissued tracks, including alternates of "Lazy Days," "Pretty Polly," and "Hickory Wind"; two rehearsal versions apiece of "The Christian Life," "Life in Prison," "One Hundred Years from Now," and "You're Still on My Mind"; two alternate takes of "All I Have Is Memories"; and a rehearsal version of "Blue Canadian Rockies." That's not all, either, as disc two leads off with three of the four songs from the 1966 non-LP singles by Gram Parsons' pre-Byrds group, the International Submarine Band, along with three songs from the International Submarine Band's sole album, Safe at Home. For all that, a couple alternate versions that were on the 1997 expanded edition don't seem to have made it onto the deluxe edition, though you need a scorecard to figure that out with all the juggling that's gone on for the record's various configurations. So how is that added material, particularly the previously unreleased tracks on disc two? It's OK, and historically interesting in that several of the previously unreleased versions have Gram Parsons on vocals. Really, however, these songs don't differ all that much from the takes that made the final cut, and the variations are more valuable for the analysis of Byrdsmaniacs than they are for revealing different angles on the songs that were discarded. One gets the feeling that the material was picked very much with an eye toward Parsons cultists, particularly given the preponderance of Parsons-dominated selections on disc two, half a dozen of which (the International Submarine Band numbers) have no Byrds on board except Gram. Still, those three International Submarine Band non-LP cuts make a welcome appearance as they've been rare for decades, with that group's "Truck Drivin' Man" a clear indication of Parsons' country-rock direction, even if another of the non-LP single tracks, "One Day Week," sounds rather like the Dave Clark Five. Overall, this is a worthwhile and thorough excavation of the sessions that led to this early country-rock benchmark, though there's too much repetition in the form of the alternate versions to make this a great listen for the more general fan. Richie Unterberger