Sweetheart of The Rodeo - Nashville Reaction and Touring

Nashville Reaction and Touring

Upon completion of the Music Row recording sessions, the band ended their stay in Nashville with an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry at Ryman Auditorium (introduced by future "outlaw" country star Tompall Glaser), on March 15, 1968. The band was greeted with derision by the conservative audience because they were the first group of hippie "longhairs" to play at the venerable country music establishment. In fact, The Byrds had all had their hair cut shorter than they normally wore it, specifically for their appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, but this did nothing to appease their detractors in the audience. The Byrds opened with a rendition of Merle Haggard's "Sing Me Back Home", which was met with derisive heckling, booing, and mocking calls of "tweet, tweet" from the hostile Opry audience. Any hope of salvaging the performance was immediately destroyed when Parsons, rather than singing a song announced by Glaser, launched into a rendition of "Hickory Wind" dedicated to his grandmother. The deviation from protocol stunned Opry regulars such as Roy Acuff and embarrassed Glaser, ensuring that The Byrds would never be invited back to play on the show.

Nearly as disastrous was the group's appearance on the WSM program of legendary Nashville DJ, Ralph Emery, who mocked his guests throughout the interview and initially refused to play an acetate of "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere". Eventually playing the record, he dismissed it over the air and in the presence of the band as being mediocre. Clearly upset by their treatment, Parsons and McGuinn would make Emery the subject of their song, "Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man", which was written by the pair in London in May 1968. The song appeared on The Byrds' next album, Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde, although this recording did not feature Parsons because he had left the band by this time.

After returning from Nashville, the band played a handful of concerts throughout the Los Angeles area with the addition of pedal steel guitarist JayDee Maness, who had played on several tracks on the album. Throughout April 1968, McGuinn came under considerable pressure from Parsons to recruit Maness as a full member of The Byrds, so that the band's new country material would sound authentic in concert, but McGuinn resisted, although Maness has stated in interview that he declined the invitation anyway. Having failed to recruit Maness as a permanent member of the band, Parsons next recommended another pedal steel guitar player, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, but once again, McGuinn held firm. Parsons' attempts to recruit new members and dictate the band's musical direction caused a power struggle within the band, with McGuinn finding his position as band leader challenged by Parsons, who was also pushing for a higher salary. At one point Parsons even demanded that the album be billed as Gram Parsons and The Byrds, a demand that was ignored by McGuinn and Hillman.

In May 1968 the band embarked on a short European tour and while in England for concerts at the Middle Earth Club and Blaises, The Byrds met with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards who both expressed concern over The Byrds' intention to tour South Africa during the summer. McGuinn remained undaunted regarding these concerns over the country's apartheid policies, however, having already received the blessing of South African singer Miriam Makeba, and convinced the rest of The Byrds that a trip to South Africa would be an interesting experience. This meeting between The Byrds and the two Rolling Stones would play an important part in Parsons departure from the band two months later.