One Gram too much for The Byrds

July 29^th – Oftentimes the case that your heroes turn out to have feet of clay, or at least not actually measuring up to the stature of the person/people you once thought them.

I think, as much because of my age and the age at the time, that I’ve always liked The Byrds. They sort of captured the whole hippy-trippy time and, as I’ve mentioned before in columns passim, Sweetheart of the Rodeo’ (SotR) is, for me, one of their best works. I think I’m from the same stable as most honest folk from the time that, no matter how girlie The Byrds can sound, they really did some superb work for the time and their social stance was spot on…or so I thought at the time.

A little about the ‘SotR’ recording mightn’t come amiss, just so’s I don’t come across like some miserable, grouchy old fuck…which of course you all know I am…

The Byrds were lacking in personnel around the time of that album and it was also around that time they met up with Gram Parsons. I’ve also mentioned him before too (The Flying Burrito Brothers). Difficult, tetchy, spoilt, selfish, brilliant, charismatic musician that he was, still he was the main instigator behind the songs and the recording technique used on ‘SotR’. Before that album, The Byrds were on a different track altogether (think 8 Miles High and All I Really Wanna Do) but Mr. Parsons’ input and general cajoling soon altered their direction…and Sweetheart of the Rodeo was the result; but only several months after Mr. Parsons had left the group in somewhat strange circumstances.

Even given their country switch, The Byrds still projected that right-on-with-the-people image…or, as I mentioned in the opening, maybe that was just an image we projected onto them…? So it came as something as a surprise when I read about Sweetheart of the Rodeo a long while ago and came across one of the suggestions as to why, on this day in 1968, Gram Parson’s split from the band, which he did on the eve of a tour with no forewarning. Now even for him that was a bit…left-field. To drop the whole band and its projected tour into the cow-poo…but when you consider that the  tour was to South Africa…at which there would be segregated audiences…and Mr. Parsons supposedly, quit ‘cos of that…? Well…it’s a mystery which is worth unravelling (for me anyway).

Gram Parsons was developing a fear of flying: 
The band weren’t prepared to acquiesce to his sometime childish demands:

Gram Parson’s just wanted to hangout with English rock bands, particularly The Rolling Stones:

Gram Parson’s refused to tour in a place where segregation was still operated purely on the grounds of race.

Take your pick, they’ve all been posited as reasons for his abrupt departure, depends on how charitable you feel.

As for The Byrds…well. The tour went ahead and was a disaster, the uncharitable amongst us would say;

Good

But… They were under-rehearsed having had to draft in a new rhythm guitarist (their roadie) and play to segregated audiences, something they were also, seemingly, assured by the promoters would not happen. They were vilified in the musical press for their lack of common sense and ridiculed for their naivety when they said in their defence that they thought going there and playing their sort of music;

‘might make a difference to the situation, which we all abhor.’

Don’t know what you want to make of that one; about who was right and who was wrong. Need to talk it through with them to get the full story, get the truth on that one… well not Mr. Parsons obviously. He o/d’d on morphine and alcohol in 1973, but any surviving others… I mean, Paul Simon got it wrong and Harold Wilson got it wrong so no shame in it, the shame is in misguided belief that rock music can alter the minds of politicos, and we all know the truth of that one.