Sweetheart of the Rodeo, the Byrds’ understated country-rock masterpiece, turns 50 this fall. To celebrate, band co-founders and Sweetheart masterminds Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman are teaming up for a tour dedicated to the landmark disc. Some Byrds fans might consider that enough of a reason to rejoice (these guys haven’t toured together in ages)—but there’s more. McGuinn and Hillman will be backed by trad-country champion Marty Stuart and his band, the Fabulous Superlatives. As every Tele-lovin’, string-bendin’ maniac knows, Stuart owns the sunburst 1954 Fender Telecaster that once belonged to the late Clarence White, another Sweetheart performer (White actually played a white Fifties Tele on the album, a guitar he traded to Bob Warford, who still owns it).
“On March 9, 1968, Roger McGuinn and I, along with many fantastic musicians, began recording Sweetheart of the Rodeo at Columbia Studios in Nashville,” Hillman says. “It was a pivotal moment in our lives, taking a turn toward the music we always felt a strong kinship with. We’re honored it has left a strong, long-lasting impression on country and rock.”
