Sweetheart of the Rodeo
AfterChris Hillmandragged new friendGram Parsonsinto the Byrds, they made an album as close to a country masterpiece as a rock act could ever make. In fact, the only tunes better than the definitive covers here of songs byBob Dylan("You Ain't Going Nowhere"), Guthrie ("Pretty Boy Floyd"), and theLouvin Brothers("The Christian Life") are Parsons's originals, especially the incomparable "Hickory Wind."Sweetheartwasn't the first country-rock album, but with its gorgeous three-way harmonies and sweet pedal steel, it remains the best.--David Cantwell