After a weekend full of roots music at the FreshGrass Festival, North Adams, MA, I had the very good fortune to find myself three days later in Albany, NY in time to catch Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, who with Marty Stuart and his band The Fabulous Superlatives were performing the Sweetheart Of The Rodeo 50th Anniversary Concert.
Artists taking a record they made fifty years ago out on the road half a century later, even those as revered as Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, could be taking a risk. No matter how iconic the record, even a classic like ‘Sweetheart Of The Rodeo’, could come across at best as a nostalgia trip. But any such misgivings were completely misplaced.
The two-set show was more than just a tribute to “Sweetheart“, considered to be the first fusion of country with rock, it was a tribute to the entire Byrds sound. McGuinn and Hillman gave a sprightly, engaging performance and adding Marty Stuart was a stroke of genius. Not only did he and his band add the necessary support but they added a freshness. Performing their own material and an encore devoted to Tom Petty just underlined the reach of The Byrds’ influence. This week’s ‘Classic Clip’ is the third of that four-song encore, ‘Runnin’ Down A Dream’.
In my entirely unbiased opinion any song from that magnificent performance would qualify as a ‘Classic Clip’ but I have chosen Marty Stuart performing a Tom Petty song with the two remaining original Byrds to show what a glorious amalgam of eras, sounds and interpretations this thing called americana represents. Though both perform, this clip gives only a brief nod to McGuinn and Hillman doesn’t appear at all. Its appeal lies in Marty Stuart’s mandolin virtuosity and the tight group around him. Marty Stuart and his band need no extras to put on a memorable show. With his Rickenbacker Tom Petty is a direct descendent of the jangly sound The Byrds created. He too took this in new directions so there really is little further to say than sit back and admire.
