Ten Favorite Wind Songs: Hickory Wind (#1)

Tweet

Back from the dermatologist's office! Things are fine, as usual. He swiped three moles, as usual, and made a lot of jokes, as usual. Now that it's behind me I'll wind up this wind series, where I've been looking at my favorite songs with "wind" in the title. Here's the top dog in wind songs to me. #1: Hickory Wind - Byrds In one fell swoop the Byrds went from being a folk-rock band relying heavily on Dylan songs to a country band, all thanks to the addition of Gram Parsons into the band. Their 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo is considered a landmark album in the "country-rock" movement that spawned acts like Poco, Linda Ronstadt, and the Eagles (along with many others). Yes, there were Dylan songs, but the introduction of Gram Parsons as songwriter, with his heavily-influenced country theme, made this album such a complete shift from the "Turn! Turn! Turn!"/"Mr. Tambourine Man"-era Byrds that you'd almost swear it wasn't the same group. This gorgeous, gorgeous, marvelous song is one of the highlights from that album. In addition, it's become a staple in country and bluegrass. The version that gets the most repeats on my iPod is the Seldom Scene's version, but there's also versions by Robbie Fulks, Richard Thompson, Parsons & Emmylou Harris, and Buddy Miller & Lucinda Williams that are just stunning. And the original is the most stunning of all. Thanks for reading. Hickory Wind Written by Gram Parsons and Bob Buchanan Recorded by the Byrds From Sweetheart of the Rodeo, 1968 Calling me home: