I Am a Pilgrim - Hohner Musette Accordion

An African-American Spiritual performed upon my Hohner musette accordion, a 4/5 reed instrument in LMMM configuration. The sheet music is from "The Folksong Fake Book" published by Hal Leonard. This song appeared on the groundbreaking album by the Byrds entitled "Sweetheart of the Rodeo." Due to contractual problems with Lee Hazelwood and his L.H.I. label, Columbia Records had to re-record some selections on the album with vocals by Roger McGuinn to replace the originals by country singer Gram Parsons. Sony has released a version of this album which features all of the selections recorded by both McGuinn and Parsons along with the rest of the Byrds and several session musicians. Many cite this album as one of the first in the Country/ Rock genre and quite a distinctive departure from the Folk-Rock history of the Sixties group.

"Sweetheart of the Rodeo" was released by the Byrds in 1968 and features a nice selection of Country songs such as "I Am A Pilgrim," "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere," "Hickory Wind," and ""100 Years From Now."  It is a unique crossover album which combines elements of Folk, Country, Rock and "Cosmic American Music," a phrase coined by country artist Gram Parsons.  The complete and fascinating history of the Byrds has been captured by author Johnny Rogan in "The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited - The Sequel," published by Rogan House in 2008.  Rogan's initial book was entitled "Timeless Flight: The Definitive Biography of the Byrds," published by Scorpion Publications/ Dark Star in 1981.