2:34
Sweetheart Of the Rodeo, 1968
Written by Woody Guthrie, 1939
I know this song from the Guthrie and Dylan version. This one has a brisk tempo and some mighty fine bluegrass banjo picking by John Hartford. McGuinn's nasal vocals have an easy, semi-spoken pace, so you can make out the words easily. It's not an earth-shaking cover, but pleasant to listen to. I put it in the same category as the early Stones covers, where an artist does a slightly rockier version by an old master as an homage and a way to gain genre cred.