 On March 9 , 1968 , the band decamped to Columbia 's recording studios in Nashville , Tennessee , with Clarence White in tow , to begin the recording sessions for the Sweetheart of the Rodeo album . While in Nashville , the Byrds also appeared at the Grand Ole Opry on March 15 , 1968 , where they performed the Merle Haggard song " Sing Me Back Home " and Parsons ' own " Hickory Wind " ( although they were actually scheduled to play a second Haggard song , " Life in Prison " ) . Being the first group of hippie " longhairs " ever to play at the venerable country music institution , the band was met with heckling , booing , and mocking calls of " tweet , tweet " from the conservative Opry audience . 
