 After returning to California , the Byrds ' released the Sweetheart of the Rodeo album on August 30 , 1968 , almost eight weeks after Parsons had left the band . It comprised a mixture of country music standards and contemporary country material , along with a country reworking of William Bell 's soul hit " You Don 't Miss Your Water " . The album also included the Parsons originals " Hickory Wind " and " One Hundred Years from Now " , along with the Bob Dylan @-@ penned songs " Nothing Was Delivered " and " You Ain 't Goin ' Nowhere " , the latter of which had been a moderately successful single . Although it was not the first country rock album , Sweetheart of the Rodeo was the first album widely labeled as country rock to be released by an internationally successful rock act , pre @-@ dating Dylan 's Nashville Skyline by over six months . The first bona fide country rock album overall is often cited as being Parsons ' earlier Safe at Home , which he recorded with his group the International Submarine Band . 
