| Mr. Tambourine Man | review #2 | 1965 |
| Turn! Turn! Turn! | review #2 | 1966 |
| Fifth Dimension | review #2 | 1966 |
| Younger Than Yesterday | 1967 |
| The Byrds' Greatest Hits (compilation) | 1967 |
| The Notorious Byrd Brothers | review #2 | 1968 |
| Sweetheart Of The Rodeo | review #2 | 1968 |
| Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde | 1969 |
| The Ballad Of Easy Rider | 1969 |
| Untitled | 1970 |
| Byrdmaniax | 1971 |
| The Byrds | 1973 |
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(Casey Brennan's review)
This album is very innovative because it blended the melodies and harmonies of the Beatles, and the folkiness of Bob Dylan into one style, and kind of brought a new maturity to rock n' roll. The Byrds with their six string electric guitar sound really paved the way for future jangly guitar bands and folk rock bands with its distinctive American sound. This album is considered a classic because of this, but I don't really think that it's altogether a classic album, to me -- it's just a good and sometimes excellent set of pop/rock songs.
We have the major hit, "Mr. Tambourine Man" on here which is a great cover of a Bob Dylan song. The album really shines on the original material though, especially Gene Clark, who is the most developed songwriter at this point. His songs "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better", "Here Without You", and his collaboration with Jim McGuinn songs, "You Won't Have To Cry" and "It's No Use", are the highlights on here. They are awashed in high harmonies and beautiful jangly melodies. "All I Really Want To Do" and "The Bells Of Rhymney" are the best Dylan songs they cover on here, because they both have engaging melodies, and are nice midtempo tunes.
The rest is all decent too like "Don't Doubt Yourself Babe", "Spanish Harlem Incident" and the promising closer "We'll Meet Again". For being their debut album, Clark and Mcguinn were surely becoming mature songwriters rather quickly. At the same time this came out, The Beatles had just made Help!, which was a new fresh sound at the time, so things were starting to change around this time, and bands felt the need to compete and better themselves as bands.
Well, it's surely the most revolutionary album of 1965 if nothing else. But it is something else. Ett eez qvite gut, ja? JA! I still remember the first time I really listened to the Byrds (beyond their radio hits, of course.) It was around Christmas, and I was going on a mission trip to Nuevo Laredo. I was in the back of a van. Leah was a seat in front of me, her older brother was next to me, and basically it was dull as it could possibly be. I popped in my Byrds cd for the heck of it (just a generic best-of style cd), and it blew my mind. Every song seemed so fresh, so fitting, and so frickin good! I made Leah's brother listen to Eight Miles High, too. And that day, a fan was born. Two days later, Leah and I shared a blanket on a very cold night (in an entirely platonic way...we were with the rest of the mission group.). The next day, I got the flu and started hallucinating. She got a cold. I thought I was one of the Beatles. I was the one who really sang Girl. Ever stare at a celing fan for three hours while singing that in the Abbey Road studios? I thought I did.
Well, anecdotes aside, this is an excellent album, though far from perfect. You know, I don't know that I can add muich original here. There's not a bad song, though there are some lesser good ones. The cream of the crop most certainly is the title track. It's easy to forget how revolutionary that song was, but it made Dylan go electric, got the Beatles going jangly on Rubber Soul, and started a folk-rock craze that turned into psychedelic rock withion a few years. Just on account of 2 and a half minutes of jangles and harmony.
Of course, Gene Clark's songs are good as well. I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better is the obvious standout, but Here Without You is excellent (and very dark) pop-rocker. Their Dylan covers are all pretty good as well, but I prefer the Pete Seeger cover of The Bells Of Rhymney. A pop song about Welsh miners dying....who but the Byrds? Jackie DeShannon's Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe is pretty good too. However, I genuinely adore the closing We'll Meet Again. Who but the Byrds would cover s song from Dr. Strangelove? I love it. So tongue-in-cheek. A solid 8, and one I give with not a shred of regret.
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(Casey Brennan's review)
While the excellent jangly folk-rock of Mr. Tambourine Man was turning heads during that revolutionary year of 1965, the Byrds were already at work on a similar-styled follow-up to be called Turn! Turn! Turn!. Like the album that came before it, the line-up of Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clark was the same, and the crisp 12-string guitar sound just as clear as ever. That 12-string guitar sound was exactly what made the band such a unique force in the first place, but it was the band's distinctive mellow (and 'heavenly') harmonies, wit for melody, and McGuinn's emotive Dylan-like way of singing that gave them the Beatles-meets-Bob Dylan comparison. They were, of course, much more than that generalized comparison, as evidenced by their first two albums (yep, that includes this hearty little release).
One can see from listening to this, and the first album, that they were true innovators of making what was pretty much still 'childish teenage' music (it would be a sin not to say that the Beatles, the Who, the Beach Boys, and other major bands were also helping out with this at the same time) into a meaningful type of music with much more emotional depth in overall atmosphere, song-writing, and almost everything else, than what came before. I certainly give them a ton of credit for sounding so profoundly mature on their first album - don't you? Anyway, speaking of this second nugget, the band repeats that first albums' success almost to a tee. On the bad side, this results in a slightly inferior album with a more monotonous edge to it (you have to strain yourself sometimes to fully enjoy it) and a little bit less in the way of striking melodies or strong hooks.
On the good side however, Turn! Turn! Turn! is, well, only the slightest tad worse than that great debut! Whatever these guys have lost since that last album (which frankly, isn't too much), they totally make up for by giving each song on here such great 'feeling', with outstandingly heartfelt vocal jobs. In other words, some of these songs can bring out pure emotion and/or bring you down to tears if you let them. Gene Clark's three heartfelt contributions may just be the strongest of the bunch; the first, and my personal favorite, "Set You Free This Time", is an immaculately-sung and comfortably-paced emotive ballad with nice guitar strumming, and a perfect little harmonica solo to fade it out for good measure. That fade-out may actually be the best part. Equally as inspired is the folk-pop fan favorite "The World Turns All Around Her" (you can't get a more distinctive Byrds track than this for sure) and the heavenly harmonies of "If You're Gone", which is a first-rate ballad with its' tender melody and thumping bass.
These are great songs, so it's too bad that Gene's phobia of flying made him leave the band shortly after this album hit the shelves (though at least he gave us one more classic in "Eight Miles High" - but that's for the next album). Even so, the most important track would have to be the revolutionary Peter Seger-written title track, which is a mid-60's folk-rock anthem that everyone knows by heart. Full of jingle-jangle guitar-work from that man behind those granny glasses, Jim McGuinn himself, and containing a highly memorable and stirring chorus, this song was well-worth the dozens and dozens of takes it took to record. Further on, the band tackles two Dylan covers (down from four on the previous album) by the names of "Lay Down Your Weary Tune" and "The Times They Are A-Changin' ". The former is an especially worthy cover with its' effective 'muddy folk' vocals (by McGuinn) and deep emotion behind it, proving that the Byrds were in fact the best Dylan imitators, and the latter is just catchy and fun.
"It Won't Be Wrong" and the overly optimistic "Wait and See" (irresistible and catchy is this one), meanwhile, are the two poppiest numbers of the bunch both being saturated in those jangly guitars and high harmonies, and traditional folk like "He Was A Friend of Mine" and the country-tinged "Satisfied Mind" (the first of many country-influenced tracks on a Byrds album), while lame in retrospect, are once again given enough feeling and emotional depth behind them to make them worthy. And to finish off the album is the popular traditional tune "Oh Susannah", a fun-in-the-studio track with a fast rollicking beat and high energy. Nice stuff. So like I said before, Turn! Turn! Turn! is pushed up a notch just by these great performances - even if the songs aren't quite the greatest in the world. Still, if this record sounds single-dimensioned to some (well it is kinda anyway), the third mighty release from this group will cancel that out, as it brings in some truly new innovations, sounds, and ideas for the following year.
After starting a revolution in the music world with Mr. Tambourine Man, the Byrds figured "hey, why not try it again?" And it works quite well. I even enjoy this one more than Tambourine Man. I may be the only person on this earth who does, but 'tis true, I do. On a song-per-song basis, I personally find this one to be "closer to home" and more fulfilling than Tambourine Man.
Of course, everybody and their uncle's pet French bulldog Phideaux who wears doggie Kwaanzaa sweaters has heard the title track. And probably almost as many love the song, and I'm one of them. The pauses at the end of each verse are really quite nifty, and I don't think anyone had ever tred doing that before this song. Of course, the idea of "start-stop" later was perverted and resulted in Black Dog, but we'll let that one lie. The next song, It Won't Be Wrong, is marked by typical Byrds harmony, but it has a bit of a darker edge to it, which certainly gives this otherwise almost banally simple love song a fairly ambiguous element. Track 3, Set You Free This Time, is a definite highlight in my book. Very lazy and slow. Worldweary. But that's it's beauty. It's a perfect worldweary song. So is Lay Down Your Weary Tune which follows it. For that matter, worldweary is not a half-bad adjective to attach to this album.
Some people think that song number 5 (He Was A Friend Of Mine) is just a commonplace folkie lament for JFK. I think it's beautiful. It makes me, a mere teenager, think about what it'd be like to have someone so loved by a nation murdered in cold blood. And I'm a die-hard conservative. However, forget lamentation for JFK, here comes my favorite on the album! The World Turns All Around Her is hands-down the best song Gene Clark every wrote without collaboration. From that crystal-clear jangle that opens the song to the tempo to the words to the vocal delivery.....perfection in my eyes. Ears actually.
The next two tracks are fairly unremarkable; I really can't explain why. I suppose they sound too samey after 6 Byrdsongs. However, The Times They Are A'Changin comes in to save the day. Why does everybody and their AUNT (hahahahahahaha! Fooled you!) bash this one? I think it's a great cover of a good Dylan song! The vocals sound scornfully angry at the authorities of the time. This was not the approach Dylan took when he initially did the song, but does that make it bad by default? Of course not! Give it a try with an open mind. Wait and See's opening sounds too much like a ripoff of The World Turns All Round Her, but the tone is totally different...in a bad way. Too optimistic for thsi album. Finally, we reach the end on a very unusual cover of Oh! Susanna. I think it's kinda cool meself.
But what Byrds re-release would be complete without a jillion and one bonus tracks? This one really wins on the bonuses. The Day Walk is stupid, She Don't Care About Time is quite good, the alternate take of The Times They Are A'Changin is not as good as the original, It's All Over Now Baby Blue.......that one rules! Their best Dylan cover other than Tambourine Man. Why did this one stay in the vaults? The rest of the bonuses are passable to good. Everybody needs some Byrds action in their lives. Who couldn't be nourished by some 12-string jangle and soaring harmony? Of their two folk-rock albums, this is my favorite. A must-have for any Byrdsfan, and also quite a good listen for the casual Byrdsfan.
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(Casey Brennan's review)
The Byrds, minus Gene Clark, were now ready to venture on. After releasing the emotive folk-rock of Turn! Turn! Turn!, the band quickly took hold of the wildly changing music scene around them, and came up with a fresh pot-load of bold new ideas for the following Fifth Dimension album. That album, which I'm reviewing here, greatly expands on the groups earlier folk horizons in many ways. The band is employing a bit of psychedelics to the mix, like in the jazzy guitar-notes that come out of McGuinn's 12-string Rickenbacker through-out the monstrous single "Eight Miles High", and the deeply philosophical lyrics to the folk-driven title track. Meanwhile, every other track shows the band dipping their heads into a different genre of music, whether it be traditional folk, country, droning raga-rock, or the newly dubbed 'space-rock', which was coined by the Byrds themselves.
Now space-rock wasn't actually a new form of music, but rather the Byrds way of showing their enthusiasm about space exploration through their expressive music. And no more apparent is this enthusiasm than in the tasteful folk-rock ditty entitled "Mr. Spaceman", which is their very first song of this nature (though following efforts would sound much more spacey). While only clocking in at two minutes long, there is so much to love about this fast-paced gem that deals with alien communication. Great harmonies and playing, but best of all is that countryish McGuinn vocal job, which you gotta dig. In keeping with the radical diverseness of the album, the droning "I Come And Stand At Every Door" is a deathly tale of a young girl who died in the Hiroshima bombing, set to McGuinns' ringing guitar sound in the forefront and a grimly painful back-beat. An equally odd melody enraptures this highlight, whose best moment comes when the band swings into full-harmony sometime after the two minute mark (and sometime before the three minute mark!).
Subtle orchestration marks the traditional folk of "Wild Mountain Thyme" (a pretty melody and beautiful high-harmonies to be found on this one) and "John Riley" (this one carries a bit of suspense), which are both good additions to the Byrds folk canon. The former track is especially successful. Then there is David Crosby's first sole contribution to the band in the aptly-titled "What's Happening?!?!". Now this one turns out quite lovely. The verses show Crosby singing in his light and beautifully expressive voice against the clicking tap-tap of the drums, while the jagged guitar lines that follow just add so much depth to the character of the song. Luckily, in the wake of Gene Clark's departure, David Crosby was able to come in as a healthy, though short-lived, songwriter for the band. Mr. Gene would be missed, but it was definitely impossible for him to stay considering that not only did the albums' concept deal with time and space, but that the front cover even showed the band on a flying magic carpet (remember he had a big fear of flying). Not that they were actually up in the sky for that photo shoot or anything. Ok, forget about the cover thing then(he he).
Going back to the songs, I've named seven of the eleven cuts so far, all of which are excellent additions to this ground-shaking album. Unfortunately, it's the other four songs that bring Fifth Dimension's status down a bit. While they show the band exploring different types of music like the other tunes, they are much less inspired, or just don't work well for the band. The irregular jazzy-shuffle of "I See You" comes across rather clumsily, mostly due to the mediocre vocal job, and lacks enough spirit to captivate like it should. One may not agree with me, but Yes would do a much more spirited and exciting version of this somewhat non-descript Byrds track just three years later (in a totally different way too). Then we have the Crosby-sung "Hey Joe" (guess who else also covered this one), which despite being a fast and snappy version of the tune, lacks an overall bite and has a half-assed vocal job.
Finally, "Captain Soul" is a primitive and un-interesting exercise in funky blues, and the closer "2-4-2 Fox Trot (The Lear Jet Song) is a trite little rocker with the catch phrase 'come ride the lear jet, baby... come ride the lear jet' repeated over and over again, against some innovative airplane sound affects. If these four filler tunes were as good as the other gems, you would maybe have the first or second best Byrds album in your hands. But it's there, so be thankful for the sheer enjoyment that the other tunes can give you. An uneven album for sure, but no less important than biggies like Aftermath, Face To Face or Revolver.
Well, I feel like I'm trapped in a Stevie Ray Vaughan song. In particular, Texas Flood, because....guess what? It IS flooding here! Fortunately, all the bad stuff is north of me a good 45 minutes at least, but yikes.....I have never seen that much water in my life. Some places have received upwards of 2 FEET of rain.....I guess that "drought" is over, huh? As you can imagine, there's not much to do outside, so why not listen to some good music and write about it? This is what befalls those of us with little life. No offense. At any rate, having not heard Younger Than Yesterday, I can't say which of these is better. However, I can say that this is the one of the best Byrds releases I've heard so far. They get very serious and deep on some songs, and also invent psychedelic music here, but they don't do it in the typical acid-dripping manner that most did it in. Instead, theirs is still definitely folk-rock based with plenty of jangle from McGuinn's 12-string, but they shoot for a different atmosphere. They become cosmic and jazzy and experimental, and it works wondefully.
For a good example, see the title track. Totally spacey, but beautiful. This isn't the dark acid rock of Crown Of Creation or Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, nor is it the flower power Day-Glo rock of Disraeli Gears or Sgt. Pepper. It's something special and unique. Well, that's the Byrds for ya. But, they don't turn their backs totally on folk here, either. Wild Mountain Thyme an John Riley are two of their best attempts at folk-rock. They're both utterly beautiful, especially the former whose soaring harmonies and strings are a major highlight. The Byrds also had a sense of humor....who else would have done a song about alien visitation? Strangely enough, it's one of the best on here, and extremely funny. They follow that with a lyrically light, but musically heavy, song called I See You, which is an early acid rock classic. Crosby also turns in his first song for the band.....not bad at all. His voice is perfect for the song, and the interplay with McGuinn's 12-string is great.
However, a major highlight follows that in the form of I Come And Stand At Every Door. It's a moving song about Hiroshima....very moving and heart-rending. I suspect it was a Byrds comment on nuclear weapons and the war in Vietnam. The hits just keep on coming.......Eight Miles High is one of the most influential songs in rock music, and also one of my favorites, I might add. The wild, jazzy 12-string mixed with the harmonies and such......awesome and mind-blowing. Naturally, after such a high point (no pun or drug message intended), nothing else can stand up to it, but nothing else is bad either. Hey Joe (sung by Crosby) is pretty good really, but Hendrix just blew it away a year later....sorry David. Yours is good, but his is better. Then, they do.....a soul jam??? Yep, the aptly named Captain Soul is next up, and despite what one would be inclined to think, it's really not that bad. John Riley is next, and it is followed by the Lear Jet Song.....no offense, but this is their worst album ender of the early period. I think it's just totally stupid.
Fortunately, bonus tracks can take away the pain. Why is a great early acid rocker, I Know My Rider is fun and catchy, Psychodrama City is "the great lost psychedelic classic," the alternates of Eight Miles High and Why are both more echoey and acidy than the originals, and the instrumental of John Riley is pretty cool. This is the best "early" Byrds release, if you define early as before Younger Than Yesterday. However, I do have a gripe with this one that has revealed itself as I listened more. The production is abyssmal compared to their other efforts, and that really hurts it's ranking when stacked up against the perfectly produced and truly unique and inventive Notorious Byrd Brothers. Thus, I can only give this a 9. Sorry to Roger, Chris, Gene, David, and Michael...
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
Fifth Dimension saw David Crosby emerging as a songwriter for the band, but by the time of the recording sessions for this album bass player Chris Hillman was contributing a good deal of the material as well. This resulted in an unsurprisingly competitive atmosphere where all but drummer Michael Clarke was writing songs; you can just imagine the friction between bandmates during this highly prolific era. This ultimately led to each individual hitting a peak in their own creative songwriting efforts too (strangely, Hillman seems to come out nowhere with some very worthy cuts), and a further change in sound away from that distinctive jingle-jangle electric guitar sound of the first couple albums. It's still prominent in places of course, but with the band going in many different musical directions, it's certainly a bit less emphasized.
What we see is the band continually exploring such neat things as 'space-rock', while flaunting with and digging deeper into country and folk-rock territory within this poppy set of tunes. Considering that each band member was contributing some of their best work to this melting pot of an album, it's no wonder then that each song sounds like a minor masterpiece or gem in its' running order. Easily the finest and most consistent Byrds release, the key to each tracks' success is two words: tastefully done. That's exactly what the hooky pop-rocker "So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star", which opens up the album, is. In a compact two-minute punch it tells a fun little story about quick rock 'n' roll success (highly memorable lyrics abound - you'll get a kick out of it) set to an up-front and melodic guitar riff, while a neat trumpet line, and the sounds of 'screaming girls' from a live show during the middle part, give the tune some extra oomph. The song comes to a great climax during the last verse when McGuinn's and Hillman's vocals clash and intertwine to great effect, followed by some clumsily engaging 'la-la-la's' shortly afterwards.
No other song on here quite hits you on the head like this mighty collaboration, but the rest is oh-so deliciously interesting and appreciative. David Crosby comes in strong, like the other group-members, with his spectacular world-weary ballad "Everybody's Been Burned". There is no doubt in my mind that this is his single finest performance on a Byrds record (not that there were many sole contributions from the man), as the vocal performance he gives is breathtakingly beautiful and gentle on this conga-shaking and subtly dark minor key melody. It's great, but Crosby must also be blamed for the one bad spot on the record with "Mind Gardens", an annoying and tuneless cut with backwards 12-string guitars (for all you "Within You, Without You" haters - just listen to this and tell me what you think). I'll maybe agree that the lyrics are 'just good words' as Crosby said, but as far as musical quality goes its' unlistenable drivel.
Bar that tune though, "Renaissance Fair" is a wonderful fresh-sounding McGuinn/Crosby collaboration with image-provoking lyrics, distinctive high-harmony vocals, nice hooks, and an overall special aura about it. McGuinn's fascination with space exploration shows up one track earlier on the 'space-rock' of "C.T.A.-102", which is a pleasant folk-driven tune that contains a middle part full of weird spacey sound-effects and simulated alien voices. While not as great as "Mr. Spaceman" it certainly is more interesting. Great listening experience, indeed. Like I said before, the surprisingly prolific man on here is Chris Hillman, who tops in at four sole writing credits . Bringing in some country and blue-grass influences on the enjoyable ditties "Time Between" and "The Girl With No Name", both very catchy and tastefully-played cuts, he also contributes two of the poppiest numbers on the whole album.
Firstly is his rough-edged pop gem "Have You Seen Her Face", which has some uncharacteristically exciting Kinks-styled guitar-work and lots of charm, and then the melodic Beatlesque "Thoughts and Words", a psychedelic-tinged number with appropriate backwards guitar during the instrumental break. Another major highlight. Finally, the last and 'second' weakest original tune off of Younger Than Yesterday is "Why", a limp-sounding, but good McGuinn/Crosby pop-rocker that was done much better in an earlier take (listen to the bonus track of it from Fifth Dimension instead).
Seemingly summing up the album as a whole is the Bob Dylan cover "My Back Pages" (the lone cover) with its' obvious, but great line 'But I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now' - while some chiming guitars ring in the background. It's a good line from an album that shows all the band-members on a creative surge, working in full-force to create something special and unique. With Crosby leaving later in the year (during Notorious), this release signalled a turn in events for the Byrds, as each following album would show some significant and radical changes to the bands' overall style and personnel. Stay tuned.
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(Casey Brennan's review)
Unsurprisingly, this was the album that saw the Byrds quickly falling apart as a band. Officially becoming a duo of McGuinn and Hillman by the end of the recording sessions for it (down from four band-members), you'd think that this album would be a messy affair. However, that couldn't be further from the truth. Despite such troubles, the Byrds were still at a peak in their songwriting collaborations, moving deeper into psychedelia and the stuff they wholeheartedly explored on Younger Than Yesterday. Generally much more atmospherically mellow than that previous album, The Notorious Byrd Brothers shows the band in a spacey and highly experimental state, as a good deal of the tunes are interrupted mid-way by unexpected sound effects or tripped-out instrumentation, and the band uses many interesting recording tricks.
The album is given a home-blown dusty feature as well, as the bands' growing use and apparent love of the sound of the steel guitar make heavy country influences creep in through-out this 'free-flowing' journey. Think 'mellow' countryish space-rock and you'll get a good general idea of what Notorious sounds like. Pure heaven? Well, not quite, but it's an intriguing and positively great listen. For a rather spaciously subdued-sounding album it opens up pretty excitingly with the up-tempo brass-laden "Artificial Energy", a Chris Hillman-sung song about 'speed' (the only real drug song from the Byrds) that retains a wonderfully quirky edge due to the phased instrumentation and vocals. It weirdly fades out into the Goffin/King cover "Goin' Back", which is undoubtedly the major gem off of the whole album. At this point you'll notice that the album is a classic in sequencing, as all the tracks more-or-less flow into each other to create a very pleasing listening experience.
Back to the song though, it is a classic in all senses of the word with its' brilliant and subtly engaging pop melody, emotionally resonant and expansive harmonies, and touches of orchestration and pedal steel guitar. The beautiful chord changes are enough to make me love this song to death. Following it is an eccentric track called "Natural Harmony", which is full of weird vocal effects and contains primitive, but wholly successful use of synthesizer (bar the Monkees "Star Collector", this is one of the first real uses of the instrument) that glides and glimmers smoothly. It then nicely flows into the peaceful beauty of the Veitnam tune "Draft Morning", which actually ain't so peaceful during the sound affects laden middle section. The tune is basically distinctive for its' quietly thumping bass and harmonies in the verses, but that mid-section sure gives the song a torturous edge.
Accordingly, the second King/Coffin cover crops up next in the countryish-folk of "Wasn't Born To Follow", a lyrically spectacular tune with twisted psychedelic instrumentation in the middle that neatly carries into the last verse. It's a very good song, but nothing compared to the gem that follows it. Opening neatly with the sound of a steel guitar and a 3/4 drum-beat, the cello-laced "Get To You" is a magnificent pop-tune with a fragrantly-sweet melody, appropriately pretty vocals by McGuinn, and a lovely chorus; this track is probably the most underrated of all on Notorious. A great song to play for your mother while she waters the garden (now there's a weird idea). "Change Is Now" pales a bit in comparison to that past tune, but with its' fast-paced countryish choruses and Clarence White's (who would join the actual band two albums after this) lead guitar solo, it is definitely kept interesting.
Meanwhile, "Old John Robertson" is a quick-paced country ditty with a (gasp) snippet of a baroque orchestra stuck in the middle of it. It strangely works kind of well after repeated listens, and the tune as a whole is better than almost all the country to be found on the next album (keep in mind that this tune hardly resembles anything on the next release as well - and that's good). Anyway, David Crosby's hippiesh "Tribal Gathering", which is good for its' groovy 12-string guitar work during the verses, and "Dolphin's Smile" with its' neat 'dolphin'-like (makes sense, doesn't it?) guitar sounds are nice tunes as well. McGuinn's third venture into space-rock, "Space Odyssey", is probably among the weaker tunes of the set (and previous space songs), as it's somewhat dated and goofy. Nonetheless, it's intriguing in its' own way and a suitable closer. Nice swirling effects, indeed. Overall, Notorious is a fine successor to the tastefully competitive Younger Than Yesterday album; once you get used to the subtle melodies and mellow atmosphere it's almost as rewarding too. Now with just McGuinn and Hillman left by early 1968, the band was ready to find some new personal (different influences and great changes would follow because of this, of course) and stride on.
I normally don't have problems assimilating the Byrds, but this was a pretty challenging listen to be honest. For a band known for revolutions, this may be their biggest one....no, this didn't spawn a whole new genre of music. Instead, it practically stands alone. There is no comparison to The Notorious Byrd Brothers. It's astral and cosmic, yet it's also baroque and country. At first listen, I didn't get it, I missed it. However, now it has clicked. And now it's even clicked some more and become my favorite Byrds release, which is how I can rate it above 5D.
For those of you going "what the heck is he talking about?," I shall explain. While this is not a concept album, the sound is conceptual, being a mix of old and new, the Age of Reason with the American West with the Space Age. Topically, they cover everything from meditation to war to drugs to space travel to travel to memories.....it's a sonic journey, and a 100% unqiue one at that. For the heck of it, I'm gonna do the bonus tracks first. The first one is Moog Raga---yes, Indian music played on a Moog. To me, that was the biggest thing to overcome. So much Moog is used here that it's mind-boggling. However, it is always pretty tastefully used, so that much is good. They also have another jammy instrumental called Bound To Fall that's pretty cool. Then of course, Triad is here---it's kinky, but not a bad song. The two alternate takes are fine, and Universal Mind Decoder is passable.
OK, now on to the album itself. It opens with the drug song, Artificial Energy. You can guess the drug. It's brass-laden with slightly distorted vocals....I suppose it's the archetypal speed song. We do cool down some on the next song, which is an absolutely beautiful baroque-popsong with some slide guitar. It's breathtakingly beautiful, and so relaxed and relaxing. Then there's Natural Harmony, a Moogy song by Chris Hillman that is VERY spaced out, but cool. My favorite is the anti-war song Draft Morning, which goes from being soft and gentle to violently loud in the midsection....it makes a VERY powerful statement. Wasn't Born To Follow does follow Draft Morning, and has some gorgeous imagery...it's also very countryish. Get To You is gorgeous, pure and simple. My mom doesn't garden, so I don't play it for her. Then again, she also hates the Byrds.....grrrr. Oh well, they're one of my dad's favorites.
Change Is Now is just a little too "philosophical" for me, but it's nice. Old John Robertson is very countryish, and is about an old man in Chris Hilman's old town who the kids all made fun of. Tribal Gathering is very odd and swirling, and is about the big Be-in in San Francisco in early '67. Dolphin's Smile is pretty and makes good use of effects, and the closing Space Odyssey is very cosmic, but not all that strong. It's such a shame that the guys slipped after this and fell into a country cow-pie with their late-period albums. Still, this is an exceptionally even listen, and a delight for me all the way through it.
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(Casey Brennan's review)
Gaining Kevin Kelley (who quit after this album) on drums and Gram Parsons on guitar, the band decided to forge in a totally new direction and make a full-fledged country album. It was undoubtedly Parsons' influence to do this, but from the look of the past few albums' it was evident that the Byrds were very keen on country music for awhile. Even so, Sweetheart Of The Rodeo almost sounds like the work of another band. It sounds especially weird when played after Notorious, which with its' psychedelic, pop, and country-influenced rock is almost an entirely different affair altogether. The band drops EVERYTHING here and just does a number of hardcore country tunes with tons of steel guitar, mandolins, banjos, and even the occasional hickish-sounding vocal. It was a very risky thing for a Rock band of this caliber to do, but in the end it turns out to be the Byrds least revolutionary and innovative album thus far, as it's just your average generic country music.
Most of it sounds nice enough to make this album a pleasant listen, but the fact is that it's a total misstep in the band's career and a rather boring and unmemorable release. While not really bad, the worst offenders are tunes like "Blue Canadian Rockies", "Life In Prison", "Hickory Wind", and "You Don't Miss Your Water", which don't have a fresh air about them and are just plain boring. One problem is that the band doesn't give great performances (I don't see how Parsons two vocal contributions give the songs any more needed spark either), but the main problem is that there is hardly any diversity among these country tunes, just a bunch of dull and rudimentary melodies with no distinctive marks about them. In the past and on succeeding albums' the Byrds had no trouble with picking or playing inspired country-styled tracks, but not here.
"The Christian Life" is about as corny as country can get with its' banal hick-like imitation vocals from McGuinn, "You're Still On my Mind" (vocals by Parson) is a pretty average number, and the bright mandolin sound of "I Am a Pilgrim" and the quick-paced Woody Guthrie cover "Pretty Boy Floyd" are similarly ordinary, though enjoyable tracks. That leaves us with the three strongest tracks, all of which have a bit more style. The two Bob Dylan covers, the opener "You Ain't Going Nowhere" and closer "Nothing Was Delivered" (fortunately the album begins and ends on a fine note), are both decent mid-tempo country-rockers (the latter is the most rockin' thing on here), and "One Hundred Years From Now" contains fine harmonies and awesome steel guitar-work. I may have been a bit harsh before, but it's just that nearly everything the Byrds were good for is given up here. Still, it really is rather nice all the way through (just not something you can stomach every day), and in the end only a temporary diversion into full country.
Well, well, well. Did we pick up a Hank Williams cd by accident? Nope. This is it---the Byrds finally decided to commit career suicide and do a country album. It's not half bad, either. Then again, that doesn't make it all good, now does it? The most important key to "getting" this album is being able to stand all-out country and western. I'm a Texan, so I'm surrounded by it. No biggie. If you're from the South, you can probably take it unless you hate country with a passion. I don't hate country (though I don't love it either), so I was pleasantly surprised to find some quite good country send-ups on it. Since no Byrds album would really be complete without some sort of Dylan reference, they open with You Ain't Going Nowhere, which also happens to be the best song on here. Very laid-back and counryish. Well, this is a country album, after all.
I Am A Pilgrim and The Christian Life are two songs which, while I respect the lyrics greatly (but what believer wouldn't?), I don't really care for. The banjo and fiddle save the former, but the latter really doesn't do it for me. Good country is about subtle twists and arranging, as well as atmosphere. This one just doesn't cut it. I do like the words, though. Now we get to one of the highlights, You Don't Miss Your Water. Country soul. They do a pretty good job on this one. McGuinn's voice is very soulful and he uses that to his full advantage here.
You're Still On My Mind is not half bad either, and Parsons' voice really is suited for this song. Pretty Boy Floyd is really very folky. Sounds like Woodie Guthrie for the hippie generation. I like. Hickory Wind is saved by some cool steel guitar...oh what the heck. Everything is okay, but you have to like country to appreciate it. That's the kicker (no pun intended)---this isn't country rock. This is country, pure and simple. Revolutionary, but it's country for pete's sake! Avoid unless you're feeling bold and want to expand your horizons.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
The Byrds seventh studio effort, recorded at the end of 1968, saw longtime member Chris Hillman finally leave the band. With only McGuinn left in the band, this album began the start of a new phase which is known as the 'Roger McGuinn experience'(upon fellow reviewers that is). A new lineup of John York (bass), Gene Parsons (drums, guitar), and long-time friend Clarence White (lead guitar) ensued for this and the next album. The consequence of it all was a marked difference in sound from the all-country blast of Rodeo; there is certainly less pedal steel guitar-work and a much greater emphasis on 'rock-oriented' material. While half of the album does contain rootsy countryish material, most of it can at least be called country-rock at this point. In length, this is due to Clarence White's distinctive guitar-playing talents, which can consist of either tasteful country-styled picking or stinging electric leads at any given time.
A fine guitarist for sure, but it doesn't keep this from being the weakest of the first eight Byrds' albums. Often awkward-sounding, it's the incongruous mix of acidy hard-rock and laid-back country that make this album sound a bit inconsistent when compared to fresher works - the band seems a little bit lost on where to go. The song-writing isn't that bad at all per say (there are a few nicely-written tunes on here) and the sound is strangely interesting, but with line-up changes as unpredictable or drastic as this, the band is going to lose a little bit of its' identity. In any case, the finger-picking country-rock tune "Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man", with its' easygoing mood and great, shuffling chorus is the albums' best song (probably better than anything on the past album too).
As long as the band sticks to country like that, as they do in pretty little numbers like "Old Blue" and "Your Gentle Way Of Loving Me" (particularly nice vocal performance on here) everything works out quite good. The more poorly written (and ungraceful) tunes happen to be the acid-rock tinged booms of "Child of the Universe" (from the film Candy), the countryish-turned spooky rocker "Candy" (though the great drumming and dark guitar-work from Clarence White make it alright), and the just OK medley of "My Back Pages/B.J. Blues/Baby what you Want me to Do". "King Apathy III" does contain the one surprisingly good mix of rocking verses/country choruses though, and is one of the better cuts from this incohesive set.
Farthest from the most rootsy and laid-back material are two 'heavy' (for the Byrds that is) numbers; one is the un-memorable and decent-sounding fuzz-guitar tune "Bad Night At The Whiskey", while the other is an 'interesting' acid-rock take on "This Wheel's On Fire", a Bob Dylan cover that is good or bad depending on your tastes. Either way, as an opener it sure leaves a different impression on the listener when compared to the last album. That leaves the unmemorable and seemingly needless instrumental "Nashville West" left, a pure document of how haphazardly this album was put together. A pretty awkward and offensive-sounding release from our folk-rock heroes (or one in that case by this point), but not a half-bad effort when the songs are singled out - a few minor gems to be found. Luckily, the rough edges would be smoothed out in the following release from this line-up.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
The second album from this particular lineup is the last one before the onslaught of the next decade. Dr. Byrds And Mr. Hyde was a patchy affair with its' inconsistent mixture of country-flavored and heavier material, but this one is much easier on the brain, and a very well-needed relaxed listen. Maybe a little too effortlessly relaxed, as a bit of boredom can creep through-out Ballad Of Easy Rider if you don't pay close enough attention to the actual songs. But pay attention is what you must do in order to find that special emotive feel that characterizes this album, and most of their folk work in general (just engage in a few listens and it shall come). What you'll find is a set of emotionally-appealing folk/country rock-flavored tunes, within a package that contains the usual Byrds mixture of originals, traditional tunes, and covers (including a Dylan cover).
The first highlight to appear is, naturally, the opener ''Ballad Of Easy Rider", a two-minute orchestrated folk tune that I wish were longer, as it has an ultra-nice little melody and a certain freshness about it. Being that it's McGuinns' only original on the whole album, it is just expected to be top-notch. A great way to spend two minutes of your life. Of similar quality is the sparkling cover of the gospel tune "Jesus is Just Alright" and Gene Parsons steady rollin' tune "Gunga Din", both of which hold up well. The rest, while slightly inferior to these three fairly strong cuts, is very good and mostly peaceful. Side two is rather peaceful (that can mean boring too) all the way through with the just-under five minute Dylan cover "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", which contains some effective and nice steel guitar embellishments, along with some great harmonizing, "There Must Be Someone (I Can Turn To)", a plaintive countryish tune that really makes you feel the sadness of the man in the song, and the nice Woody Guthrie cover "Deportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos)", which is rightly sung by good ol' McGuinn.
On the flip side we have a southern-fried campire tune called "Oil In My Lamp", the traditional folk of "Jack Tarr the Sailor", which was dug up by McGuinn and has a nice sea-misty atmosphere to it, and a very very pleasant country cover in "Tulsa County". The latter has some really tasteful pedal steel and acoustic guitar-work. One mustn't forget the John York-written "Fido"(a song about a dog) either though, which gives the album one decent mid-tempo 'raunchy' blues-rocker. Finally, closing off the album is a nice ode to the astronauts who first landed on the moon on that fateful day of July 'something or another' (the 29th maybe?) called "Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins" - knowing that McGuinn was highly fixed on space, it was very noteworthy to include a homage like this to those spacemen.
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