Lots, Edd, Jesus!! Like at least two hundred garage bands from the same period. And every British Invasion group!
see, I don't subscribe to this ethic. garage bands are overrated, and not as good as the Byrds. every British Invasion group? Like the Tremeloes or the Marmalade or what? you mean the Sonics or who? the point is, the Byrds' "So You Want to Be" is a comment on the whole fucking thing, by people who had thought about it for more than ten minutes, which the aforementioned "garage bands" had not, that's why they were just some garage band and not the Byrds. and yeah, Michael Clarke belonged in a garage band but ended up in the Byrds--a tribute to their conceptualism. sometimes thinking helps, even in rock 'n' roll, Tim.
― whisperineddhurt, Thursday, 30 August 2007 04:08 (sixteen years ago) link
edd wins
― Stormy Davis, Thursday, 30 August 2007 05:08 (sixteen years ago) link
Stormy, you prob know Jacques Levy as the guy who wrote the lyrics on 'Desire' by Bob Dylan.
I've not (yet) read the Menck volume, but wld like to put in a gd word for "Timeless Flight" by Johnny Rogan (esp. the massive expanded version.) Rogan isn't a great stylist/thinker, but his research is awesome and over twenty years he pretty much spoke to every one of the major Byrds players - an essential companion to the recs
i love 'so you want to be a rock'n'roll star' - hugh masakela = the masterstroke = but it has to be one of the v. earliest examples of pure unadulterated rockist disdain for 'manufactured' pop (and just a little bit rich coming from the Byrds, who after all mostly didn't play on their first hit single and cld be said to be sort've a Jim Dickinson supergroup)
― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 30 August 2007 06:05 (sixteen years ago) link
I can't say enough about "Eight Miles High" - how unthinkable was it for a '66 single to have THREE extnded guitar breaks, each one extending out from that 4-note "India" head and yet really sounding more chatotic than the previous one - sounding like no previous solo on any single I've ever heard, certinaly not any played on electric 12-string, aside from maybe Townshend in "I Cant Explain". Even the fact that McGuinn actually played at a slower speed and sped it up to make it shimmer a bit more is worth noting. An incredible recording. I know the hipsters prefer the original, and I like that one a lot too, but it's the single version that stays with me. I suspect that someone other than Michael Clarke played on that classic take.
― Myonga Vön Bontee, Thursday, 30 August 2007 08:47 (sixteen years ago) link
As for the "shoegaze" question, I remember somebody-or-other claimed that My Bloody Valentine were continuing in a continuum that extended from the Byrds through to Sonic Youth, or the equivalent. That from one of the clippings reproduced in their '88 Feed Me With Your Kiss sampler. And certainly Byrds and showgazers alique were both fond of guitars that jingle-jangle-jingle.
― Myonga Vön Bontee, Thursday, 30 August 2007 09:13 (sixteen years ago) link
Edd otm re: Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers. "Elevator Operator" is the best Revolver outtake ever.
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Wednesday, 3 October 2007 19:07 (sixteen years ago) link
showgazers alique
WTF?! Dunno where that came from...If that was some arcane joke, it hasn't aged well, or at all.
who the heck was Jacques Levy, am I supposed to know who he was? the name sounds way familiar.
-- Stormy Davis,
Co-writer of most of Dylan's Desire.
― Myonga Vön Bontee, Friday, 7 March 2008 09:02 (sixteen years ago) link
you don't miss your water till your well runs dry
― strgn, Friday, 14 March 2008 10:49 (sixteen years ago) link
I think the Byrds are only alright. Some very good songs, but a lot of duffers, and I can only take so much of that nicey vocal harmony stuff.
― The Real Dirty Vicar, Friday, 14 March 2008 10:58 (sixteen years ago) link
die
― strgn, Friday, 14 March 2008 11:06 (sixteen years ago) link
The production on "You Don't Mis Your Water" is really quite trippy -- the way that the vocals bleed across the front of the sound.
― QuantumNoise, Friday, 14 March 2008 12:30 (sixteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9cINH9yob4
― ian, Thursday, 12 November 2009 19:52 (fourteen years ago) link
some tasty licks there...and some sweet beards
― Yah Kid A (Euler), Thursday, 12 November 2009 19:57 (fourteen years ago) link
I never quite understood what he intended to do with the horse once he caught it.
― dog latin, Thursday, 12 November 2009 19:57 (fourteen years ago) link
feel like someone on ILM recommended it on another Byrds thread, but that Live At Royal Albert Hall thing that came out a few years back is incredible. Better than Untitled!
― tylerw, Thursday, 12 November 2009 19:58 (fourteen years ago) link
i agree, tyler.
when he caught the horse they were gonna be friends for live, obv.
― ian, Thursday, 12 November 2009 20:00 (fourteen years ago) link
life*
just like a wife ... hmmm.
― tylerw, Thursday, 12 November 2009 20:02 (fourteen years ago) link
haven't heard this but hey: http://martiansboots.blogspot.com/2009/11/byrds-at-fillmore-west-jan-4-1970.html
― tylerw, Thursday, 12 November 2009 20:04 (fourteen years ago) link
Is there like a career-spanning Clarence White comp? Would buy.
― tylerw, Thursday, 12 November 2009 20:05 (fourteen years ago) link
Don't know of a comp but do you keep up with the blog Adios Lounge? He's been doing a pretty exhaustive recap of White's career, full of audio and video. He writes these posts off and on so search by category at his site, then start at the oldest one and go forward.
http://www.adioslounge.com/search/label/Clarence%20White
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Friday, 13 November 2009 00:21 (fourteen years ago) link
!!! Nice, exactly what I had in mind.
― tylerw, Friday, 13 November 2009 00:47 (fourteen years ago) link
What's with the floating German ghost lady?
― Bloggers Might Ride (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 November 2009 02:45 (fourteen years ago) link
if john york had stuck around for the last few records things would have been much improved. his voice blended really well with mcguinn and battin's kim fowley co-writes are mostly dud. also, you can tell from some of the live recordings from the york era that he gave them more of a hard edge. battin was serviceable but more of a mellow jam sort of guy
― velko, Friday, 13 November 2009 03:05 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmcks4WU6K8
― velko, Friday, 13 November 2009 03:14 (fourteen years ago) link
Fifth Dimension sounds like the best album ever tonight; even "Captain Soul"! "I Come And Stand At Every Door" is spectral doom: "I need no fruit, I need no rice / I need no sweets nor even bread". Almost every song has an undercurrent of immanent disaster; and they weren't wrong, just two years early.
― Yah Kid A (Euler), Saturday, 21 November 2009 20:20 (fourteen years ago) link
Clarence White was just ridiculous.
― feed them to the (Linden Ave) lions (will), Saturday, 21 November 2009 21:40 (fourteen years ago) link
listening to Untitled for the first time ever...live half didn't do much for me (the "Eight Miles High" was kinda ridiculous) but the studio side is very nice, intricate folk rock; the guitar parts (bass included) are interesting, and the vocals are suitably restrained.
Also, having relistened to the entire Byrds oeuvre through Untitled so far in the last day or so, I'll point out the obvious: these guys covered Dylan a lot. There's an interview on one of the reissues, Notorious or Sweetheart maybe, where McGuinn says that they're kinda over covering Dylan, because they've found their own songwriting voice...but then Dr. Byrds has two Dylan songs (and a third if you count bonus tracks).
― Yah Kid A (Euler), Sunday, 22 November 2009 16:28 (fourteen years ago) link
i know it's one of their Official Classix and everything, but i think turn! turn! turn! (the song) is their best moment.
― by another name (amateurist), Friday, 2 July 2010 16:01 (thirteen years ago) link
It's unfortunate that the song has been sort of ruined (for me) by 60s montages on TV.
― Trip Maker, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:05 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, it is definitely one of those songs that has passed into the realm of cliche. but if you can turn all that off, it is pretty gorgeous, isn't it?
― tylerw, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:06 (thirteen years ago) link
It's a great song. I like it enough that seeing Papa M do an instrumental cover in concert was kind of thrilling tbh.It was probably my first favorite Byrds song.
― Trip Maker, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:14 (thirteen years ago) link
"Turn! Turn! Turn!" and "Mr. Tambourine Man" are two of the most overplayed songs ever that I don't switch off when they come on the radio. I could list 10 Byrds songs I love more, but neither one is dead for me yet.
― clemenza, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:17 (thirteen years ago) link
listening to John Reilly and What's Happening?! today, hazy summer bliss
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Friday, 2 July 2010 17:25 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoSwOrytf_M
― (ㅅ) (am0n), Monday, 29 November 2010 17:43 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gD84jbVV3c
― Trip Maker, Monday, 29 November 2010 17:47 (thirteen years ago) link
that's the jam
― gospodin simmel, Monday, 29 November 2010 18:10 (thirteen years ago) link
haha, those dancers in the "nowhere" clip are rad. almost like they're dancing to a completely different song.
― tylerw, Monday, 29 November 2010 19:51 (thirteen years ago) link
i've always been a little confused by the byrds' status in the late 60s -- were they seen as kinda passe at that point? i guess they just don't show up on a lot of those big festival movies.
― tylerw, Monday, 29 November 2010 19:53 (thirteen years ago) link
Crosby seemed to think so.
― Trip Maker, Monday, 29 November 2010 19:58 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, i guess at that point, the byrds might've been "that band David Crosby used to be in." s'pose the fact that mcguinn was the only original member left made a difference too, no matter how awesome the clarence white-era band was.
― tylerw, Monday, 29 November 2010 20:00 (thirteen years ago) link
What's weird to me is how quick the transition was. They always seemed like such distinct entities to me; the original lineup, the sweetheart aberration, the revamped rockers.But all three of those things existed in 1968. Fucked up year, to say the least.
― Trip Maker, Monday, 29 November 2010 20:14 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, no kidding! sort of amazing there was a byrds at the end of all of it. seems like the easiest thing to do would be for mcguinn to start a solo career, but the namebrand thing must've been too much to drop.
― tylerw, Monday, 29 November 2010 20:21 (thirteen years ago) link
"(Untitled)" is a really good album, especially with the unreleased tracks on the last CD reissue. It's kind of a shame that it didn't really give them the fresh start they were hoping. They definitely had a cool sound, much more muscular on some of the rockers and twangy when needed with Clarence White on guitar and good drummer with Gene Parsons. Really in some ways it was way more of a 'band' than the original group, which used a bunch of ringers on the earlier studio stuff. I suppose the fact that McGuinn was the only one left kind of made them seem lame to some. If they would have had a single that would have really landed, it might have been really different, but that is kind of the case of the 2nd half of the Byrds career. There was a lot of music happening in 68-70 to say the least, so I could see how a band, even one with a rep like the Byrds could get lost.
"seems like the easiest thing to do would be for mcguinn to start a solo career"
From what I get reading into all of this, the Byrds were pretty much broke so they were playing live a bunch to kill off some debt. That's the thing I got from an article about Clarence White. It might have been a situation like when Led Zep first toured as the Yardbirds at the beginning...I don't know.
― earlnash, Tuesday, 14 December 2010 23:22 (thirteen years ago) link
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/423727_10150578703543406_593208405_9013388_1130855863_n.jpg1200 pages apparently! good lord.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 22 February 2012 18:14 (twelve years ago) link
dude
― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 22 February 2012 18:14 (twelve years ago) link
lol at volume 1 ! guess the second volume is supposed to be about the members' post byrds careers ...
― tylerw, Wednesday, 22 February 2012 18:16 (twelve years ago) link
I love that Michael can't keep a straight face in that photo.Who are they kidding? Nice branch, Crosby!
― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 22 February 2012 18:19 (twelve years ago) link
i'm sure cros was like "this branch ... means something, man!"
― tylerw, Wednesday, 22 February 2012 18:21 (twelve years ago) link
So this is "Timeless Flight" expanded again?
― fit and working again, Wednesday, 22 February 2012 20:09 (twelve years ago) link