THE BYRDS
20c (1969)
You Ain't Going Nowhere [Sweetheart of the Rodeo]
Pretty Polly [Sweetheart of the Rodeo CD re-issue]
I Am a Pilgrim [Sweetheart of the Rodeo]
The Christian Life [Sweetheart of the Rodeo--Legacy Edition]
You Don't Miss Your Water [Sweetheart of the Rodeo]
All I Have are Memories [Sweetheart of the Rodeo--Legacy Edition]
Nashville West [Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde]
Pretty Boy Floyd [Sweetheart of the Rodeo]
Hickory Wind [Sweetheart of the Rodeo]
One Hundred Years From Now (new mix) [Sweetheart of the Rodeo (alt. version)** bootleg]
Drugstore Truck Drivin' Man [Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde]
Your Gentle Way of Loving Me [Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde]
Flight 713* [Sanctuary II]
Artificial Energy [The Notorious Byrd Brothers]
King Apathy III [Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde]
Bad Night at the Whiskey [Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde]
This Wheel's on Fire [Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde]
Child of the Universe [Candy soundtrack]
My Back Pages/B.J. Blues/Baby What You Want Me to Do [Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde]
Fiddler a Dram (Moog Experiment) [Ballad of Easy Rider CD re-issue]
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This is the closest I think one could get to assembling McGuinn's lost double-album opus of the evolution of music. We start with the lead single "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere"--another Dylan cover; it's great. We move through the old trad. murder ballad "Pretty Polly", then Chris Hillman singing "I Am a Pilgrim" on to Gram Parson singing the Louvin' Bros.' "The Christian Life" and McGuinn singing the ol' R&B chestnut "You Don't Miss Your Water". Already we've moved from appalachian trad. folk bluegrass to gospel and rhythm & blues! Kevin Kelley sings his own country song, "All I Have are Memories"--truly an underrated song by an underrated drummer.
When you are making a double album, it's cool to have some instrumental bits in there. "Nashville West" of course ushers in the electrified string band. "Flight 713" has a kind of James Bond film vibe to it; while "Fiddler a Dram" seemingly combines old school instrumentation and the then-futuristic sound of the Moog synthesizer McGuinn was so hung up on.
As we move through the Sweetheart tracks on to the electric country meets hard rock of the Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde material we do come awful close to a version of what McGuinn could've had in mind. The 'space rock' as he called it comes all the more alive with new lead guitarist Clarence White's string bending fills. Gene Parsons's drums make the transition from the two styles seamless, too.
I mentioned in a previous post about the different mixes of Sweetheart of the Rodeo I've seen discussed among Byrds and Gram Parsons fans. GP's lead vocal on "The Christian Life" certainly bests the original LP version, without question. "Hickory Wind" and "One Hundred Years from Now" are also two highlights of what he brought to the table. I never understood why the CD re-issues could have both the album version sung by Hillman and McGuinn (with GP's lead used a guide in the background) and the version with Gram singing solo--but not a mix featuring both. Until now; thanks to the miracle of programs like Cakewalk and Audacity. I mixed Gram's verses with a combined chorus from both versions. The end result sounds more appropriate for what it should have been--a song by Gram Parsons on a Byrds LP. The same trick works for the LP version of "Jamaica Say You Will" (sung by Clarence White on the Byrdmaniax album) and its elusive quadrophonic mix. Anyhoo...I hope you enjoy this once you put it all together. The pieces are there!
Special thanks to members/posters of The Byrds Facebook group. I found the cover pic to use from this page: http://idesignalbumcovers.tumblr.com
-----------
This is the closest I think one could get to assembling McGuinn's lost double-album opus of the evolution of music. We start with the lead single "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere"--another Dylan cover; it's great. We move through the old trad. murder ballad "Pretty Polly", then Chris Hillman singing "I Am a Pilgrim" on to Gram Parson singing the Louvin' Bros.' "The Christian Life" and McGuinn singing the ol' R&B chestnut "You Don't Miss Your Water". Already we've moved from appalachian trad. folk bluegrass to gospel and rhythm & blues! Kevin Kelley sings his own country song, "All I Have are Memories"--truly an underrated song by an underrated drummer.
When you are making a double album, it's cool to have some instrumental bits in there. "Nashville West" of course ushers in the electrified string band. "Flight 713" has a kind of James Bond film vibe to it; while "Fiddler a Dram" seemingly combines old school instrumentation and the then-futuristic sound of the Moog synthesizer McGuinn was so hung up on.
As we move through the Sweetheart tracks on to the electric country meets hard rock of the Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde material we do come awful close to a version of what McGuinn could've had in mind. The 'space rock' as he called it comes all the more alive with new lead guitarist Clarence White's string bending fills. Gene Parsons's drums make the transition from the two styles seamless, too.
I mentioned in a previous post about the different mixes of Sweetheart of the Rodeo I've seen discussed among Byrds and Gram Parsons fans. GP's lead vocal on "The Christian Life" certainly bests the original LP version, without question. "Hickory Wind" and "One Hundred Years from Now" are also two highlights of what he brought to the table. I never understood why the CD re-issues could have both the album version sung by Hillman and McGuinn (with GP's lead used a guide in the background) and the version with Gram singing solo--but not a mix featuring both. Until now; thanks to the miracle of programs like Cakewalk and Audacity. I mixed Gram's verses with a combined chorus from both versions. The end result sounds more appropriate for what it should have been--a song by Gram Parsons on a Byrds LP. The same trick works for the LP version of "Jamaica Say You Will" (sung by Clarence White on the Byrdmaniax album) and its elusive quadrophonic mix. Anyhoo...I hope you enjoy this once you put it all together. The pieces are there!
Special thanks to members/posters of The Byrds Facebook group. I found the cover pic to use from this page: http://idesignalbumcovers.tumblr.com
Great job! I thought of trying to create McGuinn's project...here is my version of "Dr.Byrds", or Roger's 1st. solo album and/or the most underrated/unknown Psych country-rock album...
ReplyDelete1.KingApathy
2.ThisWheel'sOnFire
3.YourGentleWayOfLovingMe
4.ChildOfTheUniverse
5.Candy
6.DrugStoreTruckDrivingMan
7.NashvilleWest
8.OilInMyLamp
9.BadNightAtTheWhiskey
10.Stanley'sSong
11.JesusIsJustAlright
12.MaeJeanGoesToHollywood
13.Deportee
14.BuildItUp
...or something like that...
Thanks! I just loved the cover somebody had made on The Byrds Facebook Group and thought it was worth a shot. I had made alternate versions of Dr. Byrds and the Sweetheart albums, too--but this opened up some other interesting configurations...it's hard to go wrong! Different mixes for different days...
ReplyDeleteNice one,i`m just listening to this now and its got a great flow to it and all my favourite Byrds songs from this era.
ReplyDeleteidesignalbumcovers.tumblr.com/
ReplyDeletelink to the chap who designed the cover
;-)
Thanks for checking out the blog! I appreciate the link.
DeleteYour welcome,here is my version of a final Byrds studio album combining their last two albums,
ReplyDelete'The Last Byrds Album' 1971
A1 Tiffany Queen
A2 Jamaica Say You Will
A3 Get Down Your Line
A4 Farther Along
A5 Green Apple Quick Step
A6 I Wanna Grow Up to Be A Politician
B1 I Trust
B2 So Fine
B3 Bugler
B4 Lost My Drivin Wheel
B5 Bristol Steam Convention Blues
B6 Pale Blue
https://ernestmannerisms.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/alternate-byrds-album-cover-frenzy.html
ReplyDeleteHere are some covers i made for alternate Byrds albums.
:-)
I've replaced the 'Back Pages' medley with 'Moog Raga' to add more electronic music.
ReplyDelete