THE BYRDS, "Captain America" [LP re-imagined]

The Byrds

CAPTAIN AMERICA   (1969)   

The Ballad of Easy Rider*   (Long Version)
Oil in My Lamp*  (alt. version)
Tulsa County*   (alt. version)
Mae Jean Goes to Hollywood*
Gunga Din
Stanley's Song*    [Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde]
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Lay Lady Lay*  (alt. version)       [The Byrds Play Dylan]
Fido**  (alt. mix edited)
There Must Be Someone (I Can Turn to)
Way Behind the Sun*
Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                     Thanks to False Memory Foam for the fab artwork

A re-evaluation of The Byrds' eight album. Produced by Terry Melcher for the first time since 1965's Turn! Turn! Turn! album. I included the extended mix of "Ballad of Easy Rider" as the opener. Clarence White's solo was cutoff from the original LP's edit. I prefer the alternate takes of "Oil in My Lamp" and "Tulsa County Blue" to their respective LP versions. The latter was overdubbed by McGuinn because Melcher said 'he sounded more like a cowboy' than bassist John York (who originally sang it). "Mae Jean Goes to Hollywood" (written by a then-still-obscure Jackson Browne) is a better choice than McGuinn's take on the traditional "Jack Tarr the Sailor." I am not a fan of "Jesus is Just Alright", either. Since I included the 1965 version of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" on my version of Turn! Turn! Turn!--I will put those two together as a non-album single. I decided to replace them with a couple of outtakes from their previous LP's sessions. "Stanley's Song" was written in tribute (the title, anyway) to director Stanley Kubrick. Some people hate it, but I'm of the few that don't--so yeah. "Lay Lady Lay" makes a good opener for side two. I had previously included it on my version of Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde--but I saw a fab version of it at the False Memory Foam blog...so I now defer to that playlist. "Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins" is about a waste of tape while "Way Behind the Sun" (another traditional--this time sung by York) remained on the cutting room floor. 11 songs at 33 minutes (with pretty close to even sides) make a pretty decent listen, I'd say. By the way, the version of "Fido" is an edit of the alternate vocal mix from the Sanctuary III compilation. That annoying drum solo is now cut to just a single bar or so (thanks to Audacity) and bring the song's running length down nine seconds to 2:31. York recently said in an interview that Terry Melcher wanted his publishing to the song and when York refused, Melcher 're-cast' McGuinn as lead vocalist on "Tulsa County."

Be sure to check out False Memory Foam for the 'Complete Album' series of The Byrds--amongst all kinds of other cool stuff. Cheers!

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