In
1973, the original five members of The Byrds reunited for an album. By 1968, only Roger McGuinn was left of the
original line-up. He toured and released
albums with a mach 2 version of The Byrds to increasingly less success until
finally and mercifully ending the band.
The
Byrd’s first six albums are all excellent – the first two with the full line-up
of McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke MR
TAMBORINE MAN and TURN TURN TURN, the next two as a four piece without Clark –
FIFTH DIMENSION and YOUNGER THAN YESTERDAY (My favorite Byrds album), as a trio
minus Clark and Crosby - THE NOTORIOUS BYRDS BROTHERS, and the ground breaking
country rock masterpiece SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO which was McGuinn, Hillman,
and Gram Parsons.
So a
lot was expected of this reunion album and in keeping with the strength of these
expectations (and the resulting disappointment), the negative criticisms that
were heaped on this record were plentiful and across the board.
As the
story goes - 1.)The individual members were saving their songs for their solo
albums and so only contributed half-baked secondary material 2.) David Crosby
basking in the glow of CSN and CSNY’s success took over as producer and
attempted to superimpose that sound on The Byrds 3.) The band was too high on
various drugs to produce anything good. All of these have become the popular explanations
for this album’s perceived lack of quality.
But
the truth is it’s not that bad a record.
Clark, Crosby, Hillman, and McGuinn each contribute two songs. There are also three cover versions – two Neil
Young songs (“Cowgirl in the Sand” and “See the Sky About to Rain”) and a Joni
Mitchell one (“For Free”).
Both
Clark songs are excellent with “Full Circle” on my short list of his greatest
songs. Clark also sings both Young
covers and his vocals are heartfelt and beautiful especially on “Rain” the
closing track. He is my favorite single member
of the Byrds and I am a huge fan of his solo work too.
Crosby
reworks “Laughing” from his first solo album IF ONLY I COULD REMEMBER MY NAME. I prefer the version here which is much more
naked and stripped of psychedelic studio trickery. I also like Crosby’s flawless vocals on “For
Free” as well.
Hillman
chips in with a mid-tempo rocker “Things Will Be Better” which puts one in the
mood of his four songs on YOUNGER THAN YESTERDAY. The only weak tracks here are the two McGuinn
songs which are totally faceless, not much character.
This
is interesting as McGuinn as gone from the leader of the band to a secondary
performer on this record. My biggest criticism
here is the lack of McGuinn’s 12 string.
Most songs are dominated by acoustic guitar and mandolin. Michael Clarke’s drumming is also
downplayed.
However,
I reject the criticism of the harmonies.
Yes, they are a tad higher and put one in the mind of CSN not the raga drone
style of “Eight Miles High” and other earlier songs but they are still pretty
and there are plenty of them here which is nice.
The
Byrds are my favorite American band of all time and one of the reasons for this
is their ability to adapt their music to each scene creating several new musical genres along the way. I see them doing that here as country
rock had metamorphosed into singer/songwriter folk rock. All stem from The Byrds original west coast
rock. The Byrds reunion record is not a
failure but neither is it a masterpiece.
It sounds just like five friends jamming at someone’s house on a weekend
afternoon and that makes for a relaxed, enjoyable set.
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