The Byrds: 20 Essential Tracks from the Boxed Set: 1965-1990
1990
Columbia Records
Format I Own it on: Compact Disc
Track Listing: 1.Mr. Tambourine Man 2. I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better 3. All I Really Want to Do 4. Turn! Turn! Turn! 5. 5D (Fifth Dimension) 6. Eight Miles High 7. Mr. Spaceman 8. So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star 9. Have You Seen Her Face 10. Lady Friend 11. My Back Pages 12. Goin' Back 13. Ballad of Easy Rider 14. Jesus Is Just Alright 15. Chestnut Mare 16. I Wanna Grow up to Be a Politician 17. He Was a Friend of Mine 18. Paths of Victory 19. From a Distance 20. Love That Never Dies
Oh, man, I don't know what to say about this...I've spent the week heaping endless praise on the Byrds, who in all actuality, were an extremely interesting and innovative band...One of rock n; roll's truly distinct sounds...but by the end of this album I find myself seriously hating the band...I think the problem lies in the title itself..."1965-1990"...There is no reason to listen to any Byrds music released after, say, 1970...
Things start off well enough...We have three tracks from the band's 1965 debut album, "Mr. Tambourine Man," making it (along with "Fifth Dimension" and "Younger Than Yesterday") one of the most represented of the band's albums on this compilation...Which is always the case with this record...But what can you do? It's a great album, and you simply can't leave out the title track, "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" and "All I Really Want To Do."
From their second album, also released in 1965, we have "Turn! Turn! Turn!" which still hippies me out a little bit...I always skip it, but even I can't deny the fact that any Byrds compilation is a complete failure without it...
Now we're talking...From 1966's "Fifth Dimension" album we have "5D (Fifth Dimension," "Hey, Mr. Spaceman," and "Eight Miles High" which finds the band contemplating the universe on acid...I love this stuff..."Eight Miles High" is just classic...That opening desolate guitar line that quickly becomes a free-jazz tangle gets me every time...I'm a big fan of the psychedelic era in music history. It seemed to be an era where musicians were encouraged to push the boundaries...Nowadays everybody has to stay the same forever, in fear of scaring away valuable customers...
The Byrds released "Younger Than Yesterday" in 1967, and from that record we have "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star," "Have You Seen Her Face," and "My Back Pages." These guys were on a roll...Their cover of Dylan's "My Back Pages" becoming especially beloved...And why not? They aced it...Nice and jangly...and "Have You Seen Her Face" is psyche-pop at its best ...
This compilation also contains the 1967 single "Lady Friend" which does not appear on any of the band's albums, but most likely would have been included on "The Notorious Byrd Brothers" if David Crosby (who wrote the song) hadn't been fired while making the album...I kind of find it to be a bit second-rate compared to the other Byrds tracks of the era...I think that's probably best attributed to the lack of a strong chorus...It all kind of works up until that point...There's a lot of interesting things going on in the song though...Very lush and the break (with the ascending guitar line and horns) works in a big way for me...
"Goin' Back" is the only track included from 1968's "The Notorious Byrd Brothers." I like the song but don't find it particularly representative of the album...It is a pleasant tune though with beautiful singing from the group...Although I think "Wasn't Born to Follow" would have been a better choice...
From 1968's "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" we have...absolutely nothing!!!! WTF?!?!? This is one of the most influential albums of all time and its exclusion is a huge mistake that makes zero sense whatsoever...
1969's "Dr Byrds & Mr. Hyde" is also not represented....I don't know why...Was spaced out country that unfashionable in 1990?! "Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man" would have sounded great here...
"The Ballad of Easy Rider" comes from the album of the same name...A gently rolling country rocker that sounds great when your cruising around on your motorcycle on a summer day; wind blowing through your hair, getting shot at by hillbillies...
Unfortunately, we also get "Jesus is Just Alright' which is one of my least favorite songs on planet Earth (and probably on any other planet, for that matter...). It represents the worst of bloated, choogling 70's boogie (even though it was released in the late 60's...Once again the Byrds were ahead of the curve...) The song doesn't have a catchy hook or anything...It just pounds its way into your head by sheer repetition...Irritating rather than memorable... The compilation's first big miss and unfortunately not the last...
From 1970's "Untitled" we have "Chestnut Mare" which I have somewhat mixed feelings about...It's kinda wussy and simpering, but Clarence White's guitar work is impeccable, and when the song kicks in it's a true wonder...I'm going to keep "Chestnut Mare" but forgive me for feeling like a horse-girl when I listen to it...
From 1971's "Byrdmaniax" we get "I Wanna Grow Up To Be A Politician" which appears to be some sort of spiritual brother to "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star," but apparently ""So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star," got all the good genes...This is where things start to get a bit icky for me...The song is dopey and bizarre, although I'm somewhat fascinated by the gauzy sound and the decision not to use a pop-screen...
Was it a tribute to Bob Dylan's "New Morning?" Who knows...
OH NO! SHUT IT OFF! QUICK!!! From 1990's "Byrds" boxset, we get four new songs by the partially-reunited Byrds...These songs are enough to make me take back every good thing I've ever said about the band! Why is it so bad you ask? Well, you asked for it...A BLAND ADULT CONTEMPORARY COVER OF "FROM A DISTANCE!" Yes, the same "From a Distance" that made you puke when Bette Midler popularized it in back in 1990...
PUKE, I TELL YOU!!! PUUUUUUUUUUKE!!!!!!
Actually, the Byrds and Bette Midler covered it at exactly the same time...Weird... To be fair their cover of "Paths of Victory" isn't so bad...It just sounds that way next to all the other classics that appeared earlier in the album...Still these Byrds reunion tracks are pretty much everything a fan of a reuniting band fears...It manages to cast a bad shadow on their past accomplishments...I'd probably skip this and go with any one of their 60's albums instead....Or just play the first 3/4ths of this compilation, like I always do...
Let's hope they re-reunite, pick a top-notch Dylan tune, get some vintage gear and lay down one more glorious jangle-pop single to make up for the Bette Midler shit...What do ya say, McGuinn?
Anyway, let's not focus on 1990...Let's instead turn our ears back to 1967 and "My Back Pages." Enjoy...
For examples there's a whopping four Dylan covers (three of which are from "Another Side of Bob Dylan"), but when I listen to these I honestly kind of forget about Dylan....Not to infer they surpass the Dylan originals, but honestly, when you listen to their "Mr. Tambourine Man" it's so quintessential Byrds...Compare this to the tired Chuck Berry covers on early Stones and Beatles albums....
