The Byrds - Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971
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Music CD Cover
Artist: The ByrdsEdition: Music CD
Format: Live
CD Release Date: 2008-06-17
Music Label: Sundazed Music Inc.
Soundtracks:
- Lover of the Bayou
- You Ain't Going Nowhere
- Truck Stop Girl
- My Back Pages
- Baby, What You Want Me to Do
- Jamaica, Say You Will
- Black Mountain Rag / Soldier's Joy
- Mr.Tambourine Man
- Pretty Boy Floyd
- Take a Whiff (On Me)
- Chestnut Mare
- Jesus Is Just Alright
- Eight Miles High
- So You Want to Be a Rock `n' Roll Star
- Mr. Spaceman
- I Trust
- Nashville West
- Roll Over Beethoven
- Amazing Grace
Free Music Notes for Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971
Free Music Review: Flying High
Hit: 5 Stars
The second version of The Byrds that Roger McGuinn put together in 1968 after the wheels came off of the first addition really rocked. After the "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" album, David Croby's replacement, Gram Parsons quit. The last original remaining member, Chris Hillman, quit to join Gram Parsons in The Flying Burritos Brothers, and Kevin Kelley, original drummer Mike Clarke's replacement (he had also become a Burrito) also quit. McGuinn had to start over. He recruited ace guitarist Clarence White, who had played on the last three Byrds albums. White recruited his bandmate from a previous band, Gene Parsons (no relation to Gram), to play drums. I forget where John York came from to play bass. That line-up recorded two albums in 1969 before York quit to be replaced by Skip Battin in 1970. That line-up stayed together for the remaining two years of The Byrds' life.
By the time this concert was recorded, this line-up had been together for two years, playing small places all over the country. This group is well-represented in live recordings. Amazon sells a live compilation from the line-up with York from a couple of shows in 1969, parts of a show were released on the "(untitled)" album from 1970, and three of their concerts from 1970 can be heard on wolfgang'svault.com. By the time I saw them in January of 1972, they could really kick.
White was an amazing guitar player. I don't think there was anything he couldn't play. He and Parsons invented something called a "second string bender" which made the electric guitar sound like a steel. So, live, The Byrds could move foum country to rock in an instant. They were also pretty good singers. Whereas the earlier group had featured mostly 2-part harmonies, this version routinely featured four-part. McGuinn takes most of the leads, but White leads on three songs. (When I saw them, Battin and Parsons also took leads.) One of White's numbers was Jackson Browne's "Jamaica Say You Will," which appeared first on "Byrdmaniax" and then on later pressings of ("untitled)." At the end of this show, the four of them came out at the end and sang "Amazing Grace" a capella.
A live show should show where the act has been, where it is, and where it is going. This show does most of that. Their most recent album at the time was "Byrdmaniax," but it is surprisingly under-represented. Only one song, McGuinn's "I Trust," is included here (if you don't count "Jamaica"). Several tracks from "(untitled)," 1969's "Ballad of Easy Rider" and "Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde," and 1968's "Sweetheart" are included. Of course, the hits are here. An acoustic "Mr. Tambourine Man" is extremely effective. As is so often the case, many of the songs have a lot more punch live than they did on record. The guitar interplay between McGuinn and White on "Mr. Spaceman" takes the song to new neights. "So You Wanna Be a Rock and roll Star" lifts them up out of their seats. By the time I saw them, "Sweetheart"'s opener "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" had become a thumping rocker opening the show. Here, it is still basically a country mid-tempo. By 1970, "Eight Miles High" had evolved into an extended jam. This show contains the longest version I have heard, clocking in at a little over 18 minutes. While both White's six-string and McGuinn's12-string got a good workout, the centerpiece was a drum and bass piece by Parsons and Battin. The two play off each other to great effect.
Except for "Eight Miles High," most songs are pretty played pretty much the way they were recorded. The acoustic "Mr. Tambourine Man" featured several verses and great acoustic picking. When I saw them, as they were going into this number, someone in the audience yelled "hoedown!" and McGuinn responded, "You dance it, we'll play it." (Later, in the McGuinn, Clark, and Hillman shows, the three of them would take verses.) Some songs have evolved from earlier performances. As with the live portion of "(untitled)," this show opens with "Lover of the Bayou," but the chorus is now in four-part harmony instead of just McGuinn's voice.
(McGuinn would use that arrangement on his "Roger McGuinn and Band" solo Album from 1974.)
The Byrds were the fathers of country-rock along with other music genres. It is, I think, very hard to over-estimate their influence on pop music. They would record one more album, 1972's "Farther Along," before McGuinn pulled the plug. If you like great bopping rock mixed with country dexterity, you'll like this album. If you just like to hear McGuinn sing, you'll also like this. It's only one CD, and there is no indication if anything was edited out. I would like to have heard more form "Byrdmaniax," especially McGuinn's "I Wanna Grow Up to Be a Politican," which he still does in his own shows, but that's cavilling. Buy this and play it. If all you know is this first version of the band, this will bring you into the world of the second coming.
Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971 Poster
From their earliest days as 12-string-wielding folk-rockers, to the thrilling psychedelic excursions of their raga-rock period to their 1968 birthing of country-rock, the Byrds were always accorded a hero's welcome in England. What better place to record founding Byrds member/guitarist/singer Roger McGuinn's new version of the band--featuring fretboard ace Clarence White, bassist Skip Battin and drummer Gene Parsons--than London's Royal Albert Hall!Rescued from a tape that had sat forgotten in McGuinn's climatized garage for decades, this stellar 1971 set, featuring live versions of the current band's studio faves ("Lover of the Bayou," "Chestnut Mare") as well as adventurous reworkings of Byrds classics ("Mr. Tambourine Man," "My Back Pages," "Eight Miles High," "So You Want to Be a Rock `n' Roll Star") might be the most accurate and stirring live performance yet of the legendary Los Angeles combo. By 1971, the guitar interplay of McGuinn and White had become a jaw-dropping highlight of their live performances, as had their stripped-down, acoustic mini-set and peerless four-part vocal harmonies. As McGuinn, in typically understated fashion, says of this new Sundazed release, available now on both compact disc and as a high-definition vinyl, double-gatefold LP: "It was a great night, so I'm happy there's a record of it!"
Fly back to 1971 to the Royal Albert Hall in England to be amongst the flock at the Byrds concert. Listen to the 19 tunes on this Live CD and travel to the past as if it never left. Adding ringing electric guitars to Bob Dylan songs, the Byrds helped invent folk-rock, as well as becoming early proponents of psychedelia and popularizing country-rock with the help of alt-country saint Gram Parsons. Led by Roger McGuinn and his distinctive Rickenbacker guitar sound, the mid-1960s lineup--also featuring David Crosby, Gene Clark, and Chris Hillman--achieved fame with their unique take on Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man." Personnel changes resulted in a core band of only McGuinn and Hillman. Ultimately, McGuinn assumed full control of the Byrds legacy, and their harmonies and jangly guitars have influenced countless younger bands.
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