The Byrds - Very Best of the Byrds
|
List Price: Our Price: $12.98 You Save: $2.00 (13%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $3.43 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Very Best of the Byrds
Free Music Review: Close To Being A Complete "Very Best Of"
Hit: 5 Stars
Since one thing most (if not all) Pop recording artists back in the days of the 78- and then 45-rpm single sought was that elusive "hit single" - the songs that got them heard on radio and juke boxes and, eventually, television. The major labels that signed them wanted the same thing, of course, as their primary motivation was (and still is) profit. And that became even more pronounced with the dawning of Rock & Roll in the mid-1950s.
Indeed, in 1986 the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame was opened in Cleveland, and while it may not have been a specific goal of any artist or group to achieve that honour, I'm sure the 159 artists/groups inducted to date regard it as the ultimate recognition of their talent. Also, as with any such Hall, there will be disputes over who "deserved" or "didn't deserve" to get in.
The folk-rock group The Byrds, for example, simply do not have the consistency of top hits attributed to some of the other groups inducted such as, of course, The Beatles and Rolling Stones, as well as Jefferson Airplane/Starship, Gladys Knight & The Pips and The Bee Gees, as other examples. But then, of course, neither did The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band, Cream, The Velvet Underground and a host of others, whose admission was clearly based upon factors other than commercial success.
In the case of The Byrds, they boasted just 16 Hot 100 entries from their first in mid-1965, Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man, which soared to # 1, to their last in early 1970, Jesus Is Just Alright, which struggled to a # 97 b/w It's All Over Now Baby Blue (all three cuts in this volume). After their second hit, another Dylan tune called All I Really Want To Do, could only manage a # 40 in July 1965 b/w I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better (which "bubbled under" at # 103), lost out to the Cher rendition (# 15), they got back to # 1 late that year with Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season). This was a tune adapted by folk singer Pete Seeger from The Book Of Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8.
After that, however, they would return to the Top 20 just once (Eight Miles High - # 14 in May 1966), and the Top 40 just three more times (Mr. Spaceman - # 36 in October 1966; So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star, a # 29 in February 1967, and yet another Dylan tune, My Back Pages, # 30 in April/May 1967 b/w Renaissance Fair, which is also here. Those came in order. Before Eight Miles High they had their only two-sided hit, minor as it was, with It Won't Be Wrong (# 63 in March 1966) and its flipside, Set You Free This Time, which finished at # 79. For some reason, they omit that from this release.
In between Eight Miles High and Mr. Spaceman came the # 44 5 D (Fifth Dimension), which peaked in Juy/August 1966. After My Back Pages, the best they could do was a # 65 with The Ballad Of Easy Rider, from the Peter Fonda film, in late 1969 (and their second-last hit), and two # 74's with Have You Seen Her Face? (June 1967 - omitted here) and their fourth charting Dylan tune, You Ain't Going Nowhere (May 1968). Another omission from this volume, Lady Friend, stalled at # 82 in August 1967, while Goin' Back did even worse at # 89 in November 1967.
The members certainly paid their dues along the way to the Hall (inducted in 1991). James McGuinn, who played the 12-string guitar and changed his first name to Roger in 1968, had previously worked with Bobby Darin and The Chad Mitchell Trio, while drummer Mike Clarke has been a member of The New Christy Minstrels. The others were guitarist David Crosby and bassist Chris Hillman. Before becoming The Byrds they recorded as The Beefeaters for Elektra, and also as The Jet Set, circa 1964/65. Clark left the group after Eight Miles High, while Crosby split late in 1967 to form Crosby, Stills & Nash (also inducted into the Hall in 1997).
In 1968 they reformed with drummer Kevin Kelly and guitarist Gram Parsons, but then Parsons and Hillman departed that same year to form The Flying Burrito Brothers, at which point McGuinn brought in drummer Gene Parsons, guitarist Clarence White, and bassist John York. Gram Parsons died from a drug overdose at age 26 on September 19, 1973, Gene Clark passed away at age 46 on May 24, 1991, and Mike Clarke died of liver failure at age 49 on December 19, 1993. As a trio, McGuinn, Clark & Hillman had a # 33 Hot 100 with Don't You Write Her Off in the spring of 1979 on Capitol.
The sound reproduction is excellent, and in the fold-out insert are three pages of liner notes, written by Patrick Humphries and Dave Swaney. Certainly one of the better "Very Best Of" compilations to emerge in 1993.
Free Music Review: Byrds - 'The Very Best Of The Byrds' (Sony)
Hit: 5 Stars
A superb 27 track collection of many of the best/better material the Byrds had recorded through out their career.Do keep in mind they were JUST as heavily influential like the Beatles,Doors,Stones and Beach Boys on artists that came along after them.Never actually realized they covered SO many Dylan songs,like "Mr.Tambourine Man","Chimes Of Freedom","The Times Are A-Changing","My Back Pages","Lay Lady Lay" and several others.Plus,there are the major hits you remember such as the timeless "Eight Miles High","Mr.Spaceman","One Hundred Years From Now","Ballad Of Easy Rider",the list goes on.Highly recommended.Would make a great gift.Free Music Review: GREAT SONGS WELL PROGRAMMED
Hit: 4 Stars
UPDATE - 6/30/08 - Amazon appears to have restored the correct contents listing. Great album.
6/16/07 - Since writing my review Amazon (surely in error) has replaced this CD's 27 track listing with a 20 track list containing different songs. The album I have is "The Byrds /The Very Best Of" -- same cover and title as pictured on this site. Mine is Columbia/Sony U.K. 1997, 487995 2. It's 27 track contents:
(1) Mr. Tambourine Man
(2) All I Really Want Yo Do
(3) Chimes of Freedom
(4) I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better
(5) Turn! Turn! Turn!
(6) The Times They Are A-Changin'
(7) The World Turns All Around Her
(8) It Won't Be Wrong
(9) He Was A Friend of Mine (1990 w/McGuinn/Crosby/Hillman)
(10) Eight Miles High
(11) 5D (Fifth Dimension)
(12) Mr. Spaceman
(13) So You Want To Be A Rock & Roll Star
(14) My Back Pages
(15) Renaissance Fair
(16) Goin' Back
(17) Wasn't Born To Follow
(18) Dolphin's Smile
(19) You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
(20) One Hundred Years Drom Now (original released track)
(21) You're Still On My Mind
(22) Hickory Wind
(23) Ballad of Easy Rider
(24) Jesus is Just Alright
(25) It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (1969 "Easy Rider" album cut)
(26) Lay Lady Lay (overdubbed single)
(27) Chestnut Mare
I suspect if you order this CD, the above it what you will get -- but I can't confirm that!
Below is my original review of this CD....
* * *
This SONY (U.K.) 1997 compilation of great songs gracefully programmed makes for very good listening, and is a fine introduction to the Byrds for newcomers.
It will also please most -- but not all -- diehard fans.
The 27 tracks and "Very Best of" format allows the uncredited compiler to cover most of the essential classics with plenty of space remaining to indulge in his personal taste.
It's refreshing to hear rarely compiled songs like 'The World Turns All Around Her' in this set. The four lovely selections from "Sweetheart" (including both Gram Parsons vocals) are also welcome. But "Dr. Byrds," "Byrdmaniax," and "Farther Along" albums are omitted completely, and only 'Chestnut Mare' appears from the double album "(Untitled)".
This collection generally favors the "prettiest" of the Byrds at the expense of heavier efforts like 'This Wheel's on Fire' and 'Lover of the Bayou'. As such it works a narrower groove that doesn't reflect the full range of this band nearly as well as "The Essential Byrds". But within its groove it is near flawless.
SONG VERSIONS:
These are the classic tracks as originally released -- with one major exception:
'He Was A Friend of Mine' is not from "Turn! Turn! Turn!" It's the 1990 track recorded by McGuinn/Hillman/Crosby for the Boxed Set. It's lovely enough, but it is not the original and should have been properly identified.
And just to clarify a few others ....
'It's All Over Now, Baby Blue' is the 1969 version from "Ballad of Easy Rider," not the unreleased 1965 track on the Expanded "Turn!" album. It's nice to see this version finally on a compilation -- it is inexplicably omitted even from "Byrds Play Dylan".
'Lay Lady Lay' is the overdubbed single, not the stripped version on Expanded "Dr. Byrds". This is a difficult song to program because in most contexts it just doesn't sound like the Byrds. However, it works very well here, between 'Baby Blue' 69' and 'Chestnut Mare.'
'Turn! Turn! Turn!' is the standard monaural track, not the stereo version exclusive to the 1990 Boxed Set and "20 Essential Tracks".
SECOND GUESSING:
Of course everybody is a programmer these days but... If dipping into the Boxed Set, I'd probably have used the stereo verion of the original '65 'Friend' (because it's from the "Turn" session) and also the stereo version of 'Turn!'.
And if other than originally released cuts are allowed (as here), I much prefer the full 2:26 version of 'Ballad of Easy Rider' which is a bonus cut on that album. Those extra 26 seconds allow Clarence White an instrumental break, in addition to which he pops in with brief instrumental "fill" throughout. This makes the song much more interesting (to me). I suspect the 2:00 released version was cut to the bone to encourage airplay.
SONG PROGRAM SEQUENCE:
Though all the songs listed by Amazon are on this CD, they are programmed differently on the copy I received. This was a little disappointing because the listed Amazon program intrigued me and was a reason for ordering this. (I ordered from one of Amazon's alternate suppliers, so maybe there are differently programmed versions of this album than U.K., though that seems unlikely.)
Amazon's song listing is surely just garbled, but still I found a refreshing creative logic to it:
It is straight chronological through "5D," but then skips the "Younger Than Yesterday" set and goes into "Notorious" but also omits 'Goin' Back'. Next comes the "Sweetheart" and "Easy Rider" tracks, followed by 'Lay Lady Lay' and 'Chestnut Mare'. The program then returns to the Byrds' glory years with the three "Younger Than Yesterday" tracks and ends with 'Goin' Back'' as a sort of coda. I rather liked this imaginative programming but....
The CD I received omits the above wrinkle and opts for straight chronology. The last 4 songs at the bottom of the Amazon program appear on my disk after 'Mr. Spaceman', though 'Lay Lady Lay' (released shortly after "Dr. Byrds") remains misplaced. Still nice listening but more straightforward. I've played this disk using the Amazon program and enjoyed mixing things up with a return to the glory years after 'Chestnut Mare'.
BOTTOM LINE:
"Best of" offers an excellent selection of songs, good sound quality, and is cleanly programmed for enjoyable listening. Though a subjective and less than comprehensive collection, this is one of the best -- beautifully done and a very nice introduction to the Byrds.
Looking over my above review, I think I've been grasping a little too desperately for something to nit-pick. Basically those who believe only the first six Byrds albums are essential will probably give this 5+ stars. Fans of the later Byrds may feel 3 stars is generous. I think they're both right and compromise with 4 stars. But really can't imagine anyone being disappointed.
Free Music Review: Great introduction to their music
Hit: 5 Stars
The history of the Byrds is long and complex, involving many line-up changes and various musical styles. This compilation contains all the essential tracks including their six UK hits. It begins, of course, with Mr Tambourine man, the song that was an international number one hit for them, firmly establishing their career as well as giving a considerable boost to the career of Bob Dylan, who wrote the song. It is still the song that the Byrds are best remembered for but, as this collection shows, there is much more to their music than just one song.
Classic songs such as All I really want to do, Turn turn turn, Eight miles high, Mr Spaceman, So you want to be a rock and roll star, You ain't going nowhere, Hickory wind, Ballad of easy rider and Chestnut mare are all here. Byrds fans all have their own favorite album tracks and can disagree about which ones should have been included (I particularly like America's great national pastime, not included here) but all the tracks that really matter are here.
The Byrds were sometimes promoted as America's answer to the Beatles but they were never that, especially as their line-up changed so frequently. Nevertheless, they were one of the most important pop groups of the sixties and (like the Beatles) they have been a major influence on those that followed.
As an introduction to the music of the Byrds, this is hard to improve on in a single CD.