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| Art: FMF© Art Department Dept. |
That track list in full: a Dylan song he didn't write, a trad. arr. he didn't write, a song he didn't write, a song he co-wrote for another project, another song he didn't write, a new song he wrote, another song he co-wrote for another project. Intuitively sensing the album was going to run short, he cobbled together a Hail Mary medley (*shudder*) - another Dylan song he didn't write, a song he co-wrote, and a Jerry Reed song he didn't write.
Spot the odd one out? Jim-Roger, having cunningly ousted the two finest songwriters in the band, penned one song for this album, and sang lead on all of them. The album tanked harder than Sweetheart. It tanked so hard even seismographs at the North Pole registered the impact.
This is an "acetate" version recorded - it says here - "at initial recording sessions at Columbia Studios in Nashville (and dated October 16, 1968, before the band began further sessions in Nashville on 10/28/68)".
Well, maybe, but I have a couple of problems with this. One is that it doesn't sound like an acetate. All the acetates I've heard, even after de-clicking, have that metallic, hissy sound that comes from the source (a metal plate, duh). All of 'em. Not one of them sounds like this, clean and deep. So there's that, but even more importantly, the version available online (not any longer - the blog, by a self-professed Byrds "expert", was made private so people couldn't point out his mistakes) is a semi-tone too low. You'd think this had been noticed - especially by Byrds "experts" - a semi-tone step is apparent to anyone with ears. I fed it into Audacity and raised the pitch of each track to match the released album, so it doesn't sound like Black Sabbath anymore. That doom metal version is still out there, but here's the only place you'll get the recording sounding like it should. The medley is missing, confirming the theory that it was filler to pad out the woefully brief groove time.
I'll leave you to discover the differences - there are enough to make it essential to the Byrdmaniac - and enjoy the sound. Whatever the provenance, I prefer it to the released album, and you might too.
I think you're being a little harsh here. Dr. Byrds... is the most consistent and best post-Sweetheart album. Take away the first and last tracks and you have eight good-to-great songs which honour the sound of the original Byrds (in a way that subsequent albums failed to) while returning the band to its "rock" routes AND continuing to build on their country forays.
ReplyDeleteDid I mention that I'd LOVE to have a link for all this?
I don't say the album stinks, do I? I don't actually express an opinion on it either way, just tell the story. I enjoy it very much (there's not a Byrds album I don't enjoy - wait until we get to the last albums before you roll your sleeves up!).
DeleteHere ...
... or here.
Hey Farq, I'm not rolling my sleeves up. I'm just making the case for an album that's been unjustly denigrated over the years. It has its shortcomings (Bob Johnston where are you?) but it was pretty favourably received at the time...
DeletePretty favorably received by critics, yes, but not by Mr. Music Consumer. It was the Byrds' worst-selling album ever (at the time). Their albums, in order, reached these positions in the US charts:
Delete6, 17, 24, 24, 47, 77 ... and 153. That's indicative of what a long way they'd fallen in four years.
Since then, Like Sweetheart, it's become accepted for what it is, and I haven't heard anyone slagging it off for some time now - decades, probably.
(I don't mind if you are rolling your sleeves up, John!)
Btw the orchestral version of Child Of The Universe from the Candy soundtrack would have fitted neatly here...
DeleteYes, it would, and it's a puzzle why our archivist didn't include it. The Candy OST has been FoamFeatured antecedently.
DeleteErrr, dearest Farq would you by any chance have an idea of when? A month? A three month period? Something to narrow down the search?
DeleteIt's in here somewhere. Look for Pcinemadelic or psomething psimilar ... there are a few under the same title, just to make it more confusing.
DeleteOh Farq, you cunning clownprince of camouflage, I will look for that hilariously hiding header...
DeleteMake that roots...
ReplyDeleteThank you kind sir, Da Boids is always appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI notice (yes I have very sharp eyesight) that the yellow police tape is gone from the House O' Foam, and that Lt. Columbo is no longer on site. Hopefully this means that mystery of Myra's tragic demise (how will we ever et over the loss) has been solved.
ReplyDeleteI do hope that the culprit will be named shortly.
Lt. Columbo saw the detail we'd all missed, and will announce the apprehension of the culprit soon.
ReplyDeleteThe 'heavy' guitar sound was prefigured on 'Notorious' (think Change Is Now/Tribal Gathering) and Clarence's stringbender was heard on 'Sweetheart' (100 Years/Christian Life) and there's Lloyd Green's pedal steel. Having a copy of the pre-Farq 'acetate', I shall listen to the doctored (sorry) version with interest. At least I'll find out if I've got ears or not.
ReplyDeleteAlso one or two of the four or five guys might be interested in the original versions of 2 of the songs: Cajun Gib (Guilbeau) & Gene (Parsons)'s Gentle Ways (note the original lyrics which McGuinn refused to sing and so altered) and the Reasons' Hong Kong Hillbilly. https://pixeldrain.com/u/sG6yk5fW
And a live set, recorded during the Dr Byrds sessions. 7 songs that would make it onto the album and 1 that didn't. Eclectic selection of previous album songs and 1 song you won't find anywhere else I don't think. Sound quality pretty good overall.
ReplyDeletehttps://pixeldrain.com/u/Bx9YGapF
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DeleteOh, this is not the Avalon Ballroom show, is it? Cause I have that one already...
Delete"Dr. Byrds... is the most consistent and best post-Sweetheart album."
ReplyDeleteWow, here's a take on that album I've never heard. Woof. Most consistent and best? Do you hate Skip Battin's Byrds tenure? I would argue that "(Untitled)" is both more consistent and better. The material here is IMO extremely un-consistent, it just seems more unified because "Jim-Roger" sings all of it. It's also interesting to see someone who doesn't like " Wheel's on Fire" (which admittedly in that version is an acquired taste) but likes "Child of the Universe". I myself have a soft spot for "Candy" and I agree that the album is better than its rep, but it's probably the album from the latter phase that I would put on the least.
However, I always likes the John York tenure because he brought the high harmonies that had gone AWOL with Crosby.
I don't HATE Battin's tenure, I just think John York was a better fit. I'm not a fan of the Battin-Fowley songs which spoiled the last three albums for me.(major exception: Absolute Happiness,which is genuinely pretty. The studio half album has some good tracks (Chestnut Mare, Truck Stop Girl and Yesterday's Train) but much of the rest are mediocre or out of place on a Byrds' album. I think their version of This Wheel's... is turgid and undistinguished. Clarence is on record as being embarrassed by his contribution to it.
DeleteI agree with you about Candy...
"The 'heavy' guitar sound was prefigured on 'Notorious' (think Change Is Now/Tribal Gathering)"
ReplyDeleteAnd another take I've never heard and leaves me slightly baffled. I wouldn't associate any "Notorious" tracks with a heavy guitar sound, at least not the one of "Wheel" and "Bad Night".
It's a shame that they never followed up on that because I would say "Bad Night at the Whiskey" is one of the most underrated tracks in the whole Byrds catalogue.
So, after these hot takes here's the coldest of ice cold takes: Can we all agree that "Stanley's Song" is the worst original Byrds song ever?
ReplyDeleteIt's not a favourite of mine but it has competition. "America's Great National Pastime" anyone?
DeleteHow about We'll Meet Again?
DeleteDefinitely. And perhaps Mind Gardens...
DeleteOh c'mon now. Don't be that Battin hater!
DeleteI've never understood the amount of hate that that song got. Johnny Rogan in his fab biography calls it pretty much the worst Byrds song ever and the biggest loss of identity that the group ever suffered, but I beg to differ. The honky-tonk piano places it pretty squarely in the Byrds' country-rock tradition. It is also fabulously catchy and the lyrics are IMO pretty good. SO count me as one of the "misguided" (Rogan). I think Battin's "Tunnel Of Love" is indefinitely worse and sounds much less like the Byrds than "America's Pastime". At least we can blame Jim-Roger's "improvements via Moog" for the horrible "Hungry Planet"...
Say what you will about "Mind Gardens", which is indeed horrible and I almost always skip it, but at least it has ambitions, even very misguided ones. "Stanley's Song" is just derivative boring crap.
I met John Rogan once. That was enough.
DeleteAnd as a last thing (man, I'm getting long here). The fact that the Byrds ran out of material (not the first or last time, compare 5D, Ballad or Byrdmaniax) was cue to the horrible Columbia contract that theoretically asked them to deliver two albums plus two additional singles PER YEAR! Without a prolific songwriter such as Gene Clark that turned out to be a huge problem...
ReplyDelete"Horrible contracts" were business as usual for successful bands at the time. You want to see some real hard-working dudes, look at the Monkees. They not only put out a new album every few months (contributing songs and playing), but made a TV series that would have filled anybody else's schedule on its own.
DeleteMercifully, Millennial acts only produce one album per line-up every four years, assuring us of the highest quality.
Funny, I just tried giving this album it's 4,623rd chance last week, and...nope, it still sucks. Wheel's On Fire is a turgid mess, their worst Dylan cover by a mile. Old Blue, You're Gentle Ways Of Loving Me, Nashville West and Drug Store Truck Driving Man are okay, but the rest is bottom of the Byrdcage. Still, all post-Sweetheart Byrds gets a pass because of one name: CLARENCE WHITE. The man was a fuckin' genius, the Jimi Hendrix of country guitar. And things DID improve with the underrrated Ballad Of Easy Rider.
ReplyDeleteDon't bother arguing with me because I know I'm wrong. Kisses!
Of the many things I've left behind with the passing of the years is strong opinion about just about anything. I'm easily pleased. While I admit that Dr. Byrds isn't Notorious, it's a good album.
DeleteStill and all, I'm very happy to see robust opinions aired at Th' House O'Foam©.
I've always coveted John York's hat, actually.
ReplyDeleteLongtime lurker, first post: eet's grate. That being said--anyone else hear a crazy vocal ad-lib (or something) towards the end of "King Apathy III" (acetate)?
ReplyDeleteWell, Smash, welcome! We've just conducted a poll here and results strongly indicate those voices are in your head.
DeleteThe voices say it wasn't them here around the 2:45 mark of "King Apathy" (acetate) https://mega.nz/#!RTJjyI7K!fCtYjBPu6alBS32PAyXlguEQb-j75rM-aaj7WaJqEWo
DeleteI wus yankin' yer chain! Relax! Have a cherry phosphate on th' house!
DeleteFWIW, which is somewhere between not a whole lot and absolutely nothing, I spent the afternoon listening to the various versions of Dr B und Mr H I've managed to amass over the years. My admiration for the record only increases with time--Clarence White gets to step out, the band makes a joyous and occasionally crunch noise, only the filler medley feels like a waste of time, and that is remedied by listening to the acetate. John York's contribution also underregarded, and no horse picture of either end turned up on a record sleeve after his departure. In short, it doesn't sound like Mr. Tambourine Man (thankfully, for late 1968), and it rawks. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteIt's a swell album. Not the swellest - there are sweller - but swell enough.
DeleteWould have been an OK album, had it came out with a new band name. The Real Byrds ended with Notorious, and McGuinn grabbed the name. Can't compare his new band with the real Byrds; apples and oranges.
ReplyDelete