I've grown fonder of Skip's songs, but he is very much the weakest link in terms of talent (though John York's Byrds contributions are no great shakes either). 'Absolute Happiness' and 'Well Come Back Home' are Skip's finest moments for me. And to be fair to him, there's nothing he added to Farther Along that is as terrible as 'Get Down Your Line'. Funnily enough, I played Byrdmaniax the other day for the first time in years and it's got some charm. With a revised running order (I made one once that was perfect, but have totally forgotten it), it certainly stands up.
They're just fun tracks - Gene's vocal on "BB" is a hoot, while "So Fine" has a sprightliness to it - it could almost be off the Beatles' first album. Someone mentioned "Get Down" being awful - stick a minor chord at the end of the third line of the chorus and it would be a classic. "Lazy Waters" benefits from a strong McGuinn presence in the chorus. Poor old Skip - I wonder if he ever knew how "disliked" he was. Great bass player. I've grown to tolerate him and enjoy a few of his songs. "Precious Kate" sounds fine with McGuinn singing. Probably the other Battin-Fowley songs would've too. The only ones I don't like are "Tunnel of Love" and "Well Come Back Home" (mainly because of the Buddhist chant at the end). The album as a whole feels like more of a band effort than the previous two. Recorded quickly and in an unusual environment - good, testing conditions. It has a clarity and cleanness lacking in Melcher's production on the previous two albums. Clarence shines, of course. Is it true that he regarded "Farther Along" as his song and was really ticked that the Burritos recorded it first? I know they all sang it at his funeral.
I never was much of a Byrds fan, although we had fun imitating Mr. Tambourine Man when I was in grammar school. In high school I got into David Crosby a bit due to my obsession with Neil Young and the popularity of CSN. I stole my sister's copy of If I Could Only Remember My Name and practically wore out Cowboy Movie. But that was about it. Then last year I got the wonderful Raising Sand by Allison Krauss and Robert Plant. Two out of my favorite three songs were written by Gene Clark. This got me interested in him and I bought the excellent The No Other LP. Wow! Great recording values, great performances and such a unique voice. I couldn't get enough. Any recommendations on another Clark LP or collaboration for my next fix? I'm probably not gonna become a collector, so more of an "If you were trapped on a desert island..." question.
I presume you have "Through the morning through the night" the LP with the two covers you mention? The "Fantastic expedition of Dillard & Clark" is essential. Get "Echoes" too it's got all the early stuff you need, IE the Godsin Bros LP, and some great other stuff like The French Girl that was unissued at the time. Cheers Chris Warr
I don't expect that McGuinn was conceiving this project as parody or pastiche, per se. I think his approach was basically going to be informed by the early-60s "folk revival" vision of American music that shaped McGuinn's relationship to the musical past, then as now. Joan Baez's early albums, which freely mix old British ballads with Appalachian tunes, sometimes with light pseudo-bluegrass instrumentation, but taking a fairly uniform stylistic approach, are a paradigm of this kind of thinking. To Joan and to Roger, a song was "old" and "traditional" whether it was 50 or 500 years old. And with that quality of being "traditional," a song or style acquired a certain dignity that made it more or less above parody, unless it was something extremely familiar like "Oh Susannah." Another quality we can ascribe to the project as Roger probably conceived it, and which we can infer from Sweetheart, is a basically purist attitude. As much would have been left out of the American musical history survey as would have been included. There was a lot of music the "folk revival" perspective didn't consider worthy of respect, particularly in the younger post-Weavers generation, and that music likely wouldn't have been present. As I said, I think it's more likely McGuinn was imagining three or four songs in each of four or five genres rather than a truly comprehensive vision. His few statements on the topic certainly imply that kind of approach.
I don't recall hearing anything of that nature, and I'm skeptical it would be the case. "Farther Along" is such a ubiquitous song in the gospel world I doubt Clarence would have any sense of ownership about it. Parsons and Leadon initiated a spontaneous sing-along of the song at White's funeral, but I think that was simply because they both had recorded it and the lyrics obviously fit the occasion.
Is there are site or book reference that clarifies the roster of lead/harmony singers on Notorious? It's my favorite Byrds album, and I always found it remarkable that the vocals are great even with the material done after the departure of Crosby. I always thought McGuinn was the default lead vocalist on the non-Crosby songs, but then I was listening to some cuts last night and noticed that Hillman is singing lead on the early version of ‘Goin Back’. That led to me questioning whether Hillman is singing lead on any of the cuts that made the album, and the 'who sang what' in general. I've read somewhere Hillman say that he had to sing the 'Crosby parts' when Crosby left, but some of it sounds like McGuinn doing high parts as well. I know they brought in someone named Curt Boettcher to cover the ‘Crosby parts’ for ‘Get To You’, at least. And reportedly Crosby plays bass on ‘Old John Robertson’ and also bass during a live appearance on ‘Change Is Now’, if the day-by-day book is correct. That said, it doesn't sound like there was a lot of vocal overdubs on the album where the same singer is heard doing two different voices on one song (with the exception, possibly, of 'Wasn't Born To Follow', where it sounds like two McGuinns). Anyhow, here are my guesses so far (feel free to add your two cents where applicable): Artificial Energy - McGuinn and Hillman in unison? Who’s voice is more flat/middle toned? Goin’ Back - McGuinn and Hillman in unison? McGuinn slightly more prominent. Gene Clark in the mix somewhere? Natural Harmony - Hillman? Draft Morning - McGuinn. Hillman adds low harmony. Wasn’t Born To Follow - McGuinn. McGuinn or Hillman adds high harmony. Get To You - McGuinn. Boettcher adds high harmony and background voice. Change Is Now - McGuinn and Hillman in unision, Crosby on high harmony. Old John Robertson - McGuinn. Crosby or Hillman on harmony? Tribal Gathering - Crosby. McGuinn and Hillman on harmony backing vocals. Dolphin’s Smile - Crosby and McGuinn, with Hillman? Space Odyssey - McGuinn and Hillman.
I always had difficulty figuring out the vocal lineup for each song. They sound so unified to me, which is interesting since they are breaking up. One thing I would add is that I swear that I can hear Gene Clark on Space Odyssey. He sounds like he is in there. So hopefully Gene is on that song as well as Goin Back. I wish a version of Goin Back would come out that would make it more obvious that Gene sang on it.
Draft Morning, Change Is Now, Tribal Gathering, Dolphins Smile and Old John Robertson were already recorded before Crosby left so Crosby is on the album still.
Interesting information. I did not know that he was born in my home town of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Fascinating. P.S. I did not see if they credited him with singing on a couple of Gene Clark songs.
Crosby does not sing on "Draft Morning." He was fired after the backing track was cut but before the vocals were. The other tracks you mentioned were likely constituted similarly to the 5D/Younger than Yesterday group, yes. I don't know that I can do a better breakdown without close relistening, but here are my notes by way of comment and correction (off the top of my head and without revisiting the album). Generally, I would say Boettcher is a lot more present on the post-Crosby tracks. - "Goin' Back": McGuinn and Hillman are in unison, but the mix alternates who is more prominent in any given verse. Gene sings the the low "ooh" underneath the "la-la-la-la-la" bridges. Curt Boettcher is likely adding a high harmony. - "Natural Harmony": Hillman is the lead vocal, in harmony with Boettcher, I think, on the "dancing through the streets side by side" chorus. McGuinn might be doubling Boettcher, and is apparent singing the "open wide" echo. Everyone is likely sped up. - "Draft Morning": I believe Hillman is singing the lead here as well. - I hear no evidence of Hillman (or anybody but McGuinn, harmonizing with himself) on "Space Odyssey," though Gene Clark was in the band at the time and some people say they can hear him. The common assumption that Crosby plays bass on "Old John Robertson" is apparently false; he played bass on "Change Is Now." If you'd like to be able to recognize Curt Boettcher's voice (it's quite distinctive), check out the track by the Millennium called "The Island."
Eau Claire has evolved into one of the coolest small cities I know. Why not have a Curt Boettcher Day there? The Association is still touring, and it's a good excuse for a Byrds Reunion too.
I like Skip Battin a lot. I like his Skip album and both Italian LP's as well. John York is still releasing good original music today, as opposed to McGuinn just rehashing old folk songs.
I am an unashamed Boettcherite, lol. He did some amazing stuff apart from the Millennium...though I wouldn't include his vocal arrangements on 'Only Colombe'/'The French Girl'. Recently, in a Boettcher group on Facebook, ex-Millennium member Michael Fennelly referred to Curt's arrangement of the former track (which I had posted for discussion) as "tone deaf."
Crosby was gone by the time Draft Morning was recorded, they even changed the lyrics, as they couldn't remember what he had written originally. I think their use of this song on the LP, the changed words etc, was what made Crosby more angry than anything else during the Crosby / Byrds period. Still, pretty much anything could make Crosby mad then, justified or not... Cheers Chris Warr
There is, or at least there was, a cadre of Boettcher fans on the board. You could do a search for recommendations, or just send me a PM.
Sweetheart had a mix of things from folk to country to Americana so I agree; some of the elements were already there and well-executed, in my opinion. If, say, the history-of-American-music project had gone on to include a jazz component, and jazz musicians had been hired for that segment, it would have been a truly interesting album, especially since bebop and country represent a couple of genres indigenous to the United States. Coltrane, had he been alive, could have played "India"-style tenor sax in lieu of lead 12-string on a reworked "Eight Miles High."
That sounds amazing, of course, and it was apparently the reason Gram was auditioned if not hired (since he could bluff his way through some "Take Five"-style piano). It's off topic, but your fantasy has one slight problem: the one time Coltrane made a public comment about rock and roll, he said something to the effect that it was a bunch of awful noise made by guys who can't play their instruments. I've read all his interviews and it's far and away the most illiberal thing Coltrane ever said on the record. I always wondered how Coltrane might have reacted had someone played "Eight Miles High" for him -- he was still alive when it was on the charts, but I doubt he was aware of it. But the scenario you describe did happen, in a much compromised way, with Charles Lloyd playing the lead on Roger's "My New Woman" with the original five Byrds.
So in the alternate universe that is Byrds Nyrds Part 04, Roger would have arranged "Giant Steps" for electric 12-string. Right. And "Captain Soul" was their version of R&B, and "B.J. Blues" and "Baby What You Want Me to Do" at the end of Dr. Byrds was the blues contribution. And they covered Stephen Foster. So there you have the history, albeit over several albums. Curious about something: Was "My New Woman" recorded during the reunion sessions?
To my knowledge, this has never been confirmed one way or the other. It was certainly made at the same time, while the reunion album was being made, but I don't think it was part of the sessions for the reunion LP itself, since the reunion album was for Asylum and Roger's contract was with Columbia.
