The country byrds era

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by EEstrat, Jul 11, 2018.

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  1. EEstrat

    EEstrat Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Zealand
    Has anyone else come to appreciate the byrds country rock era more after getting a little older/letting it sit for a while? aside from the overblown production on byrdmaniax they do generally have a pretty decent country rock sound going i believe, some good dylan covers and good tunes.
    When i first got into the byrds i was all about debut through notorious but now i appreciate many of the songs from the latter era (for example discs 3 and 4 from the original boxset).
    anyone else encountered this ?
     
  2. Whoopycat

    Whoopycat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Des Moines
    Love Clarence-era Byrds, particularly his playing on the Live at The Fillmore CD.
     
  3. DaveJ

    DaveJ Senior Member

    Location:
    Manchester, UK
    Yeah, with the exception of when Gram was on vocals I always thought it was a little light... something of a genre exercise rather than the real deal but I’ve it’s definitely grown on me over the years. (Or should that be “decades”?)


    On the other hand, I’ve alweays loved Byrdmaniax
     
    carlwm likes this.
  4. CCrider92

    CCrider92 Senior Member

    Location:
    Cape Cod, MA
    Yes, I've come to be more appreciative though not enamored of it.
     
  5. mdm08033

    mdm08033 Senior Member

    I'm new to the Byrds party. The twang that moved forward with Clarence White is my hook. I just added Ballad Of Easy Rider, (Untitled / Unissued) and Farther Along to my hard drive.
     
  6. pablo fanques

    pablo fanques Somebody's Bad Handwroter In Memoriam

    Location:
    Poughkeepsie, NY
    I love ALL the eras and have had the pleasure of meeting Roger during the 'Back From Rio' tour during my radio days and he was particularly touched by my reverence for Clarence. They are in many ways two different bands but didn't have the precedent of, say Jefferson Airplane/Starship to differentiate the eras and lineup changes. Then again YES has something like 25 members at this point so who knows the correct way to go about it. The bottom line is that the music is STILL great and that's all that matters when all is said and done. Give me the '69 "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" over the unreleased '65 version any day of the week. And this is coming from a longtime Gene Clark FREAK who has everything the man ever put to tape. His time in The Byrds is what it was. We wouldn't have his genius output (with Clarence early on as well) had that Byrd not flown
     
  7. bob_32_116

    bob_32_116 Forum Flaneur

    Location:
    Perth Australia
    I've given my thoughts on this era of the Byrds already. It wasn't just the fact that they went country that got to me, it was just incredibly ordinary country. Sounded like young men singing old songs. In contrast, when the Eagles first came on the scene with their mix of country, rock and bluegrass, it sounded fresh and interesting. I have to force myself to listen to Sweetheart of the Rodeo, but I find Desperado enjoyable from beginning to end.

    Of course the Eagles lost it later on as well, but that's another story.
     
  8. Kiss73

    Kiss73 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    I prefer the White Battin (or York) Parsons McGuinn line up over the original TBH - not that I dislike the original line up, but when that line up was on fire, very few bands could touch them...but they could also play with considerable restraint and beauty.
     
  9. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dixie
    I first heard Sweetheart in the '80s and while some I took to immediately -- I loved "Nothing Was Delivered" from the moment I heard it -- others took some time... I remember getting the more conventionally Byrds-like "Pretty Boy Floyd" as opposed to some others. I do wish the GP vocals had been left on.

    Around that same time I first heard some FBB. You can read about that here:

    There is something I must tell you, you must know - the Gram Parsons thread
     
    darryl hollingsworth likes this.
  10. Safeway 1

    Safeway 1 "mad, bad, and dangerous to know"

    Location:
    Manzanillo, Mexico
    Love all the different lineups of the Byrds and what spun off from them. A lot of bands were taking a rural turn during this time. (Dylan-JWH) I like the Eagles but the Byrds much better.
     
  11. Denim Chicken

    Denim Chicken Dayman, fighter of the Nightman

    Location:
    Bakersfield, CA
    Crazy, I heard the Byrds version of You Ain’t Going Nowhere in a restaurant today. I had never listened to anything beyond Notorious, but I knew right away it was the Byrds when I heard it.
     
    darryl hollingsworth likes this.
  12. Shak Cohen

    Shak Cohen Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Untitled/Unissued is the best Byrds CD out there IMO. Utterly amazing country/rock/ jazz /metal performances - Gene Parsons and Skip Battin were a fantastic rhythm section, and what Clarence White brought to the table can hardly be quantified, it's so mindblowingly amazing. No wonder Jimi Hendrix openly admired him. Has to be heard to be believed...
     
    EEstrat, pablo fanques and Safeway 1 like this.
  13. melstapler

    melstapler Reissue Activist

    The 1970s was plagued by dinosaur rock and I wish there had been more bands like the later versions (and previous versions) of The Byrds. This era of The Byrds is largely neglected on classic rock radio even today, which is a crying shame.
     
  14. SirNoseDVoid

    SirNoseDVoid Forum Resident

    I know it's considered one of the alltime classic albums, but I never particularly liked 'Sweetheart of the Rodeo' (maybe too much country for me). I do like the Untitled/Unissued cds and the Fillmore live album, and I adore Clarence White's guitar playing.
     
  15. ShockControl

    ShockControl Bon Vivant and Raconteur!

    Location:
    Lotus Land
    Aside from the fact the fact that I generally don't like country music, the fact that this group used the Byrds name has always been a stumbling block for me. This is not the Byrds. The last Byrds album is Notorious.
     
  16. Dylancat

    Dylancat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    There’s a large Byrds thread already.
    All this is covered.
    Search For Byrds Nyrds.
     
    EEstrat likes this.
  17. mdm08033

    mdm08033 Senior Member

    I'm already working my way through part one.
     
  18. melstapler

    melstapler Reissue Activist

    True, but we need more Byrds threads to level the playing field and offset the countless threads for over-hyped mainstream classic rock artists.
     
    darryl hollingsworth likes this.
  19. Strawberry Fields Forever

    Strawberry Fields Forever Well-Known Member

    Location:
    London, England
    Well said!
     
  20. pablo fanques

    pablo fanques Somebody's Bad Handwroter In Memoriam

    Location:
    Poughkeepsie, NY
    Can't let this thread go without a shout out to the Sweetheart Tour last year with McGuinn, Hillman and Marty Stuart. One of the BEST shows I've ever seen and I've seen close to 500. Maybe more
     
  21. mdm08033

    mdm08033 Senior Member

    You’re killing me. The Philadelphia area promoter I spoke to claimed that the money people didn’t think the show would sell and the scheduling of shows with three stars on stage was impossible. I hope that Marty can talk them into another round.
     
  22. melstapler

    melstapler Reissue Activist

    Some great news, Roger and Chris will be performing another show with Marty on September 18, 2019 in Nashville.

    Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, Roger McGuinn, and Chris Hillman at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (18 Sep 2019)
     
    mdm08033 likes this.
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