They performed "A Satisfied Mind" on the Sweetheart tour in 2018 with Marty Stuart. Sounded wonderful. Much better than the Turn Turn Turn version.
"Mars the debut"? Yow, let's just say we have different tastes. I LOVE folk rock, but I'm not much a fan of tradition folk music, the kind of stuff McGuinn loves these days. Satisfied Mind and He Was A Friend of Mine are probably my two least-favorite tracks on the first five Byrds albums, because they strip the rock part of the equation and sound like something that could have been produced by the New Christy Minstrels, Chad Mitchell Trio, or Les Baxter and his Balladeers.
Mars the debut - it's all relative! I mean, I love the Byrds so I still like the debut! It's just my least favourite of their albums simply because I find it slightly unrelentingly jangly. I guess I'm lucky in that I know virtually next to nothing about any of those "folk" bands you mention other than what I've read about them makes me think I'd hate them. Luckily I don't think I've heard a note by any of them. I'd wager that The Mighty Wind took a fairly accurate swipte at their forced wholesomeness.
Well, it's a fact they were less competitive internally than the Byrds. They were personal friends, unlike the Byrds. They may have competed to get songs on singles, but they generally supported each other and did not engage in psychological games to undermine each others' self-confidence. I think every decision the Beatles made about what got recorded and what went on singles was based on sincere beliefs about quality and/or commerciality. The same definitely cannot be said for the Byrds, who made decisions based on money and self interest. George Harrison's situation is not comparable to Gene Clark's, as Harrison was a novice songwriter whose early efforts were rudimentary. He was "squeezed out" in the early days due to legitimate opinions about quality control, not band politics.
This is what I meant, the aspect of friendship, genuine affection, camaraderie—something the Byrds never seemed to have...except that they always managed to circle back to one another to reunite, or at least carry that wish. Gene did; Crosby does.
I know. Its inclusion breaks up the TTT album from being solely 12-string jingle jangle in the way that MTM was.
12-string jingle jangle is why I like the Byrds, but “It’s No Use” and “Don’t Doubt Yourself, Babe” don’t sound like “Bells of Rhymney” to me.
The periodic desire to reunite has been in part financially motivated, but I think it also reflects the fact that (despite their personal enmity) they know that what they produced together was very good.
I wouldn't compare the Beatles to the Byrds at all. The Beatles were very democratic until the last year or two.
I played a flac file of alternate mixes of the first 9 tracks of Dr Byrds and Mr Hyde that I was given. I presume it is somewhere on the web. Anyone any idea where/when/how these mixes came about. Nashville West lacks the ye hah shout and the sound of the file is a little murky but interesting. Re The Byrds in general they seem to be slipping out of sight (apart from this thread). No RSD release no forthcoming archival stuff despite box set season going into overdrive.
Speaking of which, and I don't want to go through this entire thread. Does anybody enjoy the Kentucky Colonels, Nashville West, Muleskinner or any of the Clarence White comps out there? I find I listen to and enjoy them as much as anyone now.
Well good for you if you don't find the album samey. The fact that the album needs a second rate Bo Diddley-style song to break things up says a lot.
I've never heard of alternate mixes of the first 9 tracks, though there's the soundtrack version of Child of the Universe and alt. takes of This Wheel's on Fire and Nashville West that appeared on the reissue, plus the 1997 remaster also includes unedited versions of Candy and Child of the Universe. What else was different about these mixes?
I like McGuinn’s twelve-string jangle rock sound. And, beyond “Don’t Doubt Yourself, Babe,” a song like “Here Without You” sounds nothing like “Bells of Rhymney” or “Mr. Tambourine Man.” “It’s No Use” doesn’t feature jangly arpeggios, and features a pretty aggressive guitar solo by the standards of 1965. To the extent that McGuinn employs the 12-string Rickenbacker jangle sound throughout the album, 1) I love that sound and 2) it was brand new at the time, not sure he really needed to be ashamed of or steer away from his breakthrough contribution to rock on his band’s debut album.
I really like the Clarence White Tuff and Stringy set - there are a couple of forgettable songs, but Gary Paxton's production is a treat on most of those songs. The original Nashville West is way better than the Byrds' studio version too. I didn't like Muleskinner as much as I wanted to - I found the sound to be a bit strangely sterile. Have you heard the Gib Gilbeau and Gene Parsons set? That's pretty great.
I'm not sure why you feel the need to pick an argument here - if you don't find it samey, then great. I find it samey and find something like the Preflyte version of I Knew I'd Want You to be vastly superior to the MTM version. It's no big deal. As I said, I like the album but it just happens to be my least favourite of their albums. Is that ok with you?
The one-two combo of the show opening with "My Back Pages" done faithfully but with little hints of Clarence-flare, followed by the stellar Marty Stuart arrangement of "Satisfied Mind" was incredible. It really set the tone for the night as a high quality celebration of the Byrds and country music in general. With the state of the industry this may have been the final major tour for McGuinn/Hillman and we're so fortunate it was such a good one.
I've been curious about Muleskinner but haven't gotten to it yet. The Byrds/Dillards et al role in the rise of progressive bluegrass is a thing that I've only really gotten into recently. Working on being able to play Clarence's arrangement of Soldiers Joy has been an ongoing project, ha. I tracked down the Country Gazette debut earlier this year and I love that record. Produced by Jim Dickson with two Gene Clark covers!
Actually democracy only came about in their last year and was what broke them up. From Ringo joining through 68 they only did things as The Beatles if all 4 agreed (clearly that was not true pre-Ringo or Pete would not have gotten sacked). When 3 decided to go with Klein over Paul's objection that was their first and last decision made on a democratic "majority rules" principle.
Oh yeah that Country Gazette debut is great - the second I don't think is quite as good, but it's still decent. I'm a massive fan of Herb Pedersen's vocals so I gave his Southwest solo album (from 1976?) a go when I saw it in a second hand shop. Eh, that was a mistake! Loads of soft rock/pop! You're working on Soldier's Joy? I don't play the guitar, but Clarence's version of that from the 1990 Box Set is one my all time favourite performances. I've seen footage of him playing that song on youtube and all I can say is good luck!
Country Gazette are a top quality band. All the ones I have - the debut up to What A Way To Make A Living, and also Keep on Pushing from the late Eighties/early Nineties - are excellent. Wish some of those Flying Fish albums from the 1980s were easier to track down! I got in touch with Alan Munde recently, with a query about one of the band's tunes and he sent me a lovely reply.
Oh yeah that Herb Pedersen record is... on par with McGuinn-Clark-Hillman, to put it one way, haha. Great singer and writer, though. I've found that I prefer the live recordings he's done with Chris Hillman to most of his studio output that I've heard. "Wait A Minute" is a killer song in the cheesy road warrior love ballad tradition, but his released version lays it on a little thick. Live it's beautiful though. I've now listened to so many of Clarence's takes on "Soldier's Joy" and it's sort of like cracking a code. Sometimes he's picking so fast that it sounds like nonsense (the quality of some of the bootlegs doesn't help either) but it's always thrilling. I can get through it at a moderate speed, maybe by this time next year I'll have it at Clarence speed, I'll keep you posted, haha.
