The Byrds anyone???

[CRAZY-HORSE]

THE BYRDS  "dr.byrds & mr.hyde"  cd, 1969.

from the box set...
their seventh studio album and several days to absorb...
Gram Parsons was sacked for turning up to gigs drunk and making an absolute ass of himself on stage...
so in comes Gene Parsons, (any relation to Gram as i cannot find it but surname is a coincidence)...
some psychedelia on here and some country, thus the reason for the title...
two Dylan penned tracks on here, an instrumental, a traditional folk tune but mostly written or co-written by McGuinn...
a very good album by the band and i only knew one of these prior to hearing it so it was a welcome surprise to hear such good music.
around half a dozen bonus tracks including their version of "lay lady lay" which incidently was written for them but when it didnt make the album Mr.Dylan recorded and released it himself, their version is great but Bobbie's is superior IMO.
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

1:   this wheel's on fire  **
2:   old blue  ***
3:   your gentle way of loving me  **
4:   child of the universe  **
5:   nashville west (instrumental)  *
6:   drug store truck drivin' man  ***
7:   king apathy III  **
8:   candy  ***
9:   bad night at the whiskey  *
10: my back pages/b.j blues/baby what you want me to do  ***

3s -  6
2s -  2
1s -  2

rating:  2.4

favorite (not a Dylan tune neither!)

[CRAZY-HORSE]

THE BYRDS  "ballad of Easy Rider"  cd,  1969.

from the box-set...
their eighth studio album...
no, its not the soundtrack to the movie of the same name...
the album's title track was the theme song for that movie but thats about it, the band thought that if they called the album title after the movie then it would drum up interest and sales with the connection, which it didnt, like the vast majority of their output it tanked on every level.
Bob Dylan co-wrote the title track with Roger McGuinn but was not credited.
as per usual, the majority of the songs were covers or traditional tunes reworked...
album has a distinct folk flavor for the most part with a couple of country/folk/rock crossover tunes in the mix to break things up...
i love their slowed down take on Dylan's "its all over now, baby blue"...
album closer is a real clunker, obviously a tribute to the moon landing and totally irrelevant to the rest of the album other than being a, now historical timestamp for 1969.
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

1:   ballad of easy rider   ***
2:   fido   ***
3:   oil in my lamp (trad.)   **
4:   tulsa county blue (aka 'tulsa county')  **
5:   jack tarr the sailor   ***
6:   jesus is just alright   ***
7:   its all over now, baby blue   ***
8:   there must be someone ***
9:   gunga din   ***
10: deportee   ***
11:  armstrong, aldrin & collins   *

3s -  8
2s -  2
1s -  1

rating:  2.6

favorite is a Byrds' original:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

THE BYRDS  "(untitled)" cd, 1970

from the box-set...
their nineth studio album...
a double set, first album is 'live' the second studio material....
not interested in the live set, just the studio ones...
so on the vinyl the first LP is the live album, the second vinyl is the studio recordings.
on the double cd set it is different with the live set and the first five studio songs on the first disk and the second cd has the remaining four studio stacks plus another fourteen previously unreleased versions/songs.
apart from that hiccup though the studio album is pretty bloody good,
its mainly folk tunes with a couple of rock type tunes thrown in for good measure.
one of the tracks, Hungry Planet has a distinct Neil Young, "revolution blues" feel to it...
all up though another excellent cannon in the Byrds' musical arsenal....
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

1:   chestnut mare  **
2:   truckstop girl  ***
3:   all the things  ***
4:   yesterday's train  ***
5:   hungry planet  ***
6:   just a reason  ***
7:   take a whiff on me  **
8:   you all look alike  ***
9:   well come back home  **

3s -  5
2s -  4
1s -  0

rating:  2.5

favorite:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

THE BYRDS  "byrdmaniax" cd, 1971

from the box set....
their tenth studio album....
before i listened to it the first time i found the cover art slightly bizarre for a folk-pop/rock band and i was praying that it wouldnt be their "trans" album....
well i need not have worried with the Trans as the music within is still strictly folk/folk-pop/rock, country, bluegrass but the album is confusing in its own right....
opens up with a traditional Gospel tune, then we get three Byrds original tracks followed by something that could only be called a novelty tune as they play jazz and have little digs at the 'golden age of cinema', ie: the 1940s. that in return is followed by another novelty song about politician and political satire...bizarre indeed!, of the remainder theres a Carter Family cover and one written by a then virtually unknown Jackson Browne and a bluegrass instrumental in the mix also...
the first half of the album is excellent, the second half boring and bland IMO so like the album cover this is a strange album indeed but there is enough on it to actually like it overall.
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

1.   glory, glory  ***
2.   pale blue  **
3.   i trust  ***
4.   tunnel of love  ***
5.   citizen kane  ***
6.   i want to grow up to be a politician  ***
7.   absolute happiness  **
8.   green apple quick step  *
9.   my destiny  *
10. kathleen's song  *
11. jamaica say you will  *

3s -  5
2s -  2
1s -  4

rating:  2.0

favorite:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

THE BYRDS  "farther along" cd, 1971.

final album from the box set...
their eleventh of twelve...
the twelfth album isnt in the box set because it wasnt on the Columbia label but i will listen to it via Deezer and rate it to keep things complete...
another highly eclectic album from The Byrds, lots of folk, folk-rock, southern rock, bluegrass, gospel and a hint of blues rock also...
biggest disappointment for me was the final album track, a bloody bluegrass instrumental...WTF!
everything else  is above excellent or not far from being excellent IMO...
i guess im a fan of their latter years  (post Crosby, Gene Clark) after after absorbing this collection of albums...
favorite track has a riff similar to KISS' "got to choose" (this was written at least 2 years prior to the Kiss tune)...
three bonus tracks at the end  also, they were irrelevant to me but i guess die-hards and completists would appreciate them...
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

1.    tiffany queen   ***
2.    get down your line  **
3.    father along  **
4.    B.B class road   ***
5.    bugler  ***
6.    america's great national pastime  **
7.    antique sandy  ***
8.    precious kate  ***
9.    so fine  ***
10.  lazy waters  **
11.  bristol steam convention blues  *

3s -  6
2s -  4
1s -  1

rating:  2.4

favorite: