"Fifth Dimension" and "Younger Than Yesterday"

[stsang]

Jake,

You should absolutely own a copy of "Never Before." It's a veritable treasure trove of rare material from the early Byrds catalog:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss? ... re&x=0&y=0

Although some of the previously unreleased songs have since appeared as bonus tracks on the CD's you mentioned, I don't think you'll be disappointed. If you locate a copy, please let us know what you think.

Robert

The mono version of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" on the "Never Before" release is so much punchier than the stereo version that would later be released. Also of interest is the Crosby altered "Lady Friend". I must admit to kind of liking the modern drum sound especially off the top. Ya, I know, it's revisionist history but .....

My favorite version of this song is the instrumental outtake that's available on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIizDAyt ... 40DD044393
It gets a bit messy in the later takes, but McGuinn's guitar sounds amazing.

[stsang]

I had forgotten that 5D had 2 renditions of 'Why' and that the third was on Younger Than Yesterday. I kept thinking I had heard 3 different covers of this song. It would indeed be very interesting to know why the Byrds did 3 different versions (no pun intended). An amazing song but not really talked about at all.

In the Johnny Rogan book "Timeless Flight Revisited", Rogan implies that the Byrds ended up with 3 versions of the song to keep David Crosby happy... The guitar solos are great in all three versions.

[Folkie]

Simon,

Thanks for sharing those very rare alternate takes of "Baby Blue" minus vocals. Roger's guitar really chimes out!

Robert

[stsang]

Simon,

Thanks for sharing those very rare alternate takes of "Baby Blue" minus vocals. Roger's guitar really chimes out!

Robert

You're welcome, Robert! I remember when I first heard this track that I was blown away by how heavenly Roger's guitar sounded even when tuning up on a single string! I sure as heck don't sound like that when I'm tuning up.

[JakeK]

Around my birthday, I bought a copy of Notorious for the low price of $3.99. In short...good album with the last good bit of David Crosby we'd get from him and Chris Hillman coming out of his shell, "Natural Harmony" is a great song. Fun fact: Gene Clark wrote "Get to You" with McGuinn, not Hillman, and even provides backing vocals for that song.

I believe I'm done with Byrds albums until I get the confirmation that Sweetheart of the Rodeo [Legacy Edition] is worth it.

[stsang]

Around my birthday, I bought a copy of Notorious for the low price of $3.99. In short...good album with the last good bit of David Crosby we'd get from him and Chris Hillman coming out of his shell, "Natural Harmony" is a great song. Fun fact: Gene Clark wrote "Get to You" with McGuinn, not Hillman, and even provides backing vocals for that song.

I believe I'm done with Byrds albums until I get the confirmation that Sweetheart of the Rodeo [Legacy Edition] is worth it.

Hi Jake,

No-one else has chimed in yet, so I thought I'd have a shot. Sweetheart of the Rodeo (SOTR) doesn't seem to get much respect on the RRF, maybe because it doesn't feature the classic Byrds Rickenbacker sound at all (not that I can hear anyway). McGuinn switched to playing a Gretsch Country Gentleman (I think) on this album. So, if your goal is to complete your anthology of jangling/chiming Byrds songs, you probably should avoid SOTR. However, I think SOTR has stood the test of time better than most albums from that period, and has proven to be as influential as anything else The Byrds produced. After completing Notorious Byrds Brothers, the group was in disarray, having lost both David Crosby and Chris Clarke. McGuinn and Hillman needed a new direction so they reached back to their bluegrass roots, and with the arrival of Gram Parsons, added country music to the mix and created a new country rock sound that I find to be quite timeless. There were a few songs on prior albums that pointed in this direction (Time Between, Wasn't Born To Follow), but they really committed to the style on SOTR. I particularly like: You Ain't Goin' Nowhere, I Am A Pilgrim (really simple but elegant arrangement), Pretty Boy Floyd, One Hundred Years, Nothing Was Delivered and All I Have Are Memories. I don't have the Legacy Edition of the album, which I understand features an extra disc of alternate takes featuring Gram Parsons' vocals. I'm pretty happy with the single disc version which has a few extra tracks with Parsons' vocals and the instrumental All I Have Are Memories.

I hope that helps you make up your mind to get or not get the album. Sweetheart of the Rodeo is one my favorite Byrds albums.

Thanks,
Simon

[vynesmusic]

In short, I now own all the G. Clark/Crosby-era Byrds albums, and they rock. Which one should I go for next? Sweetheart of the Rodeo?

Gee at Studio Z, here....gonna shake some tailfeathers......stick with the Clark, Clarke, McGuinn, Hillman, Crosby Byrds.....give or take one of 2 of those great cats..."The Notorious Byrd Brothers" is my personal fave, Crosby was barely on that one---that was when Hillman really began singing.....cool stuff....but after Crosby left, that was about it for me...."Sweetheart" and everything after that, except for "Easy Rider", which was quite good, was just not there.....again....my opinion only....