Back From Rio

[jimk]

From time to time there was talk about a Byrds reunion. Until recently some of those wishes had been expressed on this very forum. But you know, I'm sitting here listening to Back from Rio and I hear Chris Hillman's mandolin; I hear Crosby's voice harmonizing on "Without Your Love" and possibly on "The Time Has Come." Of course John Jorgenson and Tom Petty make appearances on the album, too. So I got to thinking that Back from Rio is very nearly a de facto Byrds reunion album.

JimK

[kvalois]

Jim:

It's too bad that McGuinn, Crosby, and the gang never reunited after the 1973 Reunion album. I really miss the blending of voices with Roger and David

[raider]

I have that CD and every time I play it that 12 string sound gets better and better.
Do you know if there is any sheet music I would love to learn how to play those songs

[woodyng]

Love that album,lots of standout tracks! I especially like "house on the hill" and "you bowed down"...

[jimk]

I have that CD and every time I play it that 12 string sound gets better and better.
Do you know if there is any sheet music I would love to learn how to play those songs

I don't know of any sheet music. I haven't checked at all. First place I'd go to is Amazon.com.

I have to say that I'm pretty much old school when it comes to learning songs, stealing riffs and licks. I listen, maybe more than I play. Spend a lot of time listening, and developing your ear. And remember, YouTube is your friend. Study Roger's playing technique. The concept is simple, the practice not so much. But if you spend enough time with it and practice slowly you should come close enough. If you're very serious and really bent on mastering Roger's style the instructional DVD "The 12 String Guitar of Roger McGuinn" with himself as teacher is a must. It took me about two years to get it down. Best wishes.
JimK

[thymecube]

As far as a Byrds reunion, we've had it. Impossible now since the passings of Gene and Mike. The closest we get are those few occasions since NBB when you have three or four of the founding memebers performing or recording together. Of those we have quite a few. Recordings of the Boarding House shows and other live shows from that period get pretty close albeit no Mike. Then you have the songs scattered about from the Roadmaster "reunions" (One in a Hundred, She's the Kind of Girl) to McGuinn's first solo (New Woman, Water is Wide) to the Nashville sesxions added on to the box set.Also some of the MCH cuts (Won't Let You Down). And the afore-mentioned cuts on Back from Rio. Finally we have the full-fledged though off-handed RnRHoF performances. Also some of the MCH cuts (Won't Let You Down). That's it... unless of course somewhere out there is something we don't know about. Although that seems final... when the Byrds are involved you just never know. One bit of hope are the reunion album outtakes that Whin Oppice has.
But I suspect when folks speak of a Byrds "reunion" they want an album of new material and a tour... that ain't gonna happen for a variety of reasons, not the least of which, Gene and Mike.
As far as the remaining members reuniting... Roger is firm, Chris conceding and Crosby... well he's that spoiled child that you say no to.... the more he hears no, the more he asks "Why?"
Does that mean never....with the Byrds or any of its members .... never is a tricky word.
Are there other "undiscovered/unreleased" Byrds songs out there.... oh you know there've gotta be, just look at their track record for that sort of thing. So let's find some hope in that area for a full or partial reunion... if only through the lens of time.

Speaking of Back from Rio, and maybe this should be a seperate thread, but here goes.
Does anyone have any info about the the complete song Back from Rio that the "snippet" on that album is taken from? Now that seems like it would be a pretty fascinating listen.
Also in the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers doc Running Down a Dream, has anyone ever discovered what that song was that Tom talks them out of foisting on Roger.Great scene btw. Also somewhere in a McGuinn interview, he mentions another McGuinn original that the producer on that project rejected. Anyone have any clue what that might have been?

[manta]

Car Phone is quite funny. I love the last line "She blew his mind out in her car".

By the way, what's a car phone?

[kennyhowes]

Speaking of Back from Rio, and maybe this should be a seperate thread, but here goes.
Does anyone have any info about the the complete song Back from Rio that the "snippet" on that album is taken from? Now that seems like it would be a pretty fascinating listen.

I believe John Hall can shed some light on this.

[jimk]

Car Phone is quite funny. I love the last line "She blew his mind out in her car".

By the way, what's a car phone?

That's a quote from "A Day In the Life" from Sgt. Peper. Yeah, it's really dated, isn't it?
JimK

[jimk]

Jim:

It's too bad that McGuinn, Crosby, and the gang never reunited after the 1973 Reunion album. I really miss the blending of voices with Roger and David

Whoever wants a Byrds reunion can see it here:

JimK

[johnhall]

Speaking of Back from Rio, and maybe this should be a seperate thread, but here goes.
Does anyone have any info about the the complete song Back from Rio that the "snippet" on that album is taken from? Now that seems like it would be a pretty fascinating listen.

Roger recorded the demo for this album at my studio, then called "Firetail-On-The-Hill". When he went into the studio to cut the actual album, he told me that "Back From Rio", as the title song, had Tom Petty, George Harrison, and a long list of other notables performing on it. Unfortunately it was just so over the top that it was unusable for the final release.

The snippet you hear within the fade out was from the demo version and, yes, I still have the full master tapes from that session. With permission from Roger, it was aired only one time on Tay FM 96.4 in Dundee, Scotland; I've never heard of a bootleg emanating from that broadcast but it is possible.

It's unfortunate the final version wasn't redone and released, as I still think, listening to the demo, that this could have been the best song on the album.

The title comes from a comment I made to Roger as we sat in the lounge of the Edinburgh, Scotland airport. I asked him facetiously "Whatever happened to Jim? Maybe it's time for him to come back from Rio."

[thymecube]

John,
Thanks for the info. We can only hope that the existing version of the complete Back to Rio will one day see the light of day in whatever form. I'd love to hear it.
Since you have an insiders knowledge, are there any other unreleased songs or outtakes that were recorded but not included on the album?

[manta]

Car Phone is quite funny. I love the last line "She blew his mind out in her car".

By the way, what's a car phone?

That's a quote from "A Day In the Life" from Sgt. Peper. Yeah, it's really dated, isn't it?
JimK

Yea, I know. I love the way they slipped that Sgt. Pepper's reference into the song. Quite clever. What's an 8-track?