Did The Byrds Influence "Norwegian Wood"?

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Wed Mar 21, 2001 3:43 am

I guess one other influence that The Beatles could take credit for would be the 'electrification' of the folk music scene in America....even though as Terry has said they were putting pickups in acoustic 12-strings earlier. Everyone kinda made the switch to electric guitars (more notably Rickenbackers) with the arrival of The Beatles and 'A Hard Days Night'. But is this why Dylan went electric??? Was it The Beatles or The Byrds who were responsible for this? As we all know it didn't work as well for Dylan as it did the others--it wasn't widely accepted. Was Dylan's switch to electric a natural progession of events??? And Tom is right in his post; everyone DID influence each other at one point or another....

rick12dr · Post by **rick12dr** » Wed Mar 21, 2001 4:12 pm

As I said, with Emphasis, that in the strictest
sense, McGuinn Did get the ELECTRIC 12 idea from Harrison.Ever play a 60s acoustic with a Dearmond
"acoustic soundhole PU"? I did. At the time, if you wanted your acoustic to be louder, it was Dearmond, or a mike in front of it.The Dearmond
"electrifies",but in the strict sense, and certainly after hearing a real Rick,sorry folks, call it what you will, but the Dearmond does Not
make for an electric guitar.Roger might have been waiting for a good true electric to come out, but after Hard Days Night, the wait was over.[the waiting is the hardest part, ya know?]Oddly, Gibson Did have an electric 12 out by the late 50s or so, in the form of their earliest twin neck
custom made guitars, the forerunner of the SG style doubleneck Page and McLaughlin made famous in the early 70s, but these early Gibsons did not look SG like.

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Thu Mar 22, 2001 10:57 am

Too bad Gibson never played with that twinneck in single form ,either 6 or 12 .
And too bad they never made the double neck that way again.I prefer it to the Page used type.

rick12dr · Post by **rick12dr** » Thu Mar 22, 2001 2:05 pm

Mark; I agree Gibson missed out on that one. But you ever work on one? Specifically, try to access the guts inside? Geez! Much worse than 335s...

admin · Post by **admin** » Thu Mar 22, 2001 2:33 pm

Terry: I am glad McGuinn did not settle for a Bellzouki. Roger would have to have been a lot more than Eight Miles High to have enjoyed the sound and playability. Mike Pender played one when he was with The Searchers and claims that the experience was not enjoyable. He was very glad to get his Rose Morris Model 1993 when it came along.

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Thu Mar 22, 2001 8:06 pm

yes I have worked on several .Including one when I worked at Electro string .One of the guys had a 6/12 and it was stripped in a furniture dip tank.ALL the binding was gone .

I rebound it and Bill and I on a couple of Saturdays snuck it into the booth ...it got painted white .I'm sure it is creamy /blonde now .The binding was black and Steve Soust had some CF Martin binding foe the thin layers.It looked really good.Everything else was there.

It was far easier to spray a Rick double neck than a Gibson .That is why the bolt on necks.I'm sure of it .That and it was just easier to assemble and handle.

admin · Post by **admin** » Wed Mar 28, 2001 10:45 am

Lennon was interviewed in 1970 by Jann S. Wenner of The Rolling Stone. Norwegian Wood was one of the many songs discussed. There was no reference to The Byrds being associated with this song although there was certainly mention of them in other contexts.

admin · Post by **admin** » Wed Apr 03, 2002 2:48 am

I am wondering whether the music of the Byrd's and the Beatles would have been drastically different without the drugs that they were using at the time. The drug culture had several influences on their works, however, in addition to clouding the consciousness it may have also been a central reason why the Beatle and Byrds got together in the first place. The "Byrds of a feather Hypothesis".

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Wed Apr 03, 2002 5:32 am

Peter: They may have never got together period if it weren't for their interest in Bob Dylan, which is one thing that they both had very much in common. Even though The Beatles thought themselves on top and rightly so, they were very intrigued by the American music scene, especially on their first two tours ('64 and '65). I tend to think their musical interests played a bit more imporatance---especially on the first tour, although you can't ignore what the 'substances' were all about then, either...especially in '65.....wouldn't it have been neat to be a fly on the wall when The Beatles/Byrds met up????

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Wed Apr 03, 2002 6:46 am

I'd bet that Susie Creamcheese and the 'plastercasters' had more to do with N.Wood than the Byrds.