Byrds and Beatles

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Thu Oct 05, 2000 12:49 am

Towels? Did someone ask for towels?

No Mark ,what Tomcat meant to say was.......

admin · Post by **admin** » Thu Oct 05, 2000 8:59 am

Terry: Thanks for your response. I appreciate the thorough research and references. I guess I have gone about answering this question almost backwards. I have been trying to learn about how The Beatles felt about The Byrds by reading "The Beatles" when I perhaps should have been reading "The Byrds". Thanks for the history lesson.

terry · Post by **terry** » Fri Oct 06, 2000 7:04 am

Peter,

No problem. But now that you have the new Beatles Anthology book, it would be interesting to see what it says regarding The Byrds -- if anything.

terry · Post by **terry** » Fri Oct 06, 2000 7:24 am

Mark the MD wrote:

Towels? Did someone ask for towels?

Towels. Don't leave home without them.

admin · Post by **admin** » Fri Oct 06, 2000 3:32 pm

Terry: There is precious little information about The Byrds in The Beatles Anthology book. There are drug references and one story about meeting Peter Fonda along with the Byrds but not many details about how the Fab Four felt about The Byrds' music. I will read on and you can be sure that I will post any findings here.

terry · Post by **terry** » Fri Oct 06, 2000 3:57 pm

Peter wrote:

Terry: There is precious little information about The Byrds in The Beatles Anthology book.

Peter: I figured as much. But many thanks for taking the time to have a look. Much appreciated.

From today's rock + roll hall of fame and museum website:

Quote:October 6, 2000

today in rock history

1966
A new federal law makes
possession of LSD illegal.

1966
The Jimi Hendrix
Experience holds its first
rehearsal. Also, The Byrds continue their engagement at the Village Gate in New York, while George Harrison continues his vacation in India.

From the Bagism website:

Quote:September 14, 1966
George Harrison and his wife Pattie vacation in India. It is here that George meets sitar master Ravi Shankar and begins taking lessons from him on playing the instrument. George and Pattie begin practicing yoga, and George begins to feel a growing resentment at being kept 'in the background' in The Beatles, having to play second fiddle to the Lennon-McCartney axis. George's interest in the sitar and Indian culture will ultimately provide him with vehicles for what would become a major creative influence upon The Beatles. This creative stimulus also sparks a songwriting surge for George that leads John, Paul, and George Martin to have a greater respect for Harrison's songwriting abilities. George and Pattie will remain in India for a little over seven weeks; they return to England on October 22.

admin · Post by **admin** » Sun Oct 08, 2000 9:39 am

Terry: In The Beatles Anthology: By The Beatles there are a couple of references to The Byrds and they are both drug related. So go figure. In any event, on page 209, Lennon mentions that "She Said, She Said" was his composition and that it was written following an acid trip that he experienced while hanging with The Byrds and some women during a break in The Beatles U.S. Tour.

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Mon Jan 15, 2001 11:46 am

she said she said.... is about peter fonda coming up to John and driving him crazy saying he knew what its like to be dead, wen the Beatles were hangin out tripping at a Byrds party or when the beatles rented a house in LA and all the byrds and hangers-on came over and did acid....peter fonda's mother killed herself after going nutts in a mental hospital...the kids didnt even get the news they were told that she had a heart attack or something, Jane his sister read about it in the paper 6 months later or something...Peters dad, Henry Fonda, was not a very loving guy either, didnt know how to show emotions, great actor though....so, thats what fonda's deal is....if you see the scene in Easy Rider where they end up in the cemetary and tripping on acid you get the idea, i think that was a pretty real scene, not just play acting, he makes a reference to his mother in that scene....see if you know who the singer/actress is who plays one of the hookers, that is Peters date in the film.....
it should be, he said he said, but it sounds better as she said....
FATRAT

terry · Post by **terry** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 1:41 am

Following the reception, the Byrds retired to the Europa Hotel in Grosvenor Square, smoked several joints and stayed in their rooms until dark fell. The whiff of marijuana was seldom absent from hotel suites and dressing rooms frequented by the Byrds, but they invariably brought a touch of psychedelic bliss to their dull surroundings. "They had crystals and coloured cubes," Derek Taylor recalls. "Chamber maids were saying, 'I don't know what they're doing in that room. They've got all these things piled up like children's bricks on the table. And what are they doing with the towels?'" Taylor knew that the towels placed on the bottom of doors were to prevent marijuana smoke escaping from the room while they got happily stoned watching their collection of coloured objects. The bizarre behaviour proved all too much for their Cockney roadie Bobby Hamilton, who quit after a few days. Looking back, he pictures the group as almost otherworldly: "They floated out of the hotel, floated into the car, floated on stage, floated off stage, floated back to the hotel, shut the bedroom door and that was it. It was reefers from day one. You could never socialize with them. They were away. Smoke was everywhere."

The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, pages 95-96[/size]

The nurse continues down the hall. When she gets to Room 197, she sees smoke wafting under the door and smells a strange odor.

Inside, a half-dozen residents are sitting on the floor in the lotus position and listening to the Byrds. The regular bulbs have been replaced by black lights. They're pouring Tide on the floor, and grooving to how the crystals look under the light.

The Evansville Courier & Press and The Henderson Gleaner • Tuesday, July 15, 2003[/size]

9. Purchaser shall provide, at Purchaser’s sole cost and expense, the following ITEMS to be placed in the Artist DRESSING ROOM prior to arrival for each performance of the engagement scheduled herein, for the exclusive use of the Artist, his representative and guest:

C. Veuve Clicquot Champagne – one (1) bottle
D. Kendall Jackson Cabernet Wine – 0ne (1) bottle
M. Glass wine glasses and cups – four (4) each (no Styrofoam)
N. Towels – five (5) clean dark (black) hand towels

15. NO SMOKING or illegal drugs are to be permitted in the auditorium, back stage, in the dressing room area, on the stage, and at the sound board by anyone including stagehands and technical crew.

Recent Roger McGuinn Contract Rider[/size]

admin · Post by **admin** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 4:11 am

Terry: Thanks for this interesting information. It continues to reinforce the view "If you can remember the 1960s your weren't there."

I love the quote from Bobby Hamilton

""They floated out of the hotel, floated into the car, floated on stage, floated off stage, floated back to the hotel, shut the bedroom door and that was it. It was reefers from day one. You could never socialize with them. They were away. Smoke was everywhere."

It has always amazed me that The Byrds have said so little about the details of their music, to this very day really. Many questions have been posed, but few answered.

terry · Post by **terry** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 5:29 am

Peter, at least one thing is known about Byrds music: it was uncommonly loud ("music written in voltage") and evidently meant to be experienced that way. There is little doubt that it was also originally intended to be experienced on drugs (see thread archive).

What most people didn't realize is that the [MTM] single only superficially resembled the sound of the Byrds. Live, the group played louder than almost anyone had before them; if their L.A. audiences were mesmerized, it was due in large part to the sheer volume of their music.... When asked, McGuinn always explains, "Well, I think our records sound better loud -- otherwise you lose the highs and the lows."

The Byrds [1971], Bud Scoppa, pages 24-25

Meanwhile, the Byrds flew to New York during October [1966] for a historic appearance at Art D'Lugoff's Village Gate.... As usual, they played far too loud, but this was seen as evidence of empowerment or, as one critic called it, "loud music dancing on electric cable, music written in voltage."

The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 188[/size]

McGuinn had first tried LSD back in 1961, when it was decidedly underground and still legal. "There were five of us in a commune in the Mission district of San Francisco," he said. "One guy started drawing weird stuff on napkins, and then he got crazy. We had to hide all the knives...."

When The Music Mattered, Bruce Pollock, page 85

16. All dinnerware will be cleared from tables prior to the performance, and food service shall be stopped for the duration of performance. Artist will not perform until all plates and cutlery is removed.

Recent Roger McGuinn Contract Rider[/size]