Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Two things about the Byrd's version of this song I've wondered about -

It sounds as though a metronome is ticking through the recording...one of those old wooden kind, with the weighted arm...am I nuts?

And on the lead solo, the octave string is very pronounced...is Roger back-picking?

shamustwin wrote:... It sounds as though a metronome is ticking through the recording...one of those old wooden kind, with the weighted arm...am I nuts? ...

Yes ... but there is a ticking in the song! Seriously, there is something making a ticking sound, but I have always thought it to be an overdub of drumsticks (or similar wood-on-wood sound) rather than a metronome. I'll have to listen to it carefully in headphones.

shamustwin wrote:... And on the lead solo, the octave string is very pronounced...is Roger back-picking?

That one's harder to answer ... when I play the lead, I'm doing normal picking and, IMO, that sounds very much like the lead in the song. There might be a few notes that are back-picked, but I'll have to listen to the song again more carefully with headphones.

Gary, I think you're right about the drum sticks. And, Its the good old flatwounds that makes your octaves sound brighter...

I always assumed it was a drumstick on a wood block, no? Sounds too fat and round to be just drum sticks. I think it's a wood block. Or claves, maybe.

JimK

Just listened again. I will bet it's a metronome, it's too steady, plus it has that sound.

But the solo is played regularly, the octaves just are very bright.

Regarding the changed lyric thing, when Dylan recorded "Another Side of Bob Dylan" it was done over a relatively short period. He was not well rehersed, didnt know the tunes, and by some accounts was in the bag for at least part of the sessions...so its not surprising that there would be some variation from the published versions of the songs...and..even under perfect circumstances Dylan's lyrics were/are/will be a work in progress...look at how "Tangled up in Blue" has evolved

I think that Dylan has probably changed the lyrics, tempo, etc. of practically everything he's performed since 1966 - but the main idea of the composition is still there. McGuinn and other artists have taken these liberties with his work as well.
As far as The Byrds "My Back Pages" goes, I think you're right on Rich - listen to what Roger himself says in the intro to the live in Stockholm, 1967 version.