

The lyrics are sufficiently ambiguous to facilitate free tossing-about of pronouns, in any case.”Ĩ. Apparently Roger McGuinn suggested changing the first line from “Keep saying no to me since I was a baby” to “her/she”, which alone justifies his co-writing credit (though I’m sure he contributed more than that to the song). I actually probably prefer the “Younger Than Yesterday” version (surely in a minority here), which is lush rather than brash and features excellent harmonies on the song’s great refrain. “Why,” meanwhile, contains an ENORMOUS bottom line that dominates the song. The album cover is the only thing here that will leave any impression on you either way.” “I really couldn’t care less about The Byrds as a live band. Buckaroo (Live at the Fillmore – February 1969, 2000) Being a biker that film changed my life.”ġ0.
SONGS BY THE BYRDS MOVIE
Maybe cos I was there when the Easy rider movie came out.

“Some good tracks on this country style album and I love the title track. Ballad of Easy Rider (Ballad of Easy Rider, 1969)

“It’s No Use”, then, shows the way to a harder-rocking soundscape, reminding me of The Beatles, and someway also of a ‘pre-Eight Miles High.'”ġ1. How does it transgress songwriting norms? “ġ2. Far from being some life-affirming hippie anthem, as is claimed in some quarters, it is like something out of a Freudian analyst’s nightmare. Lyrically, it is one of the oddest things to come out the Flower Power era, which is really saying something. “Musically, Chestnut Mare is lovely folk-rock jangle, combining spoken word verses with a melodic chorus. Seriously, he sucks all of the knowing humor out of the text, to the point where intentionally cutesy rhymes read as unerringly sincere. “Good thing the A-side’s harmonies have their act together, complete with a glorious chorus reach for the sky otherwise I’d have to grouse about McGuinn repeating his attempted sabotage of “Mr. Here are all of The Byrds songs ranked.ĭon’t miss out on the TIMELESS The Byrds music below! Click to experience the evolution of their musical style!ġ4. [ McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman remain active. Gene Clark died of a heart attack later that year, while Michael Clarke died of liver failure in 1993. Several former members of the band went on to successful careers of their own, either as solo artists or as members of such groups as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and the Desert Rose Band. In 1991, the Byrds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an occasion that saw the five original members performing together for the last time. Their signature blend of clear harmony singing and McGuinn’s jangly twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar was “absorbed into the vocabulary of rock” and has continued to be influential. Although they only managed to attain the huge commercial success of contemporaries like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and The Rolling Stones for a short period in the mid-1960s, the Byrds are today considered by critics to be nearly as influential as those bands. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole consistent member. They also turn Jackson Browne's "Mae Jean Goes To Hollywood" (easily the best bonus song here) into a playfully romantic, twang-rocking rip on anyone who ever believed that they could easily "make it" in show business if they only relocated to Los Angeles.The Byrds was an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The real magic happens on more pensive songs like Gene Parsons' "Gunga Din," or "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" which could be the definitive version of this Dylan chestnut with its weeping slide guitar and hushed harmonies. "Fido" is another standout that similarly implements White's pedal steel approximations with a heavy dance-floor boogie and a percussive conga-laden breakdown so undeniably groovy that The Beastie Boys sampled it for "Body Movin'" off 1998's Hello Nasty. The guitar interplay between Roger McGuinn's jangling Rickenbacker and Clarence White's inventive string-bending Telecaster birth a sweet chemistry that makes songs like "Jesus Is Just Alright" (later popularized by the Doobie Brothers) pulse and strut with an unpredictably successful marriage of country and funk. Byrds aficionados often pronounce 1969's Ballad Of Easy Rider the band's last great work.
