Sunday, August 09, 2009

Number 373 - Byrds


Number 373

The Byrds

"Turn! Turn! Turn!"

(1965)
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................Genre: Folk Rock...............
art by ArtCovers
The British are coming ..... the British are coming! But the Byrds are American ...... What? "I think we can forgive the young or whacko foreigners who are not American or English, because at first glance of any of the Byrds photo's of the time period you could swear the are from some southern town in England. Oh, and speaking of this time period, did you know, 40 years ago to this day [09.08.69] the very famous Beatles album cover that helped sell 12 million albums had the iconic picture taken? Abbey Road.
Personally, I like the RED '62 to '66 and BLUE '67 to '70 albums where the Beatles images of themselves are aged about 10 years apart, arm resting on a apartment complex. Now that's classic photography. However, it is the Abbey Road image that has been copied a million times, from artist's as varied as Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Simpson's and The Ruttles, all depicting the iconic walk across the zebra crossing. Side note - the VW: After the album came out, the number plate was stolen repeatedly from the car. In 1986, the car was sold at an auction for $23,000 and is currently on display at the Volkswagen museum in Wolfsburg, Germany. Imagine what it would sell for now on Ebay in 2009!!!!
Snappy attire for 1965
Although they only attained the huge success of The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys for a short time in the mid-'60s, time has judged the Byrds to be nearly as influential as those groups in the long run. They were not solely responsible for devising folk-rock, but they were certainly more responsible than any other single act (Dylan included) for melding the innovations and energy of the British Invasion with the best lyrical and musical elements of contemporary folk music. The jangling, 12-string guitar sound of leader Roger McGuinn's Rickenbacker was permanently absorbed into the vocabulary of rock. They also played a vital role in pioneering psychedelic rock and country-rock, the unifying element being their angelic harmonies and restless eclecticism. Often described in their early days as a hybrid of Dylan and the Beatles, the Byrds in turn influenced Dylan and the Beatles almost as much as Bob and the Fab Four had influenced the Byrds. The Byrds' innovations have echoed nearly as strongly through subsequent generations, in the work of Tom Petty, R.E.M., and innumerable alternative bands of the post-punk era that feature those jangling guitars and dense harmonies. more
set in steel
The Byrds' second album, Turn! Turn! Turn!, was only a disappointment in comparison with Mr. Tambourine Man. They couldn't maintain such a level of consistent magnificence, and the follow-up was not quite as powerful or impressive. It was still quite good, however, particularly the ringing number one title cut, a classic on par with the "Mr. Tambourine Man" single. Elsewhere, they concentrated more on original material, Gene Clark in particular offering some strong compositions with "Set You Free This Time," "The World Turns All Around Her," and "If You're Gone." A couple more Bob covers were included, as well, and "Satisfied Mind" was their first foray into country-rock, a direction they would explore in much greater depth throughout the rest of the '60s. ~ [Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide]
Who wrote this classic song? Jesus?
I will see you now, my child
"Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There is a Season)", often abbreviated to "Turn! Turn! Turn!", is a song adapted entirely from the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible (with the exception of the last line) and composed to music by Pete Seeger in 1959. Seeger waited until 1962 to record it, releasing the song on his album The Bitter and The Sweet on Columbia Records. The Biblical text posits there being a time and place for all things: laughter and sorrow, healing and killing, war and peace, and so on. The lines are open to myriad interpretations, but as a song they are commonly performed as a plea for world peace, with stress on the closing line: "a time for peace, I swear it's not too late," the latter phrase and the title phrase "Turn! Turn! Turn!" being the only parts of the lyric written by Seeger himself. The Byrds ~ The master recording took a reputed 78 takes, spread over five days of recording, to complete. The record solidified folk-rock as a chart trend and, like the band's previous hits, continued the successful mix of vocal harmony and Jim McGuinn's jangly twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar playing. ~ [Source: Wikipedia]
For the Beatles see Number 489, #587, #894, #947
For Rolling Stones see Number 396, #689, #767
For the Beach Boys see Number 517, #560, #576, #641, #714
For Bob Dylan see Number 491, #841, #929
For Tom Petty see Number 585
For REM see Number 597, #712
For Red Hot Chili Peppers see Number 521
What does Bowling Drone think of Byrds?
The Byrds are still among the most underrated bands in rock history. One reason is that they didn't have a unique, charismatic frontman: Five California folkie boys came together one jingle-jangle morning in 1964 and then careened around musically for a decade. The Byrds also ran into more than their fair share of trouble, maybe because they weren't great friends -- when things got crazy, they'd just rotate out another member. One example: When singer Gene Clark freaked out and refused to get on an airplane in 1966, the rest of the Byrds kept flying. Clark, their best songwriter, left the band. they pioneered trippy psychedelic guitar rock ("Eight Miles High") and pretty much invented country rock when Gram Parsons joined them for 1968's Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Bands from the Eagles to R.E.M. are in the Byrds' debt, as is just about any musician who ever picked up a twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar. ~ [Source: RS GAVIN EDWARDS]
For the Eagles see Number 509
Rolling Stone magazine deemed their '373rd Song of all Time' was "Wonderful World" by Sam Cooke. Sam Cooke has appeared in The Definitive 1000 of All Time @ #481
Other songs with reference to the Byrds #406, #447, #489, #515, #541, #543, #585, #660, #673, #690, #700, #802
Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (3 other songs, but not this one) and the Album ranked at (An astonishing 5 albums, but not this one)
This song has a Definitive rating of 80 out of 108
Search Artist here:1-2-3-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

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