Showing posts with label Byrds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Byrds. Show all posts

Coming Up: "You Showed Me - The Songs Of Gene Clark" From Ace Records


Out April 1. Available for pre-order now from Amazon or Import CDs

Details:

Gene Clark was one of the last century’s most gifted songwriters. These eclectic interpretations of songs drawn from his time with the Byrds through to his solo masterpiece “No Other” provide the irrefutable proof.

Quite incredibly, it’s only in more recent years that Gene has risen above cult status to be hailed as one of the last century’s greatest voices, charismatic performers and supernaturally talented songwriters. That could easily be down to the complex mass of paradoxes and human weaknesses that battled inside him. As Byrds biographer Johnny Rogan put it, “For every celebrated moment of his musical life, there were comparable moments of opportunities lost and projects abandoned or unrealised.”

From his earliest composing attempts, there was always more to Gene’s songs than his contemporaries’: deceptively complex arrangements, unusual melodic turns and subtly woven twists carrying a secret, deeper resonance that reached its cosmic apogee on 1974’s “No Other”. He blazed trails for folk-rock, psychedelic/baroque pop and was first to pioneer alternative country and Americana. That he was also a masterful songwriter is why we’re here today, celebrating just some of these masterclasses in translating universal emotions or extraordinary observations into living, breathing music: like early champion Dylan, timeless flights asking to be boarded by other artists.

As with our recent collections spotlighting the songs of Leon Russell and Lou Reed, this latest release in our Songwriters series is compiled by Mick Patrick and packaged with a bumper booklet featuring copious notes by Kris Needs.

Track list:

  1. You Showed Me - Echo in the Canyon
  2. With Jakob Dylan & Cat Power
  3. Feel a Whole Lot Better - Juice Newton
  4. I Knew I'd Want You - Thin White Rope
  5. She Don't Care About Time - Flamin' Groovies
  6. Eight Miles High - Roxy Music
  7. Till Today - the Rose Garden
  8. Echoes - Starry Eyed & Laughing
  9. Elevator Operator - Velvet Crush
  10. I Found You - the Thyme
  11. So You Say You Lost Your Baby -
  12. Death in Vegas Featuring Paul Weller
  13. Tried So Hard - the Flying Burrito Bros
  14. In the Plan - New Grass Revival
  15. Train Leaves Here This Morning - Kai Clark
  16. He Darked the Sun - Linda Ronstadt
  17. Kansas City Southern - Pure Prairie League
  18. Polly - Iain Matthews
  19. Why Not Your Baby - the Mother Hips
  20. Full Circle - Byrds
  21. Silver Raven - the Baird Sisters
  22. Some Misunderstanding - Soulsavers Featuring Mark Lanegan
  23. Strength of Strings - This Mortal Coil

Coming Up: Gene Clark "No Other: Deluxe Edition"

 
Finally, a reissue of this long-out-of-print classic by the former Byrds lead vocalist. Looks like it's done right, too.

Out Nov. 8. Order from Amazon now.

Details:
Gene Clark’s 1974 masterpiece gets the reappraisal it’s long overdue. On the eve of what would have been American singer-songwriter and Byrds founding member Gene Clark’s 75th birthday comes the reissue of one of his finest works, No Other.
Released in 1974 on Asylum Records, a year after the Byrds' short- lived reunion, Gene reached for the stars with No Other; a psychedelic rock, folk, country and soul record that famously cost a small fortune to make.
Although received warmly by critics, it flopped and was soon deleted, a failure Gene never came to terms with.
However, as The New York Times wrote around the record’s 40th anniversary in 2014, “hindsight has burnished No Other, as it has redeemed other albums that went on to be reconstructed as rock repertory, like Big Star’s Third/Sister Lovers and Lou Reed’s Berlin,” with the album now being increasingly recognized as one of the greatest of its time, if not all time.
45 years on and recently remastered at Abbey Road, 4AD are giving No Other the reappraisal it deserves. The original eight track album is being released on both CD and LP, while a limited run double CD edition in a hardbound book cover is also coming which includes a bonus disc of alternate studio versions of each track plus a recording of “Train Leaves Here This Morning” (an Eagles hit in 1972, written by Gene and Eagles founding member Bernie Leadon).
Excitingly, the deluxe box set edition fans have been waiting decades for has also been lovingly curated. An extremely limited item, the box contains the LP, three SACDs (the original album in an authentic Japanese vinyl replica sleeve plus two more discs of session mixes), an exclusive 7”, a comprehensive Blu-Ray disc which includes HD versions of all tracks, a stunning 5.1 surround mix of the album, the original 1974 vinyl master and an exclusive documentary by Paul Kendall (the director responsible for the acclaimed 2013 film, The Byrd Who Flew Alone: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Gene Clark), and a hardbound 80 page book which features essays, extensive liner notes and previously unseen photos.
“One of the greatest albums ever made. Initially celebrated for its obscurity, No Other is now celebrated for its magnificence. It was in every way a magnum opus: epic, sprawling, poetic, choral, rococo.” -The Guardian UK 

Coming Up: The Byrds 1973 reunion album, remastered


Out March 1. Order from Amazon now.

Details:

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of a new re-mastered edition of the legendary 1973 reunion album by THE BYRDS; “Byrds”.

Released on the Asylum label in March 1973, “Byrds” saw the classic line-up of GENE CLARK, CHRIS HILLMAN, DAVID CROSBY, ROGER McGUINN and MICHAEL CLARKE fully reunited for the first time since 1966 (when Clark departed the group due to his fear of flying) and following the departure of Clarke and Crosby in 1967 – Clarke to the Flying Burrito Brothers and Crosby to Crosby, Stills and Nash (and Young).

Recorded at the Wally Heider studios in Los Angeles during October and November 1972, the album featured compositions by Gene Clark (‘Full Circle’ and ‘Changing Heart’), Roger McGuinn (‘Sweet Mary’ and ‘Born to Rock n’ Roll’) and Chris Hillman (‘Things Will Be Better’ and ‘Borrowing Time’) along with David Crosby’s ‘Long Live the King’ and a new version of ‘Laughing’ (originally recorded by Crosby on his 1971 solo album “If Only I Could Remember My Name”).

The album also featured a cover version of Joni Mitchell’s ‘For Free’ and two Neil Young compositions; ‘Cowgirl in the Sand’ and ‘(See the Sky) About to Rain’, the latter not released by Young himself until 1974 when his version appeared on the album “On the Beach”.

This re-mastered edition of “Byrds” restores the original album artwork and features an illustrated booklet with essay.

1. FULL CIRCLE
2. SWEET MARY
3. CHANGING HEART
4. FOR FREE
5. BORN TO ROCK N’ ROLL
6. THINGS WILL BE BETTER
7. COWGIRL IN THE SAND
8. LONG LIVE THE KING
9. BORROWING TIME
10.LAUGHING
11. (SEE THE SKY) ABOUT TO RAIN

Pop Focus: The Byrds go Country, 1968




In 1968, when the rest of the pop music world was recovering from psychedelia, the Byrds went country.

The group's album, "Sweetheart of the Rodeo," embraced classic country sounds, with lots of pedal steel and twanging Telecaster guitars, along with a little banjo and mandolin thrown in for good measure.

New member Gram Parsons, recruited into the band after the departure of David Crosby, contributed lead vocals on several tracks and two original, destined to be classic, tunes: "Hickory Wind" and "100 Years from Now."

The Byrds, famed for their hit version of "Mr. Tambourine Man," routinely included a Dylan cover or two on their LPs and, for this one, recorded two songs from his "Basement Tapes," a collection of demo recordings Dylan made with the Band during his post-motorcycle crash hiatus from public performance: "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" and "Nothing Was Delivered."

Tunes by country legends such as Merle Haggard ("Life in Prison") and the Louvin Brothers ("The Christian Life") along with a banjo-driven version of Woody Guthrie's "Pretty Boy Floyd," helped round things out.

The album, released on Aug. 30, 1968, failed to do much business on the charts but succeeded in alienating both rock fans, many of whom weren't open to the album's country sounds, and the country music establishment, who viewed the band as dilettante interlopers.

Following the release of the album, the group played a disastrous set at the Grand Ole Opry where they were the subject of constant heckling and suffered a hostile interview with the legendary Nashville disc jockey Ralph Emery, who called the group "mediocre." McGuinn and Parsons had their revenge by writing a tune lampooning Emery, "Drug Store Trucking-Driving Man," that was included on the next Byrds LP, "Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde."

Parsons' stay with the Byrds didn't last beyond this album, but he continued to follow his country muse - stealing Hillman away to become a member of his Flying Burrito Brothers, and later recording a pair of excellent, seminal country rock albums, "GP" and "Grievous Angel," both featuring the unbeatable blend of his smooth country voice with the harmonies from Emmylou Harris.

"Sweethearts of the Rodeo" wasn't the first attempt at blending rock and country. After all,  country was part of rock from the start. Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and other first-generation rockers created the genre by melding country, blues and r&b. Dylan had a deep love of country that creeped into much of his work. Even the Beatles, in their BBC recordings and live performances played the occasional country tune. And, from the country side, Buck Owens and others in the Bakersfield scene blended rock'n'roll guitars into to their honky tonk sound. Parsons, too, worked to fuse country and rock before his stint in the Byrds, with the album "Safe at Home" with his short-lived International Submarine Band.

Still, "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" is rightly hailed as a pioneering country-rock and went on to inspire a raft of country and rock'n'roll artists, ranging from Poco and the Eagles to the Outlaw Country movement and Steve Earle to alt country bands such as Uncle Tupelo and the Jayhawks.

McGuinn and Hillman recently celebrated the album's 50th anniversary in performances backed by Marty Stuart and his band and plan a wider tour, playing the LP in full. Here's our own little celebration with images and videos of the time.







Out June 15: "Gene Clark Sings for You," collection of previously unreleased recordings


Also out June 15 is A Trip Through The Garden a collection of singles by the Rose Garden, a folk-rock championed by Clark.

Details from Omnivore Recordings:


The legendary 1967 Gene Clark recordings. Also includes six additional previously unissued & unknown recordings

Gene Clark’s musical legacy is most certainly assured as a singer, songwriter and member of some xclusive company as an inductee to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a founder of The Byrds, and collaborator in groups such as Dillard & Clark, Gene Clark and the Gosdin Brothers, McGuinn Clark & Hillman and later as the duet partner of Carla Olson (The Textones).
His songs have been covered by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Iain Matthews, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, The Rose Garden, and Chris & Rich Robinson of The Black Crowes among many others. As well documented as Clark’s career has been, there have been remarkable discoveries over the years (see Omnivore’s Here Tonight: The White Light Demos for example), but now the Holy Grail of Clark’s post-Byrds career is finally about to see the light of day:
“For longtime Gene Clark fans and aficionados, the tracks on this remarkable archival CD are the stuff of legend. Since word first spread in the 1980s about the discovery of these 1967 recordings on a rare acetate in Liberty Records’ vaults, fans have come to regard Gene Clark Sings For You as nothing less than the Holy Grail of the singer/songwriter’s extraordinary body of work. Shrouded in mystery and the subject of much speculation and conjecture, few have ever had the opportunity to hear these forgotten gems from one of Gene Clark’s most prolifically creative periods. Until now.”
—John Einarson

author of Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life And Legacy Of The Byrds’ Gene Clark (Backbeat Books)

In addition to the 8 tracks from the Gene Clark Sings For You acetate, recorded in 1967 after he famously left The Byrds, there are an additional 5 previously unknown tracks from a further 1967 acetate given to the band, The Rose Garden, for recording consideration. This new compilation also includes a previously unissued demo rescued from a tape in the collection of John Noreen, member of The Rose Garden. This demo of the song “Till Today” is Clark running through the song for the band who would cut it on their only album, the 1968 self-titled effort on Atco Records (also being reissued and expanded at the same time as Gene Clark Sings For You).
Released with the full approval and cooperation with both the Estate of Gene Clark and the band, The Rose Garden, Gene Clark Sings For You is produced for release by Grammy-winner, Cheryl Pawelski with restoration and mastering by Grammy-winner, Michael Graves. Liner notes by John Einarson, author of Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life And Legacy Of The Byrds’ Gene Clark(Backbeat Books) and previously unseen photos.
CD / 2-LP / DIGITAL TRACK LIST:

ON HER OWN
PAST TENSE
YESTERDAY, AM I RIGHT
PAST MY DOOR
THAT’S ALIRGHT BY ME
ONE WAY ROAD
DOWN ON THE PIER
7:30 MODE
ON TENTH STREET
UNDERSTAND ME
A LONG TIME
BIG CITY GIRL
DOCTOR DOCTOR
TILL TODAY


The most expansive collection by The Rose Garden ever

“In December 1967, Los Angeles folk-rock quintet The Rose Garden’s debut single ‘Next Plane To London’ rose to #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 national singles chart. A month later the single topped the Canadian RPM chart. Considering the stiff competition at that point, along with the odds stacked against them as an unknown new band, The Rose Garden members can feel justifiably proud of their accomplishment. ‘Whether we’re remembered as a One Hit Wonder or not doesn’t matter,’ insists Rose Garden drummer Bruce Bowdin. ‘We certainly were where the action was and had the time of our lives. I have no regrets or anything to apologize for. Our record is still played on the radio.’”

—from the liner notes by John Einarson, author of Mr. Tambourine Man:
The Life And Legacy Of The Byrds’ Gene Clark (Backbeat Books)

Expanded for the very first time, The Rose Garden’s sole album finally gets the deep-dive examination it deserves with A Trip Through The Garden: The Rose Garden Collection. Beyond the twelve tracks released in 1967 (the original ten-track album and two songs from a post-album single release), this newly restored and remastered CD adds 14 previously unissued tracks. They include five live tracks recorded in August of 1967 at Chaminade High School in Canoga Park plus studio outtakes, acetate tracks, and a special rehearsal.
A special note, being released at the same time is the Gene Clark Holy Grail, Gene Clark Sings For You which serves as a companion to A Trip Through The Garden: The Rose Garden Collection. Clark was involved with The Rose Garden after leaving The Byrds and furnished them with an acetate of songs to choose from for their self-titled album. They chose “Long Time” which appears on Gene Clark Sings For You. They also chose “Till Today” which appears in demo form on Gene Clark Sings For You, and as an acetate version and rehearsal on A Trip Through The Garden: The Rose Garden Collection.
Released with the full approval and cooperation with both the Estate of Gene Clark and The Rose Garden, A Trip Through The Garden: The Rose Garden Collection is produced for release by Grammy-winner, Cheryl Pawelski with restoration and mastering by Grammy-winning engineer, Michael Graves, plus liner notes featuring new interviews with the band by John Einarson, author of Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life And Legacy Of The Byrds’ Gene Clark (Backbeat Books) and previously unseen photos.
CD TRACK LIST:

NEXT PLANE TO LONDON
I’M ONLY SECOND
FEBRUARY SUNSHINE
COINS OF FUN
RIDER
SHE BELONGS TO ME
FLOWER TOWN
TILL TODAY
LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE
LONG TIME
IF MY WORLD FALLS THROUGH (Mono Single Version)
HERE’S TODAY (Mono Single Version)
DOWN TO THE WIRE
CHARLIE FER DE LANCE
THE WORLD IS A GREAT BIG PLAYGROUND
HERE’S TODAY (Stereo Mix)
IF MY WORLD FALLS THROUGH (Stereo Mix)
DEAD MEN NEVER DIE (Take 2)
I’M ONLY SECOND (Acetate Version)
TILL TODAY (Rehearsal)
TILL TODAY (Acetate Version)
NEXT PLANE TO LONDON (Live)
SO YOU WANT TO BE A ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR (Live)
SHE DON’T CARE ABOUT TIME (Live)
LITTLE THINGS (Live)
YOU DON’T LOVE ME (Live)

Omnivore collects Chris Hillman's "Asylum Years"


Out Feb. 9, a compilation of the former Byrds' early solo material.

Details:

Chris Hillman co-founded some of the most classic, seminal, groundbreaking acts of the ’60s and ’70s including The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Manassas, and The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. But, in the mid 1970s, Hillman decided it was time to try things on his own.

1976 brought Slippin’ Away, the musical journeyman’s first solo release. Produced by renowned engineers Ron and Howard Albert (Derek And The Dominoes, Allman Bros., Jimi Hendrix), it was a star-studded affair, featuring members of Booker T. & The M.G.’s, Poco, Buffalo Springfield, The Turtles, and ace studio musicians. Hillman took his place as front-man, and the results were the epitome of the classic ’70s LA sound.

He returned the following year with Clear Sailin’, which saw him dial back the flashy supporting cast for a more traditional release—much like the iconic music he had created in his early years with The Byrds and Burritos. For Clear Sailin’ Hillman assembled a core band (including soon-to-be-superstar Richard Marx) with production helmed by Jim Mascon (Poco, Firefall). A number of songs feature co-writes with Crawdaddy magazine’s founder, Peter Knobler.

Hot on the heels of his 2017 critically acclaimed album (produced by Tom Petty), The Asylum Years presents both of those ’70s albums on one compact disc, with an essay from Scott Schinder, featuring a new interview with Hillman.

Having been a catalyst and innovator on the musical landscape for decades, The Asylum Years sees this byrd take flight.

Tracks:
  1. Step On Out
  2. Slippin’ Away
  3. Falling Again
  4. Take It On The Run
  5. Blue Morning
  6. Witching Hour
  7. Down In The Churchyard
  8. Love Is The Sweetwest Amnesty
  9. Midnight Again
  10. (Take Me In Your) Lifeboat
  11. Nothing Gets Through
  12. Fallen Favorite
  13. Quits
  14. Hot Dusty Roads
  15. Heartbreaker
  16. Playing The Fool
  17. Lucky In Love
  18. Rollin’ And Tumblin’
  19. Ain’t That Peculiar
  20. Clear Sailin’

McGuinn: More unreleased Byrds on the way

A 1971 of the Byrds live in London is due out next month on the Sundazed label, and it's just the first of several releases coming from the band's vaults, says Byrds singer-guitarist Roger McGuinn.

“We’ve carried these tapes around for 30-something years,” he said. “We just never paid much attention to them. [Sundazed’s] Bob Irwin came down, and he’s a genius at discerning these things. He could look at a box, and go ‘Oh, this is that, and so-and-so was there, this is wonderful.’”

Irwin has taken further tapes from McGuinn, with a view to further releases. “He’s gonna check them out,” said Roger. “There are tentative plans to put out good things we find, but I’m not sure what.”


You can pre-order The Byrds Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971 from Amazon now.

Byrds live album planned by Sundazed

The Byrds Flyght blog says the Sundazed label will issue a previously unreleased Byrds live performance this May.

The Byrds - Live At The Royal Albert Hall, London 1971 will be available on both CD and vinyl.