Byrdmaniax
Encyclopedia
Byrdmaniax is the tenth album
by the American rock
band
The Byrds
. It was released in June 1971 on Columbia Records
(see 1971 in music
) at a time of renewed commercial and critical success for the band, due to the positive reception that their two previous albums, Ballad of Easy Rider and (Untitled), had received. The album was the second by The Byrds to feature the Roger McGuinn
, Clarence White
, Gene Parsons
, and Skip Battin
line-up of the band and was mostly recorded in early 1971, while the band were in the midst of an exhausting tour schedule. As a result, the band had little time to hone their new songs before recording commenced and thus, much of the material on the album is under-developed. Byrdmaniax was poorly received upon release, particularly in the United States, and did much to undermine The Byrds' new-found popularity.
The album peaked at #46 on the Billboard Top LPs
chart but failed to reach the UK Albums Chart
. The song "I Trust (Everything Is Gonna Work Out Alright)" was released as a preceding single
on May 7, 1971 in the United Kingdom but it did not chart. A second single taken from the album, "Glory, Glory
", was released on August 20, 1971 and reached #110 on the Billboard
chart, but again, the single failed to reach the UK chart. Byrdmaniax remains one of The Byrds most poorly received album releases, largely due to the incongruous addition of strings
, horns
, and a gospel
choir
which were overdubbed
onto the songs by producer
Terry Melcher
and arranger
Paul Polena, reportedly without the band's consent.
. With the band's career experiencing a revival of commercial fortunes, The Byrds elected to continue working with Terry Melcher, who had produced the band's two previous albums. Unfortunately, the grueling pace of the band's touring schedule meant that they were under-prepared for the recording of their next album, with little or no time to develop the material that they intended to include. Sessions
for Byrdmaniax commenced on October 6, 1970, just three weeks after the release of (Untitled), and continued throughout January and March 1971, with the band recording twelve new songs as well as revisiting an outtake
from the (Untitled) sessions, "Kathleen's Song". The album's pre-release working title
was Expensive, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the bloated costs incurred during the recording of the album, but ultimately this was dropped in favor of the less opulent sounding Byrdmaniax.
Roger McGuinn's songwriting contributions to the album was the modal
acoustic
ballad
"Pale Blue" (co-written with drummer
Gene Parsons). The song's title can be seen as a metaphor for a mood, while its romantic lyrics
deal with the conflicting themes of freedom and security. With its melancholy sense of longing, folksy
instrumentation, and sensitive lead vocal performance, "Pale Blue" is often regarded by critics as being one of the most successful musical statements on the album as well as something of a lost classic among The Byrds' oeuvre. Another McGuinn-penned song included on Byrdmaniax was the commercially unsuccessful, quasi-gospel
single "I Trust" (re-titled as "I Trust (Everything Is Gonna Work Out Alright)" for the single release). The song's title and lyrical refrain
was inspired by McGuinn's personal catchphrase
, "I trust everything will turn out alright", which itself had been borrowed by the guitarist during the mid-1960s from the best-selling book The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
.
McGuinn's other compositional contributions to Byrdmaniax were two songs that he had written with lyricist Jacques Levy
for the pair's aborted Broadway
musical
, Gene Tryp. Of these, "Kathleen's Song" had originally been intended for a scene in which the song's eponymous heroine patiently waits for Gene Tryp, her lover, to return home from his travels. "Kathleen's Song" had, in fact, been recorded in June 1970 during the recording sessions for (Untitled) but had been omitted from that album at the eleventh hour, due to a lack of space. As a result, there are promo
copies of (Untitled) known to exist that list the song (under the abbreviated title "Kathleen") on the album sleeve. The Byrds returned to "Kathleen's Song" in January and March 1971, undertaking additional recording work in order to ready the track for release on Byrdmaniax. The second Gene Tryp song included on the album was "I Wanna Grow Up to Be a Politician", a whimsical ragtime
pastiche that had been written for a scene in the musical in which the hero, Gene Tryp, runs as a presidential candidate. The song found a second lease of life away from the confines of Gene Tryp, however, when its satirical lyrics found favor with America's radical youth, who were rebelling against the Nixon administration
during the early 1970s.
Byrdmaniax also included a pair of novelty song
s penned by the band's bass player
, Skip Battin, and his songwriting partner Kim Fowley
. The first of these, "Tunnel of Love", was an organ driven Fats Domino
pastiche, while the second, "Citizen Kane", served as a wry comment on Hollywood
life and its celebrity legacy during the 1940s and 1950s. Unfortunately, the inclusion of these two songs, along with McGuinn and Levy's jaunty "I Wanna Grow Up to Be a Politician", caused the album to suffer from an overabundance of pastiche and whimsy. A third Battin–Fowley song, "Absolute Happiness", was more serious, with its dramatic lyrics providing a Buddhism
-inspired meditation on positive values and the power of nature.
The album's opening track, "Glory, Glory
", was borrowed by drummer Gene Parsons from the repertoire of The Art Reynolds Singers, just as "Jesus Is Just Alright
" on Ballad of Easy Rider had been. Despite featuring a striking piano
part and strong gospel backing vocals
, the song lacked the immediacy of "Jesus Is Just Alright", as producer Terry Melcher admitted in a 1977 interview: "We were aiming to cut another 'Jesus Is Just Alright', but we didn't make it. Larry Knechtel
played piano on this cut but it was too fast. The whole thing was a mess." The album also included a bluegrass
instrumental
named "Green Apple Quick Step", written by Parsons and lead guitar
ist Clarence White, which featured guest musicians Eric White, Sr. (Clarence's father) on harmonica
and Byron Berline
on fiddle
. White also brought the Helen Carter
song "My Destiny" to the recording sessions, having first learned it during his days as a bluegrass musician. White elected to sing lead vocal on the track but unfortunately his nasal voice and the band's lackluster musical backing gave the recording a fatalistic and dirge-like quality. The final track on Byrdmaniax was a rendition of "Jamaica Say You Will", written by the then unknown Jackson Browne
and featuring a Clarence White vocal performance that is widely regarded as one of his best on a Byrds' album.
In addition to the eleven songs included on the original LP, at least two outtakes from the album sessions are known to exist: a recording of Bob Dylan
's "Just Like a Woman
"—which had also been attempted during the (Untitled) recording sessions—and a cover of ex-Byrd Gene Clark
's "Think I'm Gonna Feel Better". Both songs remained in the Columbia vaults for almost 29 years, before finally being released in 2000 as bonus track
s on the Columbia/Legacy
reissue of Byrdmaniax. The version of "Just Like a Woman" recorded for the album in 1971 represented the last Dylan song that The Byrds would record until "Paths of Victory", during the 1990 reunion sessions that were included on The Byrds box set. A third outtake from the album sessions that is rumored to exist is the Parsons–White composition "Blue Grease". This song was included in a pre-release track listing for the album that was published in The Byrds' fanclub newsletter, The Byrds Bulletin, in early 1971. However, the track failed to appear on the album and may not have even been recorded by the band, since there is no mention of it in the Columbia files or in contemporary studio
documentation.
Chris Hinshaw to finish mixing
the album. In The Byrds' absence, Melcher and Hinshaw brought in arranger Paul Polena to assist with the overdubbing
of strings, horns, and a gospel choir onto many of the songs, at a reported cost of $100,000 and allegedly without the band's consent. When the band heard the extent of Melcher's additions they protested to Columbia Records, campaigning to have the album remix
ed and the orchestration removed but the record company held firm, citing budget restrictions, and the record was duly pressed
up and released.
For his part, Melcher defended his actions by explaining that the band's performances in the studio were lackluster and that the orchestration was needed to cover up the album's musical shortcomings. In a 1977 interview with The Byrds' biographer Johnny Rogan
, Melcher attempted to illustrate the situation in the recording studio during the making of the album and also explain his rationale for the orchestral additions: "Several members of the group were involved in divorces and they were hiding from their wives. It was complete bedlam in the studio. Everyone had too many problems. There was a lack of interest on everybody's part. I was trying to save the album, but it was a mistake. I should have called a halt." Melcher also succinctly highlighted his lack of confidence in the quality of the material that the band had recorded: "I think the orchestration was a big mistake, but the songs were weak." As for not obtaining the band's consent for the overdubs, Melcher explained "I admit that I wasn't in consultation with them a lot and I didn't really deal with Clarence, Battin or Parsons on these matters. But I'm sure it was inconceivable that McGuinn did not know about the orchestration."
The band themselves were far from happy with the album and upon its release, were vocal in press
interviews about their dissatisfaction. Even two years later, Clarence White complained to journalist
Pete Frame
that "Terry Melcher put strings on while we were on the road, we came back and we didn't even recognize it as our own album." Gene Parsons disowned the album completely, describing it as "Melcher's folly" and commenting in interviews that the band were all appalled by what they heard when they returned from touring. McGuinn actually defended Melcher somewhat by indicating in an interview with the English journalist Keith Altham that the album had been taken away from the producer at the last minute and given to an engineer in San Francisco to remix. However, the production credits on the original LP sleeve do not support McGuinn's claim and Melcher later stated that he had no recollection of the album being mixed by anyone other than himself. In more recent years, McGuinn has conceded to journalist David Fricke
that the album's shortcomings were not down to Melcher's over-production alone: "We were just idling artistically, the album sounds like we really weren't concentrating on doing good work, good art."
commercially, there is some evidence to suggest that mono
copies of the album (possibly radio station promos
) were distributed in the UK. As well as being issued in the standard stereo format, Byrdmaniax was also released in 1971 as a Quadraphonic LP in Japan on the CBS Sony label (catalogue item SOPL-34001). The quadraphonic version of the album features a noticeably different mix
to the standard stereo version.
The album peaked at #46 on the Billboard Top LPs
chart, during a chart stay of ten weeks, but failed to chart in the UK. A single, "I Trust (Everything Is Gonna Work Out Alright)" b/w "(Is This) My Destiny", was released ahead of the album on May 7, 1971 in the UK, to coincide with a European tour, but it did not chart. A second single taken from the album, "Glory, Glory" (b/w "Citizen Kane"), was released on August 20, 1971 and reached #110 on the Billboard chart but again failed to chart in the UK. The striking album cover artwork, featuring a set of silver "death mask
s"—one for each member of the band—was designed by Virginia Team and Grammy Award
-winning Columbia Records' art director, John Berg. These foreboding plaster
facemasks, which were created by artist Mary Leonard and photographed by Don Jim, have been regarded by some critics as an accurate visual representation of the lifeless music on the album and the declining state of the band in 1971.
Upon its release, Byrdmaniax was greeted positively by the UK music press
but received scathing reviews in the U.S. Richard Meltzer
's review in the August 1971 edition of Rolling Stone
magazine was particularly vicious, with Meltzer describing the album as "increments of pus". The same review also described the McGuinn–Levy composition "I Wanna Grow Up to Be a Politician" as a song that was "degenerating into namby pamby innocuous mickey mouse with latent-blatant political content". Meltzer concluded his withering attack by deriding The Byrds themselves as "a boring dead group." In the UK, Roy Hollingworth's review in the August 14, 1971 edition of Melody Maker
was more positive and described the album as "one sweet length of bursting Byrds sunshine, so perfect in quality and quantity you'd feel an absolute heel to ask for more." Record Mirror
was also enthusiastic in its praise of the album, describing it as "another fine album by The Byrds." However, not all British reviews of Byrdmaniax were positive, with Richard Green of the NME
noting that "When the true history of rock comes to be written, The Byrds will get a deserved place of honour on the strength of tunes like 'Mr. Tambourine Man
', 'Eight Miles High
', and 'So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star
'. Hopefully the writer will not have listened to Byrdmaniax or he may drastically alter his opinion." Green was also critical of Terry Melcher's use of strings and horns on many of the tracks, concluding that "Orchestration is all very well for some bands, but not, on this showing, for The Byrds."
Today, Byrdmaniax is generally regarded as The Byrds' weakest album, as well as the least popular of any of the band's releases amongst their fanbase. Mark Deming, writing for the Allmusic website, has summed up the album by concluding "Not an awful album, but Byrdmaniax is hardly the pleasure it could have been in the hands of a more tasteful production team." In his 2000 review for The Austin Chronicle, Raoul Hernandez gave the album a rating of three stars out of five, commenting "Byrdmaniax may be as disjointed as reviews claimed at the time, but most of these same critics didn't like Sweetheart of the Rodeo
either, and if the Gram Parsons
-blessed classic is ground zero for 'country rock
' then Maniax is full-blown 'gospel rock
'." Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke
noted in 2000 that Byrdmaniax suffered not just from Melcher's inappropriate orchestration but also from being a Byrds' album that is almost totally bereft of The Byrds' signature sound. Fricke noted that the familiar chime of McGuinn's 12-string Rickenbacker
guitar is lost beneath the overbearing strings and the band's trademark harmonies
are also largely absent from the album.
Byrdmaniax was remastered at 20-bit
resolution as part of the Columbia/Legacy
Byrds series. It was reissued in an expanded form on February 22, 2000 with three bonus tracks. These bonus tracks included an outtake version of Gene Clark's "Think I'm Gonna Feel Better", sung by Clarence White (who had also played guitar on Clark's original 1967 solo recording of the song); a stripped-down alternate version of "Pale Blue"; and a rendition of Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman". The remastered reissue also includes, as a hidden track
, an alternate version of "Green Apple Quick Step", which is sometimes known by the alternate title "Byrdgrass".
The Byrds
Additional Personnel
Unknown Musicians:
Production
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by the American rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
. It was released in June 1971 on Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
(see 1971 in music
1971 in music
-Events:*February 1 – after months of feuding in the press, Ginger Baker and Elvin Jones hold a "drum battle" at The Lyceum.*February 8 – Bob Dylan's hour-long documentary film, Eat the Document, is premièred at New York's Academy of Music...
) at a time of renewed commercial and critical success for the band, due to the positive reception that their two previous albums, Ballad of Easy Rider and (Untitled), had received. The album was the second by The Byrds to feature the Roger McGuinn
Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
, Clarence White
Clarence White
Clarence White was a guitar player for Nashville West, The Byrds, Muleskinner, and the Kentucky Colonels. His parents were Acadians from New Brunswick, Canada...
, Gene Parsons
Gene Parsons
Gene Victor Parsons is an American drummer, banjo player, guitarist, singer-songwriter, and innovative engineer, best known for his work with The Byrds from 1968 to 1972. Parsons has also released solo albums and played in bands including Nashville West, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Parsons Green...
, and Skip Battin
Skip Battin
Clyde "Skip" Battin was an American singer–songwriter, performer and recording artist. He is best remembered as a member of The Byrds, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, and the Flying Burrito Brothers...
line-up of the band and was mostly recorded in early 1971, while the band were in the midst of an exhausting tour schedule. As a result, the band had little time to hone their new songs before recording commenced and thus, much of the material on the album is under-developed. Byrdmaniax was poorly received upon release, particularly in the United States, and did much to undermine The Byrds' new-found popularity.
The album peaked at #46 on the Billboard Top LPs
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart but failed to reach the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
. The song "I Trust (Everything Is Gonna Work Out Alright)" was released as a preceding single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
on May 7, 1971 in the United Kingdom but it did not chart. A second single taken from the album, "Glory, Glory
Glory, Glory, Hallelujah (Lay My Burden Down)
"Glory, Glory" is an American spiritual song, which has been recorded by many artists in a variety of genres, including folk, country, blues, rock, and gospel.-Lyrics:Lyrically, the song has many variations but the best known version of the song "Glory, Glory" (also known as "When I Lay My Burden...
", was released on August 20, 1971 and reached #110 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
chart, but again, the single failed to reach the UK chart. Byrdmaniax remains one of The Byrds most poorly received album releases, largely due to the incongruous addition of strings
Strings (music)
A string is the vibrating element that produces sound in string instruments, such as the guitar, harp, piano, and members of the violin family. Strings are lengths of a flexible material kept under tension so that they may vibrate freely, but controllably. Strings may be "plain"...
, horns
Horn section
In music, a horn section can refer to several groups of musicians. It can refer to the musicians in a symphony orchestra who play the horn . In a British-style brass band it refers to the tenor horn players. In popular music, it can also refer to a small group of wind instrumentalists who augment a...
, and a gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
which were overdubbed
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
onto the songs by producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Terry Melcher
Terry Melcher
Terrence P. Melcher was an American musician and record producer, who was instrumental in shaping the sound of American West Coast rock music. His greatest contribution to the culture of the time was producing The Byrds' innovative hits "Mr Tambourine Man" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and his...
and arranger
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
Paul Polena, reportedly without the band's consent.
Overview
After the release of The Byrds' (Untitled) album, the band continued to tour extensively throughout late 1970 and early 1971 in support of the recordGramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
. With the band's career experiencing a revival of commercial fortunes, The Byrds elected to continue working with Terry Melcher, who had produced the band's two previous albums. Unfortunately, the grueling pace of the band's touring schedule meant that they were under-prepared for the recording of their next album, with little or no time to develop the material that they intended to include. Sessions
Studio recording
The term studio recording means any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance.-Studio cast recordings:...
for Byrdmaniax commenced on October 6, 1970, just three weeks after the release of (Untitled), and continued throughout January and March 1971, with the band recording twelve new songs as well as revisiting an outtake
Outtake
An outtake is a portion of a work that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DVD reissues of many albums and films as bonus tracks or features, in film often, but not...
from the (Untitled) sessions, "Kathleen's Song". The album's pre-release working title
Working title
A working title, sometimes called a production title, is the temporary name of a product or project used during its development, usually used in filmmaking, television production, novel, video game, or music album.-Purpose:...
was Expensive, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the bloated costs incurred during the recording of the album, but ultimately this was dropped in favor of the less opulent sounding Byrdmaniax.
Music
Among guitaristGuitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Roger McGuinn's songwriting contributions to the album was the modal
Musical mode
In the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...
acoustic
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
"Pale Blue" (co-written with drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Gene Parsons). The song's title can be seen as a metaphor for a mood, while its romantic lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
deal with the conflicting themes of freedom and security. With its melancholy sense of longing, folksy
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
instrumentation, and sensitive lead vocal performance, "Pale Blue" is often regarded by critics as being one of the most successful musical statements on the album as well as something of a lost classic among The Byrds' oeuvre. Another McGuinn-penned song included on Byrdmaniax was the commercially unsuccessful, quasi-gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
single "I Trust" (re-titled as "I Trust (Everything Is Gonna Work Out Alright)" for the single release). The song's title and lyrical refrain
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
was inspired by McGuinn's personal catchphrase
Catch phrase
A catchphrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth...
, "I trust everything will turn out alright", which itself had been borrowed by the guitarist during the mid-1960s from the best-selling book The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
Norman Vincent Peale
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale was a minister and author and a progenitor of the theory of "positive thinking".-Early life and education:...
.
McGuinn's other compositional contributions to Byrdmaniax were two songs that he had written with lyricist Jacques Levy
Jacques Levy
Jacques Levy was an American songwriter, theatre director, and clinical psychologist.Levy was born in New York City in 1935, and attended its City College. He received a doctorate in psychology from Michigan State University. Levy was a trained psychoanalyst, certified by the Menninger Institute...
for the pair's aborted Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, Gene Tryp. Of these, "Kathleen's Song" had originally been intended for a scene in which the song's eponymous heroine patiently waits for Gene Tryp, her lover, to return home from his travels. "Kathleen's Song" had, in fact, been recorded in June 1970 during the recording sessions for (Untitled) but had been omitted from that album at the eleventh hour, due to a lack of space. As a result, there are promo
Promotional recording
A promotional recording, or promo, is an audio or video recording distributed for free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available...
copies of (Untitled) known to exist that list the song (under the abbreviated title "Kathleen") on the album sleeve. The Byrds returned to "Kathleen's Song" in January and March 1971, undertaking additional recording work in order to ready the track for release on Byrdmaniax. The second Gene Tryp song included on the album was "I Wanna Grow Up to Be a Politician", a whimsical ragtime
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
pastiche that had been written for a scene in the musical in which the hero, Gene Tryp, runs as a presidential candidate. The song found a second lease of life away from the confines of Gene Tryp, however, when its satirical lyrics found favor with America's radical youth, who were rebelling against the Nixon administration
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
during the early 1970s.
Byrdmaniax also included a pair of novelty song
Novelty song
A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...
s penned by the band's bass player
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
, Skip Battin, and his songwriting partner Kim Fowley
Kim Fowley
Kim Vincent Fowley is an American record producer, impresario, songwriter, musician, film maker, and radio actor. He is best known for his role behind a string of novelty and cult rock pop singles in the 1960s, and for managing The Runaways in the 1970s...
. The first of these, "Tunnel of Love", was an organ driven Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
pastiche, while the second, "Citizen Kane", served as a wry comment on Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
life and its celebrity legacy during the 1940s and 1950s. Unfortunately, the inclusion of these two songs, along with McGuinn and Levy's jaunty "I Wanna Grow Up to Be a Politician", caused the album to suffer from an overabundance of pastiche and whimsy. A third Battin–Fowley song, "Absolute Happiness", was more serious, with its dramatic lyrics providing a Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
-inspired meditation on positive values and the power of nature.
The album's opening track, "Glory, Glory
Glory, Glory, Hallelujah (Lay My Burden Down)
"Glory, Glory" is an American spiritual song, which has been recorded by many artists in a variety of genres, including folk, country, blues, rock, and gospel.-Lyrics:Lyrically, the song has many variations but the best known version of the song "Glory, Glory" (also known as "When I Lay My Burden...
", was borrowed by drummer Gene Parsons from the repertoire of The Art Reynolds Singers, just as "Jesus Is Just Alright
Jesus Is Just Alright
"Jesus Is Just Alright" is a gospel song written by Arthur Reid Reynolds and first recorded by Reynolds' own group, The Art Reynolds Singers, on their 1966 album, Tellin' It Like It Is....
" on Ballad of Easy Rider had been. Despite featuring a striking piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
part and strong gospel backing vocals
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
, the song lacked the immediacy of "Jesus Is Just Alright", as producer Terry Melcher admitted in a 1977 interview: "We were aiming to cut another 'Jesus Is Just Alright', but we didn't make it. Larry Knechtel
Larry Knechtel
Lawrence William "Larry" Knechtel was an American keyboard player and bassist, best known for his work as a session musician with such artists as Simon & Garfunkel, Duane Eddy, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, The Partridge Family, The Doors, and Elvis Presley, and as a member of the 1970s...
played piano on this cut but it was too fast. The whole thing was a mess." The album also included a bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
named "Green Apple Quick Step", written by Parsons and lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
ist Clarence White, which featured guest musicians Eric White, Sr. (Clarence's father) on harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
and Byron Berline
Byron Berline
Byron Berline is an American fiddle player.-Biography:Berline started playing the fiddle at age five and quickly developed a talent for it. In 1965, he recorded the album Pickin' and Fiddlin with the Dillards...
on fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
. White also brought the Helen Carter
Helen Carter
Helen Myrl Carter was an American country music singer. The eldest daughter of Maybelle Carter, she performed with her mother and her younger sisters, June Carter and Anita Carter, as a member of Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, a pioneering all female country/folk music group...
song "My Destiny" to the recording sessions, having first learned it during his days as a bluegrass musician. White elected to sing lead vocal on the track but unfortunately his nasal voice and the band's lackluster musical backing gave the recording a fatalistic and dirge-like quality. The final track on Byrdmaniax was a rendition of "Jamaica Say You Will", written by the then unknown Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
and featuring a Clarence White vocal performance that is widely regarded as one of his best on a Byrds' album.
In addition to the eleven songs included on the original LP, at least two outtakes from the album sessions are known to exist: a recording of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's "Just Like a Woman
Just Like a Woman
Just Like a Woman is a 1992 British film by Christopher Monger starring Julie Walters, Adrian Pasdar and Paul Freeman. Gerald, a finance executive , finds himself thrown out by his wife when she discovers women's underwear in their flat; in fact the clothes belong to him. He takes lodgings with...
"—which had also been attempted during the (Untitled) recording sessions—and a cover of ex-Byrd Gene Clark
Gene Clark
Gene Clark, born Harold Eugene Clark was an American singer-songwriter, and one of the founding members of the folk-rock group The Byrds....
's "Think I'm Gonna Feel Better". Both songs remained in the Columbia vaults for almost 29 years, before finally being released in 2000 as bonus track
Bonus track
In terms of recorded music, a bonus track is a piece of music which has been included on specific releases or reissues of an album. This is most often done as a promotional device, either as an incentive to customers to purchase albums they might otherwise not, or to repurchase albums they already...
s on the Columbia/Legacy
Legacy Recordings
Legacy Recordings is Sony Music Entertainment's catalog division. It was founded in 1990 by CBS Records under the leadership of Jerry Shulman, Richard Bauer, Gary Pacheco and Amy Herot to handle reissues of recordings from the vast catalogues of Columbia Records, Epic Records and associated...
reissue of Byrdmaniax. The version of "Just Like a Woman" recorded for the album in 1971 represented the last Dylan song that The Byrds would record until "Paths of Victory", during the 1990 reunion sessions that were included on The Byrds box set. A third outtake from the album sessions that is rumored to exist is the Parsons–White composition "Blue Grease". This song was included in a pre-release track listing for the album that was published in The Byrds' fanclub newsletter, The Byrds Bulletin, in early 1971. However, the track failed to appear on the album and may not have even been recorded by the band, since there is no mention of it in the Columbia files or in contemporary studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
documentation.
Post-production
Following the completion of recording sessions for the album in early March 1971, The Byrds headed out on tour again, leaving Terry Melcher and engineerAudio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
Chris Hinshaw to finish mixing
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
the album. In The Byrds' absence, Melcher and Hinshaw brought in arranger Paul Polena to assist with the overdubbing
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
of strings, horns, and a gospel choir onto many of the songs, at a reported cost of $100,000 and allegedly without the band's consent. When the band heard the extent of Melcher's additions they protested to Columbia Records, campaigning to have the album remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
ed and the orchestration removed but the record company held firm, citing budget restrictions, and the record was duly pressed
Record press
A record press is a machine for manufacturing vinyl records. It is essentially a hydraulic press with a closing force of 100 tons and is fitted with moulds. Labels and a vinyl pattie are placed in the mould cavity while the moulds are being steam-heated with an ideal steam pressure of 140-170psi...
up and released.
For his part, Melcher defended his actions by explaining that the band's performances in the studio were lackluster and that the orchestration was needed to cover up the album's musical shortcomings. In a 1977 interview with The Byrds' biographer Johnny Rogan
Johnny Rogan
Johnny Rogan is an author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He has written influential biographies of The Byrds, The Smiths and Van Morrison. His writing is characterised by "an almost neurotic attention to detail", epic length and a sometimes hostile...
, Melcher attempted to illustrate the situation in the recording studio during the making of the album and also explain his rationale for the orchestral additions: "Several members of the group were involved in divorces and they were hiding from their wives. It was complete bedlam in the studio. Everyone had too many problems. There was a lack of interest on everybody's part. I was trying to save the album, but it was a mistake. I should have called a halt." Melcher also succinctly highlighted his lack of confidence in the quality of the material that the band had recorded: "I think the orchestration was a big mistake, but the songs were weak." As for not obtaining the band's consent for the overdubs, Melcher explained "I admit that I wasn't in consultation with them a lot and I didn't really deal with Clarence, Battin or Parsons on these matters. But I'm sure it was inconceivable that McGuinn did not know about the orchestration."
The band themselves were far from happy with the album and upon its release, were vocal in press
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
interviews about their dissatisfaction. Even two years later, Clarence White complained to journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
Pete Frame
Pete Frame
Peter 'Pete' Frame is a music journalist, who produced outlines of the history of rock bands for various magazines . He founded the English Alternative rock magazine ZigZag in April 1969 and acted as its editor, from its beginning until February 1973, and again from March 1976 until July 1977...
that "Terry Melcher put strings on while we were on the road, we came back and we didn't even recognize it as our own album." Gene Parsons disowned the album completely, describing it as "Melcher's folly" and commenting in interviews that the band were all appalled by what they heard when they returned from touring. McGuinn actually defended Melcher somewhat by indicating in an interview with the English journalist Keith Altham that the album had been taken away from the producer at the last minute and given to an engineer in San Francisco to remix. However, the production credits on the original LP sleeve do not support McGuinn's claim and Melcher later stated that he had no recollection of the album being mixed by anyone other than himself. In more recent years, McGuinn has conceded to journalist David Fricke
David Fricke
David Fricke is a senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, where he writes predominantly on rock music. In the 1990s, he was managing editor before stepping down.-Background:David Fricke is a graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania...
that the album's shortcomings were not down to Melcher's over-production alone: "We were just idling artistically, the album sounds like we really weren't concentrating on doing good work, good art."
Release and reception
Byrdmaniax was released on June 23, 1971 in the United States (catalogue item KC 30640) and August 6, 1971 in the United Kingdom (catalogue item S 64389). Although the album was issued in stereoStereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
commercially, there is some evidence to suggest that mono
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
copies of the album (possibly radio station promos
Promotional recording
A promotional recording, or promo, is an audio or video recording distributed for free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available...
) were distributed in the UK. As well as being issued in the standard stereo format, Byrdmaniax was also released in 1971 as a Quadraphonic LP in Japan on the CBS Sony label (catalogue item SOPL-34001). The quadraphonic version of the album features a noticeably different mix
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
to the standard stereo version.
The album peaked at #46 on the Billboard Top LPs
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, during a chart stay of ten weeks, but failed to chart in the UK. A single, "I Trust (Everything Is Gonna Work Out Alright)" b/w "(Is This) My Destiny", was released ahead of the album on May 7, 1971 in the UK, to coincide with a European tour, but it did not chart. A second single taken from the album, "Glory, Glory" (b/w "Citizen Kane"), was released on August 20, 1971 and reached #110 on the Billboard chart but again failed to chart in the UK. The striking album cover artwork, featuring a set of silver "death mask
Death mask
In Western cultures a death mask is a wax or plaster cast made of a person’s face following death. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits...
s"—one for each member of the band—was designed by Virginia Team and Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning Columbia Records' art director, John Berg. These foreboding plaster
Plaster cast
A plaster cast is a copy made in plaster of another 3-dimensional form. The original from which the cast is taken may be a sculpture, building, a face, a fossil or other remains such as fresh or fossilised footprints – particularly in palaeontology .Sometimes a...
facemasks, which were created by artist Mary Leonard and photographed by Don Jim, have been regarded by some critics as an accurate visual representation of the lifeless music on the album and the declining state of the band in 1971.
Upon its release, Byrdmaniax was greeted positively by the UK music press
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
but received scathing reviews in the U.S. Richard Meltzer
Richard Meltzer
Richard Meltzer was one of the earliest rock music critics. His first book, The Aesthetics of Rock, evolved out of his undergraduate studies in philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and graduate studies at Yale University...
's review in the August 1971 edition of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine was particularly vicious, with Meltzer describing the album as "increments of pus". The same review also described the McGuinn–Levy composition "I Wanna Grow Up to Be a Politician" as a song that was "degenerating into namby pamby innocuous mickey mouse with latent-blatant political content". Meltzer concluded his withering attack by deriding The Byrds themselves as "a boring dead group." In the UK, Roy Hollingworth's review in the August 14, 1971 edition of Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
was more positive and described the album as "one sweet length of bursting Byrds sunshine, so perfect in quality and quantity you'd feel an absolute heel to ask for more." Record Mirror
Record Mirror
Record Mirror was a British weekly pop music newspaper, founded by Isadore Green and featured, news articles, interviews, record charts, record reviews, concert reviews, letters from readers and photographs. The paper became respected by both mainstream pop music fans and serious record collectors...
was also enthusiastic in its praise of the album, describing it as "another fine album by The Byrds." However, not all British reviews of Byrdmaniax were positive, with Richard Green of the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
noting that "When the true history of rock comes to be written, The Byrds will get a deserved place of honour on the strength of tunes like 'Mr. Tambourine Man
Mr. Tambourine Man
"Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, which was released on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The Byrds also recorded a version of the song that was released as their first single on Columbia Records, reaching number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and...
', 'Eight Miles High
Eight Miles High
"Eight Miles High" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn, and David Crosby and first released as a single on March 14, 1966 . The single managed to reach the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 30 of the UK Singles Chart...
', and 'So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star
So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star
"So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by Jim McGuinn and Chris Hillman and included on their 1967 album, Younger Than Yesterday. The song was released as a single on January 9, 1967 and reached #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 but failed to...
'. Hopefully the writer will not have listened to Byrdmaniax or he may drastically alter his opinion." Green was also critical of Terry Melcher's use of strings and horns on many of the tracks, concluding that "Orchestration is all very well for some bands, but not, on this showing, for The Byrds."
Today, Byrdmaniax is generally regarded as The Byrds' weakest album, as well as the least popular of any of the band's releases amongst their fanbase. Mark Deming, writing for the Allmusic website, has summed up the album by concluding "Not an awful album, but Byrdmaniax is hardly the pleasure it could have been in the hands of a more tasteful production team." In his 2000 review for The Austin Chronicle, Raoul Hernandez gave the album a rating of three stars out of five, commenting "Byrdmaniax may be as disjointed as reviews claimed at the time, but most of these same critics didn't like Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Sweetheart of the Rodeo is the sixth album by American rock band The Byrds and was released on August 30, 1968 on Columbia Records...
either, and if the Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...
-blessed classic is ground zero for 'country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
' then Maniax is full-blown 'gospel rock
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
'." Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke
David Fricke
David Fricke is a senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, where he writes predominantly on rock music. In the 1990s, he was managing editor before stepping down.-Background:David Fricke is a graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania...
noted in 2000 that Byrdmaniax suffered not just from Melcher's inappropriate orchestration but also from being a Byrds' album that is almost totally bereft of The Byrds' signature sound. Fricke noted that the familiar chime of McGuinn's 12-string Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...
guitar is lost beneath the overbearing strings and the band's trademark harmonies
Vocal harmony
Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are sung at the same time as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical choral music and opera and in the popular styles from...
are also largely absent from the album.
Byrdmaniax was remastered at 20-bit
Bit
A bit is the basic unit of information in computing and telecommunications; it is the amount of information stored by a digital device or other physical system that exists in one of two possible distinct states...
resolution as part of the Columbia/Legacy
Legacy Recordings
Legacy Recordings is Sony Music Entertainment's catalog division. It was founded in 1990 by CBS Records under the leadership of Jerry Shulman, Richard Bauer, Gary Pacheco and Amy Herot to handle reissues of recordings from the vast catalogues of Columbia Records, Epic Records and associated...
Byrds series. It was reissued in an expanded form on February 22, 2000 with three bonus tracks. These bonus tracks included an outtake version of Gene Clark's "Think I'm Gonna Feel Better", sung by Clarence White (who had also played guitar on Clark's original 1967 solo recording of the song); a stripped-down alternate version of "Pale Blue"; and a rendition of Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman". The remastered reissue also includes, as a hidden track
Hidden track
In the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...
, an alternate version of "Green Apple Quick Step", which is sometimes known by the alternate title "Byrdgrass".
Side 1
- "Glory, GloryGlory, Glory, Hallelujah (Lay My Burden Down)"Glory, Glory" is an American spiritual song, which has been recorded by many artists in a variety of genres, including folk, country, blues, rock, and gospel.-Lyrics:Lyrically, the song has many variations but the best known version of the song "Glory, Glory" (also known as "When I Lay My Burden...
" (Arthur Reynolds) – 4:03 - "Pale Blue" (Roger McGuinnRoger McGuinnJames Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
, Gene ParsonsGene ParsonsGene Victor Parsons is an American drummer, banjo player, guitarist, singer-songwriter, and innovative engineer, best known for his work with The Byrds from 1968 to 1972. Parsons has also released solo albums and played in bands including Nashville West, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Parsons Green...
) – 2:22 - "I Trust" (Roger McGuinn) – 3:19
- "Tunnel of Love" (Skip BattinSkip BattinClyde "Skip" Battin was an American singer–songwriter, performer and recording artist. He is best remembered as a member of The Byrds, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, and the Flying Burrito Brothers...
, Kim FowleyKim FowleyKim Vincent Fowley is an American record producer, impresario, songwriter, musician, film maker, and radio actor. He is best known for his role behind a string of novelty and cult rock pop singles in the 1960s, and for managing The Runaways in the 1970s...
) – 4:59 - "Citizen Kane" (Skip Battin, Kim Fowley) – 2:36
Side 2
- "I Wanna Grow Up to Be a Politician" (Roger McGuinn, Jacques LevyJacques LevyJacques Levy was an American songwriter, theatre director, and clinical psychologist.Levy was born in New York City in 1935, and attended its City College. He received a doctorate in psychology from Michigan State University. Levy was a trained psychoanalyst, certified by the Menninger Institute...
) – 2:03 - "Absolute Happiness" (Skip Battin, Kim Fowley) – 2:38
- "Green Apple Quick Step" (Gene Parsons, Clarence WhiteClarence WhiteClarence White was a guitar player for Nashville West, The Byrds, Muleskinner, and the Kentucky Colonels. His parents were Acadians from New Brunswick, Canada...
) – 1:49 - "My Destiny" (Helen CarterHelen CarterHelen Myrl Carter was an American country music singer. The eldest daughter of Maybelle Carter, she performed with her mother and her younger sisters, June Carter and Anita Carter, as a member of Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, a pioneering all female country/folk music group...
) – 3:38 - "Kathleen's Song" (Roger McGuinn, Jacques Levy) – 2:40
- "Jamaica Say You Will" (Jackson BrowneJackson BrowneJackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
) – 3:27
2000 CD reissue bonus tracks
- "Just Like a WomanJust Like a WomanJust Like a Woman is a 1992 British film by Christopher Monger starring Julie Walters, Adrian Pasdar and Paul Freeman. Gerald, a finance executive , finds himself thrown out by his wife when she discovers women's underwear in their flat; in fact the clothes belong to him. He takes lodgings with...
" (Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
) - 3:56 - "Pale Blue" [Alternate Version] (Roger McGuinn, Gene Parsons) - 2:33
- "Think I'm Gonna Feel Better" (Gene ClarkGene ClarkGene Clark, born Harold Eugene Clark was an American singer-songwriter, and one of the founding members of the folk-rock group The Byrds....
) - 6:04- NOTE: this song ends at 2:33; at 2:45 begins "Green Apple Quick Step" [Alternate Version] (Gene Parsons, Clarence White)
Singles
- "I Trust (Everything Is Gonna Work Out Alright)" b/w "(Is This) My Destiny" (CBS 7253) May 7, 1971
- "Glory, Glory" b/w "Citizen Kane" (Columbia 45440) August 20, 1971 (US #110)
Personnel
NOTES:- Sources for this section are as follows:
- On bonus track 12 Larry Knetchel plays organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
and Jackson BrowneJackson BrowneJackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
plays pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
; on bonus track 14 Jimmi SeiterJimmi SeiterJimmi Seiter has worked as a musician, tour manager, artist manager, music producer, sound designer, stage producer and architect....
plays tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
.
The Byrds
- Roger McGuinnRoger McGuinnJames Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Clarence WhiteClarence WhiteClarence White was a guitar player for Nashville West, The Byrds, Muleskinner, and the Kentucky Colonels. His parents were Acadians from New Brunswick, Canada...
- guitar, vocals - Skip BattinSkip BattinClyde "Skip" Battin was an American singer–songwriter, performer and recording artist. He is best remembered as a member of The Byrds, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, and the Flying Burrito Brothers...
- electric bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals - Gene ParsonsGene ParsonsGene Victor Parsons is an American drummer, banjo player, guitarist, singer-songwriter, and innovative engineer, best known for his work with The Byrds from 1968 to 1972. Parsons has also released solo albums and played in bands including Nashville West, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Parsons Green...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, vocals
Additional Personnel
- Larry Knechtel - piano (tracks 1, 4, 5, 6, 9) and organ (tracks 4, 7)
- Terry MelcherTerry MelcherTerrence P. Melcher was an American musician and record producer, who was instrumental in shaping the sound of American West Coast rock music. His greatest contribution to the culture of the time was producing The Byrds' innovative hits "Mr Tambourine Man" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and his...
- piano (track 3), - Sneaky Pete KleinowSneaky Pete KleinowPeter E. "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow was an American country-rock musician, songwriter, and a motion picture special effects artist...
- pedal steel guitarPedal steel guitarThe pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...
(tracks 3, 9) - Byron BerlineByron BerlineByron Berline is an American fiddle player.-Biography:Berline started playing the fiddle at age five and quickly developed a talent for it. In 1965, he recorded the album Pickin' and Fiddlin with the Dillards...
- fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
(track 8) - Eric White, Sr. - harmonica (track 8)
- Jimmi Seiter - percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
(tracks 4, 5, 7) - Merry ClaytonMerry ClaytonMerry Clayton is an American soul and gospel singer , and an actress...
- backing vocal as member of female choirChoirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
(track 1)
Unknown Musicians:
- female choir (tracks 1, 3, 4)
- stringsString sectionThe string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
(tracks 2, 7, 11) - hornsHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
(tracks 4, 10) - saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
(tracks 4, 6) - trumpets (muted), woodwindsWoodwind instrumentA woodwind instrument is a musical instrument which produces sound when the player blows air against a sharp edge or through a reed, causing the air within its resonator to vibrate...
(track 5) - marching bandMarching bandMarching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
(track 6) - harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
(track 7) - orchestraOrchestraAn orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
(track 10)
Production
- Terry Melcher, Chris Hinshaw - producersRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
- Eric Prestidge, Glen Kolotkin, Chris Hinshaw - engineersAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Paul F. Polena - arrangerArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
(orchestra, strings, horns, woodwinds, choir; fiddle, organ, and piano overdubs)
Release history
| Date | Label | Format | Country | Catalog | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 23, 1971 | Columbia Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company... |
LP LP album The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... |
US | KC 30640 | Original release. |
| August 6, 1971 | CBS Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company... |
LP | UK | S 64389 | Original release. |
| 1971 | CBS Sony Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company... |
LP | Japan | SOPL-34001 | Quadraphonic LP release. |
| 1992 | Line | CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... |
Germany | 900930 | Original CD release. |
| 1993 | Columbia | CD | US | CK 30640 | |
| 1993 | Columbia | CD | UK | COL 468429 | |
| February 22, 2000 | Columbia/Legacy Legacy Recordings Legacy Recordings is Sony Music Entertainment's catalog division. It was founded in 1990 by CBS Records under the leadership of Jerry Shulman, Richard Bauer, Gary Pacheco and Amy Herot to handle reissues of recordings from the vast catalogues of Columbia Records, Epic Records and associated... |
CD | US | CK 65848 | Reissue containing three bonus tracks and the remastered album. |
| UK | COL 495079 | ||||
| 2003 | Sony Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.... |
CD | Japan | MHCP-105 | Reissue containing three bonus tracks and the remastered album in a replica gatefold LP sleeve. |