Eight Miles High
Encyclopedia
"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 (see 1966 in music
). The single managed to reach the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100
and the Top 30 of the UK Singles Chart
. The song was also included on the band's third album, Fifth Dimension
, released on July 18, 1966.
The song was subject to a U.S. radio ban shortly after its release, following allegations published in the broadcasting trade journal
the Gavin Report
regarding perceived drug connotations in its lyrics
. The band strenuously denied these allegations at the time, but in later years both Clark and Crosby admitted that the song was at least partly inspired by their own drug use. Musically influenced by Ravi Shankar
and John Coltrane
, "Eight Miles High", along with its McGuinn and Crosby penned B-side
"Why
", was influential in developing the musical styles of psychedelic rock
, raga rock
and psychedelic pop
.
of six to seven miles, it was felt that "eight miles high" sounded more poetic than six and also recalled The Beatles
' song "Eight Days a Week
".
According to Clark, the lyrics were primarily his creation, with a minor contribution being David Crosby's line "Rain grey town, known for its sound", a reference to London being home to the British Invasion
that was dominating the U.S. charts at the time. Other lyrics found in the song that explicitly refer to The Byrds' stay in England include the couplet "Nowhere is there warmth to be found/Among those afraid of losing their ground", which is a reference to the hostile reaction of the UK music press and to the English group The Birds
serving the band with a copyright infringement
writ
, due to the similarities in name. In addition, the couplet "Round the squares, huddled in storms/Some laughing, some just shapeless forms" describes the fans who waited for the band outside their hotels, while the line "Sidewalk scenes and black limousines" refers to the excited crowds that jostled the band as they exited their chauffeur driven cars. Ian McLagan
of the Small Faces has claimed that Crosby once told him that the line "In places, small faces abound" was a reference to that band.
Although the basic idea for the song had been discussed during the band's flight to England, it didn't actually begin to take shape until The Byrds' November 1965 tour of the U.S. In order to alleviate the boredom of travelling from show to show during the tour, Crosby had brought along cassette
recordings of Ravi Shankar's music and the John Coltrane albums Impressions and Africa/Brass
, which were on constant rotation on the tour bus. The influence of these recordings on the band would manifest itself in the music of "Eight Miles High" and its B-side "Why".
Clark began writing the song's lyrics on November 24, 1965, when he scribbled down some rough ideas for later development, following a discussion with guitarist
Brian Jones
, prior to The Byrds making a concert appearance supporting The Rolling Stones
. Over the following days, Clark expanded this fragment into a full poem, eventually setting the words to music and giving them a melody
. Clark then showed the song to McGuinn and Crosby, with the former suggesting that they arrange it to incorporate the influence of John Coltrane. Since Clark's death, however, McGuinn has contended that it was he who conceived the initial idea of writing a song about an airplane ride and that he and Crosby both contributed lyrics to Clark's unfinished draft. In his book, Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of The Byrds' Gene Clark, author John Einarson disputes this claim and ponders whether McGuinn's story would be the same were Clark still alive.
The influence of Coltrane's saxophone
playing and in particular his song "India" from Impressions can be clearly heard in "Eight Miles High", most noticeably in McGuinn's reoccurring twelve-string guitar solo. In addition to this striking guitar motif
, the song is also highlighted by Chris Hillman
's driving bass line, Crosby's chunky rhythm guitar
playing and the band's ethereal harmonies
. In a 1966 promotional interview, which was added to the expanded CD
reissue of the Fifth Dimension album, Crosby said that the song's ending made him "feel like a plane landing." The song also exhibits the influence of Ravi Shankar, particularly in the droning quality of the song's vocal melody and in McGuinn's guitar playing. However, the song does not feature the sound of the sitar
, despite The Byrds having appeared brandishing the instrument at a contemporary press conference
held to promote "Eight Miles High".
Earlier versions of "Eight Miles High" and "Why" were recorded at RCA
Studios in Los Angeles on December 22, 1965 but Columbia Records
refused to release them because they had not been recorded at a Columbia owned studio. McGuinn has since stated that he believes the original RCA version of "Eight Miles High" to be more spontaneous sounding than the better known Columbia release. This opinion was echoed by Crosby who commented "It was a stunner, it was better, it was stronger. It had more flow to it. It was the way we wanted it to be." These earlier versions of "Eight Miles High" and "Why" initially saw release on the 1987 album Never Before
and were also included on the 1996 Columbia/Legacy
CD reissue of Fifth Dimension.
During the same month that "Eight Miles High" was released as a single, The Byrds' main songwriter, Gene Clark, left the band. His fear of flying was stated as the official reason for his departure, although other contributing factors, including his tendency towards anxiety and paranoia, as well as his increasing isolation within the group, were also at work. Following the release of "Eight Miles High" and Clark's departure, The Byrds never again managed to place a single in the Billboard Top 20.
. Upon its release, the band faced allegations of advocating the use of recreational drugs from Bill Gavin's Record Report
, a weekly newsletter circulated to U.S. radio stations. This resulted in a nationwide radio ban within a week of the report being published, a factor which contributed to the single's failure to break into the Billboard Top 10. The Byrds and their publicist
Derek Taylor
countered by strenuously denying that the song was drug related, with Taylor issuing an indignant press release unequivocally stating that the song was about the band's trip to England and not drug use. However, by the early 1980s, both Crosby and Clark were prepared to admit that the song was not entirely as innocent as they had originally declared, with the former stating "Of course it was a drug song! We were stoned when we wrote it." Clark was less blunt, explaining in interview that "it was about a lot of things. It was about the airplane trip to England, it was about drugs, it was about all that. A piece of poetry of that nature is not limited to having it have to be just about airplanes or having it have to be just about drugs. It was inclusive because during those days the new experimenting with all the drugs was a very vogue thing to do."
The song's use of Indian and free form jazz
influences, along with its impressionistic lyrics, were immediately influential on the emerging genre of psychedelic rock. The song was also responsible for the naming of the musical subgenre raga rock
, when journalist Sally Kempton, in her review of the single for The Village Voice
, first used the term to describe the record's experimental fusion of eastern and western music. However, although Kempton was the first person to use the term "raga rock" in print, she had actually borrowed it from the promotional press material that accompanied the "Eight Miles High" single release. In his 1968 Pop Chronicles
interview, McGuinn denied that the song was in fact "raga rock". The experimental nature of the song placed The Byrds firmly at the forefront of the burgeoning psychedelic movement, along with The Yardbirds
, The Beatles, Donovan
and The Rolling Stones, who were all exploring similar musical territory concurrently.
Contemporary reviews for the single were almost universally positive, with Billboard
magazine describing the song as a "Big beat rhythm rocker with soft lyric ballad vocal and off-beat instrumental backing." Record World
magazine also praised the song, commenting "It's an eerie tune with lyrics bound to hypnotize. Will climb heights." In the UK, Music Echo described the song as "wild and oriental but still beaty". The publication also suggested that with the release of "Eight Miles High" The Byrds had jumped ahead of The Beatles in terms of creativity, stating "[By] getting their single out now they've beaten The Beatles to the punch, for Paul [McCartney] admitted recently that the Liverpool foursome are working on a similar sound for their new album and single." In recent years, Richie Unterberger
, writing for the Allmusic website, has described "Eight Miles High" as "one of the greatest singles of the '60s."
The band performed the song on a number of television program
s during the 1960s and 1970s, including Popside, Drop In, Midweek, and Beat-Club
. Additionally, the song would go on to become a staple of The Byrds' live concert
repertoire, until their final disbandment in 1973. The song was also performed live by a reformed line-up of The Byrds featuring Roger McGuinn
, David Crosby and Chris Hillman in January 1989. The song would remain a favorite of Clark's and would often be performed live during his solo concert appearances until his death in 1991. McGuinn also continues to perform the song in his live concerts. Crosby has revisted the song infrequently during his post-Byrds career, but it was performed during Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's reunion tour of 2000, with Neil Young
handling McGuinn's complex guitar solo, while the other three members sang the song's three-part harmonies
. Additionally, The Byrds' bass player
, Chris Hillman
, recorded an acoustic version of "Eight Miles High" as part of his 2005 album, The Other Side
.
In addition to its appearance on the Fifth Dimension album, "Eight Miles High" also appears on several Byrds' compilations
, including The Byrds' Greatest Hits
, History of The Byrds
, The Original Singles: 1965–1967, Volume 1
, The Byrds, The Very Best of The Byrds
, The Essential Byrds
and There Is a Season
. Additionally, a 16-minute live version of "Eight Miles High" was included on the Byrds' 1970 album, (Untitled), and another live version was released as part of the 2008 album, Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971
.
In 2004, Rolling Stone
magazine ranked "Eight Miles High" at #150 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
and in March 2005, Q magazine placed the song at #50 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
by many different bands and artists, including, The Ventures
, Leathercoated Minds
, Lighthouse
, Leo Kottke
, Roxy Music
, Ride
, Stewart/Gaskin
, Robyn Hitchcock
, Rockfour
, Les Fradkin
, and The Postmarks
. In addition, Hüsker Dü
included the song on a bonus single released with their Zen Arcade
LP
in 1984. The song was also covered in 1969 by Golden Earring
, who put a nineteen-minute version on their Eight Miles High
album. The Emerson, Lake & Palmer
spinoff group 3
recorded the song with revised lyrics on their 1988 album, To the Power of Three
. Crowded House
have also covered the song with ex-Byrd Roger McGuinn
, on their I Feel Possessed
EP
.
Don McLean
's song "American Pie" makes reference to "Eight Miles High" with the lines "The Birds [sic] flew off with a fall-out shelter/Eight miles high and falling fast." The First Edition
's 1968 hit, "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)
", contains a reference to the song with the line "I tripped on a cloud and fell a-eight miles high." The independent rock band Okkervil River also reference "Eight Miles High" in their song "Plus Ones", from the 2007 album The Stage Names
. Bruce Springsteen
's song "Life Itself", from his 2009 album Working on a Dream
, features guitar playing and production techniques
reminiscent of "Eight Miles High" by The Byrds.
The Byrds' version of "Eight Miles High" was featured in the 1983 film Purple Haze
. It also appears in both the Le Voyage dans la Lune and The Original Wives Club episodes of the television miniseries From the Earth to the Moon.
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
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...
, written by 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....
, Jim 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...
, and David Crosby
David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
and first released as a 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 March 14, 1966 (see 1966 in music
1966 in music
-Events:*January 3 – Hullabaloo shows promotional videos of The Beatles songs "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work it Out".*January 8 – Shindig! airs for the last time on ABC, with musical guests the Kinks and the Who...
). The single managed to reach the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and the Top 30 of the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. The song was also included on the band's third album, Fifth Dimension
Fifth Dimension (album)
Fifth Dimension is the third album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in July 1966 on Columbia Records . Most of the album was recorded following the February 1966 departure of the band's principal songwriter Gene Clark...
, released on July 18, 1966.
The song was subject to a U.S. radio ban shortly after its release, following allegations published in the broadcasting trade journal
Trade journal
A trade magazine, also called a professional magazine, is a magazine published with the intention of target marketing to a specific industry or type of trade. The collective term for this area of publishing is the trade press....
the Gavin Report
Gavin Report
The Gavin Report was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs...
regarding perceived drug connotations in its 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...
. The band strenuously denied these allegations at the time, but in later years both Clark and Crosby admitted that the song was at least partly inspired by their own drug use. Musically influenced by Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar , often referred to by the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the best known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent...
and John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
, "Eight Miles High", along with its McGuinn and Crosby penned B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
"Why
Why (The Byrds song)
"Why" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by Jim McGuinn and David Crosby and first released as the B-side of the band's "Eight Miles High" single in March 1966. The song was re-recorded in December 1966 and released for a second time as part of the band's Younger Than Yesterday...
", was influential in developing the musical styles of psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
, raga rock
Raga rock
Raga rock is a term used to describe rock or pop music with a heavy Indian influence, either in its construction, its timbre, or its use of instrumentation, such as the sitar and tabla...
and psychedelic pop
Psychedelic pop
Psychedelic pop is a psychedelic musical style inspired by the sounds of psychedelic folk and psychedelic rock, but applied to a pop music setting...
.
History
The song's obscure lyrics are, for the most part, about the group's flight to London in August 1965 and their accompanying English tour, as illustrated by the opening couplet: "Eight miles high and when you touch down, you'll find that it's stranger than known." Although commercial airliners fly at an altitudeAltitude
Altitude or height is defined based on the context in which it is used . As a general definition, altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The reference datum also often varies according to the context...
of six to seven miles, it was felt that "eight miles high" sounded more poetic than six and also recalled The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' song "Eight Days a Week
Eight Days a Week (song)
"Eight Days a Week" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, based on Paul's original idea, recorded by The Beatles and released on their December 1964 album Beatles for Sale.-Inspiration:...
".
According to Clark, the lyrics were primarily his creation, with a minor contribution being David Crosby's line "Rain grey town, known for its sound", a reference to London being home to the British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
that was dominating the U.S. charts at the time. Other lyrics found in the song that explicitly refer to The Byrds' stay in England include the couplet "Nowhere is there warmth to be found/Among those afraid of losing their ground", which is a reference to the hostile reaction of the UK music press and to the English group The Birds
The Birds (band)
The Birds were a popular rhythm and blues band in the United Kingdom during the mid 1960s, although they recorded fewer than a dozen songs and released only four singles. Starting out with a hard R&B sound, they later began infusing it with Motown-style vocal harmonies...
serving the band with a copyright infringement
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
writ
Writ
In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court...
, due to the similarities in name. In addition, the couplet "Round the squares, huddled in storms/Some laughing, some just shapeless forms" describes the fans who waited for the band outside their hotels, while the line "Sidewalk scenes and black limousines" refers to the excited crowds that jostled the band as they exited their chauffeur driven cars. Ian McLagan
Ian McLagan
Ian McLagan is an English keyboard instrumentalist, best known as a member of the English rock bands Small Faces and Faces.-Small Faces and Faces:...
of the Small Faces has claimed that Crosby once told him that the line "In places, small faces abound" was a reference to that band.
Although the basic idea for the song had been discussed during the band's flight to England, it didn't actually begin to take shape until The Byrds' November 1965 tour of the U.S. In order to alleviate the boredom of travelling from show to show during the tour, Crosby had brought along cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
recordings of Ravi Shankar's music and the John Coltrane albums Impressions and Africa/Brass
Africa/Brass
-Personnel:* John Coltrane — soprano and tenor saxophone* Booker Little — trumpet* Freddie Hubbard — trumpet on May 23 session only* Britt Woodman — trombone on June 4 session only* Charles Greenlee — euphonium on May 23 session only...
, which were on constant rotation on the tour bus. The influence of these recordings on the band would manifest itself in the music of "Eight Miles High" and its B-side "Why".
Clark began writing the song's lyrics on November 24, 1965, when he scribbled down some rough ideas for later development, following a discussion with guitarist
Guitarist
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...
Brian Jones
Brian Jones
Lewis Brian Hopkins Jones , known as Brian Jones, was an English musician and a founding member of the Rolling Stones....
, prior to The Byrds making a concert appearance supporting The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
. Over the following days, Clark expanded this fragment into a full poem, eventually setting the words to music and giving them a melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
. Clark then showed the song to McGuinn and Crosby, with the former suggesting that they arrange it to incorporate the influence of John Coltrane. Since Clark's death, however, McGuinn has contended that it was he who conceived the initial idea of writing a song about an airplane ride and that he and Crosby both contributed lyrics to Clark's unfinished draft. In his book, Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of The Byrds' Gene Clark, author John Einarson disputes this claim and ponders whether McGuinn's story would be the same were Clark still alive.
The influence of Coltrane's saxophone
Saxophone
The 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...
playing and in particular his song "India" from Impressions can be clearly heard in "Eight Miles High", most noticeably in McGuinn's reoccurring twelve-string guitar solo. In addition to this striking guitar motif
Motif (music)
In music, a motif or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition....
, the song is also highlighted by Chris Hillman
Chris Hillman
Christopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
's driving bass line, Crosby's chunky rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
playing and the band's ethereal 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...
. In a 1966 promotional interview, which was added to the expanded 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 ,...
reissue of the Fifth Dimension album, Crosby said that the song's ending made him "feel like a plane landing." The song also exhibits the influence of Ravi Shankar, particularly in the droning quality of the song's vocal melody and in McGuinn's guitar playing. However, the song does not feature the sound of the sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
, despite The Byrds having appeared brandishing the instrument at a contemporary press conference
News conference
A news conference or press conference is a media event in which newsmakers invite journalists to hear them speak and, most often, ask questions. A joint press conference instead is held between two or more talking sides.-Practice:...
held to promote "Eight Miles High".
Earlier versions of "Eight Miles High" and "Why" were recorded at RCA
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
Studios in Los Angeles on December 22, 1965 but 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...
refused to release them because they had not been recorded at a Columbia owned studio. McGuinn has since stated that he believes the original RCA version of "Eight Miles High" to be more spontaneous sounding than the better known Columbia release. This opinion was echoed by Crosby who commented "It was a stunner, it was better, it was stronger. It had more flow to it. It was the way we wanted it to be." These earlier versions of "Eight Miles High" and "Why" initially saw release on the 1987 album Never Before
Never Before (album)
Never Before is a compilation album by the American rock band The Byrds, consisting of previously unreleased outtakes, alternate versions, and rarities. It was initially released by Re-Flyte Records in December 1987 and was subsequently reissued on CD in 1989, with an additional seven bonus tracks...
and were also included on the 1996 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 reissue of Fifth Dimension.
During the same month that "Eight Miles High" was released as a single, The Byrds' main songwriter, Gene Clark, left the band. His fear of flying was stated as the official reason for his departure, although other contributing factors, including his tendency towards anxiety and paranoia, as well as his increasing isolation within the group, were also at work. Following the release of "Eight Miles High" and Clark's departure, The Byrds never again managed to place a single in the Billboard Top 20.
Release and legacy
"Eight Miles High" was issued on March 14, 1966 in the U.S. and May 29, 1966 in the UK, reaching #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #24 on the UK Singles ChartUK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. Upon its release, the band faced allegations of advocating the use of recreational drugs from Bill Gavin's Record Report
Gavin Report
The Gavin Report was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs...
, a weekly newsletter circulated to U.S. radio stations. This resulted in a nationwide radio ban within a week of the report being published, a factor which contributed to the single's failure to break into the Billboard Top 10. The Byrds and their publicist
Publicist
A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a public figure, especially a celebrity, a business, or for a work such as a book, film or album...
Derek Taylor
Derek Taylor
Derek Taylor was an English journalist, writer and publicist, best known for his work as press officer for The Beatles...
countered by strenuously denying that the song was drug related, with Taylor issuing an indignant press release unequivocally stating that the song was about the band's trip to England and not drug use. However, by the early 1980s, both Crosby and Clark were prepared to admit that the song was not entirely as innocent as they had originally declared, with the former stating "Of course it was a drug song! We were stoned when we wrote it." Clark was less blunt, explaining in interview that "it was about a lot of things. It was about the airplane trip to England, it was about drugs, it was about all that. A piece of poetry of that nature is not limited to having it have to be just about airplanes or having it have to be just about drugs. It was inclusive because during those days the new experimenting with all the drugs was a very vogue thing to do."
The song's use of Indian and free form jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
influences, along with its impressionistic lyrics, were immediately influential on the emerging genre of psychedelic rock. The song was also responsible for the naming of the musical subgenre raga rock
Raga rock
Raga rock is a term used to describe rock or pop music with a heavy Indian influence, either in its construction, its timbre, or its use of instrumentation, such as the sitar and tabla...
, when journalist Sally Kempton, in her review of the single for The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, first used the term to describe the record's experimental fusion of eastern and western music. However, although Kempton was the first person to use the term "raga rock" in print, she had actually borrowed it from the promotional press material that accompanied the "Eight Miles High" single release. In his 1968 Pop Chronicles
Pop Chronicles
The Pop Chronicles are two radio documentary series which together "may constitute the most complete audio history of 1940s-60s popular music." Both were produced by John Gilliland.-The Pop Chronicles of the 50s and 60s:...
interview, McGuinn denied that the song was in fact "raga rock". The experimental nature of the song placed The Byrds firmly at the forefront of the burgeoning psychedelic movement, along with The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds
- Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...
, The Beatles, Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
and The Rolling Stones, who were all exploring similar musical territory concurrently.
Contemporary reviews for the single were almost universally positive, with 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...
magazine describing the song as a "Big beat rhythm rocker with soft lyric ballad vocal and off-beat instrumental backing." Record World
Record World
Record World magazine was one of the three main music industry trade publications in the United States, along with Billboard and Cash Box magazines. It was founded in 1946 under the name Music Vendor, but since 1964 changed it to Record World, under the ownership of Sid Parnes and Bob Austin, both...
magazine also praised the song, commenting "It's an eerie tune with lyrics bound to hypnotize. Will climb heights." In the UK, Music Echo described the song as "wild and oriental but still beaty". The publication also suggested that with the release of "Eight Miles High" The Byrds had jumped ahead of The Beatles in terms of creativity, stating "[By] getting their single out now they've beaten The Beatles to the punch, for Paul [McCartney] admitted recently that the Liverpool foursome are working on a similar sound for their new album and single." In recent years, Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger is a US author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.-Life and writing:Having worked as a DJ at WXPN in Philadelphia, he started reviewing records for Op magazine in 1983...
, writing for the Allmusic website, has described "Eight Miles High" as "one of the greatest singles of the '60s."
The band performed the song on a number of television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
s during the 1960s and 1970s, including Popside, Drop In, Midweek, and Beat-Club
Beat-Club
Beat-Club was a German music program that ran from September 1965 to December 1972. It was broadcast from Bremen, Germany on Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen, the national public TV channel of the ARD, and produced by one of its members, Radio Bremen, later co-produced by WDR following the 38th episode...
. Additionally, the song would go on to become a staple of The Byrds' live concert
Rock concert
The term rock concert refers to a musical performance in the style of any one of many genres inspired by "rock and roll" music. While a variety of vocal and instrumental styles can constitute a rock concert, this phenomenon is typically characterized by bands playing at least one electric guitar,...
repertoire, until their final disbandment in 1973. The song was also performed live by a reformed line-up of The Byrds featuring 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...
, David Crosby and Chris Hillman in January 1989. The song would remain a favorite of Clark's and would often be performed live during his solo concert appearances until his death in 1991. McGuinn also continues to perform the song in his live concerts. Crosby has revisted the song infrequently during his post-Byrds career, but it was performed during Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's reunion tour of 2000, with Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
handling McGuinn's complex guitar solo, while the other three members sang the song's three-part 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...
. Additionally, The Byrds' 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...
, Chris Hillman
Chris Hillman
Christopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
, recorded an acoustic version of "Eight Miles High" as part of his 2005 album, The Other Side
The Other Side (Chris Hillman album)
The Other Side is a Chris Hillman Album, released in 2005. It contains a countryfied version of The Byrds 1966 single "Eight Miles High".-Track Listing:# "Eight Miles High" – 4:05# "True Love" – 2:23...
.
In addition to its appearance on the Fifth Dimension album, "Eight Miles High" also appears on several Byrds' compilations
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, including The Byrds' Greatest Hits
The Byrds' Greatest Hits
The Byrds' Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in August 1967 on Columbia Records . It is the top-selling album in The Byrds' catalogue and reached #6 on the Billboard Top LPs chart but failed to break into the UK Albums Chart...
, History of The Byrds
History of The Byrds
History of The Byrds is a budget priced, double album compilation by the American rock band The Byrds and was released on May 18, 1973 by CBS Records . The compilation was released exclusively in Europe and the UK, peaking at #47 on the UK Albums Chart, but it was also available in the United...
, The Original Singles: 1965–1967, Volume 1
The Original Singles: 1965–1967, Volume 1
The Original Singles: 1965–1967, Volume 1 is a compilation album by American rock 'n' roll band The Byrds. Originally released in 1980, it offered, for the first time, all of the mono single versions of the Byrds' singles released between 1965 and early 1967...
, The Byrds, The Very Best of The Byrds
The Very Best of The Byrds
The Very Best of The Byrds is a compilation album by the American rock band The Byrds, released by Columbia Records in 1997. Initially the compilation was only released in Europe but as of 2006, the album has seen some release in the U.S...
, The Essential Byrds
The Essential Byrds
-Disc one:#"Mr. Tambourine Man" – 2:31#"I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" – 2:32#"All I Really Want to Do" – 2:04#"Chimes of Freedom" – 3:51...
and There Is a Season
There Is a Season
There Is a Season is a four-CD box set by the American rock band The Byrds that was released on September 26, 2006 by Columbia/Legacy. It comprises 99 tracks and includes material from every one of the band's twelve studio albums, presented in roughly chronological order...
. Additionally, a 16-minute live version of "Eight Miles High" was included on the Byrds' 1970 album, (Untitled), and another live version was released as part of the 2008 album, Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971
Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971
Live at Royal Albert Hall is a live album by the American rock band The Byrds, released in 2008 on Sundazed Records. The album consists of recordings from the band's appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England on May 13, 1971...
.
In 2004, 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 ranked "Eight Miles High" at #150 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"....
and in March 2005, Q magazine placed the song at #50 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
Cover versions and media references
"Eight Miles High" has been coveredCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by many different bands and artists, including, The Ventures
The Ventures
The Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...
, Leathercoated Minds
Leathercoated Minds
The Leathecoated Minds was a 1966-67 psychedelic studio-based band masterminded largely by Snuff Garrett and J J Cale. The band produced one album, A trip down the Sunset Strip, co-produced by Cale and Garrett, and released in stereo and mono versions on Garrett's Viva label in 1967 and on the...
, Lighthouse
Lighthouse (band)
Lighthouse is a Canadian rock band formed in 1968 in Toronto which included horns, string instruments, and vibraphone; their music reflected elements of rock music, jazz, classical music and swing...
, Leo Kottke
Leo Kottke
Leo Kottke is an acoustic guitarist. He is widely known for his innovative fingerpicking style, which draws on influences from blues, jazz, and folk music, and his syncopated, polyphonic melodies...
, Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
, Ride
Ride (band)
Ride were a British alternative rock band that formed in 1988 in Oxford, England, consisting of Andy Bell, Mark Gardener, Laurence "Loz" Colbert, and Steve Queralt. The band were initially part of the "shoegazing" scene. Following the break-up of the band in 1996, members moved on to various other...
, Stewart/Gaskin
Barbara Gaskin
Barbara Gaskin is a British singer who, with her musical partner, the keyboardist Dave Stewart, formed a duo in 1981. In September of that year they had a number one single in the UK with a cover version of the song "It's My Party"...
, Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....
, Rockfour
Rockfour
Rockfour is a Psychedelic rock band, formed in 1988 in Holon, Israel. Most of their catalog is in English, and they regularly tour the United States.-Early years:...
, Les Fradkin
Les Fradkin
Les Fradkin is a guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is best known for being a member of the original cast of the hit Broadway show Beatlemania...
, and The Postmarks
The Postmarks
The Postmarks are a pop band from Pompano Beach, Florida. Their self-titled LP was released in February 2007 and has been met with critical acclaim from Rolling Stone and Spin, as well as Pitchfork Media and a host of other music blogs. The group was discovered by Andy Chase of Ivy and...
. In addition, Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü was an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer Grant Hart....
included the song on a bonus single released with their Zen Arcade
Zen Arcade
Upon its release Zen Arcade received positive reviews in many mainstream publications, including NME, The New York Times and Rolling Stone. In his review for Rolling Stone, David Fricke described Zen Arcade as "the closest hardcore will ever get to an opera .....
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...
in 1984. The song was also covered in 1969 by Golden Earring
Golden Earring
Golden Earring are a Dutch rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as the Golden Earrings . They had international chart success with the songs "Radar Love" in 1973, "Twilight Zone" in 1982, and "When the Lady Smiles" in 1984. In their home country, they had over 40 hits and made over 30 gold and...
, who put a nineteen-minute version on their Eight Miles High
Eight Miles High (album)
Eight Miles High is an album by Dutch hard rock band Golden Earring, released in 1969.-Track listing:#"Landing" – 4:27#"Song of a Devil's Servant" – 6:00#"One Huge Road" – 3:05...
album. The Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
spinoff group 3
3 (1980s band)
3 were a short-lived progressive rock band formed by former Emerson, Lake & Palmer members Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer and American multi-instrumentalist Robert Berry in 1988....
recorded the song with revised lyrics on their 1988 album, To the Power of Three
To the Power of Three
-Personnel:*Keith Emerson - keyboards, mixing*Robert Berry - lead & backing vocals, guitars, bass, producer*Carl Palmer - drums, percussion, producer-Additional personnel:*Susie O'List - backing vocals*Lana Williams - backing vocals...
. Crowded House
Crowded House
Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia and led by New Zealand singer-songwriter Neil Finn. Finn is the primary songwriter and creative director of the band, having led it through several incarnations, drawing members from New Zealand , Australia and the United States...
have also covered the song with ex-Byrd 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...
, on their I Feel Possessed
I Feel Possessed
"I Feel Possessed" is a rock song written by Neil Finn and performed by New Zealand band Crowded House for their album Temple of Low Men. The song was the final single released from the album...
EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
.
Don McLean
Don McLean
Donald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".-Musical roots:...
's song "American Pie" makes reference to "Eight Miles High" with the lines "The Birds [sic] flew off with a fall-out shelter/Eight miles high and falling fast." The First Edition
The First Edition
The First Edition was a country music/rock band. Its stalwart members being Kenny Rogers , Mickey Jones and Terry Williams...
's 1968 hit, "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)
Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)
"Just Dropped In " is a song written by Mickey Newbury. Said to reflect the LSD experience, the song was intended to be a warning against the danger of using LSD. First recorded in 1967 by Jerry Lee Lewis, who rejected it, it was a hit for The First Edition in 1968...
", contains a reference to the song with the line "I tripped on a cloud and fell a-eight miles high." The independent rock band Okkervil River also reference "Eight Miles High" in their song "Plus Ones", from the 2007 album The Stage Names
The Stage Names
The Stage Names is the fourth full-length studio album by American indie rock band Okkervil River, released on August 7, 2007. The album was recorded in Austin, Texas, with longtime Okkervil producer Brian Beattie, and with mixing from Spoon drummer and producer Jim Eno. Like other Okkervil River...
. Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
's song "Life Itself", from his 2009 album Working on a Dream
Working on a Dream
Working on a Dream is the 16th studio album by Bruce Springsteen, released on January 27, 2009 through Columbia Records. It has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide, with over 585,000 in the United States as of September 2010.-History:...
, features guitar playing and production techniques
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...
reminiscent of "Eight Miles High" by The Byrds.
The Byrds' version of "Eight Miles High" was featured in the 1983 film Purple Haze
Purple Haze (film)
Purple Haze is a 1982 dramedy about Matt Caulfield, a college student who is expelled for smoking cannabis, and subsequently drafted to Vietnam in the summer of 1968.- Plot summary :...
. It also appears in both the Le Voyage dans la Lune and The Original Wives Club episodes of the television miniseries From the Earth to the Moon.