The Notorious Byrd Brothers
| The Notorious Byrd Brothers | ||||
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| Studio album by The Byrds | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Columbia | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, LP |
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Title (number) |
11 |
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running time |
28 min 28 s |
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The Notorious Byrd Brothers is the fifth studio album by the American folk rock band The Byrds , the sixth if you count the Greatest Hits album. It was released on January 3, 1968 on the Columbia Records label . The album peaked at # 47 in the United States and# 12in the UK . Despite good reviews, The Notorious Byrd Brothers had the worst ever sales for a Byrds album, which didn't stop it from becoming a rock classic. So the album which reached in 2003 by Rolling Stone compiled list of 500 best albums of all time Place 170th
history
After the single Lady Friend was released , the Byrds went back to the studio in early August 1967 to record their fifth album. When The Notorious Byrd Brothers finally came out on January 3, 1968, the quartet had become a duo. Between the "Summer of Love" and the autumn of disillusionment, David Crosby was out first, then Gene Clark came back, only to leave three weeks later and finally Michael Clarke left his colleagues and had to go through session drummer Jim Gordon be replaced. Despite this turbulence, the result was consistent and thematically coherent. On the earlier LPs of the Byrds, the tracks were clearly separated from each other in terms of musical style. One pop-rock song, the next influenced by Country & Western , finally an electronic-experimental piece. On Notorious, two or more of these styles were used simultaneously or one after the other on almost every recording, along with other additional elements such as orchestral accompaniment and sonic tricks (mainly brought in by producer Gary Usher) that, since Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band appeared in the popular Music had become almost mandatory.
When the musicians re-entered the studio, the Monterey Pop Festival and a lot of trouble were behind them. David Crosby increasingly presented himself as a great talent who intended to break the tight group rules and boundaries and wanted to dance at several parties at the same time ( Buffalo Springfield , Jefferson Airplane, etc.). He appeared at the recordings with his best compositions and ideas for harmonic, thematic and rhythmic innovation. This was a great challenge for everyone involved and when the album was re-released on CD in 1997, a bonus track was added, which reflects the studio situation of that time. Then you can hear the desperate attempts of drummer Michael Clarke to please David Crosby on his song Dolphin's Smile . Crosby obviously wants Clarke to play a bossa nova rhythm, but that keeps getting into a straight 4/4 beat. After the departure of Crosby, who had been run by Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman in order to clarify the claim to leadership and to ensure the undisturbed further work, some of his songs were taken over. While some of the recordings contained the complete part of Crosby, others were revised by McGuinn and Hillman, his voice replaced or even the text changed. The result was a complete, harmonious oeuvre in which Crosby's songs are immediately identifiable, but harmonize with McGuinn's and Hillman's contributions.
Thematically, the songs reflect the ideas and wishes of the hippie culture: harmony, being together, youthful innocence, tolerance, maladjustment, the morally reprehensible war, the beauty of nature. But these motifs are not approached by the band as a romantic look into the past, but as a reminder of common values that many young people in the western world shared at the time. Not only peace and love are thematized, but also darker sides that are now gradually eating their way into the new youth movement, including violence and drug addiction.
title
The album starts with Artificial Energy , a song about problems with taking amphetamines, here in connection with a flight, similar to Eight Miles High . This time it's not just about disorientation and alienation, but about murder and profound fate. Hillman / McGuinn / Clarke are named as authors. Apart from a few short-term reunion projects, this would also be the last Byrds track with drummer Michael Clarke until the reunion album in 1973. Stylistically, the piece is ( Motown ) soul- oriented, with a shrill brass section that, like much on the album, is alienated by phasers . David Crosby had already left the band when the song was recorded. Artificial Energy was also released as the b-side of the single You Ain't Goin 'Nowhere in 1968 .
This is followed by Goin 'Back , a Gerry Goffin / Carole King composition with which Dusty Springfield had a top ten success in 1966 and which celebrates the innocence of childhood. During the recording of the album, one take was released as a new Byrds single in October, but another take was used for the album itself. Stylistically a folk-pop song with harmony vocals, which is completely under the influence of Sgt.Pepper , with glockenspiel, cello, piano and pedal steel guitar (played by Red Rhodes), this song became the culmination of the arguments within the band. According to some sources, David Crosby was involved in the beginning of the recording and is, for example, the author of the vocal movement of Goin 'Back , although other sources suggest that he was already directed rather negatively towards the piece at the beginning of the recording. The re-release of the album on CD (1997) and the included early version with Crosby singing in harmony, however, relativizes this view. Michael Clarke was no longer involved in Goin 'Back and was replaced by Jim Gordon, who contributed the signature drum roll towards the end of the piece.
In Natural Harmony , Chris Hillman showed his weakness for jazzy rhythms for the first time and continued the songwriting career he started on the previous album. The phaser, Paul Beavers Moog synthesizer and Red Rhodes' pedal steel guitar emphasize the psychedelic text.
With a smooth transition, the listener is now led to Draft Morning , which is often considered by Byrds listeners to be one of his best works. Thematically an anti-war song, it is about a young man who is supposed to be drafted but is tormented by doubts. As on almost all of the songs on Notorious , the Byrds sing spherically and extremely sensitively. David Crosby's voice has been replaced by Hillman's, but his guitar is likely to be left on the track. Much to his indignation, however, his authorship was expanded to include Hillman and McGuinn after he left the group. In the spirit of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his Confutatis ( Requiem ), the spherical, gentle sounds in Draft Morning are suddenly replaced by those that express brutal violence: war noises with screams and gun salvos (contributed by the comedy troupe Firesign Theater ) and one Military trumpet blowing the attack before the song returns to calm.
Wasn't Born to Follow , another song penned by Goffin / King and also only recorded after Crosby's departure, is a light country with perfect Byrds harmonies and Clarence White on the plucked western guitar. In 1969 the piece was supposed to be heard as part of the Easy Rider score . As with Old John Robertson , the country breaks off radically at the bridge to give way to booming rock with phasers and McGuinn's raga-like guitar solo.
Another song from the post-Crosby era is Get to You , a country jazz waltz by McGuinn. As he later admitted, it was a "mistake" of the record company to name Chris Hillman as a co-author. In reality it was Gene Clark, who had briefly returned to the Byrds. McGuinn also said that after his departure, Crosby had spread widely that the Byrds were not good instrumentalists. With Get to You he wanted to prove the opposite. The chorus ( ah, that's a little better ) is sent here through Lesly loudspeakers, a trick from the Beatles' workshop .
With Change Is Now we are again dealing with a mixture of pop, country and electronic music. The piece was written by McGuinn and Hillman and was recorded with David Crosby and Michael Clarke. It also appeared on the back of the single Goin 'Back and again worked with a surprising break in musical styles: pounding rock on the verses, flying country on the bridge (with Clarence White on western guitar). McGuinn stated on the occasion of the re-appearance on CD 1997 regarding the lyrics that it was "another guru-spiritual-mystical song that nobody understood".
Old John Robertson had already appeared as the b-side of the single Lady Friend . But as with Why? (Single back side from Eight Miles High and on the album Fifth Dimension ) the Byrds recorded the piece again, with Crosby on bass and harmony vocals and Clarence White on western guitar. In terms of content, Chris Hillman remembers his childhood in San Diego and a retired film director named John Robertson, who was ridiculed by the children because of his antiquated appearance (mustache, Stetson hat ). McGuinn's penchant for baroque music found new expression in the song's bridge. Even before the Byrds he had played music by Johann Sebastian Bach on the banjo, and his Jesu Du Meine Freude solo on She Don't Care About Time was also unforgettable. Now, during the recording of Robertson , a baroque ensemble that had previously worked in a neighboring studio came into the studio and spontaneously played a few improvised bars to bridge the song. Initially regarded as a gag by the band, this interlude eventually became the unmistakable part of the piece.
This is followed by Tribal Gathering , a jazz inspired by Paul Desmond's Take Five ( Dave Brubeck Quartet ) in 5/8 time. This David Crosby composition, with Hillman as co-author, describes a happening that took place as a counterculture event on January 12, 1967 in Golden Gate Park , San Francisco . The verses are accompanied by a melodious jazz guitar (McGuinn). The bridge is again a brutal break: a hard guitar riff as an expression of the presence of the Hells Angels , who questioned the peaceful nature of the meeting. It is unclear who is playing this riff, McGuinn or Crosby. In anticipation of the harder sounds, for example on Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde , McGuinn can be assumed.
Another Crosby song, Dolphin's Smile , is the first about his love for the ocean and the deep blue peace in the Pacific Ocean. Stylistically, it is a Bossa Nova or Latin Jazz with an extraordinary choral movement (sung by Crosby) in a key that is neither major nor minor: AEH, i.e. most likely A6, but without a third, so that it is also Am6 could act. The bridge is short and in C major, D major and G major and leads back over to the floating main theme. One of his most difficult and innovative songs. McGuinn contributed sounds on his guitar to imitate bubbling water (beginning) and the singing of a dolphin (bridge).
On the last track, Space Odyssey , McGuinn reached into his space travel and science fiction box again, as he did before with 5 D , Mr. Spaceman or CTA 102 . The text is based on the short story The Sentinel by Arthur C. Clarke , which was also the template for the Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey . McGuinn's version describes extraterrestrials who influenced the course of life on earth thousands of years ago. Musically, the song resembles a Scottish ballad and is accompanied by Moog synthesizer sounds. In 1968 it sounded futuristic, today it seems rather strange.
Summary
The Notorious Byrd Brothers is an ambitious and experimental work. Most of the experiments endured well, so the album is of timeless beauty. In 1965, the Byrds created what is known as folk rock with a largely easily digestible mixture of folk , Beatles and Bob Dylan influences and the rock beat of the rhythm groups of Californian bands . But at the latest with their third album, Fifth Dimension , they decided to consistently develop further as an artist. This development culminated with Notorious and was completed with the following album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo . It is noteworthy that, despite internal tensions and dramatic changes, the group was capable of such an innovative performance. But maybe that's why. As with the Beatles' swan song ( Abbey Road ), in the years that followed the question was asked again and again what would have happened if the group had not fallen apart but continued to work. The possible answer: we would have heard another masterpiece with songs that Crosby took to Crosby, Stills and Nash , Hillman to the Flying Burrito Brothers and McGuinn would have sung Ballad of Easy Rider with both of them in perfect Byrds harmony. However, then we would never have enjoyed the album that followed Notorious : Sweetheart of the Rodeo .
Triad
Along with his opus Lady Friend , another David Crosby song was not released on Notorious : Triad . It's about a love triangle between him, Joni Mitchell and Graham Nash . Crosby keeps asking why this shouldn't be possible. This attempt to overcome moral barriers was a difficult topic even for the countercultural development in 1967. The other Byrds didn't want to take the risks involved. Triad could have been another Everybody's Been Burned contribution , instead Crosby passed it on to Jefferson Airplane, who released it on their 1968 LP Crown of Creation . It was not until the late 1980s that the Triad was released on the album Never Before .
Track list
A side
- Artificial Energy (Roger McGuinn / Chris Hillman / Michael Clarke) - 2:18
- Goin 'Back (Carole King / Gerry Goffin) - 3:26
- Natural Harmony (Chris Hillman) - 2:11
- Draft Morning (David Crosby / Chris Hillman / Roger McGuinn) - 2:42
- Wasn't Born to Follow (Carole King / Gerry Goffin) - 2:04
- Get to You (Chris Hillman / Roger McGuinn) - 2:39
B side
- Change Is Now (Chris Hillman / Roger McGuinn) - 3:21
- Old John Robertson (Chris Hillman / Roger McGuinn) - 1:49
- Tribal Gathering (David Crosby / Chris Hillman) - 2:03
- Dolphin's Smile (David Crosby / Chris Hillman / Roger McGuinn) - 2:00
- Space Odyssey (Roger McGuinn / RJ Hippard) - 3:52
Republication
On March 25, 1997 , Columbia released the album on CD with the following bonus tracks :
- Moog Raga (Roger McGuinn) - 3:24 (instrumental)
- Bound to Fall ( Mike Brewer / Tom Mastin ) - 2:08 (instrumental)
- Triad (David Crosby) - 3:29
- Goin 'Back (Carole King / Gerry Goffin) - 3:55 (alternative version)
- Draft Morning (David Crosby / Chris Hillman / Roger McGuinn) - 2:55 (alternative ending)
- Universal Mind Detector (Chris Hillman / Roger McGuinn) - 13:45 (instrumental version of Change Is Now - radio commercial with producer Gary Usher and the band's studio talks as hidden tracks )
Web links
- The Notorious Byrd Brothers at Byrdwatcher
- The Notorious Byrd Brothers Lyrics
- The Notorious Byrd Brothers at Allmusic (English)
- The Notorious Byrd Brothers record cover
Individual evidence
- ↑ Levy, Joe (Ed.): Rolling Stone. The 500 best albums of all time . (Original edition: Rolling Stone. The 500 Greatest Albums of all Time . Wenner Media 2005). Translation: Karin Hofmann. Wiesbaden: White Star Verlag, 2011, p. 140