The Byrds - (Untitled)/(Unissued) (deluxe edition 2000, orig. 2LP rel. 1970)

I used to reach for this one a lot at the turning of the seasons, and dug it out for a fresh appraisal the other day.  First released in September 1970 as a live record/studio record double, (Untitled) put in place the Byrds lineup that would prove most stable, carrying them through to the end (apart from the original lineup's reunions).  Roger McGuinn, Clarence White, Skip Battin and Gene Parsons proved to be a tight, adventurous live unit, and the collection of concert recordings that open the collection rip through material old and new culminating in a 16-minute jam around Eight Miles High.

The studio album is equally revelatory, marking a fresh high point in Byrdsian songwriting.  McGuinn at the time was attempting to write a musical entitled Gene Tryp, based on Peer Gynt and in collaboration with Jacques Levy (later Dylan's Desire co-writer).  As well as the live opener Lover Of The Bayou, songs from this abandoned project appearing on (Untitled) are Chestnut Mare, All The Things and Just A Season, working just fine as quality standalone songs.  Skip Battin comes to the fore as a writer too, on the memorable Vietnam-themed closer Well Come Back Home, and collaborative efforts Yesterday's Train, Hungry Planet and You All Look Alike.

Live and studio together, this 70 minutes of music add up to one of the strongest albums ever released under the Byrds moniker, but even more was recorded - and released as a bonus CD 30 years later.  This was my first exposure to (Untitled), on receiving a mix tape from someone with the gorgeous acoustic take on Lowell George's Willin' and seeking out the source.  The (Unissued) disc took a mirror approach to the original album, starting out with 20 minutes of studio outtakes then adding 25 minutes of further live material - and a neat little hidden extra in an accapella Amazing Grace.

Disc 1 link

Disc 2 link

pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG: Sweetheart Of The Rodeo

The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968)

Every time I hear this album, my mind immediately goes back to a moment in a documentary programme I watched in the mid-90s about the history of rock in the 1960s.  I can't remember whether this was a series, or a one-off, or even what it was called.  The one thing I've never forgotten though is the moment it cuts away from the chaos of Altamont to a peaceful country highway, Hickory Wind starts playing, and country rock is born.  Even though the chronology's back to front* (this album predates Altamont by a year), it was still a great piece of narrative direction, and it introduced me to Gram Parsons and to Sweetheart Of The Rodeo.
* there's always the possibility that I'm remembering this completely wrong; it has been twenty years now!

All I knew of The Byrds up until then was their debut album - still good in its own way, but by 1968 Jim McGuinn was Roger, and was rebuilding The Byrds from the ground up.  Initially planning a comprehensive history of American music, along came Gram Parsons and an immersion in pure country.  Sweetheart Of The Rodeo is completely on-point in its song choices - alongside Woody Guthrie, Merle Haggard and the Louvin Brothers sits brand new material from a mythic session that Bob Dylan was then deep in the midst of, and a couple of stunning songs from Parsons himself.  One Hundred Years From Now is where it's at, folks - one of my all-time favourite Byrds songs.

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