Customer Reviews

Byrds: '73 Reunion Album

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Though this work was not well received by the critics, I've enjoyed it for the last 27 years. I bought it on CD years ago and I've never regretted it. It's basically a folk-rock effort...not really a loser among the tracks.

As a long-time Byrds fan, I can remember anxiously awaiting the release of what was to have been the reunion of the original Byrds lineup. Although all the principals showed up, the resulting recording proved to be less than satisfying. There are some excellent songs here (particularly those from the legendary Gene Clark), but there was a distinct lack of collaboration among the four songwriters in the band. It appears that McGuinn, Clark, Crosby, and Hillman each showed up with some individually-composed songs, which gives this recording the feel of a collection of solo tracks. Crosby even recycles "Laughing", which appeared on his debut solo album (but which was supposedly originally intended for the Byrds), and his "Long Live the King" sounds like a throwaway song that was merely tossed in to fill up space on the album. McGuinn and Hillman both contribute songs which are not bad, but are clearly not among their best. Then, seemingly out of ideas, the band records two Neil Young covers, as well as Joni Mitchell's "For Free", none of which are bad songs, but are a bit out of place. Considering that the team which composed the classic "Eight Miles High" (McGuinn, Clark, and Crosby) failed to pool their ideas for this purported reunion suggests a lack of commitment to this project, and helps to explain why this album tanked when it was released. The band simply failed to incorporate the elements which made them a success: good material, strong harmonies, and McGuinn's trademark 12-string Rickenbacker; Hillman's mandolin simply does not fill the void. This album has its moments, but as a Byrds album, it is sorely lacking. Sadly, poor sales and an apparent lack of enthusiasm among the band members killed plans for a tour, so this album stands as a testament to one of the saddest chapters in Byrds history: a missed opportunity to recapture the greatness of the early days. It's not a bad album; it's just not a genuine Byrds album, although it could (and should) have been. Enjoy it for what it is, but those who are unfamiliar with this album should expect to hear five individuals, not a cohesive band.

OK, the boys went into this half-hearted reunion for all the wrong reasons. And that old walrus Crosby's legendary egomania is on full display. You know what? It has two great Gene Clark originals (the man was a supremely gifted songwriter)plus the pair of exquisite Neil Young covers(also sung by Clark). That makes up for McGuinn's faint presence and the less than stellar songwriting of the others, especially the so lame it's laughable "Long Live the King" by-you guessed it-Crosby. Overall, it has a pleasant country rock vibe and ragged dignity that eventually wins you over.

When this album was initially issued (1973), the critics were merciless in their criticism. I'm not sure what they were expecting...."Mr. Tambourine Man" all over again for 40 minutes? This is very good album that represents where the various members were at that time (musically) in their lives.

The Gene Clark songs (along with the Neil Young song Gene sings) are among his best, and these guys may have never sounded better vocally. This album is certainly better than FARTHER ALONG and

(the dreadful) BYRDMANIAX, and I'd definitely buy this one before buying even the reissues of those two albums.

Luckily for me, when the (original lineup) Byrds reunion album came out in early 1973, the first local FM rock/top 40 hybird station was getting established. It played almost every single rock or pop 45 released at the time, so the playlist was gigantic. (It was also wonderful to be exposed to stuff that wasn't deemed commercial enough, but sounded great to my ears. I bought more records in 1973 than any year ever.) The singles "Full Circle" and "Cowgirl in the Sand" got played at least a couple of times a day, so I got the chance to appreciate them for the laid-back, country-folk-rock songs they were. I bought the album before I bothered to read the first of many reviews savaging it as one of the worst albums of the year. But, 30 years later, "Byrds" is still one of the albums I love to listen to on a warm, lazy summer day. No ground-breaking stuff here--but I still find myself preferring "Byrds" to many of the pretentious stuff that the critics raved about back then.

The title of this effort should be "What might have been". The potential for a great recording was there but unfortunately the hearts of all of the 5 participants were not. Gene Clark stands among the ruins as the hero of this effort. His two originals are beautiful. "Changing Hearts" still gets to me after all these years. His singing on the two Neil Young songs are among his finest efforts. Where were Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman? Too much David Crosby excess and not enough McGuinn/Hillman input. For example, "Sweet Mary" is beautiful. However, despite the flaws I wore out the LP and very much welcomed it's release on CD. Ah, what might have been.....

Half of this '73 reunion album is excellent, while the other
half is workmanlike (but still not that bad). I have no idea
why this one is almost uniformly trashed--for one, it stands
above any of the other post-"Notorious" albums for the simple
reason that it reunites the gorgeous harmony vocals of
Clarke, McGuinn and Crosby. Each songwriter manages to
come up with one classic song each--Clarke's "Full Circle" with
its mystical lyric and (naturally) circular chorus, McGuinn's

ethereal "Sweet Mary", the Byrdsian-jangly remake of Crosby's
magnificent "Laughing" and the catchy pop of Hillman's "Things
Will Be Better". There are also two outstanding covers ("For
Free" and "(See The Sky) About To Rain"). The rest of the
tracks sound a little bland and too country-rock for the reunion
of such a pioneering lineup, but are still listenable.
One must also remember that it had been seven years since they
had worked together and needed more time to gel--a second album
together might've been a masterpiece, and taken from that
perspective "Byrds" is a promising start. Sure, the production
could use some of the creative touches of the 66-67 era, and
the performances sometimes veer too close to disparate solo
efforts, but taken individually there are enough good--even
great--songs here to give the album a thumbs up. I also don't
understand where all the criticism of Crosby's "egomaniacal"
involvement comes from--he's only featured on three of the
eleven tracks, and two of those ("For Free" and "Laughing")
are classics (the third, "Long Live The King", sounds like a
CSN outtake--but is this any worse than McGuinn's virtual-solo
outing "Born To Rock'n'Roll"?). Anyways, just get this hard-to-find album and see for yourself.

I bought this album on vinyl and enjoyed it until I wore the record out. Many folks seem to think it sucks, but hey, it sounds great to me. It looks like they didn't have a wealth of original material to record. However, the originals are fine and the covers are great. Joni Mitchell's "For Free" and the Neil Young covers are excellent. Now what about all those other good albums released on Asylum? You know, Souther, Hillman Furay's two albums, Chris Hillman's albums, Richie's solo stuff...

I'm puzzled as to some of the less-than-stellar reviews given here. This has been one of my favorites for 24 years, especially "Full Circle & Sweet Mary". I think it's very evocative of a certain space in time and I like it.

I have always loved this album and have never understood the negative reviews it got. The only bad track is Born To Rock and Roll, and in these days of make-your-own-playlists, I replace it with McGuinn's My New Woman off his first solo LP, recorded about the same time with the whole Byrds line-up. I also like to change the running order - Side 2 was always a bit too Neil Young-heavy for me.

But the real problem is the sound quality. There have been at least four reissues of this over the years and the latest one from Rhino sounds no better. They all seem to have been sourced from the same over-used tape. Why can't a proper remastering job be done? And no bonus tracks? I find that hard to believe, what with The Byrds' reputation for not including a lot of their best stuff (usually due to band politics).

Come on, guys - this is as great an album as any of the 60s ones and it deserves being brought back into the canon.