Dr Byrds & Mr Hyde (Exp) [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

The Byrds | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 25, 1997)
• Original Release Date: 1968
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002AGG
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #243,781 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The 1969 release, with unreleased alternate versions of Lay Lady Lay (no choir!); This Wheel's on Fire; Nashville West , and the My Back Pages/B.J. Blues/Baby What You Want Me to Do medley, plus Stanley's Song .

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Rock & Mr. Country Plays the Lead In the Byrds' Rebirth, September 4, 2004

By 

Bud (Seminole, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Dr Byrds & Mr Hyde (Exp) (Audio CD)

After the disintegration of the original Byrds line-up, and a transitional country-rock album that was hated at least by the hardcore country-western music population, Roger McGuinn could hardly be blamed if he was found in a bad mood. But somehow he found the will to keep the group alive and continue to make Byrds music. In interviews years later, McGuinn would later express unsatisfaction over certain aspects of the latter-day Byrds era (despite positive interviews in the 60s), but musical history is extremely fortunate that he carried on, and "Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde" is the first souvenir from this productive era, despite the fact it failed to even break into the Top 150 on Billboard's album chart.
Ironically, this album contained more original material than its much more successful follow-up "Ballad of Easy Rider," and McGuinn decided to take lead vocals on all of the numbers here, at least for the time being until the audience was used to the change, but their playing here proves that vocals would be no challenge. Guitarist Clarence White had participated in numerous sessions with the group over the years, and his musical contributions to the latter-day Byrds are rivaled in importance only by friend and drummer Gene Parsons who, much like White, had become a veteran of the road. John York was brought in as the new bassist and though his stay in the group was short, it was nonetheless important, as here he proves to be a flexible and talented bass player (this is evident on the in-concert release "Live at the Fillmore," and his creative input was more apparent on "Ballad of Easy Rider").
The product of this new beginning certainly deserved its title; it showed two sides of the Byrds, a progressing experimental spirit and one that showed a great appreciation for country and southern roots. On any other album, the sequencing of two different styles would be uneven, but given Dr. Byrds' admission of the theme, it works surprisingly well. McGuinn's bitterness over the country music scene's negative reaction to the "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" album, and a general disillusionment with the hippie-era "age of aquarius" is apparent as the album opens up with a haunting, driven cover of Bob Dylan & The Band's `This Wheel's On Fire,' signalling doomsday and disdain. The Byrds' version of this much-covered song is the best ever recorded (next to Dylan & The Band's "Basement Tapes" version, and The Band's solo version). `King Apathy III' can be seen as McGuinn's accusations of hypocrisy towards the flower-power hippie movement as he sings of naive "Middleclass suburban children, wearing costumes that reveal / Blindly follow recent pipers, with their mystical appeal." `Candy' (meant for the soundtrack of a film of the same name) could have cynicism under its unassuming nature, while `Child of the Universe' (for the same film) boasts stirring, dark music (highlighted by an effective kick-drum) that contradicts the lyrical content addressing the film's main character, proving that perhaps McGuinn was not persuaded by the movie's ideas. Throughout the album, the title's reference to the split personality of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is more and more fitting; the laid back country of `Old Blue' and `Your Gentle Way of Loving Me' contradicts the cosmic rock of `Wheel's On Fire' and `Child of the Universe,' which surprisingly is followed by White and Parsons' rowdy but organic country instrumental `Nashville West.' McGuinn and former member Gram Parson's `Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man' may be country, but it is actually a cynical reaction to the Nashville world's resentment of "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" (aimed at one disc jockey in particular). Some songs actually blend the different personalities; `King Apathy III' and `Bad Night at the Whiskey' have both slightly psychedelic/progressive tinges and country touches. The closing medley is a joy as well, containing a verse of Dylan's `My Back Pages' mixed with `B.J. Blues' and `Baby What You Want Me To Do,' McGuinn's vocals on the alternate version in this re-issue being a real treat.
Unfortunately, the public reactions to "Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde" were as mixed as the country and rock influences it contained. But time has aged the album well, as it is a glimpse at the Beginning of the End for the illusions of the flower-power age, and it is a refreshing example of a band starting from scratch while keeping their feet in two musical pools at once.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unfairly Neglected Gem, July 31, 2000

By 

Compton Roberts (Hamilton, Ontario, CANADA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dr Byrds & Mr Hyde (Exp) (Audio CD)

1969's "Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde" is the lowest-charting Byrds album, having come off of an audience-alienating change of sound and direction ("Sweetheart of the Rodeo") and the loss of two key members from The Byrds' more innovative, commercial period. Free-loving, acid-dropping hippies were just not ready for country and western music. Roger McGuinn, the only original Byrd left, rebuilt The Byrds with bluegrass guitarist extraordinaire Clarence White in an attempt to infuse their newly-acquired Nashville sound with a more contemporary direction (relevant lyrics, fuzz-stoked electric guitar, etc.). The schizophrenia suggested by this album's title carries onto the album itself. You will encounter equal parts of straight, though electrified country music ("Old Blue", "Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man", "Your Gentle Ways of Loving Me") balanced by (Clarence) White-hot blistering guitar workouts (the metallic apocalypse of Dylan's "This Wheel's On Fire", the heavy newgrass of "Nashville West", the smouldering "Bad Night at the Whiskey", and McGuinn's hard-rocking but paranoid "King Apathy III). Although lesser tracks ("Candy", "Child of the Universe", "Your Gentle Ways...") slow the album's momentum, some of the best recordings of the "new" Byrds are to be found here. "This Wheel's On Fire", "King Apathy III", "Old Blue" and the hilarious "Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man" (written by McGuinn and Gram Parsons about a less-than-well-received Grand Ol' Opry performance) are amongst the finest recordings by ANY Byrds line-up. In fact, this is the hardest-rocking Byrds album since the acid-drenched "Fifth Dimension" in 1966. Sony has cleaned up the sound of the original murky production, the worst in Byrds history, so that there is a noticeable clarity of image. The bonus material, primarily alternate takes, is nice but not essential. Byrds fanatics and rock music critics should get hold of this immediately and give it a reappraisal.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Byrds Prescribes Great Medicine!, October 3, 2003

By 

Jay Moscato (Bel Air, Md.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dr Byrds & Mr Hyde (Exp) (Audio CD)

This CD is Roger McGuinn saying see ya Chris and Gram! He had the idea on this CD greater than Gram's forging two musics (although I'm sure Gram got him started)for the most part.And what came out was PROTO COUNTRY-METAL! To hear McGuinn's beautiful spacey Rickenbacker behind the late GREAT Clarence White's country electric picking is a joy to behold. The clean verses the dirty guitar sound of a holocaust one moment and just sitting on the back stoop the next. The drumming is solid and John York's backround vocal is also. There isn't a bad track on the album. This Wheel's On Fire eventually sucks you in and down to a high pitched grave only to quickly having you come back to life for some country clapping to Old Blue. Ralph ("I'm such a country icon")Emery gets his due on Drug Store Truck Driving Man. There are songs in between that take you to places in space, (once again) to the country and everywhere in between. And what a beautiful ending. Roger and the guys leave us at some hillbilly bar sipping that last Bud, singing along and standing up (if not too drunk) to applaud for more. The very last guitar bit cuts through your chest like a steak knife. All in all, sorry folks who only like the original Byrds, this album is an acid trip to the country, up to the stars and a complete masterpiece!