The Byrds Play Dylan

The Byrds

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 11, 2002)
• Original Release Date: June 11, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000068CYL
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #147,244 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
As a historical document, this record is priceless. Just as some parents are wont to gauge their children's development by posing them yearly with a department-store Santa Clause, fans can witness both the development of this seminal Southern California band and the evolution of what was to become called folk rock by listening to them tackle the various stages and permutations of Bob Dylan--sometimes even, as with "Mr. Tambourine Man," before Dylan released the songs himself. Urged originally by their then manager and producer Jim Dickson to interpret the folk bard's work, the Byrds never seemed to grow weary of the exercise, even recording the rather simplistic and anachronistic "Paths of Glory" when they reunited briefly in 1990. However, the bulk of the recording was done between 1965 and 1971, and not only shows the Roger McGuinn-led band arching toward psychedelia on their dark and gothic rendition of Dylan and Rick Danko's "This Wheel's on Fire," but also documents the apex of their flirtation with country music during Gram Parson's tenure with the band in 1968. Both their choice Dylan covers--"Nothing Was Delivered," and "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere"--and the buttons, bows, and leather chaps that they dressed the songs up in during Parsons time with the band is a revealing snapshot of the Byrds in transition. After all is said and done, the debate is still running on who got more out of this synergistic relationship. After listening to this collection, one is tempted to believe Dylan did. Were it not for the Byrds taking their fey and poppy version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" to the top of the charts in 1965, the man some of us refer to as Mr. Jones would have not come to the public's attention quite so soon. But the Byrds did much more than merely interpret Bob Dylan songs. Really, the band soared much higher performing their own material, and whether they melded jazz, raga, country, or psychedelic rock, they showed a fearlessness, an agility, inventiveness, and purpose that belied the constant personnel shifts. --Jaan Uhelszki

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great collection -- but WHAT is with the programming order??, October 3, 2003

By	Groupzero "Groupzero" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This collection comes as a godsend for owners of the original 70's Lp who cried bloody murder over the wretched 80's CD re-release (which -- no fooling -- appeared to have been mastered from an audio cassette!). Not only is the sound quality pf this new collection at the same high level of CBS/Legacy's previous Byrds CD releases, but this new CD contains 7 more tracks, some of of which were only available previously on the Byrds box set. That's the good news. Now for the bad, or at least odd, news...

Producer Bob Irwin apparently had the brilliant idea of programming the songs in ALPHABETICAL order! I am not kidding. Take a look at that track listing at the top of the page -- the collection begins with "All I Really Want to Do," and ends with "You Ain't Goin' Nowehere" (followed by 7 unreleased, live, and alternate versions). The result is a bizarre playlist where the great "Lay Down Your Weary Tune" is jarringly followed by "Lay Lady Lady" -- possibly the worst Dylan cover the Byrds ever did. This album would have been much, much better if the tracks had been arranged chronologically, as they were in the original release.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars AUSTRALIAN AND US VERSIONS COMPARED, June 4, 2006

By	Mark "a longtime record buyer" (Santa Monica, CA) - See all my reviews

Those thinking about buying this CD should be aware that there is an Australian version with alternate programming available from Amazon [ASIN BOOOO5K2U3]. Here is a quick comparison of the USA and Australian CDs:

I. CONTENTS:

Both use the same 20 tracks. These include the 1965 take of `It's All Over Now, Baby Blue' (in stereo), but not the dramatically different 1969 track on "Ballad of Easy Rider." This is a glaring omission, considering there are alternate versions of four other songs.

Still, here are sixteen songs from Bob Dylan's most creative period, with each of the various Byrds line-ups performing on at least one or two tracks. This makes for a rich listening experience, though the dramatically different styles of the various line-ups makes programming these tracks a challenge.

II. PROGRAMMING:

An earlier reviewer pointed out the strange programming choice for the USA CD. He's right - it appears to be simply alphabetical through track 13! When playing the USA CD, I usually set my player to "random" or "shuffle"; it's mostly random by alphabet anyway, and this often generates some interesting alternate programs.

The strongest point of the Australian CD is that it largely succeeds in an attempt to program these songs for enjoyable listening. (See Amazon's listing of the Australian CD for this alternate program.)

III. SOUND QUALITY

The remastering on the USA album is excellent, in that all tracks from a wide variety of sources play at about the same volume and EQ setting.

For this reason, some tracks may not have the same full bodied richness of the original album tracks, but when played loud the sound quality is excellent and will not disappoint.

The Australian CD tends toward a slight "import" sound, but is nonetheless also excellent.

Bottom line: very good to excellent sound on both USA and AUS versions.

IV. PACKAGING

The US release features 2 color photos of the post-Clark Byrds. Its 12 page booklet contains more photos and a 2002 essay by David Fricke that explores the Byrds' special relationship with Dylan.

The Aussie version has only a single fold-open sheet with a one page essay by David Humphries written in 2001.

The two CDs have different covers, but both are shown on Amazon so buyers can decide for themselves about these.

OVERALL:

This album is pretty much a "must have" for Byrds fans, though almost anyone familiar with either Dylan or the Byrds will probably also enjoy it. I recommend the USA version with its superior packaging for die hard fans. But the Australian program is (in my opinion) much superior for listening, so I reccomend that for casual buyers.

ALSO SUGGESTED:

Those interested in this album will surely also enjoy Mcguinn's fine duet with Dylan on 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door.' See "The Bootleg Series, Vol. 5 - Bob Dylan Live 1975 - The Rolling Thunder Revue" (Legacy C2K 87047).

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A collection more for fans of Dylan than those of the Byrds, February 9, 2003

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

"Byrds Play Dylan" was put together by going through the Byrds records and pulling every song written by Dylan that they covered starting with "Mr. Tambourine Man" the hit that brought the group national recognition and helped popularize Dylan as well. The result is of interest to Dylan fans, who have learned to appreciate his musical genius in a new way by hearing it sung by artists who can really sing (this is not meant as a slight, because hearing Dylan sung by Peter, Paul & Mary was what proved that his music was as strong as his lyrics). "Chimes of Freedom" and "My Back Pages" are the ones that really stand out in this collection. This is as fine a collection of Dylan covers as you are going to find, but do not mistake it as an adequate introduction to the Byrds because it accounts for neither their original compositions nor their covers of other artists. The Bryds were one of the most influential groups of the Sixties, making folk-rock immensly popular by taking the lyricism of contemporary folk music with the energy of the British Invasion. Singing songs written by Bob Dylan was only part of their magic.