aah… the byrds. a band whom i have always liked but could never truly love.
perhaps my prejudice is based on the impression that they were a bunch of chancers in the right place at the right time who took a well thumbed dylan songbook and sugar coated it for mass market appeal. maybe it’s jim mcguinn’s slightly annoying voice. or his stupid spectacles.
anyhoo, my interest in the byrds was piqued when i discovered, through a love of gram parsons, ‘sweetheart of the rodeo’, their sixth album and one which, for better or worse, invented country rock.
when i received a byrds box set last christmas, ‘notorious byrd brothers’ was the album that resonated most with me.
i couldn’t describe it any better than theinvalid already has, so i won’t try.
The Byrds: Change Is Now (1968)
A mess of country, psych and Krishna knows what; from the (almost) perfect Notorious Byrd Brothers record, a crumbling band going a bit nuts.
