Mike Natale:
Out with my friend for the second-to-last time before he ships out last night, so I am substantially tired. Ergo my writing voice will suck. Sorry.
Listened to: MP3
There are some albums I like to shut my eyes and imagine what it was like to hear it the first time. Like, back when it came out, you know? I mean, can you imagine sitting there, listening to the first album by some new band called “The Byrds” and hearing those gorgeous harmonies on “Mr. Tambourine Man” and some new track called “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better”, which is the happiest break-up song ever written?
The third song, “Spanish Harlem Incident” is another Dylan track, which is mostly what the Byrds did. They made Dylan more accessible to your average listener who bitched about Bob’s voice. However, while I will concede that some of the depth gets lost in the prettiness, that’s some fucking great prettiness to get lost in. Hell, “You Won’t Have To Cry” and “Here Without You” have such enriched harmonies and seductively intriguing guitars that they could’ve been just as big hits if they were released as singles.
“The Bells Of Rhymney” is the first non-Dylan cover on the album (the credit belongs jointly to Pete Seeger and Idris Davies), and I’ll tell you the truth, I didn’t know it was a cover until I was writing this piece. Nor did I know George Harrison (notorious for lifting other people’s riffs and song ideas) used this riff for “If I Needed Someone”.
Now, I gotta step in here, and say in the interest of Nick Young, this album would piss him off. About half of the tracks on here are on the Greatest Hits. The only thing, to me, that separates this from the James Brown debacle is that these are not various compilations of the Byrds tracks rearranged. This is on here mainly for the historical significance of the Byrds’ extraordinarily sharp debut album, while their Greatest Hits is there for the significance of an album which compiled all the finest tracks of the Byrds, and album which itself played a huge part in some people’s lives. If there were two or three greatest hits on the list, I’d be pissed too, but I’ll let some repetition slide (But in the upcoming Star Time v. Greatest Hits of James Brown incident…wait and see).
“All I Really Want To Do” is yet another Dylan cover, which I’ll concede is far better than the original (it’s rare I will say that about a Dylan cover. They usually suck.) “I Knew I’d Want To” and “It’s No Use” are, to me, even better tracks than some you can find on the greatest hits, and show how hard rock The Byrds could get (not much, but more than I expected). “Don’t Doubt Yourself, Babe” is the most blah track on the album, a cover of an even more blah song by Jackie DeShannon. But then it goes to another “Greatest Hit”, “Chimes Of Freedom”, which is, other than Mr. Tambourine Man, their best Dylan cover. It takes a real hippie vibe to one of Dylan’s more somber protest songs, and the beauty of the tone now matches the intrinsic beauty of the lyrics. Ending the album on “We’ll Meet Again” by Ross Parker and Hughie Charles is a fascinatingly interesting call. It partially continues the anti-war vibe of “Chimes Of Freedom”, and is partially a goodbye to their fans (like, see you on the next album). Fun fact: This song was made famous by Vera Lynn. Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn? Remember how she said we would meet gain some sunny day?
So, look, sure, some of these tracks get repeated on the Greatest Hits, but it doesn’t just have one new track like the James Brown album. Plus every yet unheard track on this album is brilliant. This album is a fantastic portrait of the band in their early stages, and very much worth the listen.
-Mike
Thanks for dropping by. Tomorrow is #493: That’s The Way Of The World by Earth, Wind & Fire.
Out with my friend for the second-to-last time before he ships out last night, so I am substantially tired. Ergo my writing voice will suck. Sorry.
Listened to: MP3
There are some albums I like to shut my eyes and imagine what it was like to hear it the first time. Like, back when it came out, you know? I mean, can you imagine sitting there, listening to the first album by some new band called “The Byrds” and hearing those gorgeous harmonies on “Mr. Tambourine Man” and some new track called “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better”, which is the happiest break-up song ever written?
The third song, “Spanish Harlem Incident” is another Dylan track, which is mostly what the Byrds did. They made Dylan more accessible to your average listener who bitched about Bob’s voice. However, while I will concede that some of the depth gets lost in the prettiness, that’s some fucking great prettiness to get lost in. Hell, “You Won’t Have To Cry” and “Here Without You” have such enriched harmonies and seductively intriguing guitars that they could’ve been just as big hits if they were released as singles.
“The Bells Of Rhymney” is the first non-Dylan cover on the album (the credit belongs jointly to Pete Seeger and Idris Davies), and I’ll tell you the truth, I didn’t know it was a cover until I was writing this piece. Nor did I know George Harrison (notorious for lifting other people’s riffs and song ideas) used this riff for “If I Needed Someone”.
Now, I gotta step in here, and say in the interest of Nick Young, this album would piss him off. About half of the tracks on here are on the Greatest Hits. The only thing, to me, that separates this from the James Brown debacle is that these are not various compilations of the Byrds tracks rearranged. This is on here mainly for the historical significance of the Byrds’ extraordinarily sharp debut album, while their Greatest Hits is there for the significance of an album which compiled all the finest tracks of the Byrds, and album which itself played a huge part in some people’s lives. If there were two or three greatest hits on the list, I’d be pissed too, but I’ll let some repetition slide (But in the upcoming Star Time v. Greatest Hits of James Brown incident…wait and see).
“All I Really Want To Do” is yet another Dylan cover, which I’ll concede is far better than the original (it’s rare I will say that about a Dylan cover. They usually suck.) “I Knew I’d Want To” and “It’s No Use” are, to me, even better tracks than some you can find on the greatest hits, and show how hard rock The Byrds could get (not much, but more than I expected). “Don’t Doubt Yourself, Babe” is the most blah track on the album, a cover of an even more blah song by Jackie DeShannon. But then it goes to another “Greatest Hit”, “Chimes Of Freedom”, which is, other than Mr. Tambourine Man, their best Dylan cover. It takes a real hippie vibe to one of Dylan’s more somber protest songs, and the beauty of the tone now matches the intrinsic beauty of the lyrics. Ending the album on “We’ll Meet Again” by Ross Parker and Hughie Charles is a fascinatingly interesting call. It partially continues the anti-war vibe of “Chimes Of Freedom”, and is partially a goodbye to their fans (like, see you on the next album). Fun fact: This song was made famous by Vera Lynn. Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn? Remember how she said we would meet gain some sunny day?
So, look, sure, some of these tracks get repeated on the Greatest Hits, but it doesn’t just have one new track like the James Brown album. Plus every yet unheard track on this album is brilliant. This album is a fantastic portrait of the band in their early stages, and very much worth the listen.
-Mike
Thanks for dropping by. Tomorrow is #493: That’s The Way Of The World by Earth, Wind & Fire.
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