For years, I have read of the lineage between The Byrds and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, but the two Byrds songs I knew, “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn! Turn! Turn! (There is a Season)” were not enough to give me a true sense of the connection or even prove its existence. As I rediscovered Petty's work (Highway Companion, Conversations...Petty, live review, Confessions 001), my curiosity about The Byrds grew. An entire wall of our apartment is devoted to my musical curiosities. It was time to add another "brick" to that wall.
I learned from The Byrds’ Greatest Hits that I knew more of their songs than I thought I did. Petty has covered “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” and “So You Wanna Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star,” and I never knew “Eight Miles High,” was a Byrds’ tune.
One curiosity settled, a new one born. The ringing sound of the Rickenbacker is one of the unmistakable sonic threads that joins The Byrds and Petty. This first question answered, I found my appetite whetted for more when presented with this sampling of great music. I was now possessed with a new curiosity about The Byrds. Did I mention the altar assembled along one wall of our apartment, devoted to housing the evidence of my musical curiosities?
Sadly, Best Buy is the best place to find music in Huntsville. If I want to find anything more obscure than the new Paris Hilton record, I usually have to order it or drive two hours to Nashville. When a man is possessed by the musical curiosity, he does not want to wait 5-7 days on Postal Service. The four-hour round trip to Nashville is not high on the practical scale, either. This means I usually start my hunting at Best Buy even though I know at some point I will become irrationally angry with the experience. Not only do I often have trouble finding what I want, I have to listen to some godawful hiphop rubbish played at unspeakably loud volumes. Yes, I realize how old that makes me sound, but I am writing a review of The Byrds. Besides, I am not opposed to loud music. I still listen to loud music. What I am opposed to is bad music, bad music played loudly, and bad music played quietly. While scouring these shelves of frustration, I stumbled onto There is a Season, the new 99 track, 4-CD/1-DVD box set on sale for the ridiculously good price of $29.99. Even if the box only produces a few new favorites not found on Greatest Hits, this was still a hell of a deal. That’s value! I hated Best Buy 17 percent less for the rest of that day.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Glen Boyd
Better late than never DJR.
So I may suggest a next Byrds record for you to run down? The double album "Untitled" is split between studio and live stuff, and includes the latter day hit "Chestnut Mare". I dont know how much live stuff is included on the box as I haven't found it at anywhere nesr the great price you lucked onto. But the side-long live version of "Eight Miles High" showcases just how potent they could be as a live band. "Eight Miles" serves as the launch pad for a very tasty side long jam.
Anyway, good review DJR. And If I'm ever in your neck of the woods, you'll have to invite me over to check out that wall of yours.
-Glen
2 - J. P. Spencer
It's worth noting that the final lineup of the Byrds (with the incomparable Clarence White) was the longest-lasting lineup of the band. One of my favorite Byrds albums is "Ballad Of Easy Rider", and this album tends to get lost in the shuffle.
Welcome to the club.
3 - DJRadiohead
Thanks Glen and JP. You both manage to highlight something I did fail to mention in the review. It was something I intended to address but closed shop before I got to it: the second half of disc three and all of disc.
Glen, there are a number of live cuts included in this region of the set. I'd have to check the liner notes to see if any of it came from that double-set you mention.
I liked some of the post-Sweetheart material but I have to admit my favorite stuff was the early material and Sweetheart. That stuff was just special and I cannot believe how undervalued it seems to me to be. Clarence White should have gotten a mention in my review proper because he was a longtime member and did cut some great guitar work for them while in the band. This box set is great and I do plan on adding to it. I'll keep an eye on that set and plan on collecting a few of the original albums.
Thanks both for the comments.
4 - Vern Halen
How is this set significantly different from the black boox set that came outu a number of years ago? It was 4 CD's with a number of remixed/remastered items. I can't get allmusic to open on my computer this morning.
5 - Vern Halen
Got into allmusic finally - essentially the same as the 1990 box - a few different tracks, nothing special. They actually rate the 1990 box at 5 stars and this new set at 4 1/2.
6 - Mark Saleski
nice review dj. the day you found this collection, you made something positive out of what i think is wrong with best buy's cd offerings: their tendency to stock only the current hits and greatest hits collections.
(ok that, and their annoying environment).
i still haven't decided on this box or perhaps just all of the early cds in their remastered form. i mean, something has to be done, since i only have once Byrds disc: Live at the Filmore.
7 - DJRadiohead
Vern, you're right, there is not a big difference between the two sets. I don't know what caused the first one to go out of print but if you have it, this might be less necessary. Wow, I went on for over 1,000 words and still did not say all that needed to be said. Maybe I should have skipped my Best Buy diatribe.
Saleski, I plan on grabbing their early CDs as well but I think for the price it is worth it to grab this if you can find a copy at Satan Best Buy. I was there last night and saw they had four or five copies and were still selling it for $29.99.
There are lots of things wrong with SBB. I shop there mostly because it is the best local choice and if you can find it there, it will be cheaper there.
8 - El Bicho
Good write-up. It's always a pleasure discovering a band. If if they are old, they are new to you.
"I don't know what caused the first one to go out of print but if you have it"
Could it be different labels?
9 - DJRadiohead
Thanks, El B. I am finding that to be true about the potential for old to be new. Over the past few years I have been listening to blues albums from the '40s, '50s, and '60s. All of that music is old and yet I had not heard any of it and I love it. The same thing happened with The Byrds. It's a great set.
Sony/Columbia has held the rights to most, if not all, The Byrds music. It is possible legal issues could still be at play, not sure.
10 - Mark Saleski
next up on the 'dj radiohead: what's old is new':
Little Feat
The Band
11 - Mat Brewster
I have the old box and I really can't get into it. I don't really know what it is, and I'll definitely give it another listen after this review, but its never really set right.
Sweetheart though, that's one great record.
12 - DJRadiohead
Yes, Sir Brewster, it is. I hate country music but love Sweetheart. I hate country music but I do love certain elements that are characteristic of the genre. For example, Sweetheart, Ryan Adams, etc. In fact, last night I bought Gram Parsons' Complete Reprise Sessions and a Flying Burrito Bros. compilation. I knew Parsons by name before this box but not his music. I am now immersing myself in his back catalog. It's the circle of life, Simba.
13 - Vern Halen
The reissues were all pretty good, but Younger Than Yesterday & Notorious Byrd Bros I thought had excellent bonus tracks. Brothers has the famous studio argument as well.
Mr. Brewster - you didn't like the original box? Actually, in light of all the extras on the reissues, I see why. You need to be in for a penny, in for a pound as it were - like the Beatles, there was just so much going on in the history of this band, you have to have it all there to make sense of it.
14 - JR
Mark Saleski: I still haven't decided on this box or perhaps just all of the early cds in their remastered form. i mean, something has to be done, since i only have once Byrds disc: Live at the Filmore.
My unsolicited advice: just get all the albums. They're available at the mid-line price, which means J&R Music or Tower.com (which apparently is still in business) will eventually have them for $7.99 each, maybe even $6.99 at J&R. At that price you can basically get the entire catalogue for around $100; everything up to and including Sweetheart... would be no more than $56. There should be a sale at least once within the next year, and you're obviously in no hurry.
I bought all the albums more out of musicological interest than anything else, as I'm not a big fan of folk, country rock or Americana in general. I ended up on a Byrds kick for a while there, as I found I really did like some of the songs. And I'd say the level of musicianship was actually higher than that of the Beatles and Stones, especially as you get into the country era with Gram Parsons and Clarence White.
All the CDs have extensive liner notes, multiple bonus tracks and hidden tracks at the end, including that studio out-take argument between the band and the drummer which is worth the price alone - absolutely hilarious and gives you an idea of the musical literacy level of your typical rock band, even a very innovative one. I also liked hearing some of David Crosby's experiments in the psychodelic period. I wouldn't say they're particularly good, but they're interesting. (I didn't know Jefferson Airplane's version of "Triad" was a cover; as a sociological statement it sounds so much bolder when sung by Grace Slick)
15 - El Bicho
Mark, slip in American Beauty while he's not looking.
16 - Mat Brewster
I bought the box solely based on my love for Sweethearts. I expected a whole box full of music just like that, and when it wasn't I think it soured me.
That was many years ago and I've pretty much let the box sit ever since. Like I said I'll break it out again and see if my feelings have changed.
17 - Vern Halen
No doubt you've got all the Gram Parsons/Flying Burritos anthologies out there then.
18 - DJRadiohead
Sir Brewster, do you have the two-disc Legacy edition of Sweetheart? There are some great outtakes on that version not on the single-disc reissue. Very good stuff.
19 - Mark Saleski
Mark, slip in American Beauty while he's not looking.
trouble maker.
20 - DJRadiohead
I am being swarmed by the Deadheads.
21 - Mark Saleski
dude, if you like Sweethearts, but not American Beauty, then...uh...well, i don't know.
but it just seems wrong.
22 - DJRadiohead
I will put that album on my queue to check out but I don't think it is going to have the Guster effect.
23 - Mat Brewster
American Beauty is country in the same way Sweethearts is, but the lyrics are better.
And don't worry we may be surrounding you, but we won't shoot. We might dose you, but never shoot.
24 - DJRadiohead
Being dosed by Deadheads... who knew?
25 - El Bicho
Hold on! We can't dose until Quinn the Eskimo gets here.